Minutes passed in the snowy forest.
The loud, sudden cries of the Elder Ghost Crawler had completely disappeared, leaving only the sound of cold wind moving through the snow-covered trees.
Whoosh!
Several figures suddenly rushed out of the main underground cave entrance of the Ghost Crawlers.
"Out!"
Hugh shouted joyfully as he finally reached the outside.
The cold breeze immediately struck his body, passing through his clothes and making him shiver.
For a moment, he simply stood there and breathed in the cold air.
After everything they had just gone through underground, even the freezing temperature felt better than the damp air of the Ghost Crawler nest.
Samuel landed beside him.
His boots sank slightly into the snow as he bent his knees to absorb the force of the landing.
He slowly straightened himself and looked around.
The forest stretched in every direction.
Snow covered the ground and the branches of the trees, while the pale sky above made the entire area seem almost colorless.
"It really does look like a ghost ground from all those stories I have read."
Samuel said as he knelt slightly, his hand resting against the snow-covered ground while he caught his breath.
Agnes immediately walked over and kicked him lightly.
"We don’t have time to admire the environment!"
Samuel stumbled slightly from the kick.
Agnes turned toward Hugh and glared at him.
"We have to keep moving."
She said,
Hugh understood immediately.
The group couldn’t stay here.
They had escaped the underground nest, but they were still inside the Black Zone, and the forest around them wasn’t safe.
Diane slowly looked down at the deep hole of the underground cave.
Her eyes searched for any sign of Ezra and the remaining people.
"We have to leave this habitat before we can use our Spatial Scroll to escape."
She said in her usual soft, tired tone.
Her eyelids were already lowering.
The exhaustion from the battle was finally catching up to her.
The strain from maintaining her Frost Alchemy, using the Law of Inversion, and fighting the Elder Ghost Crawler had drained most of her Cognis.
At this point, it was obvious that Diane wanted nothing more than to sleep.
"What about Ezra Ashenlocke and the rest?"
Samuel asked worriedly.
He was still breathing heavily.
His chest rose and fell with every breath, and his legs felt heavy after everything he had gone through.
Even so, he was forcing himself to remain standing.
He didn’t want to collapse like Jeremy.
The others were in almost the same condition.
Their clothes were dirty.
Their bodies carried small injuries.
Their Cognis reserves were almost empty.
Yet nobody complained, because they still had to get out.
Then...
All four pairs of eyes flinched slightly.
A powerful Cognis fluctuation suddenly came from deep inside the underground cave.
It was moving at high speed.
But that wasn’t all.
Multiple other fluctuations were following behind it.
Agnes’s expression changed.
She didn’t need to ask what it meant.
"Let’s move now."
She smiled as she turned toward the forest.
The others immediately turned in the same direction.
They pushed whatever strength they had left into their legs and flashed away through the snowy forest.
Their boots struck the snow as they moved between the trees.
The cold wind hit their faces.
None of them slowed down.
Not when they knew what was coming from behind.
Meanwhile, inside the underground cave...
Ezra ran along the walls of the cave.
His feet remained attached to the stone through the Cognis he had passed into the soles of his boots.
His body moved at full speed.
He wasn’t simply running.
He was also dodging.
Webs flew toward him from behind.
Splat!
Ezra tilted his body.
The web passed beside his shoulder and struck the wall.
Venomous spit followed immediately afterward.
Ezra shifted his body again.
The venom passed beneath him and splashed against the wall.
Ssssss...
The stone began melting.
Ezra didn’t even look back.
He continued running while holding Emily around her waist with his right arm.
Jeremy’s unconscious body was secured with his left arm, while he kept using Cognis to maintain his boot grip on the wall while continuing to run along the cave wall.
Emily could barely keep track of what was happening.
The speed at which Ezra was moving made the underground cave blur around her.
Plus, the fact that everywhere was dark, because of the lack of sunlight.
Stone walls passed beside them.
Webs struck the places they had occupied only moments before.
