Guide to tamming vilanesses

The introductions had finally come to an end. He didn't plan to spend any time saying anything to the others. He trusted Lile's choice of personnel to accompany him, and he trusted the Succubus elite to take care of things in his absence.

Shin took one last glance at the group gathered before him before turning toward the endless sea of trees stretching across the horizon.

"The Death Forest..." he whispered to himself, feeling somewhat excited for the journey. He couldn't deny that a part of him simply enjoyed such adventures.

Even if he was missing someone for that…

"Ready?" Lilel asked, shimmering into existence before his eyes. Her familiar voice and face brought nostalgia, but it wasn't exactly the same.

"Yes…" he said, shaking his head and leaving such thoughts behind. His eyes glimmered again.

Thanks to the game, Shin already had a general idea of which direction the Amazonians' camp was. So he wouldn't need to waste time on side quests just to gather that information.

All he really needed was to make sure they traveled in a straight line, which was far from easy in a forest. But luckily, he had a compass.

The needle spun for a brief moment before settling. He looked around, making sure they would head in the right direction, then stepped forward.

As long as they kept traveling in the proper direction from the Succubus Kingdom, they would eventually emerge on the opposite side of the Death Forest, close to the main Amazonian camp.

"There are no roads to follow," he muttered. "So the only thing that matters is making sure we don't drift."

The girls advanced behind him, walking past scattered trees and relatively open terrain. However, the empty spaces became fewer and farther between as the forest showed its true colors.

The Death Forest was dense, packed with gigantic trees, of which they saw more and more with each step forward.

"Isn't it getting chilly in here?" Mora commented at one point. Perhaps her almost complete lack of clothing wasn't helping.

"It's because of the shadows," Medea replied with a tired sigh. "Can't you see that the sun has almost disappeared?" She pointed upward.

Tall trees surrounded them on every side, their dense canopies blocking almost all of the sunlight.

As they ventured deeper into the forest, the girls began to feel increasingly small. The trees grew even larger, their trunks becoming so massive that several people linking arms wouldn't have been enough to encircle a single one.

Their branches stretched farther and farther, intertwining overhead like enormous fingers. With every kilometer they advanced, less sunlight reached the forest floor.

Most life and plants began to disappear, and eventually, there was nothing left except the colossal trees, stealing every ray of sunlight for themselves while leaving only a shadow of death beneath their towering crowns.

Three hours later, they reached the Dark Zone.

Here, the crowns of the giant trees merged so completely overhead that they formed what looked like an endless wooden ceiling.

Not even a single ray of sunlight managed to pierce through. The forest was engulfed in absolute darkness.

Naturally, the group could no longer see the path ahead.

Fortunately, Medea solved the problem with ease. With a simple flick of her finger, she cast a Light spell. A glowing orb floated above the group, illuminating the darkness like a magical lantern.

"It's hard to walk in here," Materna commented softly. Perhaps it was because of her motherly nature, but the place filled her with goosebumps.

The ground beneath their feet had become a dead wasteland where almost nothing could grow. The ancient trees had claimed every available resource for themselves, leaving nothing for smaller plants to survive on.

Their footsteps crunched softly over countless layers of dead leaves that had accumulated over hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of years.

To make the scenery even more unsettling, they occasionally spotted the bleached skeletons of unfortunate animals that had wandered too deep into the forest and never found their way back.

Even insects were strangely scarce.

There simply wasn't enough life left near the forest floor to sustain them.

The towering giants above consumed nearly all of the sunlight, while their branches were far too high for most herbivores to reach. With almost no plants growing below and no animals feeding above, the entire ecosystem had collapsed into a lifeless wasteland.

Only the trees continued to thrive.

And even more unfortunately… The few creatures that still called this place home were the ones strong enough to survive such a merciless environment.

"Stop," Shin murmured, drawing everyone's attention. "Up to this point, the crossing was a walk in the park, but things won't be like that anymore," he said in a harsh tone.

"Okey-dokey!" Mora answered excitedly, not seeming to understand the situation.

"Can't you understand he is telling us to be careful, you dumb bimbo?" Medea complained.

"Come on, there is no need for fighting," Materna quickly intervened.

Octavia just silently closed her eyes and prayed for good luck for their group. Yasmin was nowhere to be seen. At least, Shin couldn't notice her anymore.

"We're changing formation," he ordered, not worrying about the minor bickering among the girls.

Mora would be at the front because she could tank most surprise attacks. Octavia and Materna were placed at the center, as they were the least equipped to handle a sudden ambush.

Medea would stay close to the two supporting succubi, but he instructed her to remain vigilant and shield the girls if needed.

Finally, Shin himself took the rear, stepping back to cover their blind spot and ensure no threat could approach from behind.

And then Shin felt a familiar chill on his back, followed by the soft feeling of breasts. Yasmin appeared beside him, her body flickering faintly.

"I could scout without anyone noticing," she suggested.

"I know," Shin nodded. Yasmin was invisible and probably untouchable. She was the perfect scout. "But it would slow us down."

Shin glanced toward the endless darkness surrounding them. They needed to leave that place as soon as possible.

"There isn't enough life here to make a decent campsite. It's too cold, and the monsters that live here are all too dangerous. So we need to cross this section today."

Yasmin simply nodded. By all means, she didn't even need an explanation; she trusted Shin's decisions.

And they advanced like that as the air grew colder and a fog obscured their vision. At first, Shin just thought it was hard to see because of the lack of light, but after a moment, he recognized what the mist actually was.

Shit! I should have noticed it before… he thought, moving to react. However…