New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

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Chapter 1007: Hidden Cavern



"What makes you think that? Was it maybe the massive bindings on their necks and hands?" David mocked.

Alex glared at him for a second before ignoring his ignominious comment.

"The look they gave me when I severed their heads... It felt almost... welcoming," Alex replied, hesitating for a second in his word choice.

David let go of his failed attempt to mock him, taking a moment to take in this information.

Kary was also trying to digest this new info.

"Do you think there is more to this than just monsters using each other?" she asked Alex.

He took a second, unsure what to answer to her, before shrugging lightly.

"I don't know. It just felt weird at the time. I couldn't tell you if there is more to it..."

However, the party didn't have the luxury of time to think about this.

Already, in the distance, they could hear more howling echoing through the tunnels.

"How long are these damned tunnels?" Killian complained, knowing they were way past what would have shown on a map before.

"Wouldn't I love to know," Kary chuckled in response.

"We don't have time to joke around. We need to keep moving." Alex said, giving one last glance at the crumpled harpies.

"Right," Kary replied.

"Alright, people. Break's over," she added, looking at the rest of the party.

Everyone picked themselves up, some still winded, but no complaint left anyone's lips. They knew that staying still in these tunnels wasn't a good idea.

Resuming their way forward, forgoing the mana lobe formation for Killian and Aapo altogether for the moment, they made a brisk pace.

But their run was quickly interrupted by Jin-Sil suddenly grinding to a halt at the back.

"Wait! Over here!" she shouted, pointing at the wall.

Alex could hear the kobolds getting close around a curve in the tunnel and almost ignored her call, but Kary wasn't as worried as he was.

"What is it?" she asked, skidding to a halt as well, forcing the others behind her to do the

same.

"We don't have time for this!" Alex said, almost grumbling.

"I agree with Wolfie," David added with a frown.

"There is something strange about this wall," Jin-Sil said, ignoring their hastiness.

She started sliding her hand across it and soon found what was making her senses tingle.

An enormous grin appeared on her face as she pushed herself into the wall, sinking through it like it wasn't there at all. Kary's face lit up, and she ran toward the wall, following Jin-Sil through.

"Everyone in there, now!" she barked, not taking no for an answer and ignoring the worried faces of Alex, David, and now Killian.

Everyone quickly ran to the wall, looking like kids on a particular train platform, phasing through and reappearing on the other side.

Already, on the other side, Jin-Sil had her bow pulled taut, aimed at the deep end of the cavern, and her grin was gone.

"Ssi-Bal..." she cursed in Korean.

As everyone quickly filtered into the room, similar reactions to hers soon echoed, curses flying out in a hushed tone as the last ones phased through the wall.

Alex immediately felt a mana signature in the room, his face turning hostile as he dashed forward, sword at the ready.

But a single arrow flew ahead of him, planting into the ground mere inches from his feet. "Wait," Jin-Sil said, her face stoic.

Alex halted his steps, turning to look at her with slight rage in his gaze.

"The hell you mean, wait?! Can't you see the enemy right there?!" he growled.

At the end of the vast cavern they had entered, a single giant harpy was curled on herself, eyeing the twelve humans with wariness.

Her eyes were alert, and her mind seemed sharp, but the slump in her body and the hanging of her head all but screamed out how exhausted she seemed.

To Alex, this was just the perfect opportunity to eliminate a genuine threat, no matter how weak it seemed, as the harpy queen stared down at them.

But it was quite the opposite for Jin-Sil, who had stopped because of something she had heard.

Kary raised her hand, trying to appease her lover.

"Let's hear out Jin-Sil before we jump to conclusions," she said, her gaze locked on the gigantic harpy.

Alex looked at Kary, his gaze filled with anger, but he spat on the ground and turned around to face the harpy.

"I don't know if you understand my words, monster. But if you even sneeze menacingly at us, I will take your head from your body quicker than you can ever imagine," he growled, staying right where he was, sword still at the ready.

The harpy left out a soft chuckle, a clear sign that she had understood the human, before

wheezing lightly.

"Did you think I called out to the girl because I was afraid of you, human?" the harpy asked, its words reaching directly into their minds.

"So you did call out to me..." Jin-Sil muttered, lowering her bow.

The harpy nodded lightly, her eyes blinking slowly.

"I did. Your soul... It felt almost kindred... You are one with the hunt, just like me..." the harpy queen uttered, every word seeming heavier than the last.

"One with the hunt?" Jin-Sil asked, her head tilting to the side a bit.

"Come forward, child of the hunt. I have something for you. Maybe with this, your chances of defeating the great one will be good," the harpy said, her gaze locked on Jin-Sil.

Jin-Sil started walking forward, but Kary blocked her path with her arm.

"Wait," she told Jin-Sil, looking at her through the corner of her eye.

Jin-Sil stopped moving, looking at Kary with question marks in her eyes.

Turning to look at the harpy, Kary opened her mouth again.

"Why the hell would a monster call us into her hiding spot? What devious scheme are you

hiding behind your hunched body, harpy?" she asked, her gaze alert.

The harpy looked at her, her gaze soft but unyielding.

"Speak, before I let Alex at you," Kary urged her.

But the next moment, everyone gasped in horror as the harpy unfurled her wings to the side

heavily.

"Satisfied?" the harpy queen asked, looking to the side in shame.

"Dear god..."