Chapter 205: Deduction
When Duane and Kaelon heard the howling, they were happy to know there was life in the Secret Realm.
They were even looking forward to finally finding some Demon Beasts to stretch their limbs.
But when they saw the actual situation, that little bit of joy was not only swept away, it was replaced by a dawning fear and despair.
Duane listened to the roars behind him. The clear yet chaotic sound of footsteps was like the Death God tolling a funeral bell, rapidly approaching them.
Kaelon’s face was pale, but he gritted his teeth and said, "My Lord, you go on ahead. I’ll..."
"Shut up!"
Duane cursed, "There are at least seven or eight Level 5 Demon Beasts in there, not to mention that giant bear. How many could you possibly stop?"
Kaelon glanced back. A Demon Beast had already leaped out of the great pit and reached the top. It looked just like the Black Panther that Duane had killed the other day.
He would have a hard time dealing with this one Demon Beast alone, let alone the entire pack behind it.
Even if he were to sacrifice his life, he could buy Duane a few seconds at most.
"Use Swift Step and run! Get out of here as fast as you can!"
Duane commanded, "I refuse to believe they can keep chasing us forever!"
Not all of those Demon Beasts were as fast as the Black Panther; some had limited bursts of speed.
Therefore, as long as they could put as much distance as possible between them, they would be safe from the risk of being surrounded.
ROAR!
The Black Bear also climbed out of the great pit. It was the king of this pack of Demon Beasts, and with a furious roar, it drove them into a fierce chase.
Kaelon no longer thought about staying behind to cover their retreat. Mustering all his strength, he continuously erupted Fighting Qi from his feet to retreat at the fastest possible speed.
In order to maintain a similar speed, Duane, by contrast, seemed to be handling it with ease.
WHOOSH!
The Black Panther was incredibly fast, closing in on the two of them in an instant.
With a swift movement of his sword, Duane unleashed a Sword Rain Storm. It howled forth, not only sending the Black Panther flying but also throwing the pursuing pack of Demon Beasts into disarray.
In the blink of an eye, they had once again put over a hundred meters between themselves and the Demon Beasts.
The distance between them remained at a stalemate for a long time.
When Kaelon felt he had consumed over half of his Fighting Qi, the long, drawn-out roar of the Black Bear came from the rear.
However, the sound wasn’t as resonant, which probably meant the distance between them had grown too great.
At this, the pursuing Demon Beasts seemed to hear a command to stop the chase. They all stopped and then, reluctantly, turned back.
"They’ve given up?" Kaelon asked, still shaken.
Duane’s heart, which had been in his throat, settled a little. "Maybe. Let’s keep running for a while longer before we rest."
And so, the two ran for another fifty or sixty miles in one go before finally stopping to rest.
Although Kaelon was an Earth Tier Warrior and could easily cover eighty or ninety miles, that wasn’t at a full-out sprint.
Now, his legs felt like jelly, and he was utterly exhausted.
Duane, in contrast, didn’t feel tired at all.
The Celestial Python Bloodline enhanced his stamina and endurance. On top of that, he was a Celestial Tier Warrior; even if he had to run another fifty or sixty miles, he could have handled it with ease.
"Quick, drink a Stamina Potion and recover," Duane said.
Although Stamina Potions were Human Tier Potions, they still had some effect on an Earth Tier Warrior.
Kaelon didn’t refuse. He immediately opened it, drank it down, and sat on the ground to recover.
Duane cautiously watched their surroundings, especially their rear, in case any Demon Beasts tried to sneak up on them.
At the same time, he thought back on the state of the Demon Beasts from the chase.
’That Black Bear is obviously their leader, and it hasn’t entered a frenzied state.’
’Demon Beasts driven mad by the Secret Realm’s influence don’t know when to advance or retreat. They’re like that Black Panther from when we first entered the mountains. Even when heavily injured, even when their companions were dead all around them, they still attacked, heedless of their own lives.’
’But this Black Bear is clearly different. Not only does it seem perfectly lucid, but it even possesses great intelligence and the ability to command this pack of Demon Beasts.’
’In other words, the Black Bear is immune to the Secret Realm’s influence?’
’After all, the intelligence he’d received stated that all living things were supposed to be driven mad by the Secret Realm, turning into bloodthirsty beasts.’
’If it’s unaffected, then there must be a way for people to be unaffected too!’
Duane’s heart began to pound.
