Chapter 668 - Chapter 668. Not Simple.

Outside the , Arven and the others were waiting patiently. While quite a bit of time had passed inside, outside, only around an hour had passed. Even then, knowing the effects of the feature, one hour outside meant around two to four days inside. 

The time rate was not the same for all , so they couldn't really calculate with much accuracy.

Flor asked, curious. "How much longer do you think we will need to wait?" 

As if her words were coated in some kind of magic, they felt the portal rumbling lightly just as she asked. Then, from it, 24 appeared, all of them in terribly sorry states. 

Arven frowned deeply and looked at the group in front of them. "You are the Obsidian Vanguard group. What happened? Where are the six missing people of your group?" 

While he spoke, an aura of life descended as healing energies coiled around the group. After all, their bodies were covered in blood, some of them missing limbs as well. 

The person who spoke was Shalora. Her voice was somewhat hoarse, her reserves being only at 30%. "This is terrifying." The lamia rested on the ground without any sense of decorum, her body aching everywhere. "Those who are missing are dead."

"What?" Arven was truly surprised this time. After all, among those missing was their leader, Darian. "How did this happen? Explain everything slowly." 

Shalora nodded, and while being tended by healers and the city's Life Tree, she opened her mouth to explain everything. 

"...After the first group chose to enter the first portal, the second followed suit. However, our leader was too arrogant. He pushed us to take the next challenge, and we managed to pass it easily. The puppets were Level 120, and while they were numerous, they were far from unbeatable. So, we chose to continue, trying our luck. The third level was where things changed quite a bit. The puppets went from Level 120 to Level 140."

Flor was surprised, and she asked. "Aren't there eight statues? If what you say is the truth, and each level increases by 20 levels, by the time you face the eighth statue, you would be fighting Level 240 puppets!" 

Shalora shook her head with a wry smile. "We don't know, Lady Flor. Either way, once we entered the zone after defeating the silver-blue puppets, we were on some sort of silver river. The water inside was odd, but what was terrifying was that walking on it would sometimes cause our bodies to shift inexplicably." 

Arven frowned. "Explain." 

Shalora frowned, unsure how to voice it out without sounding crazy, when an envoy that was part of the group spoke up with a conflicted look. "Lord Arven, we think that we were being shifted through different… outcomes for our actions."

Arven and the others didn't dismiss his way of explaining straight away. Everyone had been aware of the strangeness of the World Tree's energies. All of her new abilities and skills had been nothing but logic-defying, and while some were still deluding themselves about their true effects, most high-level people had begun to accept that the Heavenly Willow had somehow managed to tap into powers related to . 

Shalora noticed that they weren't being judged as lunatics, so she was encouraged and decided to explain. "It felt like walking through a river of possibilities. Sometimes, we would even see outcomes of our past actions that branched into unknown futures. However, we didn't have time to appreciate that place much, as the monster inside is nothing but absurd." 

The envoy nodded. "It's just one enemy, the . The system showed this message:"

[Level 149 Aether-Timeline Molting Serpent (Boss Monster)] 

Shalora sighed. "Its abilities were bizarre. It could create clone-like beings that felt real, and when they were about to be defeated, they sank into the river, creating strange ripples. We couldn't resist much longer, since the attacks were devastating. Before we could even make sense of what was happening, our senses altered due to the surroundings, and six of us had perished. Among them…" Shalora showed a slightly pained expression. "Darian." 

Arven crossed his muscular arms, pondering. "I am guessing that once you realized, all of you tore your escape scrolls." 

"Yes." Shalora nodded once again, her mood having relaxed a bit. Even then, her eyes were strangely shifty as she glanced around. 

Flor flew over and asked, confused. "What's up? You've been looking around as if something would suddenly pop out and eat you."

Shalora laughed mirthlessly. "It's just… sometimes those 'alternative paths' we saw felt a bit too real. I am still second-guessing myself if I have truly escaped the ." 

Everyone was silent, and the 24 survivors clearly shared their feelings. Even if they were healed, and Liu Shu's buffs were quickly cleansing their tangled feelings, their memories were not too trustworthy. 

Flor pondered and decided to give each of them a cup of . This did wonders, as most of them felt incredibly refreshed. Some of them even gained some buffs. 

Arven crossed his arms and pondered. Then, he took out a communication device and called someone. It quickly connected, and he spoke up. "Check the and see how many of the 300 people who entered have perished. All of them carried , so we should be able to track them down." 

"Yes, sir." 

The was the tool Liu Shu created far back to help the keep control of crimes inside the . Due to the time difference, helping those inside was difficult. Hence, it was basically a must to wear a if you wanted to gain benefits from the in Ceperet or Nualis. 

***

[Level 1-49 Pendant Of Malice (Advanced-Grade Complete-Level)]

…

Passive Skill: If anyone who's wearing another attacks the user, the Pendant will send a signal to the . 

