After the intense fight and the chaotic escape, the group continued moving with a tense mood, careful in case they would be attacked again.
They walked for nearly two hours before the oppressive canopy of the massive ancient trees disappeared. It didn't thin out slowly; it simply disappeared.
Behind them was a completely dark forest. Ahead of them, they could see a very long stretch of plain land.
The ground ahead looked deceptively ordinary, dry, cracked dirt, almost like a normal forest clearing. Yet nothing grew there. No grass, no shrubs, not even a single weed.
Shin stepped forward into the new biome, his boots crunching on the barren soil. He immediately raised a hand.
"Stay close and be quick," he said seriously. "We need to find a cave or some rock formation to hide in. I'll explain everything later. Move."
The girls sensed the urgency in his tone and didn't argue. They broke into a light run across the strange dead ground.
