"Oh? A succubus, you say?"
"Indeed, Lady Ariana. We were surprised too."
The two angels go back to Ariana after what they saw. They were initially going to leave after Ahko and Martha left the village, but something tells Shina that something is going to happen to Ahko. So they waited for a little bit, and sure enough. Haru and his party confronted the two and sliced Ahko in half. They got what they needed and left once the man-eaters started attacking Haru and his party.
"A succubus... inside a village in the southern continent? How unusual..." Ariana muttered.
"She must have been great at hiding herself for that long," Shina commented.
"So, where is she now? Looks like someone needs a punishment."
"Not to be worry, Lady Ariana. She's been dealt with by A rank adventurers." Hina answered.
"Oh, she's dead now? By A rank adventurers? How disappointing... I thought a succubus who's great at hiding herself up to this point should've at least been more powerful than them..." Ariana stated.
"It was a quick death, Lady Ariana. She stood no chance against the A rank adventurers," Shina replied.
"That's good... But what about the village? I still don't feel my followers in there..."
"It will take some time, Lady Ariana, before they realize that their new 'goddess' has abandoned them, and they will come back to us." Hina uttered.
"Hm... I don't like second chances, though... But I'll give it to them for being such good followers before an intruder steps in..."
"What do you think they should do, Lady Ariana?" Hina questioned.
"Hmm... I need 20 human heads, 10 male, and 10 female."
"Oh... That's a little..."
"Hm? Are you trying to judge me, Hina?"
"N-No! Lady Ariana! We will not judge you in any way possible!!" Hina quickly stated.
"Good... I'll have them think about their mistakes, they'll realize that normal offerings will not work anymore. And they'll kill and kill until they meet the criteria."
"Of course, Lady Ariana. That is their punishment for not being good followers." Shina responded.
[Lopia Forest]
"Tch, they got away." Takeru clicked his tongue
"What's up with these monster cores? Why are they lying up in a pile?" The enchanter asked.
In the morning, the party quickly gathered up and set out into the Lopia Forest. But they first go to the severed body of Ahko on the path, and track the blood trail from there. It didn't take long for them to get to where Ahko gets revived, but the number of man-eaters in their way isn't something to be underestimated. Once they reached the dried puddle of blood outside the cave, they stopped in their tracks.
"It's probably that dryad, she's so angry that she killed a nearby man-eater for being weak as fuck." Takeru answered.
"But I don't see the succubus's body anywhere..."
"Yeah... The blood trail stopped right here.. but nobody is here..." Takeru added.
"Is it inside that cave?" Haru asked.
"I don't feel any living beings inside the cave, besides. The chief said the cave is very shallow, even with a torch, it can light up the entire place. I doubt that dryad is hiding there. The enchanter replied.
"I bet that dryad is still carrying around her dead master's body. I don't understand how delusional people can get." Takeru shook his head in disappointment
"It's her master, Takeru.. You know how bad people will get just to please their master, especially the loyal one."
"I know, but some people cannot be this delusional. It's been a day."
"Whatever the case is, the dryad is still out there. At least she's not in this forest, she must've run away to somewhere else..." Haru stated.
"Is she dumb? There's no forest other than the Lopia. It's a bunch of grass field out there."
"You can be pretty dumb when you are overwhelmed by emotions.."
"Let's go, she mustn't be far from here."
"Right."
[Pitra Plains]
On the other side of the Damrin Mountain Range, the Trica Forest is on the other side, while the Pitra Plains are on the Other Side. Little to no forest inside the Pitra Plains except for the Lopia forest that surrounds the Yotein Village. The Trica forest still expanded a little bit, just enough to cover Priya City. It's one of the only safe places in the southern continent. It's an open field with a path that connects the Leafwing Kingdom and the Yrlen Kingdom. No bandit wants to be there because it'll be easy to get caught by a passing adventurer. But that doesn't mean robbing doesn't happen in the plains, but it's very rare.
Ahko, carried by Martha's vines. They both slowly walk to Priya City, except they are not using the path since it'll be obvious for passing adventurers to see them and see their species as a succubus and a dryad. So instead they go to the feet of the Damrin Mountain Range and walk around it until they reach Priya City. Since Ahko is too weak to walk, Martha creates a chair using her vines. Ahko sits like a princess. Her legs crossed, she put her hands on her stomach as she watched the surroundings. She crossed her legs mainly because if she didn't, her intimate part would be exposed. After all, her cloak had been split in half by Haru, and she couldn't go back to the village unless she wanted to get killed again.
Since she is a succubus, the wind coming and touching her skin doesn't feel anything to her. The succubus's natural ability is creating warmth around her, increasing the chance for sexual intercourse. Still, it can be used for dealing with slightly moderate weather, such as cold or windy days. But exposing her intimate part to the whole world is a different story, sure she doesn't get embarrassed by it, but it'll attract unneeded attention. Not that it matters because she's already getting glances from people walking through the path. It's kinda unfortunate that people can still see them even when they are at the foot of the mountain range. Even if it's only a couple of specks.
Yue, on the other hand. It is slowly walking through the path. No one noticed her because she's invisible. She watched as carriages passed by, adventure parties, loners, and many more. Suddenly, while walking, Haru and his party phased through her. She stopped in her tracks as she saw Haru and the other two walk fast to catch Martha and Ahko. She couldn't save Ahko and Martha, but she could give them a warning, just like when Ahko is trapped in the shed. She sighed as she waved her hand, and the panels opened up.
"Detecting Danger!!"
"Huh?"
"Detecting Danger!!"
"Tsk, looks like they've already caught up to us. Martha, run as fast as you can. We can't deal with them now!"
"Right away, Mistress!"
