While Lothur was moving with that insect, Viktoria and Larissa were underground in the previous area, from where they had made their way together.
They had advanced far into the underground constructions of this area and had gained several artifacts and resources in the meantime.
Because of this, both had improved their attributes, with Viktoria and Larissa having advanced in body cultivation once in this period, the former having reached level 14 and the latter level 12.
Both were at level 15 of soul cultivation, close to advancing to the 3rd stage.
But just when they found items that they both felt could advance them to a stage in this final part of the underground constructions in that area, they were faced with many opponents.
They had faced beasts and escaped from specters in these underground tunnels they had been following for dozens of hours. But at no time before had they been surrounded to the point where they saw no option but to fight for survival.
That was the situation for the two of them currently, both surrounded by strange beasts and 3rd stage spectres.
Viktoria was sweating while maintaining her combat pose, with her back to Larissa, who, besides being sweaty and with the same serious expression as her ally, had some wounds here and there.
Both of them had similar items on their belts, artifacts that they strangely could not store in their spatial rings, but they thought they could generate many benefits to them.
While their backs were to each other, both had their techniques activated and were counter-attacking the enemies in their surroundings as best they could.
Normally, human cultivators, due to soul cultivation, had an advantage over beasts, which only had body cultivation. But because of the spectres, beings focused on mental attributes, manipulating the beasts in the surroundings, this advantage of the two was not being asserted.
As much as level 15 humans like them were stronger than level 16 beasts, both suffered considerably from the group of level 16 beasts manipulated by the same level spectres.
Luckily, the difference between them wasn't gigantic in terms of strength, so even at a numerical disadvantage, the two held their own in the fight.
Unfortunately for the two of them, this situation had already lasted 30 minutes, and they were exhausting themselves faster than their opponents.
As such, with each passing minute, the distance between those creatures and them diminished, further increasing the pressure on their shoulders!
"Damn it!"
"At this rate, we won't get far in this place," Larissa said after hearing Viktoria's curse, who was naturally very frustrated to find herself in this passive and desperate situation.
"They are already 20 meters away from us... In less than 15 minutes, they will reach us." Viktoria said amidst her somewhat breathless breathing.
Larissa's body cultivation was less impressive than Viktoria's, so this woman's fatigue was much more intense, and her breathing more agitated.
But she could still speak in a way that her companion could understand her. "We have to kill as many of them as possible in the meantime. Otherwise, we will be finished off by these creatures, and those items will be worthless!"
"How will we do that? Those damn spectres are simply too powerful!" Viktoria complained, feeling that the worst was about to happen to her.
She was normally very confident in herself and in her abilities. But she lost hope after being oppressed for dozens of minutes and barely being able to change the situation in her favor after using everything she had.
She was sure she would die right there if something didn't happen in the next few minutes!
Thinking of the worst, she couldn't help but regret that she had insisted on going deeper into these underground constructions.
If she had given up earlier and returned to her plan to find Lothur, she might have escaped this deadly situation!
On the other hand, Larissa understood what was going through the mind of her temporary ally, not only because her situation was even worse than Viktoria's but because her previous plans were to come to this place alone.
If she had done that, she would be dead by now!
She then said. "I don't know. We can only do our best and hold out as long as possible.
Others who entered the Secret Realm with us are probably in the vicinity. If at least one of them gets here, we'll have a chance to turn the situation in our favor!"
That was not a bad thought. Larissa had entered this place on purpose, but Viktoria had arrived there accidentally. The same could happen to other young people in the Secret Realm, and curiosity could lead them to the place where those two were.
If that happened, this white-haired woman was sure that she and Viktoria might be able to escape from this place!
Viktoria sighed upon hearing this, feeling that the chances of this happening were unlikely, given how large the Secret Realm was.
"Sigh..."
'I wonder what Lothur is doing?" She asked herself, feeling the enemies' attacks beginning to wound her beautiful body as they advanced dozens of inches by the minute.
...
Meanwhile, not far from where Viktoria and Larissa were fighting in the underground, three peak-level 15 youths were moving about, running after two other humans.
After meeting up with a group that had just collected valuable resources, this group led by one of the Leopoldine family members sent to this Secret Realm had started this chase against the natives of Peters City.
They were much stronger than their opponents, so after a short time, they practically surrounded those two, who had used the beasts in the surroundings to last longer on the run, but still had not managed to escape.
When their situation reached a point where they felt it wouldn't last long, one brandished loudly, crying out for mercy.
"Please don't kill us. Just take what you want and leave!" The strongest said, feeling bad for being forced to hand over the item that could guarantee their advance.
But those three had no plans to free their opponents and just laughed as they saw the desperation in the eyes of those two.
"Insect, you chose to run away moments ago instead of delivering your items to your superior. Now bear the weight of your choices!" The strongest of the three said this before striking with everything he had toward his opponent's heart.
When he did this, he smiled, feeling incredible as he pierced his opponent's left chest with an energy blade. "Die!"
As his two companions killed the second enemy and he watched his opponent fall at his feet, suddenly, a monstrous shadow appeared above the area.
...