"You're going to the Seventh Sanctum to look for William?" Celeste frowned after hearing Chloee's report.
"Um, the Headmaster isn't sure if Will is inside the Seventh Sanctum," Chloee replied. "However, he gave me an artifact that could detect if students of the Academy have entered the Forbidden Ground. If the artifact does find traces of William's group, I am tasked to find them and bring them out safely."
Celeste rubbed her temple. She didn't expect that the Half-Elf would do something as dangerous as enter the Seventh Sanctum without notifying the Academy. If she knew beforehand, she would definitely send Chloee to accompany him on his journey.
"Very well, you may go," Celeste stated. "If William really went inside that dangerous place, make sure to bring him back alive, no matter what. Do you understand, Chloee?"
"Yes." Chloee nodded.
Claire, who was listening quietly to the side, frowned, but she didn't have any opinion whatsoever about Chloee's mission. Instead, she patted her twin's shoulder and told her to be careful.
"I'm off!" Chloee said as she flew out through the window of Celeste's room.
Celeste and Claire watched her small figure disappear from their sights with complicated emotions.
As a Familiar, even if Chloee died inside the Forbidden Ground, Celeste could summon her once again. However, that didn't mean that she didn't feel sad or hurt whenever one of her Familiars died.
Chloee and Claire were born from Celeste's soul. When they died, the beautiful Elf would feel a stinging pain in the core of her being.
William felt the same when Elliot and Conan died. Although the pain would subside given time, it was still a painful reminder to Celeste and William that a part of them had died alongside their Familiars.
—–
Two weeks had passed since William and Aldric had started to make their way towards the North Western Regions of the Forbidden Ground.
They had encountered several mishaps along the way, but with the help of the Diabolical Hell Ape, they were able to arrive at their destination.
William, Chiffon, Lilith, and Aldric stared at a vast expanse of land where several purple rivers met.
Lightning streaked towards the ground en-masse, and thunder roared endlessly.
Aldric's expression became grim because not only were the lightning bolts truly dangerous, the rivers that surrounded the area were branches of the River of Samsara.
One mistake and they would find themselves in an endless cycle of birth and rebirth, that would only stop after their thirteenth lifetime.
"William, Chiffon, Lilith, no matter what happens, don't fall on the river," Aldric said with a serious expression. "That is the River of Samsara. If you fall on that river, your obsessions and memories will be taken from you, and you will undergo a series of lifetimes through the cycle of death and rebirth. I advise all of you to tread lightly."
William frowned when he heard Aldric's explanation. Looking at the raging rivers that were similar to purple snakes that covered the entirety of his vision, he wanted to curse out loud.
With such difficult terrain to maneuver, and the constant bombardment of lightning from above, the Half-Elf felt that finding the Hall of Thunder within this hell-like place would prove to be extremely dangerous.
Just as William was about to ask Optimus if it had a better idea about how to traverse through the region, a series of notifications rang inside his head.
The map on his status page enlarged and hundreds of purple dots appeared and seemed to be headed in their direction.
< Will, according to my calculations, these Black-Striped Terror Rats seemed to have locked onto our location. >
'What?! Why?!"
William's mind raced as he thought of several possibilities as to why these rats had run all the way from their forest to look for them.
'I clearly escaped the moment I threw the lollipops, so they are not after me,' William then gazed at the Diabolical Hell Ape who seemed to have also sensed that something was amiss. 'Don't tell me…'
< That is the only possibility. The Black-Striped Terror Rats are after the Diabolical Hell Ape. >
'F*ck!'
Soon, the ground trembled as the Horde of Terror Rats appeared in their vision. Shrill shrieks that spoke of death spread throughout their surroundings as the monster horde eyed William's group with murderous eyes.
"Chiffon! Go!" William ordered as he tried to open a portal that led to the Thousand Beast Domain.
The pink-haired girl didn't waste any time and instantly teleported into William's domain using the wedding ring on her finger.
Just like Princess Sidonie's Collar of Wisteria, William had added a special feature on Chiffon's wedding ring, to allow her to travel to the Thousand Beast Domain, anytime, anywhere.
Once Chiffon was safe, William started to open a portal so Lilith and Aldric could also enter his Domain. However, as the portal slowly formed in front of William's group, a Heavenly Lightning Bolt struck it, dispersing the portal instantly.
