A few days had passed since they arrived at the sealed fortress in the middle of the Vyris Deadlands. After leaving the walls they had climbed through in order to get inside, they had ventured to the small jungle which was a breeding ground of hellspawns. They didn't move places immediately as they had other plans for the time being.
The group was stuck in the jungle for three days because they had decided to hunt several hellspawns for more resources such as meat, crafting materials, and equipment.
However, getting an equipment drop from hellspawns was very rare. Lloyd had slain an elite-ranked hellspawn but still haven't received anything. The same thing goes for Luna. She had slain countless of monsters but she had only received very few drops which were either useful or worthless to them.
Ray, Stanley, and Klaudia had ranked up and learned new skills during the three whole days they stayed in the forest while Lloyd and Luna were more or less close to reaching the requirement to ascend to rank III. It was quite hard to reach to a higher rank since the number of enemies they had to kill had increased, and the higher their rank became, the higher the rank of the enemies killed were also required.
For example, with Lloyd's current rank II soul core, he would need to at least kill a hellspawn with a champion rank for his kill counter to rise up by 1. He could also kill grunt hellspawns and it will give him 1 point for every two grunt kills. It would really take them a long time to ascend to the next level unless they would encounter a horde of hellspawns that numbered to a thousand or more, providing that they could survive the onslaught.
As they exited the jungle after getting bored from killing the hellspawns there, and had everything they needed, they arrived in the outskirts of Arcadia. Unlike the outer district of Asteria, the houses weren't too poor-looking, if not for the fact that they were now in ruins after the whole civilization was ruined.
Aside from houses and architectural structures that were destroyed and withered from the passages of time, the area was teeming with hellspawns of mixed ranks and different forms. Lloyd wondered if hellspawns had their own species. He had seen plant-like hellspawns, as well as animals and there were even humanoid ones.
They stopped at a dilapidated house to hide from a roaming hellspawn that looked like a human but with sharp, red eyes and pointy ears. It was also carrying a weapon that looked like a dagger.
"From here on, we should avoid any trouble as much as possible." Luna silently said to the group.
"Got it. We should be careful of those little green things."
Lloyd said as he pointed at those humanoid hellspawns that carried weapons. Then he added:
"Those things are called goblins. They are cunning and tricky to deal with. They don't have any special skills, but they have good hearing and sight. They are also agile."
"How do you know all of those things? I've been meaning to ask you this since the day we arrived at the jungle." Stares were pointed at him which made him chuckled nervously as Ray questioned him.
"Actually, I had received a skill after awakening a corrupted soul system. It basically lets me see the status of every creature, whether it is a human, hellspawn or anything else."
"So, is it the same as my ability?" Klaudia became intrigued by his skill and joined in the conversation.
"Uh, no. It's not the same. I don't actually receive any handicaps or pay a price to use this skill. It's just that… it makes my eyes permanently glowing in red like a monster and it can also be used to intimidate those who are weaker than me."
"I see."
Lloyd could somehow feel envy coming from her. It wasn't that easy to have an ability that requires a price to pay, after all. His ability was something to die for.
"A-Anyway, we have to move carefully. If we see those goblins alone, we might as well just kill it before it notices us or else, it will call its allies and we would end up getting swarmed from all directions."
"Got it."
Everyone agreed and they moved stealthily. They were able to move from house to house without being discovered. They were doing well until they had reached a spacious area with a fountain in the middle. It seemed to be a town square. And in the middle of the fountain, there was a statue of a woman standing, holding a sword and a shield.
"Would you look at that?" Ray stared in awe at the statue.
"Do you think it is a hellspawn?" Luna asked.
Lloyd used evil eye and saw something that made his expression grim. He slowly backed out as he warned them.
"We better not go near it at all cost."
"Why?" Luna frowned.
"Because that thing is something we can't handle. I could see five pitch-black orbs in its body. And in its description…"
He was sweating nervously and had a hard time speaking out of fear. He gulped and gathered his courage in telling them what they were facing at. "It says Hybrid: Rank V - Defiled Emissary."
They all felt suffocated upon hearing its rank. Something like that shouldn't have existed in a trial. But this wasn't a trial. It was a living nightmare, where everything happening and existing was beyond their common senses.
"What is it doing in here?!" Although aggrieved, Ray kept his voice low.
"I… I don't know. We should get out of here!"
They all backtracked to a few meters away and took another path. Their hearts were still beating fast from the fear they had felt earlier. Although the statue wasn't doing anything to them and just stood still in the middle of the fountain, its rank was enough to give them a heart attack.
"Damn it! This place is truly scary. I thought housekeeper Seb said that the defiled lived beneath this city? Why didn't he inform us about that one?"
Lloyd complained to Luna who just shook her head. She was also bewildered by that scene. If Seb didn't warn them about it, then most likely, he didn't know that a hybrid was in the middle of the town square in the outer district of Arcadia. It seemed to be in a state of hibernation.
"What are we going to do now?"
"What else? Move as planned, but we will take a detour." Luna calmly stated.
She led the way and they followed their plan. They encountered a few goblins who got alerted by their presence. They had no choice but to engage in a fight. Fortunately, the cohort was able to slaughter them with ease since they were only grunts. The most frightening thing that could happen when fighting a goblin hellspawn would be when they would get outnumbered by a large horde if they fail to kill it since it would be calling its allies.
A few more hours of walking and hiding, they finally arrived at the gates that led towards the inner district. Outside the walls, they could see many people standing, talking to each other or planning to go hunting. There were also guards who were guarding the gate and examining the people coming in to the city.
"Ah… We finally have found some people." Klaudia once again cried as she saw lots of people.
"Yes! At last, we're back into a human civilization!" Ray and Stanley celebrated upon feeling the relief washing over their fears.
Luna also chuckled out loud. Lloyd could see tears forming from her eyes as her face showed signs of relief and happiness.
'She's still a human, after all.'
He approached her and nudged her with his elbow.
"Are you glad?"
"Yeah… Aren't you?"
"I am. But hey, I thought you don't know how to cry." Lloyd chuckled and she pouted.
"I… Of course, I know how to cry! I'm probably just a little numb from the pain."
"Still…"
Lloyd looked around the area and observe the people who were heading into different directions. He could see happy people, sad ones, frustrated and angry ones. They were doing their own businesses as if this was just a daily routine for them. He wondered how long they were stuck here.
He couldn't recognize the population surrounding them so he assumed that they were from other human settlements who also participated in a malfunctioned trial ceremony and got sent here by their miserable luck like them.
"They're just living their lives here like this was a normal thing."
"Yeah. It's disturbing." Luna agreed.
"Do you want to go back?" Lloyd stared directly into her eyes seriously.
"Of course. Even if it kills me."
"Alright."
Lloyd avoided her gaze and moved along. They were already left behind by the others who excitedly ran off to explore the city. Lloyd then mumbled something which was just loud enough for her to hear.
"I'll help you in your goal. Even if I had to burn out what little life I have left."
Luna was confused by what he had said. She hurriedly caught up with him.
"What do you mean?"
"It's not something serious. I mean, my life is so little since I have nothing in me. Get it?"
"Don't you have your own dreams to fulfill? Although I need allies for my plans to be successful, I don't intend to send them to a hell where they will never return." She frowned as she objected to his plans.
"What do you want then?"
"I want you to live on… Together with me."
Lloyd nodded as he slowly continued to walk. Then he noticed that something wasn't right about what she said. He blinked and thought if he had heard it wrong. He turned around at the serious-looking Luna whose stares seemed to penetrate in his soul. A few seconds later, he blushed furiously and screamed out loud which made the people look at them curiously.
"Eh?!"