Chapter 100

After Sierra escorted the group to the central layer, she stayed for a while.

Like the others, she noticed the strangeness of the Forbidden Zone. She wondered what surprises the mind of this world in the center had in store for them. She couldn't accompany them without being discovered, so she could only wish them luck.

In the next couple of days, unless something serious happens, she won't be meeting with the group. Moreover, she did not think that the group would return the same way.

She needed to find traces of other outsiders and the local population who gather in this Forbidden Zone in order to be ready to fulfill her end of the bargain.

Having made a decision, Sierra turned around, spread all her three pairs of wings and headed for the border of the outer layer with the middle one.

According to her guesses, it was there that the group would be ambushed after their return.

She also assumed that probably all the doppelgangers of the Forbidden Zone were concentrated on this border in order to detain Arabel and Idan's group when they returned.

The forbidden zone could act according to the established rules and send a limited number of doppelgangers against the so-called examinees, which were Arabel and Idan's group.

Sierra assumed that Limbo's mind did not want to prematurely lose its pawns and decided to gather them all in one place to prevent the group from returning. Instead of doppelgangers, it dispatched all the available beasts to delay the group's progress for a while.

"System, we've finally reached the designated location. Can you tell us what kind of beast we need to tame and how to find it?" Arabel asked, hoping to get hints from the System to complete the task.

— instead of giving a hint, their System only reminded them of the dangers of the central layer again and urged them to focus on survival.

Although the couple was unhappy with this response, they did not swear.

Their System was a bit wayward, but the fact that she advised them to try to survive was worrying.

They trusted the System's words and didn't dwell on the issue of the unique beast, instead they paid attention to the environment and what was happening around them.

As advised by the System, they decided to trust the case and wait for some more time.

The air in the central part of the forest was heavy and oppressive.

With each step, the surrounding environment changed. The trees grew taller and the vegetation thicker.

However, what bothered the group the most was that, despite the abundance of vegetation, there was a deathly silence around. They could only hear their own footsteps, breathing, and the rustle of leaves under their feet.

All this created unbearable pressure, and they felt very anxious.

Idan suffered the most from this.

Under the oppressive atmosphere and the powerful flow of madness energy, his desire, which had previously been barely noticeable and tolerable, began to grow much faster.

He tried his best to contain this surging feeling.

Only one creature, surprisingly, enjoyed being in this place.

It was Izzy— the spirit Nemo had made a contract with. She felt at home in this place.

All of her abilities have almost doubled, and her ability to detect dangers has improved significantly. Thanks to her, the group quickly moved deeper without encountering any resistance.

They had never imagined that the absence of enemies, beasts, and doppelgangers could be so frightening and disturbing.

They would have been much calmer if they had met at least an ordinary beast or a doppelganger. But for several hours they had been wandering through the forest, which seemed deceptively alive, but was actually empty.

All this made significant changes to their plans. They were moving too fast, ahead of all the established time frames.

"Have you ever been to other Forbidden Zones?" Idan finally broke the silence, asking Alois a question to lighten the oppressive atmosphere a bit.

Although Idan and Alois were on duty together yesterday, they didn't communicate much so as not to disturb the others and give them a chance to rest.

Idan could have used a mental link to avoid saying the words out loud and communicate with Alois, but he and Arabel decided to refrain from this and not reveal their ability to anyone except those whom they can trust.

"No," Alois replied, and after a moment's thought, he added, "In the early days when I found myself in this place, I was a little confused. I thought I was dead and in the world of the dead. And you know, on the very first day, I was deceived by a small child and robbed."

After saying that, he laughed, remembering that time.

"It took me a while to realize everything, and then I focused only on my own survival. I didn't have the time or desire to take risks and venture into Forbidden Zones, which were already known as inaccessible places back then."

That was enough for the group to get an idea of his life.

For him, as for them, this was his first trip to the Forbidden Zones, especially to the central layer.

Of course, Alois, like them, was feeling agitated and had already begun to feel pressure from his surroundings.

Soon, the group reached a small clearing. The journey took almost the entire day, and the sun was already beginning to sink towards the horizon, heralding the imminent end of the third day of their journey.

They expected to see a Temple in the clearing, it was their dearest wish. However, instead of the temple, they saw a small dilapidated wooden building located in the center of the clearing.

Surprised, they looked at each other, trying to figure out what it could be.

But there was only confusion in everyone's eyes. None of them had the slightest idea what kind of building it was. They had never heard of other buildings in the Forbidden Zones before, other than those famous three Temples.

Calming down and pulling themselves together, they headed towards the dilapidated building.

Arabel and Idan, looking at this building, had a strange feeling. Their intuition told them that this was not just a building, but something more. However, they couldn't figure out what it was.

"System, what is this? Why do I have this strange feeling?" asked Idan, despite the fact that the System always urged them to be independent of it.

— the voice of the System replied.

Upon hearing this answer, Idan, who was following the group, almost stumbled and fell down in surprise.

Arabel stopped dead in her tracks and stared at the building with her eyes wide open.

"Monster house!" she exclaimed through a mental link. When she heard that the building was a living being, she remembered how she had once seen an excerpt of a cartoon where teenagers fought with a house that was a monster. This fragment of the cartoon is vividly imprinted in her memory.

The others noticed their strange behavior and stopped.

"What happened?" Eulalia asked them.

Arabel and Idan looked at each other for advice on whether they should reveal what they had heard or not.

They decided to share this information anyway, because no one knew what was waiting for them inside the building, and they didn't want to endanger the group by hiding such important information.

Arabel established a mental link with Nemo and Eulalia and relayed to them what she had heard from the System. Nemo, Eulalia, and even Izzy were stunned and terrified by what they heard. They involuntarily took a step back from the building.

Even Izzy couldn't discover and confirm that the building was indeed a living thing, but she believed Arabel's words without question.

"What happened?" asked the puzzled Alois, noticing the strange behavior of the group.

But before they could respond, the flimsy door of the dilapidated building creaked open, and a figure stepped out.

Everyone immediately noticed the figure. Because of the silence, the creak of the door opening and the sound of footsteps echoed through the clearing. Upon seeing this figure, everyone held their breath.

Everyone was so stunned that they almost jumped in surprise. Idan and Arabel's group were especially surprised because their master, the high elf Milica, came out of the building.

"Master?" asked Eulalia, recovering a little.

"No! It's not her!" replied Alois with a serious look. "It's a Perfect Doppelganger that completely copied your master!"

From the author:

Oh, finally! I've reached the 100th chapter! This is one of the most significant stages for me. I am very glad that I was able to cover this distance without interruptions!

I hope you enjoyed this chapter. From that moment on, the plot begins to develop faster.