Chapter 2016: First Contact
The twins' group continued their journey as usual. They fought a demon beast or two from the swamp every now and then, but they never stopped in the same place for long. That's because they noticed that the longer they stayed still, the greater the chance of more demon beasts coming after them.
"Could it be that our existence itself is what attracts the swamp demon beasts' attention?" Luan couldn't help but ask after Kentucky finished the last creature.
Rean thought about it for a moment. "Maybe... But let's not forget that we truly are living beings. We're not Devils or any other race from the Underworld. That might be why we're highly sought after in this place."
Suddenly, Kentucky's eyes noticed something different than the usual swamp-like landscape in the distance. After all, his normal vision was better than the others. He quickly landed on a tall tree before speaking. "Hey, there are some buildings up ahead on the swamp trees."
Rean and Roan's attention turned in the direction Kentucky was pointing, but they were still too far to make out with the naked eye. "Luan, can your eyes see anything?"
Luan narrowed his eyes for a moment but shook his head. "Not really. My eyes can see Elements and Divine Energy. However, their range is even shorter than my normal vision. We'll need to get closer for me to check that place."
Kentucky looked back at them. "Is that the center of the Swamp of No Return?"
"That's definitely not the case." Luan immediately denied the idea. "The strength of the flow of space is increasing too slowly. If we were really close to the source, the flow of space would have been many times faster."
[He is right.] Sister Orb supported Luan's words. [We're still very far from there.]
"Can you see anyone, Kentucky?" Rean took the chance to ask.
However, Kentucky shook his head. "I can only barely see the outline of the place. I'm also too far away to see anything in detail. Just like what Luan said, we would need to get closer. Or, of course, we can just ignore it and try to go around it. With Luan's eyes, it shouldn't be too hard if that's just some kind of settlement."
It was a hard decision to make. If there was anyone living there, then there would definitely be a lot of information to obtain. But then again, any Devil living in this place where the swamp demons resided was bound to be even stronger. Perhaps they were someone the twins' group couldn't deal with at all.
Not to mention that Kentucky could see several buildings, not only one, so there should be more Devils or whatever race there.
"Let's go there." Roan didn't dwell on the thought for long, though. "I would rather know what to expect than to find out later in a more disadvantageous situation."
In response, Rean, Luan, and Kentucky nodded. Right after, Luan and Kentucky were sent into the Dimensional Realm since they couldn't disguise themselves as devils. Rean and Roan, on the other hand, could. With that, Rean and Roan made their way there. Since they were close enough for Kentucky to see with his eyes, they wouldn't get lost without Luan's help.
However, before they made even half of the distance, Rean and Roan's natural spatial perception caught something. Their heads quickly turned around, just in time to see two other devils coming in their direction at full speed. Those two were the young man and woman from the coffin.
Roan brought out his White Scythe while Rean unsheathed his Black Star, ready to fight. Of course, they didn't know if a fight would break out, but it was better to be safe than sorry.
The young man landed on a tree near the twins with his sister while they looked at the twins intently. They were trying to judge Rean and Roan with their Divine Senses now that they were close enough. Rean and Roan, on the other hand, were able to immediately tell those two Devils' cultivation level thanks to the Divine Sense bending skill.
'The guy is at the Late Stage of Space Bending, and the girl is at the Initial Stage of Elemental Space...' They quickly thought.
However, the two devils didn't attack Rean and Roan straight away. That's because the twins didn't look like living beings at all to the siblings. If anything, Rean and Roan were just as Devils as they were. They weren't the living beings they were looking for. "You two, have you seen anyone different passing by?"
Rean and Roan looked at each other while they kept their guard up. "Different, how? No, forget it. We haven't seen anyone other than ourselves for a while, so it doesn't really matter."
Abelha, the sister, looked at her brother. "Librao, there were supposed to be three of them, not two. Did we really head in the right direction?"
Librao nodded with certainty. "Definitely! I kept track of the direction where I sensed the residual energy. I'm absolutely sure they headed in this direction."
Abelha then looked past the twins and saw the swamp tree houses in the distance. It was still too far, but she could only reach a single conclusion. "They must have reached Frukis Village. We need to head there quick before that crazy Luman eats them all."
Rean and Roan looked at the devils while they talked through their Soul Connection. 'From what they said, they felt the moment we broke through a while ago.'
Roan nodded slightly. 'Yes. However, it seems like your Devil Transformation works just fine on them. They can't tell it was us.'
However, Librao shook his head. "That's not right, sister. The residual energy ends just where we found these two. It's almost completely gone, but I can tell it hasn't reached that crazy Luman's village. Besides..." Librao coldly smiled. "You can sense it as well, can't you?
They have a Dimensional Realm."
Abelha agreed with him. "So you think they captured the living beings, huh? Well, there's a quick way to find out. Just kill them before crazy Luman notices anything."