Free Web NovelChapter 58: The eye of death 3
Yuto stared at Tami for several seconds, the kind of stare usually reserved for people who had either said something incredibly brave or incredibly stupid.
Eventually, he shook his head.
"Are you a dummy?"
Tami blinked.
"What?"
"Of course we’re not fighting that thing."
Yuto pointed behind them, toward the distant hills and the cave they had been using as shelter.
"That’s literally the whole reason we’re hiding over here."
The image of the colossal vine beast immediately resurfaced in his mind, and he felt the same cold unease crawl through his chest that had gripped him at the edge of the cliff.
He folded his arms.
"And it’s the reason we’re going to keep hiding in that cave until it decides to leave."
Tami scratched the back of his head.
"Fair."
The agreement came quickly enough.
Unfortunately, his expression remained troubled.
His brows stayed furrowed as they continued walking across the uneven terrain, their boots crunching against loose stone and hardened sand. freēwebnovel.com
After a while, he spoke again.
"Shinto is already ahead of us though."
Neither Maya nor Yuto answered immediately.
The concern hung in the air between them.
"If we wait too long," Tami continued, "he’ll reach the gemstone before we do."
Yuto released a slow sigh.
"That’s assuming he hasn’t gotten there already."
The words tasted bitter.
He hated admitting the possibility out loud.
The three of them continued walking in silence after that, following the winding path back toward their camp.
The desert wind moved across the landscape in long sweeping currents, carrying fine grains of sand that hissed softly against stone. The strange sky above remained unchanged, its unnatural light casting pale shadows across the hills and broken ridges surrounding them.
For a while, nobody spoke.
Then Tami broke the silence again.
"Do you think he’s stuck nearby too?"
Yuto glanced at him.
"Who?"
"Shinto."
Tami shrugged.
"What if he ran into the colossal vine beast just like we did?"
Yuto felt his thoughts pause.
Because the more he considered it, the more sense it made.
Shinto had been heading in the same direction.
They all were.
The gemstone lay somewhere beyond the region occupied by the colossal vine beast.
If that creature blocked the route forward, then there was every chance Shinto had encountered it before they did.
Perhaps he had approached the cliff.
Perhaps he had looked down.
Perhaps he had experienced the exact same moment of terror.
The image almost made Yuto smile.
Almost.
Maybe Shinto was hiding somewhere nearby right now.
Watching.
Waiting.
Looking for a solution.
Just like they were.
The thought lingered.
Yuto frowned.
Shinto was powerful.
There was no denying that.
Everything about the man radiated confidence and danger.
Even their brief encounter had been enough to make that obvious.
But powerful enough to fight something like the colossal vine beast?
Yuto doubted it.
The creature below the cliff felt wrong in a way that went beyond strength.
It felt less like a monster and more like a force of nature.
A living disaster.
Something that existed outside the normal scale by which creatures were measured.
Then another possibility entered his mind.
A possibility he immediately disliked.
What if there was more than one?
The thought settled heavily into his chest.
What if colossal vine beasts weren’t unique?
What if they were common throughout this region of the Astral Realm?
What if the path ahead was filled with creatures of similar size and power?
Would every stage of their journey become a waiting game?
Would they spend days hiding in caves and behind cliffs, praying for impossible monsters to wander somewhere else?
The prospect was exhausting.
Yuto rubbed his forehead.
Ah.
This mission was becoming a genuine headache.
A long sigh escaped him.
His gaze drifted sideways.
Toward Maya.
She walked a short distance away, moving with the same quiet confidence she always seemed to possess. Her hands remained tucked into her pockets as the wind pulled lightly at strands of blonde hair that had escaped her ponytail.
Her expression remained unchanged.
Calm.
Composed.
Almost frustratingly unreadable.
Yuto found himself studying her.
Not openly.
Not enough for her to notice.
Just enough to observe.
What was she thinking right now?
Was she worried?
The colossal vine beast had certainly been terrifying enough.
Was she frustrated by the delay?
Concerned about Shinto?
Already calculating their next move?
It was impossible to tell.
That was the thing about Maya.
Despite everything they had experienced together, despite the battles they had fought side by side, despite the number of times they had nearly died within sight of one another, he still felt as though he knew surprisingly little about her.
The same couldn’t really be said for Tami.
Tami was easy.
Not simple.
Just transparent.
Most of his thoughts reached his face before they reached his mouth.
Maya was the opposite.
Everything remained hidden behind that controlled exterior.
Yuto knew certain facts about her.
He knew she was an exceptional fighter.
Even though his rank now exceeded hers, he suspected her technique remained superior to his own.
Her movements carried a level of refinement that could only come from years of training.
Then there was her earth magic.
The ability she had revealed beneath the collapsing desert.
And beyond that lay an even bigger secret.
The Seven Great Clans.
The revelation that she belonged to one of those mysterious bloodlines had raised more questions than it answered.
Every time he learned something new about her, the mystery only seemed to deepen.
A thought surfaced unexpectedly.
If they fought each other...
Who would win?
The answer didn’t come immediately.
That alone surprised him.
A few weeks ago, he would have dismissed the question entirely.
Now he genuinely wasn’t sure.
The more he thought about it, the less certain he became.
Then another thought followed.
A less comfortable one.
Yuto realized that a part of him remained suspicious of her.
Not because Maya had done anything wrong.
She hadn’t.
She had helped them repeatedly.
Saved their lives more than once.
Shared danger with them without hesitation.
Logically, she had given him no reason to doubt her. freewebnovёl.ƈom
And yet the feeling persisted.
Because there was clearly more to Maya than she allowed anyone to see.
A hidden layer beneath the surface.
A collection of secrets she guarded carefully and revealed only when absolutely necessary.
Perhaps that was normal.
Everyone carried secrets.
Yuto certainly did.
But something about Maya’s felt different.
Larger.
More significant.
As the wind swept across the wasteland and the three of them continued their journey back toward camp, Yuto found himself watching her in silence.
And for the first time since meeting her, a question surfaced that he couldn’t easily dismiss.
Could he really trust her?
