Chapter 239

"Right there. I can see light!" Van shouted, a surge of urgent joy vibrating in his voice as he pointed straight ahead.

Quickly, the group’s pace increased.

They rushed forward without a second’s hesitation, walking directly into the brilliant radiance which consumed them one by one.

.....

"Huh?" Van muttered as his head finally peeked out.

The scorching sun slammed into him with full force, causing his skin to tingle and his vision to blur for a moment; he had entirely forgotten how intense the daylight could be.

He raised a hand to shield his brow as he surveyed their surroundings.

His upper body was currently peeking out of a... a hole?

"Hey! What’s the holdup? Move it!" Felix shouted from the depths below.

This jolted Van back to his senses.

He gripped the edges of the hollowed earth and pulled himself out with a grunt of exertion.

He rolled away just in time to see Kai pulling himself up and over the ledge.

One by one, the Aspirants emerged, landing on the parched ground with startled yelps as the heat radiated from the soil.

"Muah... muah... muah..." Van began kissing the earth repeatedly, despite the fact that it felt like a furnace under the angry sun.

"... Never thought I would see the open ground again so soon."

Ray watched the display with a slow shake of his head. "It hasn’t even been two hours since we were swallowed. Ease up on the theatrics, man."

Van spun around to glare at his best friend.

"Do you have any idea how traumatizing that entire incident was?! I genuinely believed we were going to perish at the hands of that blasted Minotaur. Or even worse—at the mercy of some unknown horror lurking in the dark!"

Ray shook his head again, a smirk playing on his lips.

"Are you the same person who was just yapping about how you wouldn’t let Ray shoulder the burden alone? The one who swore he would stay on the frontlines? Hahaha—!"

Van’s face reddened in sheer embarrassment as he looked away, unable to offer a rebuttal.

The others watched the two friends with conflicted expressions.

’If I hadn’t known better, I would have thought they were lovers,’ Kai chuckled inwardly.

"Uh... where exactly are we?" Chloe asked, breaking the moment.

Everyone turned toward her, their brows raised as they finally began to scan the horizon.

The terrain was incredibly plain.

There were no lush trees, no meadows of flowers, no sand—nothing but a stark, empty void.

The exit they had just used was merely a jagged opening in the earth that looked like a deep, abandoned well.

Ray frowned at the desolate scene before snapping his fingers in recognition.

"I recognize this place from the map. It’s a green zone area quite close to the shelter. It should only be about a ten to twenty-minute walk."

Trish looked in the Tribrid’s direction. "So you know the way then?"

The boy nodded confidently. "Follow me."

Without any objections, the group followed him.

They dragged their feet through the empty terrain while the sun beat down on them ruthlessly.

Beads of sweat were already gathering on their skin, trickling down as they moved.

"Man... what sort of punishment is this?! Ugh..." Chloe groaned.

She was having a difficult time keeping pace due to the oppressive temperature.

With how exhausted she was, her quiver full of arrows and the bow hung across her back felt twice as heavy as they should have been.

And so, the arduous journey back to the shelter truly began.

Hopefully, the other squads hadn’t already departed before they arrived.

____

IN THE SHELTER

The guards posted at the gates leaned against the metal frame with worried expressions etched onto their faces.

Though they rarely encountered direct attacks in this sector, security remained a necessity at the solitary entrance and exit of the shelter, which housed a number of innocent civilians.

Only two militants stood at the gate, calmly discussing the day’s bizarre events amongst themselves.

"Uh... did you hear what the Aspirants were saying about some demonic plant swallowing some of the others?" the first guard asked his companion.

"I heard. It sounded almost too ridiculous to be true. Well, it would have, if some militants who were sent to explore the red zones hadn’t reported the exact same issue," the second guard, who looked significantly older than the first, added.

"Wait. Really? Such plants actually exist?" the younger militant asked, a shocked look crossing his features.

The senior militant nodded solemnly. "About two of our own lost their lives that day."

A somber shadow suddenly creased the first militant’s face. "Which means that those kids won’t survive at all."

"Unfortunately, they won’t," the second guard replied with a tired, heavy sigh.

"And now, the expedition has been called off entirely. In a few minutes, the remaining Aspirants will be returning back to the Corps."

The veteran guard shrugged, leaning back.

"Shortest expedition ever in the history of the Aspirant Corps."

The militants were just about to change the subject when the younger one suddenly lifted his head, staring intently into the shimmering distance.

Their post was on the exterior side of the gate, where they stood beneath a small, makeshift shade.

"Wait. Who are those?!" he shouted, pointing a finger forward.

The older militant lifted his head to scan the horizon where his partner was gesturing.

The man strained his eyes to see through the heat haze, and as the outlines became clearer, he shot upright like a straight piece of bamboo.

"Th—those are the Aspirants!"

The second militant rose too, his brows furrowed in deep confusion.

"But all the Aspirants were already accounted for the moment they passed through the gate."

The first militant facepalmed himself in exasperation.

"Fool. Those are the ones who were recorded as swallowed by the strange plants by the instructor and the others!"

Hearing the shout, the second militant’s eyes widened in sudden realization.

Finally, the seven Aspirants drew close enough for the guards to see their haggard faces clearly.

"Ho—how did they survive?"