Martha's vines push Ahko a little bit to the side, just enough to make her fall into Martha's arms. Then she deconstructed the chair of vines and quickly ran as fast as she could. While doing this, Ahko couldn't believe her eyes that her slave was a princess carrying her. Her eyes widened in embarrassment, and her pride crumbled. She wanted to protest, but this is a dead-or-alive situation. Yes, she can get revived, but since Haru and the others already know she should've died. They most likely will burn her to pieces and even spread her ashes everywhere, and then it will take centuries or millennia to revive her. That is, if Yue can somehow find her and level her up.
But Haru and the others are faster. Even when Martha is running, her run speed isn't as fast as their walk fast speed. So the party quickly caught up, and when they saw a speck of something at the foot of the mountain range, they quickly ran to it. Ahko looked behind and saw small specks getting bigger and bigger. Seems like their run speed is at least 3x as fast as Martha's run speed. But the two are closing in Priya City, at least the forest around it.
"Hey!! Come back here!!" Haru shouted and caught the glances of people going through the path.
"She's a monster!! Catch her!" Takeru pointed at the specks that were getting bigger.
People passing then look towards the monster and immediately chase her. The shout reached Ahko and Martha's ears, and they knew they were fucked. Some people walking on the path quickly chase her down. When they close enough, they see the monster is carrying someone, she seems helpless and innocent. And a few stopped at their tracks and questioned it. But some didn't, and they continue chasing. This could be the monster trying to look innocent.
Ahko and Martha finally reached the Trica Forest, but other adventurers and Haru are closing in. If Martha stopped right now, they would get caught in seconds. When they are close enough, Takeru draws her bow and aims at Martha. Ahko saw that Takeru was winding up his arrow with his aim fixed at Martha's head.
"Martha!! Dodge!!"
Crack
The arrow penetrated Martha's head. She immediately falls down, and her body starts to disintegrate. Ahko has no time left and immediately runs to the ghost Forest. It was a miracle that Martha accidentally ran towards the left instead of the right, where Priya City is located. Fortunately, going to the left saved Ahko's life. She immediately ran inside. Most adventurers stopped at the outskirts of the forest, including Haru and his party. Most adventurers give an annoyed and surprised look, shrug it off, and leave the place.
They know the snakes will kill Ahko, and going deep into the forest will bring nothing but death and a waste of time traversing into and out of it. It certainly wouldn't be much of a problem if it weren't for the thick fog that surrounded the forest, if someone got in. Best believe they will be out 10x longer than expected. Assuming they are still alive.
"... Looks like our chase stops right here..." Haru muttered
"Does she know that this is THE Ghost Forest?" Takeru gives a chuckle.
"Probably not, besides, she's gonna die anyway, so either with our hands or the snakes' venom."
"How did she resurrect? We saw her guts and everything!! And the dryad doesn't have resurrection ability!" The enchanter shouted.
"There must be a 3rd party involved. Somewhere, we must go back to the Lopia Forest!" Haru stated.
"Brother... We just got here... Let's go to an inn and take a rest first." Takeru said while acting tired.
"Then they have a good chance to escape!" Haru replied.
"Please... Haru.?" The enchanter gives puppy eyes, hoping Haru gives in.
"No, Let's go." Haru stayed strong.
"Ugh, you are so no fun..." The enchanter gives a big sigh.
"Tell me about it.." Takeru followed.
Ahko has found herself back in the Ghost Forest. But there's nothing left inside the forest. Ahko has killed every snake in it. The only thing left to her was only her. She couldn't even travel to the cave where the temple is because she doesn't have the [Infrared Sight] on her. So she sat down below a tree and waited for Yue to come, all the while she sat in silence. Yue finally arrived and looked down on Ahko's tired body.
"Looks like Martha didn't make it, huh?"
"Yeah... She was too slow..."
"Better than you walking."
"Shut the fuck up, Yue. I wouldn't be like this if it weren't for you."
"Mhm, keep blaming me except you."
"... We almost reach our goal..."
"We? Who's we? It's you who wanted to go back this fast. And I want to say that you can't go back in there until you gain your power back, you have nothing. Your lower half is exposed, and Haru knows your appearance."
"Oh, I can do something."
"And what is it? The chances of you encountering C rank adventurers are low around the forest."
"And only, around the forest..."
"... Ahko, you are very stubborn, huh?"
"I suppose it's in my genes."
"Listen, if you die. There's nothing I can do about it."
"Oh, please. I just need to walk out of the forest for a bit. Go naked, and some adventurers will fall under my charm."
"That, if you actually get the C rank adventurer. Now imagine if it's B rank or higher."
"And that's where you come in."
"I don't have the appraisal ability."
"I know, but the shop has it."
"... Would you like to buy [Appraisal] [Level 1] for 75000?"
"Expensive, huh? Yes, I would like to buy it."
"Congratulations, Ahko, for obtaining [Appraisal] level 1. You can now see a being's stats, abilities, skills, and passive, but only guaranteeing F rank and only 1% for E rank, and times by one hundredth every rank."
"Level up to level 2."
"That'll cost you 150000."
"What an inflation. I'm sure I have some coins from massacring those hornets and snakes."
"Yes, you have 224616 shop coins left."
"... Lower than I expected.."
"You did buy the instantaneous evolution for you and the system for 800000 coins."
"And it was worth it."
"It wasn't.."
"Anyways, Level up the appraisal."
"Congratulations, Ahko, for leveling up [Appraisal] to level 2. You can now see a being's stats, abilities, skills, and passive, but only guaranteeing F and E rank, and only 1% for D rank, and times by one hundredth every rank."
"Good, now we wait."
"... You are still sitting here."
"I can't just go out after what just happened, I'll go when the situation died down."
"Alright."