Secrets of the Universe

*Kyaa*

It was River's scream.

The blonde-haired girl shouted as she carried the still-alive body of her elder sister in her arms.

Embedded in Sea's chest was a long blade!

From this Jake could understand everything.

.....

A few seconds ago, as the last one to get out of the hole, Jake found himself facing the strongest attack in the trap's collection.

It was a huge blade that shot at him at an insane speed. The moment Jake spotted it, he didn't think but instead dodged it.

The person behind him, Eden, also did the same. 

Renee and Sea weren't in the way of the blade, but River was! The woman immediately got shocked by the presence of the huge blade.

She was not as fast as the ones in front of her. So, she couldn't evade in time.

Luckily, her sister was right beside her!

In a fast motion, Sea pushed away her sister, but couldn't move her own body in time.

She got slow and the blade found its rightful place in her body!

...........

'This is interesting,' smiled Jake.

While he didn't care for Sea's health status, his eyes caught the glinting black stain on the blue blade.

When he moved closer to Sea and observed the blade further, he noticed something, 'It's poison.'

The black stain on the blade was poison!

Sure enough, the devious constructors had bet everything on the final blade and it worked, at least….for one person.

The others could also notice the poison on the blade. They bitterly shook their heads as they looked at the two sisters.

Sea didn't even get a chance to say goodbye to her sister before foams started puffing out of her mouth.

Her eyeballs crazily rolled, and fluids came out of her body. After a minute of staying in that state, she died, leaving her sister alone in the world.

River felt the lifeless body of her sister. She wanted to cry, but she knew she couldn't. Any tear that would fall from the corner of her eye would mean she admitted defeat, something her sister warned her to never do.

Yet, she was just a young adult!

She couldn't stop the first trail of tears from dripping. After that, her resistance grew thin and the other trails gushed.

Crying loudly, her face resembled the pain-stricken face of banshees.

The group was lucky that the walls could absorb noises, or they would have been compromised just by the loud tone of River's cries.

The others knew that they couldn't do anything. They could only watch as River properly addressed her grief.

Meanwhile, on Jake's side, he used the moment to recover his energy.

The death of Sea was something he was prepared for. Well, not really, he wasn't exactly prepared for Sea's death.

Instead, he always knew that some of them will die, including himself.

The first to go was Archer, and now, Sea joined him in the afterlife. He wondered who was next.

In truth, Jake could have opted to save Sea as he could harness a destructive speed that would give him the required boost.

However, this would leave him severely drain and vulnerable. So, he chose not to.

There was no need to risk his life for no reason. Sure, by doing that, he would guarantee the safety of one member, but as their mission had already reached its peak, there was no need for that.

He understood that it was the same case for Eden. The latter could also have saved Sea, but he didn't, for the same reason as Jake.

'That's how life is,' surmised Jake.

One couldn't rely on anyone except for their relatives. Even as bounty hunters of the same team, he couldn't rely on his mates to save him.

It was something that Eden had warned him about before entering. That was also why River didn't blame the group at all.

"There's no time," ushered Renee.

Her unfeeling voice woke River up from her sorrowful wails.

The sad woman stood up from her knees and cleaned her face.

Acting as if she never mourned, River said to the rest, "Let's go."

She allowed Jake to walk in front of her and stayed behind him….as usual.

'I see. She is about to break,' analyzed Jake

To him, the only thing stopping River from fully breaking was the bounty. Since she had started it, she had to end it!

This would also unconsciously lead to committing suicidal actions.

After the death of Sea and River's cries, the group continued on their mission.

Jake acted as the scout and detected every other trap. Plus, no one dared to behave carelessly after seeing the consequence of that.

The way out of the tunnel was smooth and none of them had ever talked since.

It was silent, the only thing disturbing the background were the threats of traps.

Five minutes later, the group swiftly crossed their last trap and found a doorway.

They opened the doorway and were greeted with stuffy air. Behind the door was a closed tight space that could barely contain five people.

"Up," informed Eden.

Jake had also seen it. The only way out of the space was a ladder that led upwards.

Seeing this Jake understood that they had successfully entered the manor. They were now in the other tunnel entrance.

Despite this, he didn't relax a single muscle. The group had now entered its toughest phase.

Climbing the ladder, they would find themselves in the headquarters of the incorporeal netherans.

Hence, they took their time to prepare. 

"The potion and lotion would lose effect in less than ten minutes," warned Renee.

It wasn't enough, but they had to make do with what they had, especially after remembering all things they had gone through to get here.

"Do you have something for us," asked River with dark bags lingering under her eyes.

"Nor really---"

Cutting Eden's words, Renee got straight to the point, "Spit it out!" 

They always knew that their leader would have prepared something just in case.

They pressured Eden to bring out a perfume. It was stored in an ugly case, but the group wasn't in the mood to criticize.

According to Eden's words, the fragrance of the perfume would give them the smell of banshees. So, as long as they don't showcase their aura, no one would be able to sense their true nature.

However, it could only last for half an hour and couldn't be used twice a day. That was why Eden only gave it to them now.

The group showered themselves with the perfume. They knew what they would be facing in a while. So, they excessively downed themselves in the perfume.

Seconds later, they were ready to begin the last act of their missi