The darkness underground stretched endlessly in every direction.
Tap…
Tap…
Tap…
A set of soft footsteps echoed throughout the cave, while a trail of pale blue light illuminated the path behind her. Passing through the darkness, a young woman with bright blue eyes walked calmly through the underground passage. Her long, navy-blue hair swayed behind her back as the silver ornaments attached to her dark blue mantle occasionally clinked against one another. Pale blue robes draped over her slender frame, and the two crystal horns that protruded from her head seemed to glow in the darkness.
Her slightly slitted eyes narrowed. "…Hm?"
Rustle!
A faint noise echoed somewhere deep in the darkness. It sounded a bit like a rat, only slightly bigger.
Trili frowned. Her steps slowed, then she took a step toward the sound. Since falling down into this strange underground space, she had already encountered several bizarre cave creatures, but unlike before, this one felt a bit different. For some reason, she couldn't sense it at all.
Tap…
Tap…
Tap…
Her pace quickened as her eyes flashed with curiosity. As she followed, the constant sound of small tapping rang out, like the paws of some beast. Trili followed it leisurely, not quite sure why.
Suddenly, the sound disappeared! She paused, then looked around with interest.
Rustle!
Another noise echoed from the opposite side of the cavern. Trili immediately turned her head toward it, then began walking again. "…Again? Where are you taking me, little guy?"
The reason she was so interested was because she couldn't sense any aura from the creature hiding in the darkness. Normally, even the weakest creatures still leaked some form of spiritual energy, but whatever was moving through the darkness ahead seemed completely void. Such an anomaly was extremely strange, especially for the overly sensitive Dragon Clan. She almost felt as if she were chasing shadows in the dark, leaving her with a somewhat unique experience.
Rustle-rustle!
The noise appeared again, but this time it was closer. Trili's tail flicked behind her, scattering a few faint wisps of light that seemed to have fallen from her horns and landed on her clothing.
Without hesitation, she accelerated.
Swoosh!
Her figure shot through the underground passage at a terrifying speed. Stone cracked beneath her feet while the surrounding darkness blurred. Several hanging plants shattered from the pressure released by her movement, and the faint trail of blue light instantly elongated.
Rustle!
Her eyes sharpened. "Found you!"
Ahead, just beyond a narrow stone opening, she could finally see some movement. With another step, a small silhouette slowly appeared.
Swoosh!
Trili landed, her eyes widening with a hint of playfulness as she approached what she believed to be the small creature. Suddenly, as the silhouette became clearer, Trili immediately stopped in her tracks.
"…Uh?"
Not far ahead, a small, green-haired girl with twintails and big black eyes sat lazily in the dark. She had small hands and feet, with skin like smooth porcelain, a little like a doll. The little girl wore a large, pointy black hat and had a small satchel hanging at her side. Standing behind her was a silver-haired woman with pointy ears, and below her was a flailing beast that was half dead. She looked a little like some kind of tiny bandit queen, which was quite cute when taken out of context.
The little green-haired girl had crossed her legs proudly while resting her cheek against one hand. Her twintails swayed lazily as the wave from Trili's approach swept past. Several bags and a pile of random objects hung from the giant bird beneath her butt.
Looking even closer, these were all small treasures.
As for the beast, it was a one-meter-tall creature called the Black 'Bat Treasure Bird'. It was a kind of creature that lived like a bat, looked like a chicken, and acted like a dragon. Well, hoarded like a dragon… All of these 'small treasures' were things that it had secretly stolen from those who entered the mountainous area of this secret realm.
Behind Petra, Wind stood silently.
Trili: "..."
Wind: "..."
Petra: Actively eating a spicy stick…
Her hand slowly rose, pointing at herself, and then she asked in a cute voice, "…Robbery?"
* * *
The wind across the highlands never seemed to stop.
It swept endlessly across the rocky slopes and rolling terrain, carrying with it the scent of dry grass and stone. Beneath the pale afternoon sky, two figures continued to slowly climb toward the peak of the plateau. As they ascended, the slope became sharper and steeper, slowly angling up until it became nearly vertical.