The clicking cries of the Young Ghost Crawlers grew louder behind them.
"Kik-kik-kik-kik!"
"Kik-kik-kik-kik!"
"Kik-kik-kik-kik!"
The creatures were chasing them.
Emily turned her head.
Several Young Ghost Crawlers were crawling across the walls behind them.
Their violet eyes reflected the faint light from the cave entrance.
They were closing the distance.
Ezra noticed the light ahead.
A small opening appeared in the darkness.
The outside world.
Snow.
Cold air.
And...
Freedom.
Ezra pushed more Cognis into his legs.
His speed increased.
He reached the cave entrance.
A web flew toward him.
Ezra twisted his body.
The web splattered against the stone behind him.
He jumped.
His body shot out of the underground cave.
The Young Ghost Crawlers attacked immediately after.
Multiple webs splattered across the position Ezra had just left.
Splat!
Splat!
Splat!
The creatures reached the entrance.
"Kik-kik-kik-kik!"
"Kik-kik-kik-kik!"
"Kik-kik-kik-kik!"
Their cries echoed out of the cave and into the snowy forest.
Ezra was already falling through the air.
BOOM!
He landed hard on the ground.
Snow scattered away from the place where his boots struck.
For a brief moment, his knees bent from the impact.
But Ezra didn’t stop.
He immediately burst forward.
"AHHHHHHHH!"
Emily screamed as Ezra moved through the snowy forest at full speed.
The sudden acceleration made her body jolt against him.
She tightened her grip around him.
Behind them, the Young Ghost Crawlers rushed out of the cave.
Their many legs tore through the snow as they chased after Ezra.
The race continued through the snowy forest for a long while.
Branches shook as the monsters passed beneath them.
Snow fell from the trees.
The clicking cries of the Young Ghost Crawlers continued echoing through the forest.
Eventually, Agnes, Diane, Hugh, and Samuel reached the outside of the Ghost Crawler habitat.
They stopped near a large mountain.
The enormous mountain of the Whitecrest Eagles stood before them, its slopes covered in snow.
The mountain rose above the surrounding forest, and several large nests could be seen higher up along its rocky surface.
"Let’s set up the Spatial Scroll here."
Diane pointed lazily toward an open area close to the large mountain.
"Seriously?"
Samuel looked at her hesitantly.
The location was completely exposed.
There were no trees around them to hide behind, and the mountain was close enough that they could easily attract the attention of the Whitecrest Eagles.
The Young Ghost Crawlers could also reach them if they weren’t careful.
Diane didn’t seem concerned.
"Quiet, and act."
She said simply.
She took out her Spatial Scroll.
Diane unfolded it and carefully laid it on the snow-covered ground.
She was about to pass her Cognis into it.
But she stopped.
She exhaled slowly.
Her breathing was heavier than before.
Even this simple movement made her exhausted body complain.
Diane reached into her Space Bag and took out her materials.
She couldn’t afford to wait.
The enemies were coming.
She ignited another Frost Alchemy.
Light-blue Cognis gathered around her hand.
The surrounding cold responded to it.
The material began changing shape.
A Frost Bow formed in her hands.
Diane slowly raised it.
Her eyes turned toward the upper part of the mountain.
Toward the main nest of the Whitecrest Eagles.
Agnes, Samuel, and Hugh immediately understood what she was about to do.
None of them asked questions.
They quickly took out their own Spatial Scrolls.
They unfolded them and prepared to ignite them.
Diane placed her fingers around the Frost Bow.
Her breathing remained slow as she slowly pulled the string back.
The bow creaked under the tension.
An arrow of ice formed.
The sharp tip pointed toward the Whitecrest Eagle nest.
The others continued preparing their Spatial Scrolls.
They didn’t have much time.
Not long after, they were ready.
Then Ezra finally appeared.
He ran out of the forest with the remaining two people in his hands.
"Urghhh..."
Emily’s face turned pale.
Her stomach felt as if it were about to turn itself inside out from the way Ezra had been running.
