The forest was bigger than I expected. It took us almost two hours to leave it, even though we had K'erta's guidance, and we were moving at full speed.
It would have been hard to leave the forest without K'erta's help. Perhaps we could be wandering inside that forest for days.
That would have been a really dangerous situation.
However, after leaving the forest, I realized that we were not out of danger yet.
"This place…" I muttered dumbfounded.
Outside the forest, the only thing we could see was desolation.
The gray sky was filled with stormy clouds, and the land was dry and arid, with occasional withered trees adorning the landscape.
In the distance, you could see brief flashes of light, belonging to specters wandering thorough the land in search of food.
"It's really depressing, right?" K'erta opened her mouth. "When you see this landscape, you realize that this is a dying world, slowly heading toward total destruction."
"What do you mean?"
"Specters feed on souls, but most living beings in this world have died, so the food has become scarce, making many specters to resort to feed on the souls of trees and plants. But the souls of plants are tiny, almost inexistent, making it so that only the smaller specters can be satiated from eating them."
"Moreover, without animals to pollinate and spread the seeds, many plants have disappeared, creating a chain reaction that has accelerated the disappearance of the plants in this world. Forest like the one we came from are scarce in this world, and in a few thousands of years, they'll disappear completely." She continued.
"By that point, the food from the smallest specters will disappear, and that mean that the larger specters, who eat them, will lose their source of food too. At some point, even the specters will perish from starvation, bringing an end to any form of life that has existed in this planet." She concluded.
"… A world doomed to destruction, huh."
"Yes, this world is already beyond saving. However, that is not good news for your world."
"Huh?"
"The most powerful specters in this planet must have realized this too. They won't accept death so easily, so they need a new source of food."
"Our world."
"Exactly." K'erta's expression was serious. "This world houses some very frightening existences. The reason they have not made a move against your world is that they are afraid of the Protector Duke. But once they find an opportunity, they won't hesitate to invade your world and have a feast of blood and souls."
I blinked and put on a fortunate expression.
"… I guess it's fortunate we have the Protector Duke."
"If I was you, I would not rely that much on him." K'erta's expression was solemn.
"Why?"
K'erta hesitated briefly, but soon shook her head.
"I'm sorry, I can't tell you anything else. In the first place, I'm not sure if my suspicions are true."
I frowned.
I really hate when people don't reveal everything at once.
However, I soon stopped thinking about it.
Anyway, there is not point in a weakling like me worrying about the most powerful man in the world.
"Be careful!" K'erta suddenly shouted at Hela, who was about to sit on a rock.
Before Hela could react, she manipulated her nanobots and turned them into a blade that blew toward the rock and cut it into two.
In the next instant, a small specter jumped out of the small rock.
*Screech!*
The specter cried in hunger, but the blade shot by K'erta turned back while emitting electric sparks and pierced the specter.
The specter's body crumbled into pieces before being blown away by the wind.
"Small specters like to hide in rocks to ambush possible prey." She explained. "Although that one was too small to cause you any significant harm, the feeling of it biting your soul is not something you want to experience."
Hela hesitated briefly before nodding.
"Thank you."
K'erta shrugged.
"The number of specters here is not as huge as inside the forest, but they are still everywhere. Fortunately, most specters around are too weak, but if too many are attracted or if we are unlucky and meet a big one, then we are going to be in grave danger."
Just at that moment, a device on K'erta's pocket started to vibrate.
K'erta's eyes lit up. She quickly took it out with an excited expression.
"Hello? Aulus?"
[K'erta?] A male voice came from the other side. [Finally, I managed to locate you.]
"How are you? How about the others?"
[Calm down, I'm alright. Itrudura and Duin are with me, but I have not managed to contact Starlight.]
"That is good." She sighed in relief after leaning that most of her companions were safe. "Where are you?"
[I'll send you our location so we can meet as soon as possible. Also, there is something I want you to see.] He said with a strangely excited expression. [We may have found a ruin belonging the civilization that inhabited this planet.]