Passive Skill: If the is taken off without permission of the , it will send a signal to the . 

Passive Skill: If the is destroyed, it will send a signal and image to the about the creature that destroyed it. 

Note: A pendant that gives no stats in exchange for incredible durability and very concise effects. It was created by a masterful crafter in order to help those who have been wronged. However, in the hands of the wrong people, this pendant will become a tool that can cause chaos. 

***

These pendants were life-bound and very easy to produce. After all, the effects were far from helpful when it came to combat. However, if someone was battered to death at Level 100+, the chance that these pendants would be destroyed together with the user was high. 

And as Arven expected, the answer that he received was far from ideal. "Lord, of the 300 people, only 193 are alive."

Arven was stunned. "Why didn't they use their scrolls?" 

Shalora answered, much calmer after the warm and delicious . "Lord Arven, the scrolls are powerful but not omnipotent. Activating them mid-combat is basically impossible. As a matter of fact, most of our injuries came from the time it took to activate it."

Arven was silent. He knew that they were not instant trump cards that could save them. If someone was ambushed, the chances of death were high even if they activated the scrolls right away. 

After a few more minutes, more groups left the , none of them being successful. The reason was something that Arven found quite enraging, to be honest. 

"Didn't I tell you all to go slowly? Why didn't you follow the footsteps of the and ? They cleverly knew that these things require time, so they entered the first portal. Among the ten groups, only they chose that portal, while all of you forced yourselves to enter the second and third portals!" 

He was honestly fuming. 300 elites, and almost half died within an hour! The resources, time, and effort to grow these elites were not something that could be waived easily. 

Looking around, he frowned. "So, no one received rewards?"

To his surprise, some groups actually nodded. 

"We did." 

"Oh?" 

Flor was also curious about what this that showed her dearest baby inside would offer as rewards. 

The person who spoke was from one of the weaker but more cautious groups. "Lord, we entered the second portal, the ringed green and amber portal. This portal sent us to some kind of labyrinth. Inside this place, seasons flash by quickly. However, the seasons are far from those we experience outside. The cold, heat, rain, and winds are terrifying, and if you are not careful, you can lose your life to them." 

The man paused and continued. "While traversing the labyrinth, we noticed some parts of it about to collapse. At first, we thought that we should tear the place down, so we attacked." When he said that, he smiled wryly. "Who would've known that inside the walls of the labyrinth monsters would lurk? We fought back, losing some people to the ambush, but still managed to defeat the wave."

"What did those monsters look like?" Arven asked, his expression showing that he was listening attentively.

"Treant-like creatures, Lord." The man explained. "Their powers were varied, but most, besides a few healers, were melee creatures. Once we defeated them, we got loot names such as , , and ."

Everyone raised their eyebrows. This group was probably the only one that gained anything at all. "Show them to me."

The man shook his head. "I can't, Lord. When we inevitably fled, these treasures disappeared, and we gained something called . The objective of the second portal seems to be fixing the Labyrinth. However, it is massive. We knew that having lost people even before encountering the boss, our only chance was to escape with our pitiful loot." 

Here, the man paused, showing a strange look. "Strangely, when we left, the stopped us in some sort of white hall. In this hall, we could place our items for sale and gain . Then, with these points, we could buy rewards from an interface-linked ." 

Arven was surprised. Even then, he couldn't help but be curious about those materials. "Did you bring out any of those items?"

The man nodded, and here, Flor intervened for the first time. "Those items will be confiscated by the government." 

Everyone paused and turned to look at Flor. The Flower Fairy looked at everyone with a solemn expression. "We will compensate you with the same level of rewards that the can give you. However, those items can't be spread or taken out. The following times that this occurs, we will confiscate without compensation. Please, make sure that the items are spent inside where they belong." 

Arven got thoughtful, his intelligent mind spinning, until his eyes secretly moved and landed on the gargantuan World Tree that continued to grow endlessly. 'For Lady Flor to be so strict…. They must have something to do with Lady Heavenly Willow.' 

After realizing that, he was quick to agree. "Alright, we will cooperate with the . All items that are retrieved from the that do not belong to the will be confiscated. Everyone who enters the will have to do so with a modified storage item so that we can keep a check on what enters and exits the place."

Flor's face relaxed a touch, and she nodded. "Thank you, Lord Arven." 

While she was speaking, someone flew toward her while the portal began wobbling again. 

The ones leaving the portal were the Azure Horizon Expedition, while the fairy flying toward Flor was basically stuttering with anxiety. 

"L-L-Lady Flor! A new portal has appeared on top of Lady Heavenly Willow's head! It is also part of the !" 

Flor's face crumpled. 'Things are not simple at all with this new . Is it because it has become tangled with Liu Shu?'

She couldn't help but give a worried look at her big baby. Ignatia hugged her from behind. "One step at a time, love."

Flor squinted, and her body relaxed, her petite figure sinking into her wife's soft and voluminous embrace. "Yes…"