Dozens of demonic beast corpses lay at their feet. Initially, Lawrence planned to rid of the trash himself, but over time, this thought faded.
“Two hours ago we encountered worms of level three hundred and fifty, but now we're again facing level 300 beasts. Did we inadvertently backtrack?”
This has been their only way to know whether they are advancing or retreating. That their level had dropped again could only mean one thing.
“It's incredible enough that the Forbidden Areas destroy the level cap set by the Inferior Plane. Now, not only that, is this place a different dimension? And a damn labyrinth on top of that?”
They had traveled enough to circle the Forbidden Area one or two times, in terms of outer territory. His theory shattered as he realized that this place was no different from a subspace that multiplies its original size.
“The aridity is greater here…” Serene Will quietly lets sand grains fall through her fingers. “A hundred meters back it wasn't like this.”
Lawrence frowns at the nonsensical words, but a stroke of inspiration helps him grasp their meaning.
They head towards the place and there's good news.
“Where there's moisture, there are plants. Searching blindly makes no sense, perhaps we can find something in this arid desert.”
Serene Will uses her innate ability to get a description of the soil. With every step she takes, the description changes, although it does not explicitly state its moisture, it is possible to read between the lines.
“Blame your bad luck! Die human!”
“These worms are going to scare me to death…”
While Lawrence sighs, it's Sky Petal who takes care of the turn's demonic beasts. Seconds later, the corpses form a small mountain.
“Their level was 270 at most.”
Sky Petal wipes her hands and looks at Serene Will. “If the place we entered was the most dangerous, is there an opposite side?”
“From the outside, it's impossible to tell.”
Serene Will also deduced this, but it's too late, they are already inside. “Although it is quite possible that there is more moisture in that place. If there is a next time, this experience will be useful to us.”
By comparing the interior environment versus the exterior, they will be able to identify a more efficient entrance. At least, that is if they are not prohibited from entering for a second attempt.
They continue advancing while the level of the beasts keeps decreasing. It is then that they manage to find something.
“Human remains…”
Since their entry into the Forbidden Area, this is the first time they find remains of previous incursionists.
“It's impossible to distinguish their race, they have bite marks--”
“Elves and humans.” Serene Will interrupts Lawrence, “The former the masters and the latter the slaves. I don't recall having heard of an elven kingdom that enslaves humans nearby and from their description… They date from at least a thousand years ago.”
The skeletons are scattered all over the place, strange is that parts simply disappeared from the place, probably digested by beasts.
“Any clues?”
“Nothing that helps us.”
Lawrence clicks his tongue. There are skeletons and some belongings, but the innate ability of Serene Will yields nothing extraordinary.
They decide to leave the corpses behind and advance in search of a moist site.
Hours pass before they achieve their goal.
“A cactus... dry, damn it! Who bites a damn cactus!”
Due to the large bite on its body, the cactus did not survive. It is completely withered, even if now they offer the proper care, the results won't be known until weeks later, and they don't have time for that!
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If it weren't because the exterior plants can't communicate with those inside, they would have brought a few as a safeguard.
“Let's continue, at least now we know we're advancing the right way--”
“Wait, I think I can do something.”
“Sky Petal?”
Both look incredulously towards Sky Petal. She may be a plant, but there is a cycle of life and death in this world, and plants are not exempt from it. Reviving is not the correct term for a plant that comes back to life, but reblooming.
The origin and continuation, both are different concepts.
“No way…”
But that's exactly what's happening in front of their eyes.
Sky Petal is reconstructing the dead plant, slowly the cactus becomes green again and regenerates the bitten part. Not only that, a pink flower begins to bloom before their astonished gaze.
“Well.”
Sky Petal smiles cheerily and says: “It can talk to the plants of the Forbidden Area, we've found our contact bridge.”
Without wasting time, she removes a pot from her storage ring and places the cactus inside it, followed by magical soil bought in the Divine Plane. The procedure is successful, the cactus even looks more comfortable than in the sand.
“Hold on, Sky Petal.”
Only now do both manage to recover.
