After a brief night of rest, the horizon soon turned the color of a fish’s belly.
The further they traveled out of the Demonic Race’s territory, the more noticeable it became that the daylight hours were growing longer.
As Lin Shu stepped out of the small wooden cabin and looked up, the sky was a leaden gray, heavy with thick clouds.
“It looks like it’s going to rain.” Hati also looked up to observe the weather. “And it probably won’t be a light one.”
Dark clouds were rolling in from the distant horizon, carrying the faint, oppressive rumble of thunder.
“If we return the way we came, we’ll have to pass through a valley. If we get caught in a downpour, it might trigger a landslide.”
“To be safe, let’s take a slight detour and head toward the border area between the Demonic Race and the Sacred Race.”
“Once we reach the border, I’ll contact the Holy Church to send people to meet us.”
“Okay, I’ll follow your lead.” Lin Shu put on her cloak and pulled up the hood to cover her face.
“Wait, I almost forgot something.”
Lin Shu turned her head in confusion.
Hati pulled a keychain from an inner pocket and walked over. Holding both ends of the chain, she reached around Lin Shu’s neck and fastened it.
“Returning it to its rightful owner,” she said with a smile.
Lin Shu looked down and cupped the key hanging against her chest.
She still remembered the way Miya had looked at this key.
‘Since it is a symbol of the highest deity, will the people of the Holy Church be extremely obsessed with it?’
‘Once we reach the Sacred Race, will I encounter the same kind of trouble again?’
“What are you worried about? Your scent is starting to smell a bit bitter again.”
Hati suddenly leaned in closer.
Coming back to her senses, Lin Shu realized Hati’s hand was resting over the key, right on top of Lin Shu’s own palm.
“Hiss, why are your hands still so cold?” Hati frowned and, without another word, pulled Lin Shu’s hand over and pressed it against her own face.
The warmth of Hati’s cheek transferred into her palm.
“Does that feel any better?” Hati tilted her head slightly, her green eyes gazing intently at her.
Lin Shu looked back at her.
The Wolf Tribe girl’s eyes were bright and spirited. Her features were sharp, and combined with the well-defined contours of her face, she possessed a beauty full of vitality.
It was truly hard to imagine her reciting prayers in a cathedral.
“Were you thinking about that vampire again just now?” Hati’s tone dropped. “You’re not allowed to think about her anymore. Thinking about her only makes you unhappy.”
Lin Shu couldn’t help but laugh as she pulled her hand back. “No, I was just thinking about what will happen once we reach the Sacred Race.”
She turned to look into the distance. “It is indeed a bit cold. I suppose winter is approaching.”
“When we reach a village in the border zone, I’ll buy you some warm clothes.”
—
After that little interlude, Hati and Lin Shu set off once more.
To speed up their travel, they hitched a ride on a passing flatbed cart for part of the way. They only switched back to walking when they reached the border zone.
This was the boundary between the two nations.
The rocky beach was covered in all sorts of bizarrely shaped rocks, and the ground was uneven and jagged.
Lin Shu carefully stepped over the cracks in the ground while Hati led the way.
“The outpost isn’t far ahead. We’re almost there.”
As soon as she finished speaking, Hati’s ears and tail suddenly stood up straight. Her whole body tensed as she turned to stare in a certain direction.
Seeing her reaction, Lin Shu immediately stopped in her tracks as well.
Hati silently retreated to Lin Shu’s side and held an index finger to her lips, signaling for her to stay quiet.
A strange gurgling sound echoed out, accompanied by the wet, sliding noise of something moving between the rocks.
There was a monster.
Hati gently gripped Lin Shu’s wrist, and the two of them crouched low, moving slowly under the cover of the boulders.
Rounding a massive rock that blocked their view, they saw the source of the sound.
It was a creature with an extremely bizarre form.
It looked like a giant gray lizard with a smooth head. Strangely, a ring of white feathers grew around its neck, and its back was covered in dozens of short, twitching limbs.
It was sprawled across the surface of a rock, flicking its long tail as it slowly turned its head.
Lin Shu’s heart leaped into her throat.
In the monster’s mouth was a person!
It was a girl, her eyes wide and vacant. It was impossible to tell if she was dead or alive.
Lin Shu felt Hati’s hand stiffen beside her.
They locked eyes.
Saving the person was the priority.
Hati silently pointed toward the other side with her finger, gesturing for Lin Shu to run from that direction.
They let go of each other’s hands in a silent understanding and charged out from opposite ends.
“Gurgle?” The monster was startled by the sound of footsteps and whipped its head around.
It dropped the person in its mouth and lunged forward with a roar.
“Lin Shu, I’ll handle it! Don’t get close!” Hati shouted.
“I’ll help you.”
Lin Shu raised her hand, aimed at the target, and chanted the incantation for the **[Electric Spell]**.
A bolt of electricity shot out, striking the monster. The creature let out an angry roar, its wrinkled skin twitching violently as its movements momentarily seized up.
“Get lost, you ugly freak!!”
Hati seized the opportunity and leaped onto the monster’s back. With a flash of her sharp claws, she sliced off several of the wriggling short limbs.
While Hati was busy fighting the monster, Lin Shu sprinted to the girl’s side and hurriedly knelt down to check on her.
The girl’s eyes were still open, but her pupils were dilated.
Lin Shu placed a hand under her nose and felt a faint, weak breath.
“Hang in there! Don’t fall asleep!” Lin Shu shouted at her.
Seeing Lin Shu, the girl’s pupils momentarily regained focus. She struggled, her lips trembling. “Help… help me…”
Her voice was hoarse. Using every ounce of her strength, she raised a trembling finger and pointed toward the badge on her chest.
“Give to Ani…”
“Let her… live.” She seemed to want to say more, but no sound could escape her throat.
“Don’t fall asleep!” Lin Shu yelled while tearing a piece of her own clothing, trying to press down on the girl’s wounds to stop the bleeding.
There were two massive, bloody holes in her abdomen, seemingly pierced by the monster’s teeth. It was a gruesome sight, and the blood had already begun to clot on the fabric around the wounds.
The light slowly faded from the girl’s eyes, and her breathing ceased entirely.
“Roar!!”
A violent roar from the monster erupted behind them.
Lin Shu turned her head and saw that the creature had been battered and wounded all over by Hati.
Dripping with black blood, it recklessly smashed through the rocks in front of it, coiled its hind legs, and leaped into the distance.
It was fleeing.
“Hey!!” Hati started to give chase but suddenly skidded to a halt.
No, she couldn’t leave Lin Shu’s side.
Hati turned and rushed back to Lin Shu. “How is she?”
Lin Shu looked at the girl who had already lost all signs of life and silently shook her head.
They hadn’t made it in time…
Hati’s ears drooped. She knelt down and patted Lin Shu’s shoulder.
The girl was dressed in simple, coarse linen clothes. She looked to be only in her teens.
This was one of the few civilian humans Lin Shu had encountered in this other world.
Lin Shu took the badge from the girl’s chest.
“Before she died, she only said one thing. It seemed like she wanted to give this to someone named Ani.”
The badge was covered in blood. Lin Shu wiped away the stains with her finger, revealing an engraving of a high tower.
“Eh, this is…?” Hati leaned in to look, suddenly recognizing it.
“It’s the badge of the Spirit Tower.”
“You recognize it? What is the Spirit Tower?”
“Lin Shu, do you remember? I mentioned before that there is an organization in the Sacred Race dedicated to studying magic. That’s the Spirit Tower.”