Chapter 280: Another Way of Trespassing The Barrier
It took a bit longer, but Zarek, the blindfolded man, soon arrived outside the cavern, and as soon as he arrived, his interest was piqued.
In front of the mountain, an intense fight was going on.
'So that's why I didn't encounter any beasts on the way,' Zarek stroked his unshaven beard. His blindfolded eyes were fixed on the raging fight.
Eve was simultaneously sending beast after beast to the afterlife. Her movements were fluid, and she didn't utilize any skills—it was pure martial arts. From his position, Zarek could see that Bridget had made quick work of about three King-Tier beasts. They were lying motionless on the ground, yet not even a single strand of exertion could be seen on her face.
Currently, she was engaging three King-Tiers at the same time.
"Die!" Bridget sneered as her fist shot forward, obliterating the head of a serpentine creature with a plated, scaly body.
BOOM!
Then she twisted her body at an unnatural angle, evading every single drop of blood from the long-fanged corpse with practiced, precise ease.
"Hahaha, it's been a long time since I let loose like this!" The smile on Bridget's face was extremely terrifying as she tore through the horde of beasts. Each one of her attacks was devastating and left destruction in her wake.
Now, several craters littered the area outside the cave, and they were all relatively deep. If one hadn't witnessed the fight, they wouldn't have believed it was all caused by the delicate, purple-haired beauty, who seemed utterly incapable of hurting even a fly.
"A battle maniac, huh?" Zarek muttered to himself as he saw the ferocity with which Bridget was destroying the beasts. "And she hasn't even displayed any skills yet… She's just fighting them with brute strength."
"I wonder who would win if we were to fight." Beneath his blindfold, a wild look flickered across Zarek's eyes.
"Unfortunately, that's not the reason for my presence here." He paused and shot a gaze toward the entrance of the cavern. "The boy is."
As he said this, Zarek eventually moved from his spot.
"I need to get in without anyone seeing me," he thought as he silently approached the mountain's entrance while Bridget remained engrossed in her fight.
"Hahaha! Tsk, though these King-Tiers are stronger than normal beasts, in the end, they're just a bunch of weaklings," Bridget spat on the corpse of a beast that had a gaping hole in its chest.
The beast's eyes were still filled with disbelief, as if refusing to accept its loss.
At that moment, from the corner of her eyes, she spotted a King-Tier beast sneaking past her and heading in another direction. The beast—a shadow-furred panther with glowing crimson eyes and serrated claws—just like the black-scaled python, was much more intelligent than the rest.
No matter what, it had to escape this demoness. The beast had already foreseen its death if it remained here any longer.
Bridget watched the back of the disappearing beast with a confident smile on her face. She was confident in her strength; a mere King-Tier beast could never outrun her.
"Tsk," she sneered, and with a burst of speed, shot her body forward.
BOOM!
The sheer force generated from her speed was like a mini shockwave, throwing all the beasts closest to her into the air like ragdolls. Some of them plunged into a deep chasm over a hundred feet deep.
As he watched Bridget charge into the distance, Zarek smiled. This wasn't part of his plan, but he was glad the beast had decided to run away as it gave him more time to make his move.
Some of the beasts left behind were relieved the terrifying woman had gone, but soon enough, they encountered another being. The beasts' eyes glowed faintly with murderous intent as they moved closer to Zarek, who seemed oblivious to their approach—or so they thought.
The moment they closed a certain distance, a crushing pressure burst out from Zarek!
FWOOSH! FWOOSH!
The pressure was heavy and suffocating, like the weight of a mountain collapsing onto their very souls. Blood leaked from every orifice, and one after the other, they all collapsed and died on the spot.
Zarek arrived at the entrance and proceeded to step in. His face contorted slightly as he was met with the same resistance Bridget, Aina, and Eve had encountered. Zarek glanced to the side and noticed the runic pattern glowing faintly.
"A work of a runesmith," he muttered. He glanced back and could still hear the sounds of fighting, but the beasts' screams were growing weaker as time passed, meaning the fight would soon be over.
"This is going to be difficult." A deep crease formed on Zarek's forehead. He needed to act fast before Bridget returned. Taking a step back, his gaze lingered on the beast's footpath that led into the mouth of the cave.
He pondered for a moment before an idea struck. "Alright, let's try this."
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Zarek grabbed a dead beast's corpse by its neck and dragged it toward the barrier before throwing it. As suspected, the beast passed through with ease.
"Seems the runes only allow beasts to pass through," he deduced, though he wasn't so sure. Nox had clearly passed through the barrier, and he was human—though not exactly a full one.
Still, he decided to try something else. He picked up another beast. This time, however, he didn't throw it through the invisible barrier as he had before. Instead, he walked through the barrier himself while holding the beast. The surface rippled like waves on the ocean, easily granting the blindfolded man access.
A satisfied smile appeared on Zarek's face as he threw the beast's corpse back outside the barrier before sprinting deeper into the abyss.
As he ran, there was a smile on his face. "Alright, let's finally get this over with and return to the capital."
A few seconds later, Bridget arrived back at the mouth of the cavern and was shocked at what she saw.