Yarra’s Adventure Notes

Chapter 34 - 34 25 Life and Death in Two Minutes_1

?34: Chapter 25 Life and Death in Two Minutes_1 34: Chapter 25 Life and Death in Two Minutes_1 In the Crystal Forest, the magical creatures were originally known as Whistle Beasts – an uncommon magical beast in the mountainous areas of the Yarran Continent.

Standing at under a metre tall, the Whistle Beasts had incredibly sturdy hind legs capable of supporting the body’s running and jumping.

In contrast, its forelimbs were rather slender, only used occasionally for assistance during running, mostly for maintaining balance.

The beasts were rather weak, their mouths flat and teeth sharp but lacking in strength, causing difficulty in delivering fatal blows to prey.

Hence, they often had to resort to scavenging the leftover corpses of more ferocious magical creatures.

When faced with predators, they would upright their tails.

Their tail tips were not made of muscle, but instead a structure resembling keratin with holes of different sizes.

When they shake their tails against the wind, the holes would emit the roars of the more aggressive beasts of their region.

Interestingly, the sounds emitted by Whistle Beasts from different areas were distinct, as they would only mimic the roars of the beasts native to their own habitats.

These beasts in the Crystal Forest were clearly transformed from Whistle Beasts that had turned demonic after being contaminated, and they had developed a symbiotic relationship with the Hell Crystals coincidentally.

The cave where the Hell Crystal Forest resided resembles a narrow spindle, approximately eight to nine hundred metres long.

The narrowest end was less than ten metres wide, and the widest part around the spindle’s midsection was barely one hundred metres wide.

The group had emerged from one end of the spindle with one entrance; the other three exits were at the other end; one in the middle and one on each side near the pointed end.

The middle of the spindle-shaped cave was filled with countless crystals that jutted out from the ground haphazardly, making it impossible for anyone to pass.

Crystal growth was absent only along the narrow perimeter around the cave walls.

As the five individuals stormed into the Crystal Forest cave, the demonic Whistle Beasts concealed within turned towards them in unison, with over a hundred tails erect towards the sky.

Ignoring the context, the sight of a hundred tails shooting straight up seemed rather comical.

However, no one in the group was laughing.

They had only two minutes – a stark dividing line between survival and death.

Once they dashed into the realm of the Hell Crystals, the tails of the demonic Whistle Beasts began to sway vigorously but emitted no sound – quite miraculously.

“Quick, they are beginning.

To be safe, we have to reach there in two minutes,” Pannis shouted as he ran.

As if to corroborate Pannis’ warning, some diminutive crystals near the cave’s center started glowing faintly.

“The crystals are glowing,” Vivian, who had been riding on Catherine’s back, was the only one who had the energy to pay attention to the crystals.

She noted the shift in the crystals’ state and loudly warned the others.

“That means the resonance has begun.

Hurry, we don’t have much time,” Pannis responded without looking back.

“Don’t look at the crystals, watch your step and avoid tripping.”
Fifteen seconds.

In the blink of an eye, the group had run over two hundred metres, covering a third of their journey.

However, Pannis did not relax his alertness.

“Watch out!

We’re about to be attacked!” he yelled.

Before his words fell, dozens of large, white bones were flung out from the Crystal Forest.

They fell just half a metre ahead of the group.

“Ah!” Lina shouted in surprise as a bone narrowly missed her during her run.

She barely dodged it but was tripped by another bone.

Had Rachel not been there to lend a hand, she would have fallen.

“Bastards!” Lina exclaimed as she ran, narrowly avoiding danger.

“You damned beasts, I will make you all pay!”
“You won’t have the chance.

Here, they’re practically invincible,” Pannis, who was kicking away bones that could potentially trip them, coolly cut off Lina’s rant.

“The biggest challenge here is the frequent obstruction by these beasts.

Be careful, the next round of attack is coming.”
Thirty seconds.

A barrage of bones mixed with stones was hurled at the running group without any gaps.

Bones of various shapes littered the path like traps waiting for their prey.

“Better to slow down a bit than to twist an ankle or fall,” Pannis advised as he nimbly jumped around the bones.

“Watch your steps and don’t rush, we still have time.”
The red light emitted by the surrounding Hell Crystals, which shone brighter and brighter, cast a seductive and uncanny glow on the scattered white bones across the ground.

“Chirp, chirp”, the large swarm of demonic Whistle Beasts began to emit challenging chirps at the sight of their futile attacks.

More bones and stones were flung out as projectile weapons.

Thankfully, as the group were already prepared, they skillfully dodged these while running.

Forty-five seconds.

“Erect your Aggression Shield.

We have less than two hundred meters to go; we cannot afford a mistake at this point,” said Pannis.

He was the first to activate his Aggression Shield, disregarding the flying projectiles and focusing on avoiding the obstacles on the ground.

The projectiles simply ricocheted off his shield.