Time continued to pass.
The Matriarch continued to consolidate her power. The teams continued to advance in the Life Zone.
And in the Mad Zone…
Three silhouettes blurred as they crossed many landscapes at supersonic speeds.
“Varian, why are you down for the last two days?” Sarah asked in a worried voice. “Is it the Undead?”
Today, they shook off three Undead teams. But it wasn’t even noon. Much to Sarah’s worry, the frequency of Undead chases was only increasing.
Due to the sheer numbers and strength of the pursuers, even Varian didn’t intend to fight them despite it being the quickest way to grow stronger. The chances of them being grievously injured in such a fight were more than 50%.
It could be said that most of the last three days were spent running.
There were only a few fights here and there. They improved Varian’s strength but the increment was limited.
“We need to get out of here, fast,” Varian replied amidst several quick breaths.
“Exit, but where?”
“Somewhere. We just have to keep searching.” Varian said in a determined tone.
Enigma glanced at him with a puzzled gaze. ‘…Why is he growing tense?’
She could feel it better than Sarah. Varian was growing restless. He’s looking fine and speaking fine, but he’s hiding something.
Enigma recalled the recent events and found nothing that could push him in this direction.
As she was about to confront him, Sarah’s delighted voice rang. “Mountains! Boundaries! I think we reached the exit!”
Varian’s face lit up and he turned to the screens.
The white fog, the characteristic of this crazy place, ended after a row of mountains.
After repeated failures, he concluded this white fog was preventing flight in this region. If it’s gone, they could simply fly away!
With a roar of laughter, Varian accelerated forward. The regions near the mountain ranges were composed of forests, swamps, and plateues.
Varian instinctively picked the path with the weakest auras.
A few minutes later, a peak level 9 aura rose into the air and chased after three teleporting silhouettes.
Due to the reckless teleportation, the three ended up poking another peak level 9. Only after two hours of continuous effort did they throw off these two peak level 9 beasts.
But before they could rest, they were once again chased by a group of Undead.
It was a sophisticated group of thirty level 9s, twenty peak level 8s.
“Fuck!”
Three hours passed before they were freed from the chase.
Varian, Sarah, and Enigma rested in a lake under a waterfall. Despite their experience, the stress was crushing them.
But having come this far, they could only move forward.
A few hours later, they cautiously moved forward.
Enigma and Sarah were using their darkness and light powers to minimize their presence. Of course, this minimization of presence wouldn’t work if their speed remained high. Compared to the usual speed they used, they’re nearly 70 times slower.
Even then, Undead in the vicinity would turn in their direction from time to time, and they almost got caught.
Thus, they picked a forest filled with only living beasts.
‘…Even with all these measures, the Undead are still able to find us.’ Enigma’s voice sounded in Varian’s mind.
Varian slowly stepped forward and maintained a heavy silence, both outside and inside.
Enigma sighed and followed.
While Varian’s restlessness settled down after they found the boundaries, she was thinking of measures in case things don’t go well.
The biggest issues, if they couldn’t exit this place, would be two.
Firstly, Varian’s shrinking days. They need a solution. And they need it fast. For this, they need to explore the region.
Secondly, Undead. Even with the dual concealment of light and darkness, these zombies nearly caught them. The only safe way to remain undetected is to stay in one place and use concealments.
But doing that would mean giving up on Varian.
Enigma felt a headache thinking of a solution in that case. Shaking her head, she looked at the distant mountains. ‘I hope we succeed and my worries remain as overthinking.’
The area near the supposed borders was filled with insanely strong beasts. Peak level 9 was still bearable, but Varian personally sensed at least a dozen Sovereign beasts.
Even with a pace akin to crawling, they had to be extremely cautious.
As a result, they spent three whole days in advancing toward the mountain range. During these ten days, they witnessed many battles between the giants. The Sovereign beasts died, destroyed the landscape, and showcased their might.
Rivers changed course, forests were burnt to ashes, snow vaporated, and sturdy plains turned into deep valleys.
But oddly, the border mountains remained the same. Even when the earth shook under the terrifying fights, they were incredibly stable, as if they were the paperweight keeping the paper called earth stable.
And as they got closer, an interesting discovery was made. The white fog was generated from the top of these mountains.
“One more day and we’ll be at the foot of the mountain ranges,” Enigma said as she extended her darkness. Sarah just started her rest and it was her turn to cover them.
“One day, huh.” Varian looked at the mountain ranges with a longing expression.
Once they get out of this hell, Varian vowed to pay back the kindness.
And then try to find a solutio—
BOOM!
Sarah opened her eyes and hurriedly covered them with a transparent light barrier, increasing the concealment.
A giant with human-like limbs and an ox head walked toward the mountain ranges in large steps.
He was as tall as a hundred-story building, as wide as an airplane, and his every step left behind a footprint three meters deep.
Varian and the girls watched on with curiosity and anticipation.
Only when the giant reached the mountain did they get a sense of how tall the mountain truly was.
Even such a huge giant was only one-tenth of its length! Not to mention the vastness, which was more than fifty times higher!
“Araghoawerow!” The giant roared and made some strange noises. Then, he clenched his fists and punched out at the mountain.
Varian sucked in a breath of cold air and waited for the outcome.
Would the mountains be blown into pieces? Or would they fly into the sky? Because this giant was a sovereign! And a strong sovereign at that!
But the expected result never came. Only a deafening, depressing silence filled the air.
Varian rubbed his eyes and watched the scene in front of him in disbelief. The giant’s fist touched the mountain, but it didn’t create even a single crack.
“W-What?” Varian was utterly dumbfounded.
“Arghaer!” The giant roared again and started punching. Its fists blurred and it punched out at the same spot hundreds of times in a single second. But the mountain remained sturdy as if proclaiming its majesty.
Then suddenly, a cracking sound rang in the air.
Varian noticed a crack in the mountain. It was small at first before it expanded rapidly. While the crack looked small on the mountain, it was nearly a hundred meters in length!
“So he figured a way to break the mountains? Good, good!”
They could simply follow the path carved by this giant and esca—
BOOM!
The mountain suddenly shook and the next second, the giant was sent flying, coughing out blood.
It fell just fifty miles away from Varian’s trio.
Its figure was deeply imprinted into the ground and the blood leaking out of it created a red lake!
Varian looked back at the mountain that seemed to have never moved and narrowed his eyes.
“…So you’re the final boss, huh.”
