Chapter 43: Chapter 43

Every step the gigantic monster took was like an earthquake, and the wind swirling around it turned into a howling gale.

It didn't matter anymore where they could escape to—the priority was just to survive.

If a monster like that struck them, no matter how many Prisms they had, they would be shattered.

Lina, with one arm holding Mo Ying and the other wielding a weapon to clear monsters blocking their path, was still being pursued relentlessly by the colossal beast behind them.

They had no idea how many forests they had crossed, or how long they had been running. It felt as if they had traversed into another world; the monster behind them suddenly vanished, and the path they had taken disappeared as well.

Whatever the case, they had survived.

Lina set Mo Ying down. Mo Ying still hadn't recovered from the earlier life-and-death crisis.

"After running like mad just now, I have no idea where we are anymore. I've never seen this place before,"

"We're probably still somewhere in the center. If we're unlucky, we might have already stumbled into the depths."

"Should we head back to regroup first?"

A knight took out a Recalling Prism.

"You can't return from the central zone. Recalling Prisms generally only work in the outskirts of the hunting grounds,"

The knight hurriedly activated the Recalling Prism.

As expected, nothing happened.

The knight's heart filled with despair, and the faces of the other two knights didn't look any better.

They were lost in the hunting grounds, and the Recalling Prism wouldn't activate.

That meant their chances of survival were slim.

"Miss Aifiliya, is she dead?"

Mo Ying asked with a trembling voice.

It hadn't even been two hours since they entered the hunting grounds, and yet so much had changed.

"Very few people survive after encountering the 'big guy.' Our luck was terrible. Even in the central zone, the chances of meeting a monster like that are very low,"

"She just had bad luck and died. Life in this world is that cheap."

"If we can't find a way out before our Prism values run out, we'll become part of this place,"

Lina realized the gravity of their situation.

"We... might die here as well?"

Mo Ying came to the same realization.

Anyone could see that Mo Ying was very frightened.

Lina regretted bringing her here.

"No, you won't, Mo Ying."

Anluss circled behind Mo Ying.

"As long as I use my powers, you'll never die—no one can kill you."

Anluss seemed quite satisfied with their predicament.

Mo Ying said nothing. She was struggling to cope with the current situation.

The group fell into silence for a while.

"There's no time to waste. Every minute we stay here, our chances of dying increase,"

Lina was the first to stand after about two minutes.

Staying here only depleted their Prism values.

Lina reached out her hand to Mo Ying.

"I don't know if we'll die next, but if you just sit here, you definitely will,"

Mo Ying seemed to regain a bit of composure. She knew she couldn't afford to waste time.

She grabbed Lina's hand and stood up.

She didn't want to die here, nor did she want to pay the high price to Anluss.

"Let's keep moving—be careful with everything,"

The frantic escape earlier had made Anluss lose her sense of direction as well.

Now, they were completely lost like headless flies.

In the forest, Lina stayed alert to their surroundings.

But, unexpectedly, a long time passed without any monsters appearing. This place was eerily quiet.

They were still lost in the forest, but at least they weren't being attacked.

"I've been to other hunting grounds, but none have such quiet and peaceful places,"

This place was suspiciously quiet.

Suddenly, a disturbance came from the grass ahead of Mo Ying.

Everyone immediately readied their weapons.

From the grass, a man emerged.

He was a bespectacled man with... luggage on his back?

He looked a lot like a tourist... at the very least, he didn't look like a hunter.

The man was surprised to see them and spoke in a language different from theirs.

"A resident of the hunting grounds,"

"There are residents in the hunting grounds?!"

Mo Ying was shocked yet again.

"Yes. From the moment you entered these hunting grounds, it was like stepping into another world. They're people from another world."

Lina handed Mo Ying an object resembling an earpiece.

"A translation device made by Tianke,"

Mo Ying took the translator, imitated Lina and the other knights, and put it on her ear.

"Hello, outworlders."

The man greeted them.

"Hello. I don't think we have any reason to fight,"

Lina first tried to confirm if he was hostile.

Amazing—it really worked for direct communication.

Once again, Mo Ying was amazed by technology.

"Of course. With my frail body, I couldn't fight anyway. Allow me to introduce myself: I am Benkote, from a faraway country, here to search for my wife."

"You came here to find your wife? Do you know what kind of things inhabit this forest?"

"I do. It's full of monstrous, inhuman creatures—but I must find my wife."

"My wife got lost here a thousand years ago on her way to a distant land. I want to find her,"

"You want to find her in this labyrinth with no exit?"

"I've already found her—I can sense it. She is deep within this forest."

"With your abilities, making it here was already a miracle. If you go further, any monster there could kill you,"

"Maybe we could let him take us deeper,"

Anluss suddenly suggested.

Everyone turned to look at her.

"Aren't you all looking for the cause of the Dream Fog Forest riot? The answer is likely hidden deep within the hunting grounds."

"Almost no one has ever entered the depths of a hunting ground, even the tenth one. But now there's someone who can take us there,"

Anluss said. Even without a translation device, she could understand both sides perfectly.

"Perhaps there's a silver lining for us,"

"Don't you think it's strange—his wife... in the depths of the Dream Fog Forest?"

"Do you know what level of monsters live deep inside? Could his wife really have survived there?"

"And how does he know the way to the depths? Has he been there? Why does he think his wife is inside?"

There were too many suspicious points for Lina to accept Anluss's suggestion.

Who knew if the man before them was just another monster, deceiving them to lure them to their deaths?

"I'm not lying to you—I really know the way to the depths. My wife is there, it's like... it's like I've already found her many times,"

Benkote said, his last words barely audible.

"If you don't take my suggestion, you're just waiting to die here,"

She was right—standing here, wandering aimlessly, was just waiting for death.

So why not risk everything on a chance?

"The monsters in Dream Fog Forest have no reason—they can't communicate . So he's probably just a resident, an outworlder,"

Lina said nothing. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ NoveI[F]ire.net

"We are willing to protect you to the depths—on the condition that we accompany you,"

There were no other options now.

Benkote looked very pleased.