When they all woke up, the first thing the group decided to do was to check the area right outside the tomb. They wanted to be sure that a certain horde of monsters wasn't still in the passage or if there was something bad happening outside. Hera and Silah slowly opened the entrance and allowed Alex to sneak out. She was the best one to go unnoticed.

The assassin took a few steps to the middle of the valley. Looking around, she noticed that there didn't seem to be any monsters around. Everything was quiet, deathly so. Alex stepped farther away from the hidden tomb, still using her [Hide] skill. Alex looked around, feeling weirded out by the situation. When they were here before, the only reason why there were no monsters around was that Hera and Silah had blocked off the passage. Now that it was open, they should all be here. Even if they were not right by the door, she should at least hear some noises, but there was nothing.

If this was the only issue, she could shrug it off as a coincidence, but something else was bothering her. Looking to the south, she could see the fog that came from that abyss. The mist seemed thicker than normal, and it was much deeper than the last time she saw it. It was a good thing that it was close to 10 am. This meant that the light in the valley was brighter than normal, allowing her to see things clearer. Alex took a few steps towards the mist, trying to find any traces of monsters or something that would explain this entire situation. Suddenly, her eyes found something, and Alex's entire body started to shake in a cold sweat.

That reaction didn't go unnoticed by the rest of the team, who were watching by the hidden entrance.

"Is she ok?" Silah asked.

"I don't know. She seems weird, right?" Hera replied.

"Hey! Alex, are you ok?" Blue yelled, but the assassin just twitched her hand, "Can you hear me? Alex!" Blue yelled even louder.

"... ut..uc..p," Alex whispered while gritting her teeth.

"What? I can't hear you," Blue yelled again.

"Shut the fuck up! For the love of the system, shut the fuck up," Alex yelled back, still trying to keep her voice down, and turned her head back to the mist.

No one understood what was going on. Even when using their detection spells, they couldn't see a thing with them. Unsure of what was happening, Hera poked her head out of the wall and tried using her new [Observe - Red Sight]. Looking at the mist, nothing popped up, so she turned to Alex. After a few seconds, the color of her friend started changing. Instead of her regular clothes, Hera could only see the heat that was coming out of the assassin's body, with the exposed skin appearing much hotter than her armor.

Hera turned to the mist once more and tried to use her skill once more, trying to see if anything appeared now that she knew what to expect. It took a while, but she noticed that there was a solid blue color beyond the smoke that didn't match the rest of the mist. It was almost like looking at a gigantic thing, and when paying attention, Hera could tell that whatever it was, it was moving, and it was too big to even enter the valley. Since she could only see the blue hue of the low temperature through the infrared.

[??????????]

When the information, or lack of it, appeared, Hera jumped back. For something to appear as pure question marks, it should be much stronger than herself. If that wasn't bad enough, if that really was a creature, it was more than big enough to swallow someone whole.

Seeing Hera freak out and hide behind the wall on the hidden crypt, the group looked at her, confused.

"What did you see?" Bonnie asked.

"Big thing. A snake? A Lizard? I don't know it was just the tail or the body, but it was too big. Big enough to cover the entire chasm, I think," Hera replied in a whisper. With a snap, she remembers that Alex was still outside. Hera touched the communicator on her neck, "Alex, come back here. Run if you have to. The head is not there, I think."

"Are you sure?" Alex replied through the comms.

"90%. I can see more or less whatever it is, and I just can see the body. If you stay there, it could be worse."

"Ok, tell everyone to give me some room in the entrance," Alex asked.

"Guys, step back from the entrance. Silah, get ready to close the passage," as soon as everyone cleared the way, Hera gave Silah a nod and spoke again, "All clear. Want me to count you down?"

"Yeah, please."

"3...2...1...go!"

Alex bolted from the middle of the valley until reaching the hidden entrance. Hera and Silah quickly closed the passage by using their stone wall spells. Alex was deathly pale, and her heart was beating so fast that you could see the veins on her neck. She and Hera were the only two who had any idea of what was actually there, and they didn't want to risk moving after this. Everyone else was still confused about the situation, but seeing their panicked expressions, they all understood that they should stay quiet.

Hera pointed to Shane's gauntlet and made a gesture of something expanding, "Radar."

Without another word, the two explorers used their detection spells. Hera made a point of allowing the Sensory Net spell to stay around instead of being something that was just a blip. A couple of seconds went by when suddenly, a massive snake tongue lashed out from the mist and touched their mana. The tongue was so big that just the part that Hera could sense should easily be 10 meters long. With about 70% of that length being the forked tip. For a creature to have a tongue that big, its body should be massive.

Hera wasn't the only one worried about this. Shane's expression also showed that she had sensed that creature, and her eyes were wide.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

"This is… impossible," Shane whispered.

"What?" Mylo asked.

She gestured to the tunnel, telling everyone to move along and get away from the entrance. They quietly moved along back to the central chamber with the stone coffin and the spiral path.

"What happened?" Mylo asked again as soon as everyone entered the room.

"Hera, do the soundproof thing. Just in case," Shane whispered.

Hera nodded and quickly created the green barrier, kicking herself for not having thought about this before, "Done. You saw that, right?"

"Yeah. Well, not see it exactly, but I could sense it. You spell senses their mana too?" Shane turned to Hera.

"No, I just felt the size of that thing," Hera replied.

"What thing? Can one of you tell what the fuck is going on?" Blue gasped.

"There was a snake, I think. At least the tongue was snake-like, and the thing was massive. It should be what, six, eight meters long?" Shane looked at Hera for confirmation.

