“We’re setting off now,” Ten-Step Hall said softly.
“Captain, you’re supposed to say ‘Lost Beast is setting off,’” Feini corrected.
“Oh… Lost Beast, move out!” Ten-Step Hall called out, a little awkwardly.
Then the Smiling Witch activated the Teleportation Formation. Pure blue magic light shone, instantly enveloping all seven of them.
—————
It felt as if everyone was soaring through one long void tunnel after another.
That unsettling feeling of not having their feet on solid ground—no matter how many times they went through it, it was always terrifying. And this time, it lasted quite a while.
After a good while, their vision finally cleared.
Some of the team members with weaker balance collapsed onto the ground immediately. Yes, Feini, that means you.
“Wow! Wow! Wow!”
Listening to the loud chorus of frogs all around, the Golden Fang Beast Sisters and White Feather Dove marveled at the scenery.
Emerald-green mountains, lush forests, warm air, brilliant sunshine, and a fresh breeze caressing their faces—all of it was invigorating. This was completely different from the lifeless Demon Domain.
Feini, Ten-Step Hall, and Qingshamu were already worldly, so they weren’t surprised.
But the rest of the team were high-level magic beasts hailing from the depths of the Demon Domain.
In their minds, deep forests were all like the Devil Tree Sea—strange and nothing close to beautiful, just eerie.
The Lost Beast squad began to move forward.
Xueyuedai strolled through the marvelous grass, the Tooth Beast Sisters wandered around, unwilling to leave, and White Feather Dove found everything fresh and novel, just like a rookie adventurer setting out on her first journey.
Ten-Step Hall and Qingshamu were both rather cautious of their surroundings.
One took the front, the other guarded the rear, looking around constantly.
No matter how beautiful the scenery, they couldn’t afford to lower their guard.
“Emma.” Feini went over to Xueyuedai, hoping to chat.
“!” Little did she know, just hearing Feini’s call made Xueyuedai freeze, as if struck by lightning.
“Emma, I want to talk about last time,” Feini said.
“After everything that happened, what’s left to say?” Xueyuedai suddenly reacted as if triggered, trembling, her back to Feini as she retorted.
“We’re teammates now. Let’s put past grudges aside for the time being and work together to get through this. What do you think?” Feini suggested cautiously.
Honestly, she was a bit dumbfounded. Wasn’t it Xueyuedai who led the attack last time? Why did it now feel like Feini was the villain here?
Xueyuedai said nothing—neither agreeing nor refusing, just bottling up her frustration.
That left Feini at a total loss. She hated dealing with these gloomy types the most.
Originally, Xueyuedai Emma’s personality was the most faithful to the original novel and game—scheming against others, always seeking revenge for the slightest grievance.
At least, before the Extracurricular Hunt, she fit her character perfectly.
But after coming back from the Extracurricular Hunt, Feini was always on edge, afraid of being targeted by Fox Fox.
Yet after some time, nothing happened. In fact, whenever Xueyuedai saw her, she would turn and run away.
How could Feini not notice this change? She simply chose not to mention it—another case of someone’s personality changing completely.
But now that they were a team, they had to see each other every day, eating, drinking, sleeping together—conflicts were unavoidable. The only option was to talk things out first.
After all, if Ten-Step Hall and Qingshamu could set aside their differences for now, surely Feini and Xueyuedai could as well.
Reality, however, was never that simple. Fox Fox didn’t want to make peace with her.
Ten-Step Hall and Qingshamu were both driven by logic, always thinking about great achievements and grand plans.
So for the sake of immediate interests, they could temporarily set aside their differences.
But Xueyuedai, an emotionally-driven girl, didn’t care about all that.
If you crossed her, she’d definitely get revenge, no matter if you were a savior or a destroyer—she’d still want to take you out.
The real threat came from within; external threats weren’t worth fearing.
After all, with this squad’s combat strength, even if the Kingdom sent half its forces, it might not be enough to take them down! What was there to fear?
None of them were pushovers—why should Feini be afraid of anyone?
“Rumble! Rumble! Rumble!”
But the team had barely taken a few steps before the ground began to shake. Birds and beasts fled the forest.
The tranquil beauty from moments ago was instantly shattered.
Everyone turned toward the source of the disturbance.
In the distance, it looked like a “mountain” was moving slowly—a rather terrifying sight.
That wasn’t all. Up ahead, there were many figures darting about.
The heavy sound of hooves thundered, churning up the beautiful grasslands, the air thick with murderous intent.
Apparently, other than the magic beast girls, nobody on this land cared to appreciate the scenery.
Everyone exchanged glances and quickly saw both surprise and curiosity in each other’s eyes.
No words were needed. The Lost Beast squad immediately made for the moving “mountain” up ahead.
Then…
They actually found a well-trained Elite Kingdom Knight Order arrayed up ahead, as if waiting for some world-shaking enemy.
The Lost Beast squad hid on a small hill, watching the vast Human Army from afar.
“Have our movements been leaked?”
“Is this an ambush for us?”
“Have we been set up?”
The Golden Fang Beast Sisters voiced sharp doubts.
“If you two can’t keep quiet, then say less, or you’ll blow our cover,” Feini remarked.
“You creepy little freak, what did you say!” Lianjian snapped in anger.
“Captain, listen, if an adventurer suddenly overheard us say something like that, we’d be finished,” Feini tattled to Ten-Step Hall.
Ten-Step Hall didn’t scold anyone, just smiled at Lianjian.
Lianjian shivered from head to toe and fell silent.
“Feini is our tactical advisor. She understands adventurers better than any of us. From now on, everyone must listen to her. No one else is to speak without my permission—lest you blow our cover,” Ten-Step Hall fully supported Feini as their strategist.
“May I speak?” Qingshamu asked.
“Qingshamu, you seem quite experienced too. Of course, feel free to share your thoughts,” Ten-Step Hall replied.
“The Human Army wouldn’t assemble here just to deal with us. If they wanted to handle a group like ours, they’d send small, elite teams, not a force of this scale,” Qingshamu analyzed.
“This army is probably here for that moving giant mountain we saw earlier.”
“Let’s sit back and watch for now, see what’s going on. Let the Human Army and the giant magic beast fight to the death. When the Human Army is defeated, we can step in and help out—then they’ll owe us a favor,” Feini suggested.
“Good idea. Let’s do as Feini says,” Ten-Step Hall nodded, very satisfied with the plan.
She was starting to see Feini in a whole new light.
“……” Qingshamu, on the other hand, seemed a little dissatisfied.
Instead, she was growing more and more critical of Feini.