William, Lilith, and Aldric were blown away by the explosion, sending them skidding a few meters away from where they once stood.
"Run!" William hastily stood up from the ground and activated his heroic avatar.
Lilith and Aldric glanced in his direction before running towards the hell-like land that was right in front of them.
William held the golden staff in his hand and aimed its tip at the approaching monster horde.
"Quick Shot War Art, Fourth Form!" William roared. "Grand Bazooka!"
A powerful explosion exploded from the golden staff's tip and flew towards the hundreds of Terror Rats.
The bodies of the rats glowed crimson as they unleashed their racial ability, a horrendous sound that was similar to fingernails scraping a chalkboard, reached William's ears.
Hundreds of giant Crimson Blades, that had the power to rend space, met William's attack creating a powerful explosion that blew him, and several of the rats away from where they stood.
After regaining his footing, William hastily dodged to the side, to evade the Primal Rends that were raining down on him.
The attacks that he had evaded created craters that were over ten meters wide, forcing William to use the golden staff as a pole vault to gain distance.
He had discovered a while ago that he couldn't fly in this hell-like region, which made escape very difficult.
Turning his head to look at his companions, he saw Lilith summon a crystal bridge to cross to the other side safely.
Aldric, on the other hand, summoned fireballs to attack the Crimson Blades that were headed in their direction.
William gritted his teeth as he shot several Railguns to repel the Crimson Blades that Aldric wasn't able to hit.
Thanks to the power of his golden staff that could lengthen itself, the Half-Elf jumped over the Rivers of Samsara without worries.
He was about to give the Terror Rats the middle finger when he noticed something unexpected.
Instead of stopping their pursuit, the Giant Rats stepped over each other's bodies, using them as a stepping stone to jump over the river.
If William was alone, he would have no trouble escaping the monster horde. Unfortunately, he couldn't leave Lilith and Aldric behind, so he was forced to engage the Terror Rats in order to delay their mad pursuit.
Ruyi Jingu Bang lengthened as William prepared to swat the Terror Rats, and send them to the torrential rivers that surrounded the land like a spiderweb.
Just as William was about to unleash his devastating attack, several Heavenly Lightning Bolts fell on his body.
He had already anticipated that this would happen, so he had swapped his Job Class to Prince of Thunder. Unfortunately, the Heavenly Lightning Bolts were not ordinary lightning bolts. They contained a piece of Heaven's Will that tested the limits of humanity.
Even if William was immune to lightning, he still felt a stinging pain as he was pushed away by the lightning bolts, breaking his stance mid-air.
A mighty roar erupted in the distance, followed by ear-piercing shrieks.
Aldric had transformed into his original form and entered a slugfest with four Myriad Black-Striped Terror Rats.
Lilith, on the other hand, was about to cross her crystal bridge when a Crimson Blade split it in two.
Showing her no mercy, the Terror Rats unleashed dozens of Crimson Blades in her direction.
With the raging purple river in front of her, and dozens of Primal Rends behind her, Lilith was left with no room to maneuver as the Primal Rends tore through space and headed in her direction.
Just as the Crimson Blades were about to land on her body, William appeared in front of her.
Using Ruyi Jingu Bang as a shield, he prepared himself to endure the powerful barrage that was strong enough to obliterate them.
With each blade that landed on the golden staff's body, William's feet skid on the crystal bridge. Blood started to flow at the corner of his lips because each attack that fell on him hit like a truck.
Suddenly, just as he thought that the worst was over, a gigantic crimson blade fell upon his body, sending him, and Lilith hurtling towards the River of Samsara.
William hurriedly reached out to the Amazon Princess and used his body to break their fall on the river's surface.
The Black-Striped Terror Rats angrily ran along the river bank as they searched for their prey. They were Myriad Beasts so it was very easy for them to detect any signs of life, even if it was beneath the waters.
Five minutes later, the Black-Striped Terror Rats shrieked and ran towards the Diabolical Hell Ape who was being attacked from all sides.
Now that the pests were gone, it was time for them to take their revenge.. They charged at the Giant Ape with their fangs bared in fury, no longer caring for the two people that had fallen into the raging River of Samsara.
