Chapter 151 150: Opening The Wall [Pt2]



"H-Hey, wait for me. I am coming with you as well. Do not leave me behind like this."

Luna cried out as she followed Keith. Her instincts told her to stick with this black-haired man before her. 

Luckily, Keith did stop for Luna before entering the gate. 

It was a completely different world on the other side of the gate. It was impossible to tell if this was even the same place anymore or not. 

Stones and flowers were covering most of the landscape. But along with that, some weird bugs were flying all over the place.

But it was nothing compared to the corpses Keith could see in front of him. Many of the people who had walked here had frozen and now had flowers covering their bodies. Those flowers looked parasitic, now feeding on the dead human remains.

It was not a pretty scene to see, but the beautiful and vibrant colors of the flowers made this place a treat to watch. 

Even Luna could not take her eyes off the clearing. She tried to touch one of the flowers before her instincts screamed at her to pull back.

Luna could dodge the flower's sharp fang-like petals and scream terrified. That had been a close call for her.

"Be careful. This place might look beautiful on the outside. But I am sure it is defective on the inside. It gives me the chills just standing in here."

Keith pointed out as he put a hand on Luna's shoulder. He needed to calm Luna down before her screams attracted something unwanted toward them.

Luna nodded as she clutched her fast-beating heart. She needed to make it stop but her body was not listening to her.

'Focus on Noah's touch. That is the only way to calm down for me.'

It was humiliating that Luna had to depend on someone else to take care of herself. But if that was what it took for her to calm down, then that was what she would have to deploy.

"Anyway, I cannot believe the organizer hid our ticket in such a dangerous place. I can now see that the organizer had no intention of allowing all of us to pass in the first place."

The white-masked man must have a plan to make his favorite people pass the test.

Either that or Keith was underestimating the power level of this tournament. Both possibilities did not sit well with him.

"Ugh, this is a nightmare. I do not think touching anything in this palace is safe. So how are we supposed to find anything in here?"

Luna's suspicions were correct. When Keith tried to feel around for a sense of danger, his instincts screamed at him not to stand too long in this place or he would die. He was not welcomed by this space.

"We should not touch anything here with our bodies. But that does not mean we cannot use inanimate objects to look around. If we are covered from head-to-toe and have a pair of gloves, we should be alright."

Keith hoped that it would be alright. 

As far as he could tell, this place worked on the principle of sucking out one's mana. These flower-like insects stuck to one's body and sipped out all the mana from them. As a result, the human usually died.

But Keith wondered what would happen to him if these insects tried to bite him. Would he have died instantly? Or, would nothing happen since he had no mana in the first place?

'Well, let us not test this theory out right now. I do not want to become a bug snack in such a haunting place.'

Keith took out his body suit from his inventory. He always packed 2-3 suits for such emergencies. 

Luckily, he had all of them in free size. It might be a little bit big on Luna, but Keith was sure it would not be uncomfortable.

Although judging by the look on Luna's face, she was not too impressed by Keith's choice. 

But in the end, she did not complain and took the suit from his hand. Keith turned around to give Luna some privacy and she changed in record time. 

"Alright, I am done. But I will not be the first one to test how potent these suits are. You will need to start the search."

Luna commanded and Keith felt like he had no other option available to him. He quietly walked over to a rock and tried to lift it.

He tensed up when a flying insect examined his suit and tried to bite it. But the thick outer layer protected Keith's body inside.

The insect soon lost interest in Keith after sensing a lack of mana due to the suit's protection. And Keith was easily able to turn over the rock.

"Well, looks like the suit works. So, we should start looking for the ticket around? Do you not have its specific indication? Or even a hint about where it could be?"

Luna asked as she investigated a few bushes. The insects buzzed around her, but they were not able to do anything more than that.

"I do not know. The map only pointed to this place. But knowing that white-masked organizer's taste, I am sure the ticket is hidden somewhere obvious. Maybe in the most obvious place in the cave even."

Keith just had a feeling that it would be the case this time. So, he started looking around for an obvious place to hide things.

He had only started looking around when he noticed something huge a few meters away. It was a hive with a lot of bussing insects surrounding it.

"Well, looks like we found our target. Shall we go in and look? We only have about 2 hours left to find the ticket."

Luna pointed out but her voice was filled with hesitation. It was obvious why she was nervous about the hive.

The monsters surrounding the hive looked bigger and stronger than any Keith had seen. They were also mean-looking and alert. 

It would be next to impossible to get past them.

"Yeah, I think that hive is the perfect place for someone to hide a precious ticket like that. Although I have a bad feeling about this, I think I should head in now. The monsters are not going to do us any favors."

Luna pointed out as she stepped in front of Keith. She took one step, and then two until she was in front of the hive. And then she walked into the hive with insects buzzing around her all the time.

Somehow, Keith was surprised and not surprised at her bravery at the same time. Luna sure knew what she needed to do and when she needed to do things. She was also determined to help Keith out.

Since Luna had already taken the first step, it would be stupid for Keith not to follow her. He quickly started walking after her and quickly entered the hive as well.

The inside of the hive was like a vaulted corridor. It was beautifully constructed and had an unnatural feeling to it.

Luna continued to lead the way and the insects continued to ignore them both. 

"I am sure that the ticket is somewhere in the depth of this hive. Maybe even in the queen room. But I am not sure we will be able to make it that far."

Luna pointed out and Keith found himself agreeing. 

But that did not mean he was going to give up just yet. He still had his shield he could use.

"Alright, then let us head toward the queen's room. We do not have a lot of time left on the clock."

Keith raised his hand and a barrier formed around him and Luna. the insects did not recognize the usage of Keith's magic and he breathed out a sigh of relief.

It had been a gamble for Keith to try and use magic. These insects were attracted to magic and things could have gotten ugly fast if they recognized divine magic.

But it seemed like these insects did not categorize Divine magic as well. It was nice to know for the future as well.

"W-Woah, what is this? Did you just use magic? But it is unlike any magic I have seen in my life before. How did you do this?"

Luna seemed to have realized that something was wrong with Keith's magic. But she did not sound repulsed by him. Instead, her eyes were filled with hope and expectations.

"This is something like my innate ability but I cannot tell you too much about it now. Maybe if we get a chance to talk more about it in the future, I will tell you."

Keith settled that conversation soon. Luna looked disappointed but she seemed to have expected this outcome as well.

"Alright. We can talk about this later."

Luna's expression was calm. But inside her heart, she was burning with a desire to know more.