’Harmful Secret Realms are impossible to develop for various reasons.’
’If I can find a way to overcome this Secret Realm’s effect on the mind, then it would no longer be a harmful Secret Realm, but a beneficial one!’
’I could harvest the black vines growing here whenever I want and even have ordinary people come in to transport them.’
’I could freely experiment with all the strange flowers, trees, and even the soil inside.’
’Who knows, I might even be able to dig up some special ores!’
It seemed he needed to figure out why the Black Bear was able to resist the Secret Realm’s influence.
But then again, before any of that, he needed to find a way to deal with the Black Bear’s pack of underlings.
They were all gathered together; he couldn’t handle them on his own. In fact, even he and all the soldiers in his territory might not be enough.
Duane needed more manpower.
’But would others help him?’
’Developing a harmful Secret Realm... The other Nobility would probably be unwilling to risk their own armies for such an attempt.’
As he thought about it, Duane’s brow furrowed.
’I finally understand. The threat to Black Forest Island isn’t in the Hot Spring Mountain Range, nor is it in Thorn Valley. It’s deep within this Secret Realm, with this giant Black Bear.’
’A being that can command a pack of Demon Beasts poses a potential threat to the territory.’
’The reason they haven’t invaded all these years, Duane guessed, was probably that they were unwilling to leave the Secret Realm.’
’As for the reason they wouldn’t leave...’
Duane thought of the dark green energy they were breathing in and out.
’Could it be that the great pit contains some kind of energy that helps them grow, which is why they don’t want to leave?’
The more he thought about it, the more plausible this theory seemed.
The Black Bear from before had only stood at the edge of the pit and hadn’t given chase.
Them not leaving for the time being was a good thing for Duane. It would give him more time to train people to deal with them.
After recovering for a while, the two set off on their return journey.
Having explored the Secret Realm to this point, there was no need to venture any deeper.
Besides, they had already been inside for a full four days. To be safe, it was time to leave.
However, the path they had covered in four days was not short. They would still need to spend one more night in the Secret Realm.
To be safe, the two of them didn’t light a campfire as they normally would.
After the day’s intense exertion, and with Kaelon’s vision limited by the pitch-black night, Duane had him rest. He activated his Celestial Python’s Eye to keep watch.
However, during that night, the soundly sleeping Kaelon suddenly furrowed his brow. His head began to toss restlessly, the very picture of anxiety.
’He must have been frightened during the day. Is he having a nightmare?’
Duane thought to himself.
But then, he suddenly noticed a faint black aura coiling around Kaelon’s body. Mixed within this black aura was a trace of dark green.
His pupils immediately constricted to pinpricks. He rushed over and slapped Kaelon across the face. "Wake up!"
Kaelon jolted awake, his eyes opening wide. They were completely bloodshot. "What is it? Did the Demon Beasts catch up?"
Seeing that Kaelon seemed normal, Duane let out a long breath, the tension leaving him.
"Did you feel anything strange just now?" he asked immediately.
Anything strange?
Kaelon shook his head in confusion, apparently not having noticed anything odd.
"I was asleep just now. I didn’t notice anything strange?"
Duane pressed, "Well, were you dreaming?"
Kaelon frowned, thinking for a long moment before nodding hesitantly.
"I think I had a dream. In the dream, I was trapped in a maze and couldn’t get out..."
He shook his head; he couldn’t remember any more of the dream.
Duane nodded and thought, ’Could it be that this Secret Realm affects living creatures through nightmares or something similar?’
Although there were no official records of things like nightmares in this world, Duane, as a Transmigrator, had heard of many such things.
For instance, killing people in dreams, slaying dragons, or becoming lost in an Illusion Realm.
Affecting the minds of humans and Demon Beasts through dreams was not impossible.
’Does that mean as long as you don’t sleep, you won’t be affected by the Secret Realm?’
Duane decided he would catch a rabbit when he got back to test his theory and see if preventing it from resting could stop it from going mad.
With this in mind, Duane warned, "While you were sleeping just now, I saw a trace of that same dark green energy that the Black Bear was devouring on your body."
"I suspect this thing can affect people, so to be on the safe side, you’d better not go back to sleep."
Kaelon swallowed hard, his eyes widening.
He hadn’t expected that on just the fourth night, it was already dangerous for him to sleep.
At this rate of influence, if an Advanced Warrior were to enter the Secret Realm, could they still leave safely after seven days like Gaius did?