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Venus did not want to admit it but she knew she was lost. She had gotten lost the second she had taken her attention off of Maria. And now she did not know where to head.

She wanted to keep walking straight but the most was making it hard to know where she was heading. Turning around was not an option for her either.

"Stupid forest and stupid most. Why does it even need to exist?" Venus complained as she rubbed her arms. She was sure it had not been this cold a few seconds ago.

It was not until she was the shadow in the most did she start heading over to it. She reached for the shadow with her right hand and grasped the thin arm. And then she pulled.

It was not a hard pull. But it certainly caused the smaller figure to be pulled toward Venus. Likely because they had been shocked at the action.

"Hey, watch it." Kuro's familiar voice reached Venus's ears and her fear eased. She felt safer to have Kuro here with her.

Especially since she knew that Yuuki would not abandon Kuro at any cost. As long as she stuck around with the kid, she was sure to be rescued.

Not that she doubted Maria. But she had given the reason for the other to save Kuro. All she had done was irritate Maria and leave. a bad impression on her.

"Ah, it's only you. What are you doing here? Did you happen to get lost?" Venus asked. Her tone did not betray her happiness at not being alone any longer.

But of course, she could not show that side of herself. Especially not in front of the previous princess's son. Venus had her pride on the line.

"L-Lost? Of course not. I was just looking around for the others. T-They are the ones who got lost." If Venus had a lot of pride, so did Kuro.

It was a stalemate where both of them came to a mutual agreement. They were not lost, the other two were.

"So, should we keep walking straight? Or did we already miss the direction? J-Just asking for convenience's sake. There is no way we are lost." Venus finished the sentence with a small laugh.

The kid did not say anything to her nervous question.

"Let's go this way." He pointed to their 'apparent' front direction and the pair started walking, unaware of the eyes keeping watch on their every step.

The mist hid the sound of the footsteps following them. It also hid the glow of their predator's eyes.

And it especially hid the crouching figure that jumped as soon as they reached the appropriate mark.

…………………………..

"Those idiots. I told them to walk straight but they decided to stray away at the very first step." Yuuki raged. He sounded worried as well and it made Maria's mad feeling worse.

She looked back at the mist and it seemed to have thickened in a matter of minutes. It also had several discolorations that made it difficult to figure out what was going on.

"We can't help it if those idiots decide to get lost. All we can do is head back and get them out." Maria answered.

She tried to spot Venus's silhouette the most but was unable to. The mist was just too thick.

"The problem is not about retrieving them but finding them. The mist is a separate dimension and it spans a high mass. The only way to find the way through it was to walk straight." Yuuki explained.

Maria thought about the topic but it did not make much sense to her. Even if the most hidden profile, should there not be a sense of smell? Or other ways to track someone?

'System, can you track people through the mist?' Maria asked.

[The user is assured that the system can track subordinate 'Venus' through the mist. Should the system make a note of the starting point to guide the user back?]

The system asked.

'Yes,' Maria did not hesitate to answer.

"I have a way to track Venus through the mist and get back here. But I can only track Venus accurately. Do you still want to tag along?" Maria asked.

As much as she did not want to leave Kuro to the mist's mercy, she did not have the resources to retrieve him as well. She had to focus on her curse.

"Might as well tag along. Besides, I owe you an explanation about why I decided to bring Kuro along on this journey." Yuuki sighed.

Maria tilted her head to signal the other to continue. This was a topic she was interested in as well.

Even then, she felt like she already knew the answer.

"Kuro is cursed, just as you are. He has magic but cannot use it properly due to his curse. Initially, he was to be the node's partner before the Albest continent decided to interfere and made our guardian angry." Yuuki explained.

Maria had already guessed this much.

"The guardian is the girl you met in the forest. The one who looks like our queen. They used to be a single entity but the loss of more caused them to separate. The man, no, the divine beast of the upper realm did this to her as punishment for 'aiding' Albert." Yuuki's eyes flashed as he spoke those words.

They sounded almost like a curse to Maria so she did not pay much emphasis to them.

But what did catch her attention was the mention of the upper realm. It reminded her of the man she had met in her vision. The one who had addressed her despite her having no physical form.

It assured her that there was something more about the higher realm beings. Something that made them stand out, changed them in a way no human or demon was capable of.

"That being from the upper realm? Do you know anything about him? Any description or such?" Maria asked but she did not have much confidence in being answered back.

And yet, the man in front of her looked back at her with glowing eyes.

"Of course, I know. I saw that man with my own eyes. His glowing golden eyes refuse to leave my mind. That aura of power was also something I have never experienced before. I am ashamed to say but I am terrified of that creature." Yuuki sounded calm.

Maria would not have been able to gauge his fear from his words alone.

But having seen the real thing, Maria knew why the man felt his way about that being from the upper realm. There had been something dangerous about him.

"Well, I will have to face him one day if he is the opposite. And - look. We found Venus and she has Kiro with her." Maria's train of thought was cut short as soon as she spotted the pair.

The pair seemed to not have heard her, nor seen her. So Maria decided to walk closer to them.

[Warning. Hostile entity approaching. The user is asked to be cautious]

Maria did not hear the attack, but she still reacted to the system's warning. Her first reaction had been to use her chains and they blocked the incoming claws.

The resulting class finally managed to drag the other two's attention toward Maria.

"Run. Get out of his claw range." Maria ordered. The claw had enough power to even push her back and she had to wrap her chain around the ankle and pull.

The creature cried out in pain but there was no visible wound. The skin had been tough enough to have withstood her assault. The chains were useless if they could not breach the skin.

"Should I try attacking it with magic? I'm sure I can do some damage." Venus suggested as she maneuvered her body and Kuro out of the attack range.

She was careful to protect her left side while keeping a weapon on her right. Where did she get the knife? Maria had no idea of the brainpower to spend on this topic.

Thankfully, she could count on Yuuki to protect the other two while she dealt with the beast.

"Head toward the exit. It's to your left and straight. I will be able to find you once I'm done here. Do not separate." Maria ordered as her attention was taken by the beast in front of her again.

Yuki did not need another reminder about the task and finally decided to go drag the other two toward the exit.

Maria covered their backside as the trio made their way outside. The beast had tried to circle her a few times and get past her defenses. But Maria had held on and even pushed back against the beast.

"It's you and me against each other. Better get used to it soon if you don't want to die here." Maria tainted. The beast did not look like it would listen to her.

Maria did not want to kill him either but there was no other way to liberate the beast.

More accurately, Maria did not have enough time to figure out another way to liberate the beast. And she was not nice enough to leave him and allow him to come after the group.

Maria had learned her lesson. And sometimes, eliminating the danger forever was the better option.