Half a day later.
The high-tier priestess Siriel, riding on the giant dark spider, looked once again at the small black spider in her hand, her brows furrowing as she said, "Although weâve gotten much closer to the target, theyâre retreating very quickly."
This puzzled Siriel, as if the target knew they would come after them, but sheâs certain that the little contraption made by their legendary mistress Lorina couldnât possibly be detected by the target.
"Canât catch up?" Upon hearing Sirielâs words, the guard captain Narrell also knitted his brows.
The two are in it together now; if they canât capture or eliminate the target, they wonât be able to account to their mistress, and they will definitely be punished upon return.
This consequence is rather serious.
"Less than a fifty percent chance. If I havenât judged wrong, they should be heading towards the ancient Moritan passage. I suggest we take the underground path and block them before they enter the passage."
After half a day of pursuit, determining the targetâs general direction was easy for Siriel, who is familiar with the Underdark terrain.
"Take the underground path?" Upon hearing this, the guard captain Narrellâs brows furrowed deeply.
The eye tyrant is not easy to handle.
No wonder Narrell is worried because deeper underground in the Underdark are even more powerful aberrations.
For instance, the path Siriel suggested traverses through the territory of an eye tyrant, Zergelos, close to the legendary level.
The enemy also has enhanced fighting power in its lair.
Therefore, generally, even he, a high-tier transcendent, would not be willing to risk potential conflict by passing through the enemyâs territory.
"It shouldnât be a big issue; weâre not invading, merely passing through." Upon hearing the high-tier priestess Siriel say this, the guard captain Narrell hesitated for a moment before nodding in agreement.
After all, with their current strength, they can at least ensure a safe retreat even if they do encounter eye tyrant Zergelos.
But if they canât catch up to the guy who stole the family treasure, life wonât be easy upon returning.
...
Two days later.
After racing for two days, Raine and his crew were only half a dayâs journey from the ancient Moritan passage. Everyone relaxed considerably, joyfully conversing now and then.
"Sulfur Vine, donât you feel that this journey has been too dull?" Laisa tugged at Sulfur Vineâs hand, shaking it.
"Dull? Why do you think itâs dull?"
"Do you remember the last time we came to the Underdark? It was so thrilling and lively!" Laisa reminisced wistfully, then her tone quickly dropped, "But this time? Weâre just guarding the teleportation array node, doing nothing! Not a single battle!"
At this point, Laisa couldnât help but glance at the familiar figure with twin hammers hanging from their waist ahead.
"Itâs Raineâs fault for not letting the two of us join in!"
Sulfur Vine smiled slightly, gently patting Laisaâs hand, saying:
"Mr. Raine is concerned about our safety after all. And to be honest, didnât you hear it from Meredith? As soon as she entered Erith, an incident occurred, and sheâs been waiting outside the city for Mr. Raine."
"Actually, with our classes level at level 4, even if we went, we wouldnât be much help."
"Moreover, we did contribute, guarding the teleportation arrayâs safety along with the Kreit Squad, didnât we?"
Just as Laisa was about to say more, suddenly!
"Whoâs there?"
Meredith, in the lead, immediately halted, crossing her curved swords before her, slightly bending her long legs into a defensive stance.
"Ah, itâs you again."
At this moment, a familiar voice to Raine rang out.
A man-sized fern slightly shifted, and a human wanderer in leather armor, gripping two daggers, emerged.
Raine raised a brow, immediately recognizing the person before them as the wanderer from the wing of Blazing Heaven they previously encountered.
"Youâre planning to pass through the ancient Moritan passage back to the surface, but sorry, itâs closed!"
"What? Why wonât you let us pass?" At this, Laisa, agitated, rushed to Meredithâs side, hands on hips inquiring.
However, amid Laisaâs questioning, the young wanderer merely tilted his head without responding.
As the Kreit brothers exchanged looks, Keller Kreit stepped forward with his magic staff, speaking, "Sir, judging by your emblem, you should belong to the Silver Battle Groupâs Blazing Heaven wing?"
Upon hearing Kellerâs words, the young manâs eyes widened, evidently surprised.
Charles was well aware that this adventurer squad wasnât part of the Urein Empireâs adventurer group; how did they know about his battle group?
After some perception, Charles found the person before him to be a caster soon entering the extraordinary, his demeanor softened significantly, as he explained:
"No choice, itâs orders from above."
Then, he shrugged, continuing, "In fact, if I let you pass, I would truly be harming you. General Kobataen isnât someone to mess with.
Already, two adventurer squads didnât heed my warning, insisting on breaking through. I didnât stop them, let them pass, and then the Empire... you know."