"At least. I sensed ten meters of it, and the forked part took most of it. I also couldn't see even its name. That thing is way higher level than me," Hera shook her head.

"Yeah. My radar can sense the mana of creatures. It's just a rough estimate, not an actual number. Kind of like, white means it's the same mana as I have, green then blue is weaker, and if it's yellow or red, it's higher than mine. That thing, whatever it was, had more mana in its tongue than I had ever seen. Seriously, I saw level 60 explorers who had less mana than whatever the fuck that was!"

"Are you serious? That thing is above level 60?" Bonnie asked.

"I don't know. I couldn't even tell. But we know that there is a monster here that we can't kill. I bet that is the monster," Shane continued.

"Yeah, but it seems like it can't get out of the abyss, right? Or it would be moving through the valleys, and there would be no spiders or bugs around," Helena tried to calm everyone down.

"Are you sure? I mean, snakes can pass through very tight spaces," Alex shook her head.

"Maybe, but if that's the case, why would the other monsters flee?" Bonnie asked.

"They might be hiding on the ruins. The snake wouldn't be able to get there, I think," Hera added.

"So… to get back home, we need to pass over that thing?" Blue asked.

A moment of realization dawned on the group. They had crossed the mist once, but doing that again would leave them directly above it. Even if they moved fast, a creature like that should easily be able to catch them while they ran through Blue's clouds.

"So what now? Do we know if there is any doorway on this side?" Silah asked.

"We don't. There are still many unexplored areas on this side, but baking on the existence of a doorway is a bit of a stretch. I mean, I'm guessing that snake has something to do with the naga crypts. Maybe it's like a guard dog. It is sort of common for ruins or civilizations to use monsters as a way to protect what they find precious," Shane explained.

"Ok, fine. What do you say we do then? Do we stay here forever or risk getting eaten by the giant snake?" Bonnie crossed her arms.

"Let's go up to the same place we crossed... yesterday? The day before that? I don't know soo much stuff happened," Shane sighed.

"Yeah, let's head up. Maybe we can cross over again. If we use Nimbus, we might be able to do the same thing we did before," Hera suggested.

With the plan in mind, the group moved up, the spiral path inside the tomb. It was better to avoid staying in the large spiral passage outside, especially if that giant monster was still around. They carefully left the tomb and kept following the path they had taken a few days before. On the upper floor, there were monsters around. It seemed like it was business as usual. They fought a few creatures and kept going, trying to reach the same area where Hera and Silah had made that staircase that went down to the mist.

The chasm was slightly different from what Hera remembered. All that fog seemed to be lower than before. Using her [Observe - Red Sight], she looked for any signals of the snake, but there was nothing there. It was still impossible to tell how deep the chasm went, but right now, the coast seemed clear.

"If we want to go, we should go now," Hera said.

"Yeah, I agree, whatever it was, it was in the middle of the mist. Maybe it needs it to survive. Since it's so low now, I don't think we would have a better chance," Alex nodded.

"I agree. This might be the best chance we got," Bonnie added.

"What if this is an elaborated trap from the snake? Couldn't it have sensed us and pulled the mist away just as a trick?" Blue asked.

"Maybe, but I don't think we are much more of a meal than the monsters," Helena said.

"Yeah, but if that snake is here to protect the legacy, we are screwed," Blue replied.

"That's a fair point," Hera walked to the side of the valley, and with Silah's help, they started making another bunker with a small opening on the front, "Let's do it like this. You make the clouds. I send Nimbus once to see if anything happens. If she doesn't get attacked, we go one by one while the rest hides in here."

"And I'll go last. That way, if the snake is protecting the legacy, I'm the only one that gets eaten," Shane added.

Mylo protested, but there was no changing the explorer's mind. After the bunker was ready, Blue created the cloud bridge on the valley while everyone else watched the mist. Hera sent over Nimbus, and nothing happened. There was a brief discussion, and everyone agreed with the order they should cross. First, it would be Helena. She was the only one who would be able to have a chance at escaping the snake, thanks to a couple of spells she could use. The issue was that they required a small preparation, and she only had the materials on hand for a single use.

It was rare to see someone using a spell that required some sort of catalyst. Not because the spells themselves were rare, but most people found it annoying to keep carrying large bags filled with random things. These types of spells were mostly used by crafters or when defending a location since people could set up small crates with all the necessary materials. In Helena's case, she was making a teleportation spell. First, she had to draw a specific spell circle in an area, then place a number of black gemstones inside it. The amount required would vary depending on the quality of the stone. Lastly, she had to place a personal belonging that was on her person for a total of at least 60 hours. When the spell activated, she would swap places with the item.

With everything, ready Helena mounted on Nimbus, and they ran across the bridge. Everyone was holding their breath. Yet, she crossed without any issues. Hera picked up the stones and the earring that Helena left behind and sent Silah over when Nimbus returned. Bonnie, Blue, and Alex were the next to follow. On Hera's turn, she mounted on Nimbus and kept staring down, trying to see if there was any movement among the mist. Out of the corner of her eye, Hera could swear she saw something shifting through the fog. Her heart stopped, and cold sweat started to form in her back. For a moment, she could swear she was seeing two cold eyes staring at her. She got hypnotized by that sight and how similar it was to the tarot card she used earlier. Before she could confirm anything, Nimbus arrived on the other side.

Nimbus made the trip two more times, and on Shane's turn, everyone seemed even tenser, but nothing happened. They looked around and found the hidden stone box whit the bicycles they had rented and finally, headed back to the outpost.