NOVEL NEXT Chapter 299 Entering
"I checked other locations too, but the numbers there were overwhelming, and they could easily be counted in the hundreds compared to what's here."
As he spoke, Zion crouched down and pulled a rolled-up map from his magic bag, a rough sketch he had made after circling the barrier. He spread it open on the ground, the lines marked with his careful observations.
Addison leaned closer to the map, her eyes widening in awe at Zion's work. She crouched down to study it more carefully, but soon found herself in a rather… compromising situation.
Since Zion, Maxwell, and Levi had shifted back to human form without bothering to put on clothes, as they are ready to shift into their wolf form again at any moment, Addison struggled to keep her focus.
Elric seemed completely unbothered by their nakedness, but Addison wasn't nearly as composed. No matter how hard she tried to concentrate on the map, her peripheral vision kept betraying her, catching glimpses of the dangling "eggplants" that made her ears burn.
And when the three men crouched even closer, one knee bent with an arm resting casually while their legs spread wide open, it was practically impossible for her not to notice. Addison desperately tried to be as chill as Elric, but the sight seared itself into her brain in a way she wished it hadn't.
'Goddess, please help me...' Addison prayed silently. She wasn't feeling aroused seeing them naked like this at this point; what hit her instead was a wave of secondhand embarrassment.
If the naked men around her had been ordinary warriors, she might not have thought much of it. After all, nudity among shifters was second nature, and it wasn't as if she'd never seen a naked man before.
But these three weren't just anyone; they were her fated mates. That made it impossible for her to ignore them or remain unaffected. The awareness alone left her flustered, especially since their well-sculpted bodies were far too distracting.
"Ehem..." Addison cleared her throat and crouched lower, pulling the map closer in front of her. At least this way, she could block out the distracting view of certain dangling eggplants from her peripheral vision.
After steadying herself, Addison focused on the map Zion had sketched. She couldn't help but feel a flicker of amazement; despite the little time he'd had, he'd still managed to draw a surprisingly detailed map.
That also meant he'd finished circling the barrier faster than Maxwell and Levi, yet returned alongside them.
Her eyes lingered on the markings. Three dots were placed on certain points, while a small triangle marked their current position.
"What do these symbols mean?" Addison asked, pointing at the dots and the triangle.
"The dots mark the heavily guarded areas along the barrier; those are the places swarming with the most locusts. The triangle represents the spot that could serve as our possible entry point."
"Compared to the others, it has fewer locusts, though…" Zion traced the triangle with his index finger as he spoke. "It feels like they're guarding that area specifically. Still, their line of sight there isn't great, thanks to a huge boulder near the barrier. That's why I marked it with the triangle."
Addison nodded, following his reasoning.
"So, you mean we could slip in through this point, open a section of the barrier from behind that boulder you mentioned?" Addison asked, seeking clarification.
"Correct," Zion confirmed. "The boulder is large enough to give us cover. We could move from there. As for the locust swarm, once we step out from behind it, they'll definitely notice us. The only chance we have is if Lance succeeds in luring most of them toward the frontlines."
Addison frowned. "But if they're truly guarding something here, then they might not leave so easily. Worse, once we go inside, they could call the rest over."
Her words made everyone pause. Even if they managed to breach the barrier, moving deeper inside to complete their mission might not be as simple as they first imagined.
"How about I cast an invisibility spell over us?" Elric suddenly suggested, offering a possible solution. "With our numbers, I could only sustain it for at most five minutes, two, at the very least."
After all, he was still an archmage, and casting the invisibility spell itself wasn't difficult for him. The challenge lay in covering all five of them at once. It would demand precise mana control and careful distribution, draining a significant portion of his reserves.
Still, this approach would greatly reduce the risk of being noticed by the locust swarm.
"But as I recall, locusts are also highly sensitive to sound…" Addison paused with a frown, realizing the problem wasn't so simple to solve. "So, an invisibility spell alone might not be enough."
"What if you created a self-contained barrier, one that hides us from sight while also trapping any sound we make inside? That way, no matter the noise, the locusts wouldn't notice. Would that be possible?" She turned to Elric expectantly.
Elric hesitated before nodding. "Princess, your idea is indeed possible. But to achieve it, I'd need to weave three different spells into one, then expand it wide enough to cover five people."
"That would consume a tremendous amount of mana. I could probably sustain it for three minutes at most. Within that time, we'd have to finish everything, or we might risk being trapped. If an emergency forced us to retreat quickly, I might not even have the strength left to open the barrier again." His expression grew grim as he laid out the risks.
"Three minutes it is…" Addison said firmly, making her choice clear. They would have to be extremely careful; one small mistake could turn into a disaster. Elric had warned her of the worst-case scenario so she'd be aware, but she also knew he still had mana stones to fall back on if things went wrong.
As long as they could complete the mission within three minutes, they would be fine.
With the plan set, the group began crawling low to the ground, using the rocky terrain as cover to avoid being spotted by the locusts. The sharp edges of the stones cut into their skin, leaving painful scratches. Elric, unused to such conditions, gritted his teeth and pressed on. Addison endured the same, her skin stinging with every movement.
Zion, Maxwell, and Levi weren't spared either; the rocks scraped and pricked them as well, but their wounds healed almost instantly. Even so, their concern wasn't for themselves. Their eyes kept drifting toward Addison and Elric, silently worrying about the toll this crawl was taking on them.
"Addie, are you okay? Should we slow down?" Zion asked, glancing to the side. Addison was two steps ahead of him, crawling steadily over the jagged rocks.
"No need," she replied firmly, eyes fixed on the path ahead. "We don't have time to waste. Let's reach the five-hundred-meter mark first, then assess the situation before moving forward, just as planned."
Zion hesitated. His gaze dropped to her hand, where a fresh cut bled from scraping against a sharp stone. He wanted to say something, to urge her to stop, but he bit his tongue, knowing that pressing her would only burden her more.