Sensing the trembling of the earth, Alger tensed up, glanced at Gehrman Sparrow, and let actions speak for words.
A sudden gust howled by his side, making his sideways run quicker and easier.
Alger did this directly because he worried that Gehrman Sparrow might suddenly go mad and decide to hunt the terrifying creature hidden in the pitch-black cave. That would definitely be detrimental to the subsequent exploration, even if they could ultimately win.
And as an experienced "Sailor," he knew that decisive actions were suggestive and contagious, making companions who hadn't made up their minds instinctively follow or imitate.
Seeing this, Klein breathed a sigh of relief internally, abandoned the discussion on politeness, and started running, thudding toward the side and back of "The Hanged Man."
Then, he felt wind blowing from behind and under his feet, pushing and lifting him forward. This significantly reduced the gravitational pull he had to overcome and gave him additional momentum, instantly more than doubling his speed!
Amidst the whistling sound, Klein and Alger dashed out of the sparsely wooded area and circled to the side of the deep darkness.
At that moment, both of their heartbeats suddenly slowed, not at all like they were engaged in strenuous exercise; rather, it felt like the drowsy state before falling asleep while sunbathing in the afternoon.
Klein immediately felt his body turning cold, an indescribable gloom emerging and seeping into him in wisps.
At the same time, he saw the light from Alger's lantern being inch by inch obscured by a huge black shadow rising from behind, and the corresponding scene naturally emerged in his mind:
From the pitch-black cave crawled out a giant snake that one person couldn't encircle, with huge scales of a dark greenish-black and exaggerated eyes burning like flames.
Between the gaps of its scales grew white feathers stained with light yellow grease, and on its back there was even a pair of thick wings that could spread.
The giant snake half-crawled and half-flew as it raised its body, coiled around a tall and thick tree, spat out a pitch-black forked tongue, and gazed from afar at the two figures that had intruded into its vicinity.
Around it, trees were quickly withering, weeds were all decaying, countless corpses emerged from the soil, and unseen shadows crowded nearby.
A feathered serpent!
It was a feathered serpent!
In the Southern Continent, it was a sacred symbol, the emblem of the Egos family, descendants of Death!
Klein and Alger didn't stop. Enduring the cold in their bodies and the slowing of their heartbeats, with the help of even fiercer blasts of wind, they rushed into the depths of the dark forest, far away from that sparsely wooded area.
Thump! Thump! Thump! Their heartbeats gradually returned to normal, and the chill on their bodies was slowly dispelled by the heat generated from their intense exercise.
Klein's spiritual intuition told him that the danger had passed, so he slowed his pace, turned his head, glanced, and said calmly toward the distant depths of the dark, tree-filled forest:
"A demigod-level feathered serpent."
"Demigod-level..." Alger also slowed down, a vein on his forehead twitching slightly.
He paused for two seconds, then exhaled lightly and said:
"Don't worry too much. The beyonder creatures here have a strong sense of territory; unless they want to hunt, they won't enter other areas, especially near the mountain peaks. That feathered serpent probably won't chase us."
Klein nodded slightly, then said:
"The beyonder creatures here are very strong."
Alger withdrew his gaze, shook his head, and replied:
"No, there are also many weak ones. I've come here at night before, but only found traces left by demigod-level beyonder creatures, never actually encountered one. Today is the first time I've met one head-on. This sort of thing mostly depends on luck; the probability of it happening again is not too high."
As a "Navigator," calculation was an indispensable skill.
Are you belittling the Yellow and Black King who governs good luck? Klein mocked himself inwardly, and said with a blank expression:
"Absolute judgments often lead to the opposite result."
The meaning of this sentence translated into earthly terms is:
Don't set a flag!
Actually, if it wasn't a demigod-level feathered serpent but a Sequence 5 version of its kind, Klein would have been happy to bully it, since he had Azik's copper whistle in hand, which could directly deprive supernatural creatures in the necromantic domain of at least half their combat effectiveness.
As for encountering a demigod-level extraordinary creature, he wasn't too shocked because "The Hanged Man" had mentioned this issue before, and he had also made preparations. The "Lucky Thief" charm, three pages of demigod-level Beyonder powers from "Laymano's Travel Notes," and the combination of "Grosell's Travels" and the "Travel" ability might not allow him to defeat a demigod, but they were enough to help him create an opportunity to escape.
As long as I don't encounter an Angel, which also falls within the demigod realm... Klein silently added to himself.
Hearing Gehrman Sparrow's words, Alger was somewhat surprised, because the crazy adventurer's intention was clearly to tell him to be cautious and careful.
A guy who is both calm and crazy? That's right; if he were merely crazy, he probably wouldn't have lived this long... Alger raised his head to the sky, trying to identify the blurry stars through the accumulated fog.