Abyssal Chronicles

Chapter 157 - 158: Prey Caught in the Spider’s Web

The eastern part of the Great Winter Forest,

"Jace, didn’t we get there yet?"

"We’re close! Just over the hill ahead!"

Walking through a small ditch, the former adventurer named Jace spoke excitedly.

Hearing this, the Seventh Brave of the Asumos Church—Cabane couldn’t help but reveal a thrilled expression.

Finally! They were almost there!

As long as he could bring the exact location of the Demon Temple back to the Asumos Church, he would gain immense merit! Without a doubt, he would become the new Apostle of Heaven!

This era belonged to him, Cabane’s story, was about to begin!

Imagining his bright future, Cabane’s mouth couldn’t help but slowly curve into a smile.

He was extremely satisfied with his decision to venture into the Great Winter Forest!

This,

It was absolutely the best decision of his life!

For a moment, an unparalleled excitement surged into Cabane’s heart.

"Quick, hurry up!"

He couldn’t wait to experience the feeling of achieving fame and success.

However,

Despite his excitement, there was still a hint of annoyance deep within Cabane’s heart.

Then, the red-haired man slowly turned his head to look at the woman behind him, dressed in the church’s uniform and with short orange hair.

"Arella, didn’t you say you wouldn’t come? Why did you still follow us here?"

Cabane’s words were filled with disdain, as well as a strong sense of smugness.

" didn’t you say we wouldn’t be able to find it? Didn’t you say Jace was a liar? But look now, aren’t we almost there?!"

In response to Cabane’s words,

The orange-haired woman named Arella narrowed her eyes slightly, still full of disdain.

"We haven’t arrived yet, what’s the hurry..."

"Heh, let’s see how long you can keep up that stubbornness."

Cabane sneered coldly.

He couldn’t wait to arrive at the Demon Temple and see the change on Arella’s expression, to see what kind of expression the Third Brave, who usually looked down on him, would reveal after seeing the Demon Temple.

On the other side,

Arella remained indifferent in the face of Cabane’s smugness. She didn’t respond to his provocation but instead focused on observing the surrounding environment. Likewise, she was also on guard against the appearance of the Abyssal demons.

At first,

When Cabane mentioned that he knew the news about the Demon Temple,

Arella indeed didn’t pay any attention, as such fake news was endless! Even after seeing the so-called "Demon Temple" fragment, Arella remained skeptical, since Jace, the adventurer, had many holes in his story.

In Arella’s view, the other party was just a liar.

Moreover,

Even if there were such intelligence, it should have been reported to the Archbishop or the Pope immediately and waited for the decision of the church’s upper echelons, instead of taking action on their own for merit. Arella didn’t initially plan to enter the Great Winter Forest but reported the intelligence to the Archbishop.

However,

Before waiting for the Archbishop’s reply, Arella was surprised to find,

Cabane had already taken matters into his own hands, bringing his team and Jace into the Great Winter Forest.

Although there were some minor conflicts between her and Cabane, Arella, being the Third Apostle of Earth, still valued her companions very much. Naturally, she couldn’t just watch her companions foolishly march to their deaths! So, Arella, armed with a rare spatial teleportation scroll, hurriedly entered the Great Winter Forest. Using the locator tool between the Braves, she traced Cabane’s movements, trying to bring the adventurous Brave back to the City of Wind!

However,

After tracking them down,

Arella was astonished to find,

The so-called "secret passage" that Cabane and Jace had taken was indeed just as they had described it earlier, a special path free of magical beasts and Abyssal demons! After secretly following them for several hours based on the residual aura, Arella hadn’t encountered a single Abyssal demon! She couldn’t even sense any residual demonic presence!

’Perhaps? Is that adventurer telling the truth?’

After such a thought surfaced in her heart,

Arella decided to join Cabane and the others after catching up with them. She was also curious about whether they could really reach the Demon Temple?! If they were to encounter a large number of Abyssal demons later, escaping shouldn’t be a problem with the spatial teleportation array given to her by the Archbishop.

And so, Arella joined the team...

...

’Really, no Abyssal demons...’

Looking around at the eerily quiet forest, Arella felt increasingly complicated inside.

Although she still harbored doubts,

Now, she might have to believe that Cabane had truly found a reliable adventurer with genuine information...

If that were the case,

What about the path ahead?

Would crossing this hill lead them into that special barrier? And then, would they see the Demon Temple?

Thinking of this, Arella couldn’t help but feel a bit nervous, and she gripped the slender sword at her waist. After all, who knew whether they would encounter any other Abyssal demons after entering the barrier, as Jace had said?

And so,

In this way,

Filled with a mixture of apprehension, excitement, and doubt, Arella and the others crossed the final small hill together.

As if expected, they seemed to step into a special barrier. Everything around them suddenly twisted, and their vision in front of them underwent earth-shattering changes! The dense forest of giant trees that had been ahead of them vanished abruptly! In its place was an open expanse of land! An open land surrounded by forests...

However,

After crossing this piece of land, the excitement on everyone’s faces instantly disappeared!

The reason was simple,

They did not see the Demon Temple...

"What, what? Where’s the Demon Temple?!"

Walking at the forefront, Cabane suddenly looked around frantically, disappointment rapidly showing on his face. After disappointment came a surge of anger that filled his eyes.

Of course, apart from anger, there was also embarrassment,

After all, he had just boasted to Arella...

"You! You lied to me!"

With the eruption of his red holy energy, Cabane suddenly turned around, grabbed Jace by the neck, and sternly questioned him,

"You! Where’s the Demon Temple?! Didn’t you say it was right here?! Why is there nothing here?!"

However,

After entering the barrier, Jace seemed to have lost his soul, standing there dumbfounded. No matter how much Cabane slapped him, there was no sign of a response, and the light had already left his eyes!

"What the hell is this?!"

Cabane struggled to accept the situation, tightly gripping Jace’s neck.

At that moment, a shield-bearing brother walked up to Cabane, speaking in an astonished and perplexed tone:

"Captain...you...look over there..."

"Huh? What now?!"

Hearing this,

Cabane followed his teammate’s direction, looking towards the lakeside in the distance.

The next moment,

Like the other members of the Asumos Church, Cabane froze in place when he saw what was by the lakeside. His brown eyes were filled with disbelief,

"Why...why is there a cottage here?!"

Looking at the countryside house-like cottage, Cabane couldn’t help but doubt his own eyes, rubbing them repeatedly,

"Why is there a cottage? Could that be the Demon Temple?"

"No, that’s not very likely..."

Arella, who was also feeling puzzled, couldn’t help but shake her head in denial,

"How about...we go and take a look?"

Under normal circumstances,

Facing such a bizarre and unthinkable situation, recording the coordinates and retreating would be Arella’s usual style.

However,

For some reason,

When she saw that cottage, Arella’s gaze was fixed on it, as if there were voices coming from inside, constantly calling her to investigate...

And when Arella made this suggestion,

The other members of the Asumos Church had no objections.

Cabane, already feeling frustrated, was even more eager in the face of the strange allure of the cottage, rushing forward!

"Since we’re already here, let’s see what this place really is!"

--

Meanwhile,

Atop a distant giant tree, a beautiful blue-haired girl was quietly sipping her cold drink and silently watching the members of Asumos Church approach the cottage.

’Good luck to you all~’