“How could you bring it back to life? We're not talking about generating new life from surviving parts, but it's the same being, no other.”
The vitality of plants allows them to be born through the death of another, but this involves using the corpse as nutrients for the new life. What Sky Petal did is make nutrients come to life.
“I was born on top of a waterfall whose waters absorbed the life of those who touched it…”
Serene Will and Lawrence felt they were about to hear an explanation that would expand their vision of the world… they waited and waited, but Sky Petal refused to elaborate.
Throw the damn stone and then hide the hand.
“Oh… The cactus says there are more humans in this place. Hurry up! It tells me they are fighting!”
‘Did they survive beasts over level 300? Who the hell could...?’
They immediately put aside their thoughts and follow Sky Petal. Now that they've acquired the guide for this incursion, they dare to engage in flight magic, speeding towards a remote place in the Forbidden Area.
After touching ground, they hold their breath before the surrounding landscape.
“Human… ruins.”
Remains of ancient architectures, both temples and buildings are seen hidden by the sand covering beyond half of their structure.
Lawrence looks at Serene Will but she shakes her head.
“They are too damaged. When they have passed a certain limit, my ability only detects them as ruins of an ancient civilization, that's all.”
“But in that cave--”
“The description was different, it was me who saw no use in that mural.”
“…”
‘Did you even let me speak?’ Lawrence hates that Serene Will reads his mind so easily and doesn't give him time to move his lips, does she want his mouth to atrophy from not using it?
“God… How much had to be their desperation to get a meaning?”
Sky Petal stands still looking into the distance, but her expression shows that she is seeing an unusual fact.
After perceiving their gaze, she moves her hand asking them to come closer.
“What the hell...?”
“An illusion of the past?”
Just a few meters away they couldn't see anything, but in the exact position where Sky Petal stands looking into the desert, mirages of the past take shape.
“I should have guessed... It was impossible for there to be life in this place.”
The humans of which the cactus spoke were none other than visions. Visions impossible to know whether they belong to the past or are formed by the resentment of those who died in this place.
In the vision, an army of a thousand men is shown. Countless groups of different races and ethnicities united under the command of their general, all of them fighting against an unknown enemy.
The men under his command sacrifice themselves at his order, dying bloodily without the slightest doubt. Those who use magic, do it until they're exhausted, losing part of their life in an attempt to destroy the enemy.
“Hah, it's a vision formed by resentment.”
These arise when a large number of people die under a common end, all of them with immense suffering and injustice.
“None of this happened recently, but it's possible to elucidate what happened.”
Sky Petal agrees with Lawrence, according to the vision before her, the ancient civilization must have died due to the tyranny of its authorities, which are represented by that arrogant general.
The vision continues for long minutes, they can only observe a fraction of the war because much of the vision is distorted.
It is then that the enemy enters the field of vision.
“No way...”
All hold their breath as they see the enemy.
The general despairs as he sees the entry of the demonic beasts into his army and destroy everything in their path. Unusual is the way he orders his army in the face of the incoming threat, but none of his men are surprised at his words.
Until now they thought that
“Are those worms in the vision?”
Hundreds of giant worms ravage the army, swallowing dozens of hunters with their wide snouts and crushing them with their countless fangs.
The vision culminates with the death of the general.
“The vision must have been influenced by the current state of the Forbidden Area, otherwise, there would be no explanation for such an army to follow that man. If I were in their place, I would look for ways to kill that general and replace him with anyone else.”
Lawrence is glad that the vision is subjective, because if he were in that position, it would be difficult to face the hundreds of demonic beasts that attacked them.
But not everyone agrees with his words. Serene Will looks towards a certain place and narrows her eyes. He was about to ask what was happening to her, when he sees her destroy the ground with her feet.
From the center of the hole, Serene Will picks up a ring.
“I knew it.”
Both superimpose the vision with the current place where she stands and swallow saliva.
“This is the storage ring of that general.”
Serene Will makes known the fact that no one wanted to say out loud.
“That vision was real. If we continue in this Forbidden Area, sooner or later we will have to face hundreds of demonic beasts, which by that time... their level will be very different from the one they faced.”