Two days later...
[Void Sacrifices: 50/1500]
'Ten Layer Beasts in the past two days... I was lucky to encounter two of them completely alone.'
Cleaning the blood from his dagger and gloves, Zenon analyzed his Runes and enjoyed that feeling of power rushing through his veins. Not only him, but Leviathan was also enjoying it, having increased some centimeters in size.
Seems like the more Sacrifices you gain the bigger your Familiar becomes. And talking about them, he still hasn't seen Sammie's Familiar... or heard about both of their Abilities. Anyhow, it's not like it mattered that much.
All of them woke up with a mix between expectancy and dread, knowing that Aurea's judgment was due today.
The past few hours have been filled with slight anxiety as Zenon still didn't know what would happen in the end. Whichever choice she makes will be after getting to that roots section so he'll still have a chance at least.
Throwing the corpse of the Venomous Tarantula to the river, he met again with the three Unseens, and two of them looked at him with a hidden glint in their eyes. He made a devious smile before putting on a serious expression and asking.
"How far are we?"
Aurea walked forward as she said, "One hour, give or take."
Nodding, all three Unseens began walking behind her.
These past two days remained pretty uneventful. Just some Layer Beasts here and there, some complaints to Aurea from both sides, nothing much.
And Zenon must applaud Aurea's patience. Even if it was all part of an act - if what she said was true - the amount of pressure she had to withstand from both sides would be enough for the average to snap.
It's not like Zenon was completely innocent about it though, the habit of picking on others started to slowly grow, feeding on these poor Unseen's rage. But he wasn't a bully!
Right! Bullying the bullies should be considered self-defense! Leviathan was defending him in an attempt to preserve dignity, that's all.
'Well, at least I learned to control this damned curse. Now I can hold it off for some seconds and try to deny it. So maybe you won't be receiving the same entertainment now.'
However, if he were to hold it off but still managed to escape that resistance, what would come out of Zenon's mouth would be considered a hate crime.
Leviathan said nothing and instead materialized beside Zenon and went scouting.
While walking, Vera slowed her pace to match Zenon's. Her blond hair got into his face for a while before forcefully taking it off. They peeked at each other for a moment and she muttered,
"I hope you are ready."
Confused, Zenon tilted his head, to which Vera replied,
"Today's your last day near us. Honestly, I've been waiting for it since I realized I had to work with you."
"You could have killed me then. What happens in the Layers, stays in the Layers."
"Well, maybe when you leave the group I'll plan something. Can't believe someone like Aurea wanted you near her, must've been hard for her to put up with your shit an-"
"You could also shut up, you are making my ears bleed." Zenon said before fastening up his pace to match Aurea's.
Small conversations such as this one also happened.
He was growing a little bit sick of them, but sometimes it made him laugh because of how comical they are. And these people are supposed to be the future of the human race?
He would rather believe that an ant managed to kill a Layer Beast.
Arriving beside Aurea, he received a quick glance from the girl.
Most of their conversations were the small ones they had when Zenon complained about some stupid things. Not going to lie, he sometimes made them comical enough to boost Aurea's mood a little bit.
He also had to put something on his side to not get thrown off.
Now that he realized it, he grew some centimeters! He went from being a head smaller than Aurea to having his eyes around her cheeks. Honestly, he was sure that this would be all he'd received from the Sacrifices.
It's not like Enlighteneds could grow to three meters tall.
After more than an hour of walking, Aurea put her hand up, making the entire team stop abruptly. Peeking around the corner, she made some signals for them to walk. Zenon was the first one to do so and was surprised by the view.
'Oh damn... it's actually pretty beautiful...'
First of all, they could finally see the tree! It existed!
He didn't waste a second on sending Leviathan to the top of the canyon again, which then confirmed his suspicions. The tree was extremely tall because it seemed to touch the clouds.
Not only that but the canyon from that point on was filled with roots. Extremely wide roots that seemed to also escape to the outside of the canyon and even get inside the ravines. Yet that's all he managed to catch.
In front of the group, a trio of rock-like Layer Beasts blocked the path. They formed a wall by putting two in the front and one at the back, blocking one side of the ravine and leaving the right side open.
The worst part was that they couldn't jump toward the other side. The ravine connection between the two sections was so wide that not even ten of his most powerful jumps combined would do.
And not only that, but the river was way closer to this ravine. Some drops of water occasionally reached the edge, drenching it with the black hot liquid.
"Did you see which Rank they were?" Aurea muttered.
The two Unseens looked at each other before Sammie said, "Well, at least Second-Rank that's for sure."
Giving him a cold look, Aurea rolled her eyes before hiding behind the corner. She then made two soft claps and said,
"I will be clear and direct. We are going to kill those three Layer Beasts and make our way toward the tree."
Even though all of them knew that was going to happen, a sense of fear still set up in their hearts.
First of all, they didn't really know which Rank they were so they might as well be Third-Rank Instinctual and end up wiping the floor with them.
"The plan is to try and lure them one by one. If they are Mindless Layer Beasts, then we have a chance of pulling that off. However, if they are anything above that... then we should expect a three versus four."
"We could use one of us as bait and lure them one by one." Vera said with an innocent smile.
Zenon however, peeked at her with dead eyes, knowing exactly why she proposed that stupid and senseless idea.
First of all, they were set up as a wall with two in front and another in the back. This meant that at least two of them would wake up.
They needed a good situation to handle two of them at the same time.
Aurea made the first easy-going expression since Zenon met her, sending goosebumps all over his spine, knowing that this meant something bad.
She then said calmly, "Sammie and Vera, could you go to the corner for a moment?"
Both Unseens looked confused for a moment before they did as Aurea said. When they were peeking at the two Layer Beasts thirty meters in front of them, she wrapped her arms around them and said,
"Do you see those two Layer Beasts in the front?"
Sammie and Vera were a little bit stunned by this action, especially Sammie, who couldn't stop replaying the smooth sensation of her hand which gently touched his neck all over again.
Aurea used this moment of shock to lower her neck warmer by moving her jaw.
"Y-Yeah... what's wrong about it?"
Zenon's eyes widened as he understood what Aurea wanted to do. Not one, but several chills ran all across his body as his heart started pumping more and more blood. Then she replied with a smile,
"Bring them here."
After a second of silence, both Unseens took a step forward.