Crunch!
Tot-tot-tot!
Some loose gravel shifted beneath their boots, falling and rolling down until it eventually disappeared towards the distant ground below.
Rotell stepped across an uneven slope while using one of her hands to steady herself against the stone wall. Behind her, Cirsen also continued to climb, only with significantly less grace.
"…Why," Cirsen panted hard, "is this damn path so freaking steep!"
Rotell looked back with amusement. "I thought cultivators at your level were supposed to overcome all difficulties? With your complaining, I'll almost become disheartened with my future prospects."
"Bah! It's all about kicking and punching! What meditation? What peace of mind? It's all about having hard battles and violent fights, when both parties lose their rationality and face off in a ferocious clash soaked in blood and broken bones! Now that's what real cultivation is all about!!" While saying this, her hand reached out, wanting to knock her breastplate a few times, but after nearly slipping, she awkwardly stopped, then readjusted herself.
"Is that so…" Rotell muttered.
Cirsen pointed accusingly toward the mountain. "But this is damn excessive!"
Boom!
A large section of stone suddenly collapsed beneath her foot, and Cirsen rolled down the mountain.
-
Thirty minutes later…
Rotell watched as the massive, crimson-haired woman, who had just slid halfway down the slope, quickly climbed back up before violently stabbing her spear into the cliffside to stop herself from falling again. Rotell sighed, only giving her a look of pity.
Cirsen coughed awkwardly. "…I slipped."
"Mm. You've slipped six times, right?"
"This mountain must be targeting me!"
Rotell almost laughed out loud! Why could she almost see Petra's shadow in this big oaf?
As time passed, the atmosphere remained strangely relaxed despite the many dangers surrounding them at all times. Perhaps it was because after spending so much time inside the secret realm, the constant tension had slowly become a normal occurrence, allowing them to adapt.
Or perhaps, this experience really did feel somewhat nostalgic...
Regardless, as the day went on, the terrain eventually flattened into a peak. After they climbed the final stretch, a sudden, powerful gust of wind struck the duo the moment they reached the summit.
Rotell held down her hair to stop it from whipping in her face. She looked around.
The top of the plateau was wider than she had expected.
After the final climb, the ground suddenly opened into a broad expanse of stone and vibrant grass, flat in some places and broken in others. Overgrown weeds grew between the cracks in the rock, bending under the endless wind. There were trees spotted around, but not many. Looking around, there were a few small pools of rainwater that had gathered in shallow dents, reflecting the bright sky like pieces of broken glass, letting Rotell know that it could rain here…
She walked ahead slowly, one hand resting near her sword, though the peaceful view made it difficult to stay tense. Cirsen moved beside her, still breathing hard from the climb, but even she became strangely quiet after a while.
The plateau was filled with a plethora of strange little details.
There were a few old claw marks that scarred several boulders, and half-buried bones, burnt black and still pointing up, rested beneath a thin layer of rocks. Farther ahead, a ring of stones stood around a sunken patch of grass, each pillar carved with weathered runes that were almost erased by time.
Rotell walked up, then brushed her fingers across one of them.
"Someone came here before us?"
Cirsen leaned closer, then frowned. "No, something came here before us, but a long, long time ago..."
The wind swept past them again, carrying the faint scent of stone, grass, and water.
For a moment, neither of them moved.
From here, the secret realm looked quiet, almost gentle, but the sheer vastness of it all….
Rotell stepped forward, her eyes looking out across the horizon.
She widened her eyes in awe.
The view was breathtakingly vast. The forests beyond the hills stretched endlessly into the distance, while the mountains seemed to almost pierce through the clouds. Fog rolled like a sea, and the bright sun shone down like golden rays of light. Even the distant ravines, like a scar throughout the earth, could vaguely be seen splitting through the land.
The view from all the way up here was nothing like when they were climbing.
She could even see the trial pillar that they were slowly making their way towards.
After what felt like a long time, Cirsen finally moved up beside her, then dropped heavily onto the ground with a loud thud. "…Finally!"
Rotell nodded slowly with a smile.
