Two days later.
Theo and his group had entered the Cubicar as Maya drove it outside the hotel.
"Alright. To our next destination, the Demise Forest." Maya smiled, feeling refreshed after having fun inside the hotel.
Theo immediately came out and sat down on top of the Cubicar.
Unlike the previous journey, they didn't slow down on this trip to kill monsters. So, it took them five days to reach the Demise Forest.
With this, their entire journey had lasted a month and a half. If they focused on Theo in the last destination, he would be able to reach Supreme Rank Experts in two to three weeks.
After reaching the area, all of them came out to see the unique features of the Death Forest.
The trees only had trunks and branches but no leaves. At the same time, the trees themselves looked healthy instead of dying.
The withered leaves fell to the ground and covered the ground. Some were carried away by the rain and wind.
The trees themselves looked big and majestic. But even with 100 feet tall trees, it didn't feel dense.
They only felt the eerie aura that the trees were emanating.
'Hmm? What's this?' Theo narrowed his eyes. 'Although I have read the description, looking at it with my own eyes certainly gives a different vibe.'
"Ragahar!"
"Rawrr!"
"Oarrr!"
Huge roars resounded across the forest, followed by a series of explosions. It was clear that a big fight was going on inside the forest.
"Hmm, we need to be careful. I don't know why but I got goosebumps earlier." Agata frowned while looking around, not finding a single monster.
'Is there any Death Order here? There's no way it can happen naturally, right?'
[No. There's no Death Order.]
'I see.' Theo frowned and approached the tree before saying, "It's alive indeed. But is it spring already?"
"No." Maya shook her head.
"In that case, what is happening to these trees?" Theo asked.
"Mhmm…" Maya paused for a moment. "There's nothing wrong with the trees. Even after the scientists take a look at them, they have confirmed that the trees are alive. So, we still don't know the reason why all the leaves in this place fall to the ground."
"I see." Theo frowned and asked, "Then, is there any information regarding this place? Like some sort of treasure?"
"Not yet. Many Mythical Rank Experts often explore this area, but no one has ever found anything, including the General Class Monster that is in charge of this area. So, this forest is called the Demise Forest because the trees are dead or pronounced dead as long as they are here.
"As for the monsters, they're demon-like creatures… The ones you often see in a movie or story. Many are saying that the demons are the ones responsible for making the trees like this because they absorb the trees' energy, forcing them to let go of their leaves to stay alive.
"Anyway, I don't think we need to focus on another mission. I mean, there's no agreement we need to fulfill in this place, right, Maya?" Agata smirked.
"Yeah." Maya nodded. "This last destination is simply the safe cushion if all of us can't reach Supreme Rank before this. And since you're the only one left, we can focus on you."
"Nah, it's fine. Let's have the same pace like we usually have." Theo smiled and waved his hand.
"Are you sure? If we concentrate on you, we can make you a Supreme Rank Expert within 14 days, considering the monsters in this place are mostly new Supreme Rank Monsters. We can only stay in the outer area of course."
Theo nodded, confirming his words. "I'm serious. Or do you think you can catch up with me if we have the same level?"
"…" Agata and Maya fell silent, knowing how hard it was to defeat Theo even if they had reached Supreme Rank. If they had the same level, they wouldn't be Theo's opponent anymore.
So, the two exchanged looks and nodded in unison.
"Alright. Since you insist, I'm going to play with that." Maya agreed with the arrangement. This way, she should be able to reach at least level 535 before coming back home.
Agata also thought the same and said, "In that case, we should sweep the outer area first. As for the Cubicar, how about we move it outside the forest?"
"For what?" Maya tilted her head in confusion.
"Although the forest is opened up like this and there's no way for a monster to sneak attack us, I think we should do it my way since we aren't planning to go deep inside the forest."
"Hmm…" Maya looked down, contemplating.
Meanwhile, Theo shook his head. "Sorry. This time I need to disagree. It's true we're not planning to go that deep, but that doesn't change the fact it's easy for Mythical Rank Experts to spot this Cubicar.
"Although it won't help that much even if we bring the Cubicar with us, it's better than nothing. Also, we'll be around the Cubicar, so Maya or my reputation can save this Cubicar from getting stolen."
After listening to Theo's reason, Agata finally agreed and changed her plan. "Alright. In that case, the dried leaves will be blown away as well, like a blower."
"Don't worry about that. My Cubicar has wheels too." Maya replied with a playful wink.
"Eh?"
"We're using turbines or magnets nowadays to avoid having a wheel on our vehicles. But at the end of the day, it's better to have some spares." She chuckled. "Anyway, I'll modify it a bit for you. It won't take long… Probably around thirty minutes."
"Oh? In that case, let's do that. The sound of cracking leaves will also attract the monsters, but explosions are bigger. So, whatever." Theo shrugged.
"That's good. Let me modify it first." Maya waved her hand and opened a secret bag inside the car to pull up six wheels.
After that, she started working with her tools… This might be the first time he saw Maya working.