She had barely been able to breathe during the journey.
Ezra suddenly dropped her.
Boom.
"Ouch!"
Emily hit the snow-covered ground face-first.
"Urgh."
She raised her head slowly.
Her stomach still felt like she was going to vomit again, but she forced herself to hold it back.
Emily immediately reached into her Space Bag.
She took out her Spatial Scroll.
Ezra had already told her what to do the moment they reached the others.
She quickly unfolded it.
At the same time, Ezra took out Jeremy’s Spatial Scroll.
He opened it and placed Jeremy’s unconscious body beside it.
Then he placed his hand over the scroll.
Cognis flowed from his palm.
Violet light spread across the surface.
The Scroll Alchemy Circle slowly ignited.
The others didn’t immediately run over to greet Ezra and the rest.
They wanted to.
But they knew better.
They all had to ignite their Spatial Scrolls and escape first.
Only after they were safe could they celebrate being together again.
Diane immediately released the string of her Frost Bow.
Fwoosh!
The ice arrow shot upward.
At the same time, the clicking cries of the Young Ghost Crawlers grew closer.
"Kik-kik-kik-kik!"
"Kik-kik-kik-kik!"
The sound was coming from the forest.
Closer.
And closer.
The others heard it.
They knew they had almost no time left.
Diane’s arrow continued through the air.
Then...
Slam!
Agnes, Samuel, Emily, Hugh, Diane, and Ezra all slammed their hands onto their Spatial Scrolls.
The violet-purple Cognis glow spread across the snow.
The Spatial Alchemy Circles began to brighten.
The Young Ghost Crawlers suddenly burst out of the forest.
Their bodies pushed through the snow-covered trees as they rushed toward the group.
"Kik-kik-kik-kik!"
"Kik-kik-kik-kik!"
Their violet eyes locked onto the group.
The violet-purple glow from the Spatial Alchemy illuminated the area around them.
The Young Ghost Crawlers charged.
The Spatial Alchemy was almost ready.
But...
A different sound suddenly echoed across the snowy forest.
"KREEEEEEEEEEEEE...RAAAAAAA!"
Another cry followed.
"KREEEEEEEEEEEEE...RAAAAAAA!"
The aggressive calls of the Whitecrest Eagles spread across the mountain.
Large shadows moved over the snow.
The Young Ghost Crawlers stopped.
Their violet eyes shifted upward.
Several enormous Whitecrest Eagles were diving down from the mountain.
Their wings spread wide as they descended toward the monsters that had just entered their territory.
Diane’s ice arrow had reached its target.
The Whitecrest Eagle nest.
The moment the Eagles noticed the disturbance, their attention had turned toward the intruders.
And at that exact moment, the Young Ghost Crawlers came rushing out of the forest, screaming loudly.
The timing was perfect.
The monsters immediately collided.
The Whitecrest Eagles attacked the Young Ghost Crawlers.
The Young Ghost Crawlers fought back.
Claws struck against armored bodies.
Wings beat against the air.
The creatures screamed and fought across the snow.
The group didn’t stay to watch.
Their Spatial Alchemy finally ignited.
The violet light spread across their bodies.
One by one, they began to disappear.
Ezra was among the last to vanish.
The final thing he saw was the snowy forest behind them.
Whitecrest Eagles and Young Ghost Crawlers were fighting in the middle of the snow.
Their cries continued echoing through the forest.
Then everything disappeared.
***
Ezra opened his eyes.
Gentle snow was falling onto his face.
He remained lying down.
His hands moved slightly.
Cold stone pressed beneath his palms.
He had landed on a stone platform.
Voices came from somewhere far away.
They sounded distant.
Muffled.
Ezra couldn’t make out what they were saying.
His Cognis was almost completely exhausted.
His body felt heavy after everything that had happened inside the Black Zone.
He tried to move.
But his body didn’t respond as quickly as he wanted.
The exhaustion finally caught up with him.
His eyelids became heavier.
Ezra slowly closed his eyes again.
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