"Huh? Look! Over there!" Cirsen pointed toward the distance.
Rotell turned, only to see that far below the plateau, amidst a sea of small silhouettes, several tiny figures could be seen moving across the highlands. Rotell's eyes sharpened, and the spiritual energy around her seemed to change, allowing her to focus.
Her brows raised, then she thought, 'holy shit! Was this woman's eyesight really that good??
"That is…" The change became more intense, and her eyes soon flashed with light. "It really is! …Qucell! No, in her arms, that's Millia too!"
Even from this distance, she could recognize the chaotic pervert and the way that blue-haired necromancer stumbled around, practically tripping on her floor-length hair. With them, Rotell even spotted Old Man Roe and Mellia. Relief briefly flickered across her face.
"They're alive and safe… that's good!"
Cirsen grinned from behind. "Told you! Those weirdos are tough!"
She playfully pounded on her breastplate a few times.
-
After resting briefly, the duo began climbing down the opposite side of the plateau, intending to move toward their companions. Compared to the ascent, the descent was significantly more dangerous. Although loose stones continuously shifted beneath their feet and steep cliffs dropped hundreds of meters below, none of this could stop them.
In fact, one might even claim that Cirsen was superior in this aspect.
Around the halfway point, however…
Rotell casually lowered herself down a narrow ledge, but then—something changed!
Swoosh!
Her instincts suddenly screamed, causing Rotell's eyes to widen. "Cirsen—!" she cried, immediately trying to warn her companion.
However—
BOOOOOOM!!!
It was too late!
A terrifying shadow suddenly tore across the horizon, striking where they had been on the cliff. A deafening explosion rang out, and the cliff exploded. A large portion of the plateau's cliffside was carved out, the stone shattering instantly as the entire section beneath Rotell collapsed outward into the air.
She immediately lost her footing, plunging frantically down. Her pupils contracted violently, and her arms flailed in hopes of finding something to support herself, but to no avail.
She fell.
"ROTELL!!" Cirsen's roar echoed across the plateau.
-
The world spun violently. Rotell continued to crash through broken rock and withered foliage while desperately trying to stabilize herself midair. Sharp stone jutted out and tore across her arms and legs as she slammed repeatedly against the cliffside before finally—
BOOM!!
She crashed into the forest floor!
Silence followed...
After an unknown amount of time, Rotell pushed herself up, her entire body aching. A sharp pain shot through her arm, clearly indicating that it was once again broken.
She cursed, standing up on wobbly legs.
In a flash, she assessed her injuries. Her head had been struck multiple times, and at least three ribs were broken. A muscle in her leg seemed to have snapped, while her arm hung limp and weak. Her vision blurred as pain constantly shot through her nerves. Her lips parted, only to release a feminine groan. "…Gh, ah…!"
She gritted her teeth, only to lurch forward a moment later and cough up blood. Wiping her mouth with her hands and allowing them to be stained red, she looked around with flickering eyes.
After finding her sword, which had fallen from her waist, she limped over quickly, snatching it from the ground and drawing it from its scabbard.
Doing this caused pain to spread throughout her entire body, but her sense of danger had yet to dissipate, giving her no choice.
"…Damn it!"
Cirsen was gone again! The plateau towered impossibly high above her head; she could no longer see her companion. Did she fall too? It was possible.
Suddenly, a sense of dread overwhelmed her as her skin seemed to crawl with goosebumps. All the hairs on her body stood up, and her head instinctively snapped toward the sound of something approaching.
Hissssssssss!
Rotell froze, her eyes widening with a tremble.
The surrounding trees slowly shifted apart as a gigantic serpent emerged from the darkness. Its body was easily hundreds of meters long, covered in dark green scales layered like armor, and dense foliage that blended perfectly with the surroundings. Several horn-like protrusions extended backward from its skull, and its pale yellow eyes locked directly onto Rotell's injured body.
The pressure it released was horrifying, causing her already weakened state to further deteriorate. In an instant, she recognized this as a fifth-order Magic Beast.
Rotell knew—
She was in mortal danger.