"I will be going now; wish me luck," Anna said as she prepared herself to jump from the tree.
"Good luck," Lilia said with a small smile.
"You got it!" Amelia exclaimed, raising her fist in the air.
"Good luck, and from the bottom of my heart, thanks, Lady Annaline," Cedrix said as he bowed his head to Anna.
"Don't thank me yet; wait until I bring her to you," Anna smiled.
"Still, thanks for taking the risk to go save my daughter."
Anna nodded her head, and an instant later, she leapt from the branch they stood upon. Before she could even land on the ground, she had already disappeared from the eyes of everyone.
'Good luck,' Alex said in his heart then walked to sit next to Lilia.
As he sat down, he glanced over at her and remarked that her eyes were already closed in meditation, so he didn't bother her anymore. Instead, he also arranged himself in a meditation position and closed his eyes.
The constant fight since they entered the forest has drained him, and since he didn't know what would happen later, it was better to replenish his mana. So he actively concentrated on drawing mana from the surroundings.
Just behind him, Amelia was trying to get a reaction out of the monkey. She had healed its wounds, yet despite her efforts, it seemed that the monkey wouldn't wake up, which made her frustrated. But she kept trying anyway, telling herself, 'I'm sure it's even cuter when awake.'
Cedrix, on the other hand, took out a monster's core that Alex had given him and began absorbing the mana inside it. His goal was to reach level 3, but it was going to take a long time. After all, he wasn't like Alex, who could keep absorbing monster cores without feeling the strain of it.
Meanwhile, the moment Anna landed on the ground, she started sprinting at her fastest speed. She didn't know how long it would take to infiltrate the base, find Cedrix's daughter, and save her. So, it was better to be fast before her mana ran out and causing her ability to be deactivated.
Since Anna's stats leaned more towards agility, her speed was incredible. In just a few seconds, she stood at the entrance of the mountain.
She stopped running and observed the surroundings of the entrance with a cautious expression. Although it seemed that there was no one or nothing at the entrance, it was better to be sure than to rush into the mountain and walk into a trap.
'It's really massive,' Anna commented internally at the sheer size of the entrance. Seen up close, it looked even more immense than from afar.
The entrance was so vast that Anna felt five carriages the size of the one in which they rode could walk inside the mountain side by side, and there would still be space left!
Anna observed the entrance for a moment, and fortunately, after careful observation, she didn't spot anything unusual. So, she proceeded to enter the mountain, but she didn't rush this time; instead, her stride was cautious as she walked inside.
Entering the mountain, she observed the rough interior. Seeing that there was nothing remotely dangerous or unusual, her speed picked up, and she began running again.
"I'm telling you... because... I would be fucking... Bitch!"
Anna came to a stop when she heard a voice, a masculine one shouting.
She slowed down her pace and walked in the direction the voice was coming from.
"... told you... shouting."
'Two of them?' Anna wondered when she heard a second voice.
Hearing the voices, Anna slowed her pace. Cautiously proceeding deeper into the mountain until she could spot two silhouettes, both masculine. One silhouette belonged to a man with a big belly, and the other was that of a skinny one.
"I'm telling you, man, that Virax is hot," the fat man exclaimed.
"Tell me about it. If the boss didn't forbid touching that woman, she would have been moaning beneath me right now," the skinny one replied.
The fat man snorted, "What moans are you talking about? The only sound that would come out of her mouth if she were to be with a sadistic bastard like you would be cries of pain."
"True," the skinny man chuckled, then added, "but you are hardly better than me."
"What are you talking about? I'm a lady killer; they all want nothing more than to be with me," the fat man sneered, his belly rippling as he laughed.
"Yeah, a true lady killer. I still remember that one girl whose corpse we had to dispose of because you used too much of your 'lady killer' talent on her," the skinny man said with a sarcastic smirk.
"Hey, hey, that one doesn't count; she tried to cut my balls, that's unforgivable!" the fat man exclaimed.
"Are you sure it's not that she couldn't resist your weight and died? Because I still remember—"
"I'm telling you it's because she tried to cut my balls, and you know that I value my testicles!"
"Like all men" the skinny man chuckled.
Thinking about something, the skinny man asked, "Hey, do you-"
Tchui
The skinny man suddenly came to a grinding halt, his eyes widening in horror, and his mouth hanging open as he stared in disbelief at a dagger coming out of the forehead of his friend.
Before he could react or say anything, he felt something sharp pressing against his throat, and all of a sudden, a woman with a cold expression appeared before him, seemingly from thin air!
"Don't move. The instant you do, you will be joining your friend in hell. If it's clear, nod your head," the woman said in a cold tone.
The skinny man gulped in fear. He could feel that this woman wasn't joking around. The instant he tried something, she would kill him. Thus, he had no choice but to nod. Truth be told, it's not like he could do anything in the first place.
"Where are we?" Anna asked.
Although she already knew the answer, Anna still asked to test if the man would attempt to lie.
Hearing Anna's question, the skinny man smiled internally, "We are at the Night's group base. Girl, you don't know who you are messing with. If I were you, I would-"
"Shut it," Anna pressed the dagger against the skinny man's throat until it drew a small cut on his neck.
"Hiiiek..." The skinny man, who was acting arrogant just an instant ago, shrieked in fear and shut his mouth.
"How many guards are present?" Anna asked.
"J-Just the two of us!" The man answered.
Anna raised a brow internally, 'it might be easier than we thought,' but she still remained cautious.
"So you are the only guards present?" Anna asked for confirmation.
"Y-Yes, I swear!"
"Are there anyone from the Night's group beside you two guards?"
The skinny man became silent, seemingly thinking about something.
"Answer," Anna said as she pressed the dagger further against the man's skin until blood began to leak out.
"I-I don't know!" Cried out the skinny man.*****
"You don't know, huh?" Anna smiled coldly.
"I-I swear I d-don't know. We are just guards; we are not aware of anything happening behind this door!" The skinny man exclaimed while pointing one of his fingers behind him.
'Door?' Anna became confused; she didn't notice any door behind the man.
'Don't tell me-' before she could finish her thought process, a large metallic door resembling the doors of Earth's bank vaults appeared as if by magic.
Witnessing the stunned expression on Anna's face, the skinny man immediately knew that he made a mistake, 'Oh...fuck.'
A few seconds later, Anna's stunned expression was replaced by her usual cold expression. "How do you open this door?" she questioned.
Pointing to his dead friend, the man said with a solemn expression, "the door can only be opened if the two of us are together, but you just killed him."