"Here, take this."
Mieren handed Akidou an orange stone.
"Oh. This morning, when Omelet touched this stone, the mist disappeared immediately."
Akidou took the stone and examined it for a moment.
"I found a lot of these inside the fairy village. I think they'll be useful."
They sat there eating and waiting for Omelet to wake up.
Shinji looked up at the sky. The sun was slowly drifting toward the horizon.
"Beautiful, isn't it? We rarely get to see this," Shinji said.
"Rare? We see it all the time in Heavenfield," Lumber replied while eating, crumbs flying out of his mouth.
"That's gross!"
Gumber immediately covered his brother's mouth.
Suddenly, Omelet coughed.
"Omelet's awake!"
Akidou quickly called out to everyone.
Omelet slowly sat up, stretched a little, then rubbed his eyes.
"Hey, what's going on? Why are you all staring at me like that?"
Everyone's eyes were shining brightly as they looked at him.
"Come on, hurry up!"
"Or we'll be sleeping outside tonight!"
The two brothers, Lumber and Gumber, spoke at the same time, snatching the orange stone from Akidou and holding it out toward Omelet.
"Do what you did this morning!"
Before Omelet could respond, Gumber pressed the stone right up to his face.
"Hey, stop."
Omelet stood up.
"Alright. Even though my body still feels a bit tired…"
He slowly reached his hand toward the stone.
"Hurry up!"
"Hurry up!"
The moment Omelet's finger touched the stone, a white light flashed once more. His body began to glow, and the wings behind him gradually grew larger.
A loud explosion rang out.
The white mist ahead was torn apart, creating a hole that stretched straight forward.
"What… why is it…"
Lumber and Gumber stepped closer.
"It's so small?"
This time, the opening was tiny—only enough for them to walk through in single file. Beyond that, the mist still covered everything thickly, only thinning slightly around the path.
"Move it, humans! It might close again!"
Mieren urged them.
As soon as Omelet finished, he fainted again. Akidou quickly picked him up. Gumber climbed onto Alba's shoulder. Shinji carried a large bag of bread, and Lio held his sword as he walked in front.
"Let's go, everyone!"
Gumber urged from Alba's shoulder.
Lumber walked below, glaring up at his brother.
"Hey, must be comfortable up there, huh?"
"Deal with it, big brother. I'm still injured."
Lumber could only grumble and keep walking.
"I'm injured too…"
After walking for a while through the mist, the ground beneath them gradually turned brown. Withered vines lay scattered across the ground.
"What the hell is this?"
Lumber panicked.
"Careful, a ghost might grab your legs, big bro," Gumber teased.
"That's strange… wasn't the ground green just now?" Shinji muttered as he walked.
Suddenly, a violent roar tore through the air.
Even though the mist had partially opened, their visibility was still extremely limited.
Lio suddenly raised his hand to stop everyone.
"What is it, Lio?"
Shinji asked nervously.
Without answering, Lio immediately dropped flat onto the ground. The rest quickly followed.
BOOM!
A long leg slammed down right in front of them. The grinding of fangs echoed sharply.
The leg had multiple joints, and at its end was a sharp claw that pierced straight through the earth.
From afar, a gigantic spider gradually emerged from the mist, striding on its long legs.
Alba—the tallest among them—was still not as tall as the claw at the end of one of its legs.
"So… so huge…"
Shinji whispered unconsciously.
As the spider became clearer, countless long brown tentacles could be seen beneath its abdomen, brushing against the ground.
Each step it took made the earth tremble.
Ahead of it, a Grave Hopper was grooming its beard, completely unaware of the danger.
As the spider passed by, one tentacle lightly touched the Grave Hopper.
Instantly, a sharp leg stabbed down, splitting the unfortunate creature in half.
The spider wrapped its tentacles around the corpse and pulled it upward. In the middle of its body was a mouth filled with sharp teeth. It swallowed the prey whole and chewed noisily.
Then it continued striding forward.
Toward them.
The entire group immediately jumped up and ran in the opposite direction.
"That's terrifying… I wonder if it saw us…" Lumber whispered to his brother.
Suddenly, the spider stopped.
Then it turned its head toward them.
"What the hell?!"
They instantly turned and ran at full speed.
"Hurry up! It's going to eat us all!" Lumber shouted.
After running for their lives for quite some time, they finally managed to lose the spider.
But the mist ahead was no longer as clear as before. There was only a narrow path, and the fog would thin only as they moved forward.
"I wonder if there are more of those things ahead…"
Alba panted heavily.
They continued moving.
Suddenly, the large bag Lio was carrying began to move.
He stopped abruptly.
A small head popped out from inside.
"Hi!"
Everyone jumped.
"Zoe?"
"What are you doing here, Zoe?"
Shinji asked in confusion.
"I'll explain later. But I'm not here alone!"
From the large bag Shinji was carrying, two more Musherians appeared.
Beast and Ceasar.
Beast wore a blue mushroom cap, while Ceasar wore an iron helmet.
"Zoe, won't your friends worry about you?"
Zoe immediately shook her head.
"No. We already told them. Staying inside the tree all the time is boring. Going on an adventure outside is much more fun!"
The mist grew thinner, but the distant roars of monsters still hadn't stopped.
Shinji and Lio were exhausted and slowed down at the back. Akidou led the group, carrying Omelet as he walked ahead.
Beneath the soft soil, two sharp fangs lay in wait.
Akidou didn't notice.
Crunch!
The two fangs sank straight into his leg.
"Ahhh!"
Akidou screamed in pain and fell, causing Omelet to drop to the ground as well.
Everyone rushed over.
The creature bit down so hard that its two fangs pierced completely through Akidou's leg, protruding out the other side.
"It hurts… don't pull it…"
The creature had a round body and two small wings. Its large eyes were positioned close to its two fangs. Its four legs kept clawing at Akidou's leg, causing him even more agony.
Each fang was as large as a palm, covered in blood. The wound kept bleeding.
"Damn it… what the hell is this thing? It's as clingy as a leech!"
Lumber angrily poked it, only making it tighten its grip.
Lio stepped forward and raised his sword to strike it down.
"This creature… I feel like I've seen it somewhere before…"
Zoe muttered.
Then suddenly shouted:
"Wait! Stop!"
But it was too late.
Lio's sword came down.
Clang!
The blade bounced back, a large chunk chipped off from the edge.