An Aura Farmer's Guide to Another World-Chapter 22: Tusk winger-1

After twelve hours of walking, Evelyn and I made it to the fourth sector.

The shift in landscape felt like an escape from torment into paradise, a dramatic leap from darkness into light.

The fourth sector of Devil's Island was blanketed with vibrant green grasses. Strategically positioned, a legion of wisteria trees rose majestically. Their branches stretched out to shade a stone walkway, with long, cascading leaves resembling elegant chandeliers.

'Quest Update,' I called out to the system.

[Quest Update....֍֍֍֍]

[Details: Survive the 6 sectors of the Devil Island. Make it to the center and clear the scenario.]

[Enemies: 30/100- Team up with a partner and eliminate the other participants.]

[Reward: Acceptance into House of Sinners—a distinguished military spy division serving under the queen.]

[Penalty: You will be executed for your crimes against Lord Henry.]

I waved my hand, and the blue screen before me vanished.

To my left, Evelyn walked with her hands clasped behind her, her leather bag swinging across her shoulder.

'Crunch Crunch!'

I savored the date fruit we brought from the snow desert. It possessed a mildly chewy texture, a honey-like sweetness, and a tender consistency with a caramel-like flavor.

"You want some?" I cast a glance at Evelyn as we walk along the stone pavement. The wisteria tree leaves form canopies, shielding us from the sun's heat.

Evelyn pressed her finger to her lips and glanced at the rows of wisteria trees standing like guards along the walkway.

The bizarre aspect of these trees was that they bore oversized fruits, and those fruits belonged to entirely different tree species—mangoes, peaches, strawberries, and even pineapples hung from the wisteria branches.

Evelyn pointed at a strawberry. The strawberry was so big that it could fit a goat inside.

"I am craving something sour," she said.

My hand came out and rested on her forearm, guiding it away from the tree she was pointing at meters ahead of us.

"The fruits have monsters inside, I already told you, didn't I?"

"How can you be certain that is true?"

"Instinct," I lied.

Evelyn puffed out her cheeks, making them appear like mini balloons. She looked at me, her brows furrowed.

"You can't tell a girl what she can't and can't do."

"For the love of God, Evelyn." I paused and brought my palms together. "Please don't do anything silly."

Evelyn crossed her arms and looked away. Letting out a sharp "Hmph!"

She fell silent, leaving me to be consumed by my thoughts.

The knowledge of monsters residing within the fruits came from the information I acquired after examining the Devil's memory fragment.

The fragment encompassed recollections of my prior experiences with the quest. Within the fragment, I discovered the dreadful events destined to unfold.

What was alarming was that every path resulted in my death; I repeatedly failed to complete the quest while playing Blades of Destiny.

The initial challenge was the final boss monster positioned in the fifth sector, and even if I succeeded in it during the gameplay, the other inmates involved in the quest would inevitably clash over a boat, ultimately leading to my assassination.

***

"Aaaaaaaaah!"

The sound of someone shouting reached our ears. Before we had a chance to react, the chilling noise of bones being crushed echoed throughout the area.

The air in the fifth sector hung heavy and humid, thick with the scent of decay.

Evelyn and I stood amidst the ruins of a city. The abrupt cries for help echoed through the sector, prompting us to seek refuge behind a massive, fractured pillar.

"Help!!!, Help!!!"

The cries for help were from multiple directions, creating an eerie confusion and making it impossible to determine the precise location of the beast pursuing us.

Evelyn tugged at my shirt, prompting me to glance at her. She was leaning against a stone pillar, clutching her Kusarigama firmly in her hands.

She gestured toward the setting sun, "We proceeded to the next sector. Facing the monster at night would be far more dangerous."

Gradually, I stood up and began to walk, resembling an elderly man burdened with back pain. Evelyn followed closely, and together we stealthily moved toward the setting sun.

We navigated through jagged, moss-covered remnants of once majestic structures that rise from shallow, stagnant water.

'Splash! Splash!'

The sound of murky water splashing echoed from our boots, intensifying the sound of our racing heartbeats.

The water was a sickly, viscous liquid, not quite black, but an unsettling opaque brown-green reflecting no light.

'Bzzz! Bzzz!'

The sound of a mosquito buzzing startled us. Evelyn and I stood frozen in place, so still that a needle could have been balanced on our eyebrows.

My eyes darted to the left in search of the mosquito, and I saw a leaning watchtower covered in moss, its edges were crumbling like broken teeth.

When I searched to my right, a shattered stone building appeared, a tree was growing out of it, its roots nested all over the ruined stone house.

While remaining stationary, the buzzing of the mosquito grew louder.

Moreover, the source of the sound became clear—it was directly in front of us.

The sound emanated from a ruined temple, reduced to only twenty-four pillars, arranged in a rectangular formation. Each pillar was wrapped by a mangrove tree curling around it like a serpent.

The roots of the trees enveloped the entire stone foundation of the temple, creating the appearance of a web woven from tree roots.

'Bzzz! Bzzz!'

The mosquito was close. Too close.

'Whoosh!'

Evelyn dashed past me unexpectedly, leaping gracefully to scale one of the towering temple pillars.

"Whatever is in there, we can't afford to let it get out."

'Thud Thud!'

Footsteps resonated through the surroundings with such power and intensity, causing ripples to cross the shallow water nearby.

Accompanying Evelyn, I ran into the ruined temple, where I encountered a monster so grotesque that it caused me to vomit.

The creature was an elephant with a tail composed of a massive serpent, while its head resembled that of a mosquito.

Its eyes resembled those of a fly, and its body was riddled with holes of varying sizes, some small as a coin and others wide enough to swallow a person whole.

From many of them, a faint, high-pitched buzzing could be heard, like a thousand agitated insects, and occasionally, a tiny, winged silhouette would dart out before vanishing into the oppressive gloom.

It moved sluggishly toward me, blood seeping from its grotesque, mosquito proboscis.

'Shrieeeeek!'

The monster let out a piercing, high-pitched scream. It reared up on its front limbs, towering over the ruins like a mad horse, its grotesque front limbs lashing wildly.

[Alert... New side quest available.]

[Defeat the Tusk winger and acquire a unique drop item.]