Foreboding Storm - Chapter 119

“We should be fine here for now. But after recovering from our injuries, we should immediately evacuate from this area. The further the better.” Crown Prince Lail found a suitable resting place in the crook of an ancient tree.

He watched Laila safely settle down on another tree across from him before moving into his own. The temperature in the Forbidden Zone was cool, neither too hot nor too cold. Overcome with exhaustion, the two soon fell into a deep slumber.

Chirrrrp!

The next morning, Princess Qamari woke to the excited cry of a wild bird. Sitting up in her makeshift treehouse, she cautiously poked her head out and saw the giant bird circling around the forest. The blackbird was twice the size of the Octopus Snake she had encountered in the woods of the Budh Village with a green tail.

Sharp-eyed and ferocious-looking, the bird’s large wingspans kicked up gales of fierce winds that sent the little creatures in the surrounding scattering in fear.

“You’re up? Come down and have something to eat. We will leave after the meal.” Seeing her awake, Crown Prince Lail casually invited her, placing a sack of freshly picked fruits on a makeshift stool.

He still remembered how back in the cave, she had eaten the fruits with relish.

“Thank you.”

Princess Qamari jumped out of her shelter and grabbed the sack. Finding a clean spot to sit, she used a magic spell to clean the fruits and contentedly munched on them.

“Chirrrrp!”

The blackbird continued its shrill cry in the sky. After two more spins, it flew off into the distance. Princess Qamari watched it leave with a frown. For some reason, an inexplicable restlessness and unease settled in her heart. The blackbird’s appearance made her feel ill at ease.

“Can we leave right now? I don’t really feel that hungry.”

Standing up, she carried the sack in her arms and went past him, entering deeper into the forest. She didn’t look to see whether he followed or not. There was an ominous feeling in the air that propelled her to move forward. A feeling that could not be explained nor ignored.

So, whether he followed or not, she was going.

Crown Prince Lail gazed at the fading back of the woman in confusion. Wasn’t everything fine just a while ago? Why was she suddenly behaving so strangely?

He could not understand. But since his worry for her was greater than his confusion, he grabbed his own sack of fruits and followed behind.

“Are you going to tell me why you are suddenly behaving so strangely?”

“I am not behaving strangely. I just don’t want to stay so close to the location we landed at yesterday. As you said, the strange disturbance will attract company.” Without missing a beat, Princess Qamari nonchalantly replied.

However, Crown Prince Lail wasn’t convinced by her words. But since she didn’t want to say what was bothering her, he did not want to force her. He felt that she would personally tell him when she was ready.

As such, he silently walked beside her as they entered the dangerous depths of the Forbidden Zone.

Whoosh!

Whoosh!

In the north of the Forbidden Zone, two groups of people raced in opposite directions of the dense forest. Of the two groups, one was completely comprised of black-clothed men, while the other was of differently attired youths.

These groups were respectively the seven academies apprentices and the black-robed men commanded by the white-robed female.

“This Forbidden Zone is so dense and vast. How are we going to locate those two strangers?”

“We neither have a way to locate them or a method to draw them out. At this rate, we could search for them for the rest of our lives!”

“Maybe we can split up and search?”

The apprentices took one look at the vast forest and instantly felt discouraged. In the face of such a massive behemoth, how were they going to find two minuscule strangers?

“Brother Wu, as much as I hate to admit it, the juniors have a point. How are we going to flush out two people in this expansive forest? Not to mention, we can only stay in this dimension for six months before the portal relocates.” Jun Meng’s calm voice drifted in the region, grabbing every apprentices’ attention.

“Then, Jun Meng, are you saying that we should leave these two hidden dangers? Can you take responsibility if they attack one of our own and kill them?”

“But how do you plan to find them in this situation? With the portal relocating in six months, are we going to focus on the task we entered the Forbidden Zone for, or are we going to waste it looking for two unknown individuals?”

“You…!”

Wu Lin knew that he was being unreasonable. Since they had no method to search for the two strangers, searching for them would only be a waste of time. A time that they didn’t have in their current predicament.

“So you choose, Wu Lin. Do you want to waste what little precious time we have to seek life-changing opportunities on two strangers, or make the most of it and secure as much resources as we can?” The speaker this time was the Blazing Academy’s Ouyang Gu.

He already hated the guts of the Mistland Academy apprentices. And seeing Wu Lin trying to force the other academies into searching for those two, he didn’t feel good.

Therefore, the moment he saw a chance to strike, he took it with glee.

“If you want, you can continue searching for them. Just don’t expect the other academies to do the same.” He finished with a smirk.

Wu Lin’s clenched his fists tightly as he glared at the smug Blazing Academy’s third year. For this chance, he had waited for six months. To enter the Forbidden Zone and secure a Kilin offspring, he had put in both time and effort into research.

How, when, where, and why. He had planned it all.

Using the seven academy apprentices, he wanted to enter the lair of a Magical Kilin mentioned in an ancient textbook he discovered by chance. To ensure that the Kilin ended up in his hands, he advocated to be the leader of the expedition and if it weren’t for the sudden appearance of the two strangers, everything would have worked out as he planned.

