Just as they reached the edge of the beach, Liyami felt Kolin’s grip on her hand tighten even more. It seemed Kolin was also worried about this trap.
Seeing this, Liyami also strengthened her own grip in return, making their hands clasp even tighter. Kolin subconsciously glanced over and met Liyami’s calm smile. After a brief moment of surprise, Kolin also smiled faintly, letting go of his excessive tension.
Thus, after preparing themselves, Kolin and Liyami, hand in hand, resolutely stepped into the beach’s domain.
Some time later, Liyami slumped dejectedly onto a sand dune, looked up at the sky, and let out a long sigh. Kolin wasn’t doing much better; though he didn’t sit down, he was frowning deeply, staring at the calm sea before him without moving.
As for why they ended up like this, it wasn’t because they had fallen into any trap. On the contrary, they hadn’t encountered anything resembling a trap at all.
A long time had passed since they truly set foot on the beach, but nothing had happened. There was only the occasional gentle breeze and the sea as calm as usual. Absolutely nothing occurred.
Originally, Liyami and Kolin thought there must be a trap waiting for them on the beach, which was why they were so tense. But after actually entering, they discovered there was no trap at all. Forget a trap, there wasn’t a single enemy, not even a human figure. This made the extremely tense Liyami and Kolin look like fools, left staring blankly at this utterly ordinary beach and sea.
So why weren’t they looking for Laura and Xiaolan? While the absence of a trap was indeed unexpected, it could also be considered a good thing. At least they could let their guard down and search for them over a wider area.
But even so, after searching for a while, Liyami and Kolin gave up. This wasn’t because Liyami didn’t want to search, but because she didn’t know how to search!
Laine had said they were in danger on the beach, but he hadn’t said where on the beach! This damn beach was so huge! There were also several hidden little corners. Trying to find the exact location where Laura and the others were in danger with just two people was too difficult. Given that, it was better to wait for Laine to wake up and hear his detailed description.
That’s why Liyami was now sitting dejectedly on the sand. And to guard against the trap whose existence was uncertain, Kolin had no choice but to stand by, pointlessly gazing at the sea while protecting Liyami.
This situation lasted for some time. Just as Liyami started thinking she couldn’t keep going on like this and that it would be better to search a bit more, she finally heard the voice she most wanted to hear right now.
“Hey! Are you guys okay! Did you find Laura and Xiaolan!”
Lavinia’s voice came from the distance. Hearing it, Liyami immediately rolled over and stood up from the sand, looking towards Lavinia, who was shouting while quickly walking over. Behind her were Eleanor, who had finished her treatment, and the person Liyami most wanted to see right now—Laine!
Although Laine still looked emaciated, compared to before, his complexion had improved quite a bit, and he could now walk independently without anyone’s support. He followed behind Eleanor, struggling to walk towards Liyami.
Seeing him like this, Kolin immediately ran over to support him, intending to quickly bring Laine before Liyami.
During this time, Lavinia had already arrived beside Liyami. Looking at Liyami, who was unharmed except for being a bit downcast, Lavinia asked in confusion, “What? Did you already resolve it? Where are Laura and Xiaolan? Or did that Demon Race member escape?”
Hearing Lavinia’s question, Liyami suddenly found it a bit hard to speak. But now was clearly not the time to worry about that, so Liyami explained everything exactly as it happened.
After listening to Liyami’s explanation, even Lavinia frowned.
“No trap at all? And not even a single person? So what do we do now?”
Lavinia felt anxious. Who knew what Laura and the others might encounter if they weren’t rescued quickly?
Fortunately, Eleanor, who had walked over, proposed the same idea as Liyami.
“Then now we can only listen to Laine’s account. At the very least, we need to understand exactly what they experienced. Otherwise, we can’t plan our next move at all.”
And just as Eleanor finished speaking, Kolin happened to bring Laine over. Seeing that everyone wanted to hear the whole story, Laine didn’t waste words and quickly recounted what happened.
“Xiaolan and Laura, wanting to quickly experience playing by the sea, changed into swimsuits and ran to the beach not long after we arrived. Out of worry, I followed them. After that, they chose a relatively secluded part of the beach, intending to enjoy the summer atmosphere there.”
As Laine spoke about the previous events, he led Liyami and the others to a rather secluded stretch of beach.
Liyami and Kolin hadn’t searched this area before, so as soon as they arrived, they noticed a clue.
On this beach, there were faint, not-yet-completely-dispersed Magic Traces. Though it was unclear what magic they were from, based on Kolin’s experience and intuition, these were definitely the Magic Traces left by the culprit—that Demon Race member.
Liyami had the same thought. Lavinia and Eleanor also made similar guesses immediately.
However, Laine’s account hadn’t stopped yet. So even though they had some guesses, they waited for Laine to finish describing the actual situation before commenting.
“We were attacked right here. At first, Xiaolan and Laura were very enthusiastic when they arrived. But after noticing there was no one around and the sea looked very dark, they became less excited. Later, the weather suddenly worsened a lot, and some cold wind started blowing. Laura couldn’t take it and wanted to go back early. Xiaolan was reluctant at first but later agreed. And I, because Xiaolan asked me to, planned to go pick up some pretty Shells by that Reef Pile over there before heading back. That’s exactly when it happened.”
Laine raised his hand and pointed towards the distant Reef Pile. That area looked quite hidden; if someone were hiding inside, they could easily be overlooked.
Kolin could also sense denser Magic Traces coming from that Reef Pile than from here. Clearly, it was caused by the culprit using some powerful offensive magic.
Because of this, Kolin couldn’t help but feel puzzled. Judging by the residual Magic Traces, the strength of the magic the culprit used was definitely not low. How on earth did Laine survive such magic?
Thinking this, Kolin turned an inquiring gaze towards Laine. Laine clearly noticed this look and quickly understood, proceeding to describe the detailed situation completely.
“The reason I survived is… because of this.”
Laine stretched out his right hand, revealing the Cracked Ring on his ring finger, covered in fissures as if it would shatter at any moment.