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With multiple vulture-like gazes pinning her down, Robin could only gulp nervously while explaining herself. "U-Uh, I-I… I was just making sure I wasn't dreaming…?"
Unfortunately, that turned out to be not the 'right answer', and even with Emilia petitioning for her to be 'pardoned', the poor 'rogue' ended up getting her ears stretched till she almost wondered if her 'bloodline' would be automatically converted to an elf.
After being so thoroughly 'warned' not to be a 'pervert', Robin could only 'sneak a peek' occasionally while using the strange ability of the corrupted blood essence to lead them towards their presumed goal.
"This is already the third bead, and we're heading almost in a straight line…" Danielle frowned thoughtfully. "Given how useful this ability seems, it should be fine to save a few, right?"
As their team had been quite strapped for all kinds of resources since their 'fall from grace', the drill-haired girl had gotten quite used to being thrifty.
Of course, after she thought about it, Emilia agreed with her suggestion readily. "Although it only lasts for sixty seconds, not only can it be used to scout for enemies and traps, but it can also act as a status booster. It would be great if we can save as many as possible!"
The team thus decided unanimously to only let Robin use the next bead after they'd covered a significant distance. After all, even if their 'target' location wasn't easy to spot, they could always turn back if needed.
"It would be great if we can get more of these 'Corrupted Blood Essence' thingies… or better yet, learn to make them." Robin sighed. "It's just so much better than the crappy 'Basic Scouting' skill!"
"That would be wonderful." Emilia nodded in agreement.
But the rest of her teammates, who 'understood' Robin's 'sentiments' better, only rolled their eyes in exasperation.
Obviously, what Robin really 'liked' was the bead's ability to allow her to 'perv' on a certain someone as she wished. Fortunately, the 'stash' was safely stored in Sylvia's inventory.
Regardless of their opinion on her attitude, even Danielle had to admit that Sylvia was a girl of character and integrity, and would never stoop so low as to 'perv' on someone secretly.
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It had only been a few hours into the 'day' when Emilia and the rest of her team started chasing after the clues for the 'hidden quest', but by the time they reached the glowing 'cavern' in Robin's vision, it was already quite late.
Sylvia couldn't help but frown. "Should we retreat for today and come back later?"
Ever since they first discovered the 'spend the night at an inn' mechanic to keep the team together, they'd regularly kept track of the time even while grinding mindlessly, and never taken the risk of being scattered all over the continent.
After all, not only would they end up wasting gold coins teleporting back to the capital, but they'd also end up wasting a lot of time.
But with the distance they'd covered so far, even at full speed, they may not necessarily reach the capital in time… even if they could 'finish' the quest they'd yet to properly discover within just four or five hours.
Danielle frowned, a little conflicted. "If we head back now and get back here tomorrow, we can probably save an hour or two, but… is it really worth it?"
Although they'd hunted a few more [Ravenous Rabbits] on the way to complete another quest, they'd mostly avoided every other 'encounter', and quickly escaped from those that they couldn't.
This meant that most of their 'day' had already been 'invested' in this 'hidden quest', and Danielle really didn't want to spend another day on it.
After all, the lead they had over everyone else wasn't an uncrossable chasm, and if they kept 'wasting time', it may not be long before everyone else caught up.
Gritting her teeth, the drill-haired girl furiously shook her head in denial. "No, we go on, and finish this thing today!"
The 'Crimson Witches' finally got a 'break' thanks to Emilia's incredible luck and skill, how could she let it all go to waste just because she was hesitant and cowardly?!
As it turned out, that was the right decision, and Emilia couldn't help but smile as the quest objective was finally 'discovered' upon stepping into the mysterious cave.
'So Cynthia's hunch was right, after all…' She sighed. 'Even if there's a mask on its face, there's no mistaking that aura…'
—Hidden Cave Discovered!
—Discovery of the hidden quest 'Blood Monarch's Remains' completed 100%!
—New quest, [Blood Monarch's Remains] has been added to the quest menu.
Everyone quickly looked it up, and the details of the quest almost left them stunned.
[Blood Monarch's Remains]
—Primary Objective: Subdue or submit to the ghost of the Blood Monarch to appease his fury.
—Secondary Objective: Resolve the Blood Monarch's obsession to obtain his gratitude.
-Primary Reward: 20 x [Corrupted Blood Essence] (Submit) or 1 x [Heart of the Corrupted] (Subdue), 250k Experience Points, and 5 Gold Coins.
-Secondary Reward: New Skill Tree [Path of Blood] (Unique)
Even from the entrance of the cave, the bloodied corpse of an armored man lying in its own pool of glowing red blood could be seen clearly. And in this 'pool', numerous 'pearls' of blood floated around freely.
What scared the 'Crimson Witches' though wasn't the fact that they had to deal with a 'ghost', but the level clearly displayed above its head.
[100]!
They'd struggled so hard against monsters that hadn't even reached level thirty, and this monster was far, far higher than that! How were they supposed to subdue it?
As for 'submitting' to it… how could they accept that so easily?
Even foregoing their 'ego', it was easy to guess that submitting to the Blood Monarch wasn't such a good thing, otherwise they wouldn't have discovered those corpses with the clues.
Moreover, the 'obsession' statement also hinted at the fact they might be led on a 'compulsory' quest of some sort, probably one that they couldn't handle at their level.
Danielle once again found herself wondering if she'd made the right choice, or if it was too late to head back now. But for Emilia, it was a no-brainer.
After all, while Cynthia couldn't directly interfere much with the game, she was still easily able to tell that the 'Blood Monarch's Ghost' they'd found was an actual soul fragment that the world will directly harvested, and its obsession was very much real.
Fighting and winning against a level hundred enemy was definitely impossible, and this fact wouldn't change even months down the line, as it only got harder to level up as they moved forward.
Emilia could tell at a glance that the choice they were given was in fact just an illusion, and the real goal of this quest from the start was to willingly accept submitting to this 'ghost'.
So long as they did as they were told, even if they couldn't be called 'slaves' to the original owner of the 'fragment' in front of them, they would still become instinctively obedient and submissive in his presence.
Cynthia sneered. "Although I'm not sure how effective its bond would be if properly enforced, I can still shield your soul from it here, don't worry."
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