Now, however, the situation was escalating out of hand and his control was slipping.

‘No! I have so come far, planned so deep. I cannot lose here.’

Gritting his teeth, Wu Lin raised his head with a fierce glare at Ouyang Gu before saying in a cold tone.

“Since no one wants to look for them, then we won’t look for them. However, we are now in the Forbidden Zone and it is necessary to have a leader before we move forward. I volunteer because before the strangers appeared, the first year from our Mistland Academy was the first place.”

“The Eternal Academy has no problem with that.” The Janah realm third-year indifferently spoke.

“It doesn’t matter to us who leads. We just want to successfully complete the Magical Kilin Mission.” Jun Meng added.

“If we see them, we will take care of them. But until then, we should focus on the mission. Wu Lin, our Fierce Gale doesn’t care about who leads either.” Ku Ji carelessly said.

“Our Endless Ridges doesn’t as well.”

“Neither does our Evergreen Academy.”

With Five of the seven academies not caring who lead, Wu Lin became the leader by anonymous. A vein twitched on Ouyang Gu’s forehead, but he only snorted and looked away, not saying a word more. Slightly appeased by the other academies’ support for him, Wu Lin’s fierce glare softened and he nodded in satisfaction.

“Then follow me. To complete the mission, we need to enter the lion’s den!” Sweeping his white sleeves, he self-assuredly led the apprentices into the dense forest.

On the other side, the black men gathered together to discuss how to locate the girl.

“Where do we start? Nothing can be spotted from a bird’s eye view in this dense forest. If we scatter and try to search in different directions, our strength will drop. At that time, we are more likely to be killed than kill.” One of the men noted.

“So separation is out of the question. How about scent tracing? Can we trace her location through her scent?” Another asked with expectation.

“Due to the distortion in space, all traces of living habitats are wiped out from this region. With them, even the auras of living beings got wiped out.” Another pointed out solemnly.

“Distortion? That’s it! We can use a bird’s eye view to locate a region that has been recently affected by teleportation distortion.” And another shouted in excitement.

“That’s a brilliant idea! Why hadn’t I thought of that!?” The Head Lead’s eyes twinkled with light as he appreciatively looked at the black-robed man that gave the suggestion.

“Bren, I will inform the Boss about your contributions. Now, go and take care of this girl!”

Instantly, many men stepped forth and in unison, shouted in obedience.

In the next flash, the east region of the north Forbidden Zone was cloaked in complete silence as all the black-robed men flashed and disappeared.

In the depths of the Forest, two figures leisurely walked through the thick foliage. Their steps were in sync and silent, making them appear to be of two bodies but one mind.

Princess Qamari was lost in thought as she walked beside Qaliq, her mind a mess as she tried to figure out the source of the ominous feeling she perceived.

‘Could it be the magicians we left behind? No, they have nothing of significance to rise such an ominous feeling. Then the wild beasts, the magical beasts?’

The more she thought, the more confused she became. None of the possible threats she thought of filled her heart with unease. In fact, she felt nothing when she thought of them, however, the sensation of something drastic about to happen did not decrease.

‘What is it? What am I missing!?’

She stopped in her tracks and thought and thought in consternation.

Crown Prince Lail saw her pause and turned in confusion.

“What happened? Why did you stop?”

“I…”

Before she could complete her sentence, however, a shrill shriek, half pain and half fear, rang out. Snapping her eyes in alarm, Princess Qamari lunged at Crown Prince Lail, crashing to the ground with him.

“Whoosh!”

A burst of fire energy, filled with unconcealed murderous intent, went over their head, reducing an entire ancient tree to ash in seconds. The next moment, figure after figure clothed in black flashed into existence, encircling them from every direction.

Princess Qamari’s face turned serious as she pushed off Qaliq’s chest and got to her feet. The instant her eyes fell on the group of men, her heart thumped in her chest and that feeling of dread reached an extreme level, enveloping her senses with urgency.

‘So, it’s them!’

She thought with realization.

The reason for her unease.

Skyler was stripped to her back, placed there for her to hide the sword’s uniqueness from Qaliq. In one swift movement, she drew it out and got into a battle stance.

Crown Prince Lail was stunned by the unexpected development. However, he was no stranger to danger and immediately hopped to his feet with his magical weapon in hand.

“Who are you?” With his back to Laila’s, he darkly questioned the men in black.

“Who we are is none of your business. Little freak, step aside and we might spare you. After all, you are not our target.”

One of the men dismissively sneered. From his appearance, it was obvious that he didn’t place the two in his eyes. However, as a man cautious by nature, he didn’t lower his guard against them either.

Ignoring the cold eyes of Crown Prince Lail, his sight fell on Princess Qamari and he frowned in confusion.

“The aura is right. But why is the description different?” He asked out loud.

“Assistant Leader, the aura cannot be wrong. However, a description can be manipulated and changed. With a few spells, such a trick is ordinary.”

“Hmm, you’re right. Either way, whether it’s her or not, it doesn’t matter. What matters is that since we are here, she is going to die.” With a grim look in his bleak eyes, the man raised his hand and coldly ordered.

“Kill her!”