While Lake was exploring the bay, Kate and the others had made their way down south to continue their hunt in the swamp.
They had already overhunted grassland to the point where it was difficult to find any prey, so they had to switch hunting grounds.
The swamp was sparsely filled with low-cut trees and vegetation, with ankle-deep water blanketing the landscape. The ground was muddy, causing their footsteps to sink in with each step, greatly affecting the movement of most hunters.
Although the wolves and Kate, who were land-bound, had a tough time navigating due to the difficult terrain, this restriction didn’t apply to the three fairies who were able to fly.
As the group progressed through the endlessly murky swamp, Kate, who was riding on the Alpha Wolf, couldn’t help but look at Sylph, who was sitting in front of her.
Remembering the scene of Lake patting her head with that disturbingly gentle expression, Kate couldn’t help but shiver. She didn’t say anything at the time as she was distracted by Lake’s sudden disappearance, but now that she had the time to sit down and think about it, she couldn’t help but find it strange.
’I’ve never seen him make such a gentle expression before, not to mention one so genuine... Either his acting skills have improved drastically, or...’
With this thought, Kate cast another glance at Sylph, who was seemingly communicating with the Alpha Wolf in her usual cheerful state. Unable to hold back the curiosity anymore, she gently poked at the fairy’s back, being careful to avoid accidentally touching her wings.
"Hm?" Sylph turned around with a curious expression. She usually didn’t like people touching her, but she didn’t particularly mind since she already considered Kate her friend.
Kate, seeing that she got her attention, finally asked the question that had been plaguing her mind ever since she saw Lake’s expression, "Sylph, is there something going on between you and Lake?"
When Kate asked this question, the rest of the team wasn’t that far away, so they were able to hear her, causing their ears to perk up in curiosity. Even Romero seemed somewhat interested in the topic, as it was a matter involving the relationship between a fairy and a human.
Although, if he were to go more into it, he felt it would be more apt to describe it as the relationship between a fairy and a ’monster’...
"What do you mean?" Sylph turned her head with a look of confusion written all over her face.
Clearly, Sylph didn’t understand what she was trying to say, so Kate tried to rephrase her question after a moment of thought, "H-How would you define your relationship with Lake then?"
Sylph tilted her head even more, but this time she didn’t speak for a long time. After a brief moment of hesitation, Sylph spoke with uncertainty, "I-I’m not sure... I guess you could say we’re close..?"
Hearing Sylph’s reply, Kate knew that Sylph probably wasn’t sure what their relationship was like either, which probably made it even more difficult for her to answer compared to the first question she asked.
However, after hearing Sylph’s reply, Kate concluded that there definitely was something going on between the two. Even Iris had a look of horror on her face when she heard the uncertainty in Sylph’s voice, while Bramble simply smiled knowingly.
Romero also cast Sylph a strange gaze when he saw her clear confusion about how to answer Kate’s question. ’This girl probably has zero experience with relationships. Ah, what it is to be young. I still remember when Eliza and I met for the first time...’
While Romero reminisced about his past with a subtle smile on his face, Kate decided to press Sylph for a more definite answer. She didn’t know why, but she couldn’t help but feel strangely interested in this topic.
Maybe it was because she also considered Sylph to be her friend and was worried for her, seeing that she chose Lake of all people. Or it could be because of what she found out about him recently, which caused her curiosity about this matter to surge.
Either way, she was just really curious as to what exactly the relationship was between those two.
"Sylph, let me ask an easier question this time. Do you like Lake?"
This time, Sylph didn’t hesitate to reply, throwing off everyone who was listening. The only person who didn’t seem thrown off was Bramble, who continued to watch on with an amused gaze.
Kate wore a stunned expression on her face. Although she had her guesses as to Sylph’s feelings for Lake, she didn’t expect it to be so explosive, much less for Sylph to be so straightforward with it.
The news truly did leave her stunned, but she quickly recovered feeling something wasn’t quite right. Thinking about it again, she decided to ask again to verify both Sylph’s words and her own thoughts.
"...Sylph, are you serious?" Kate asked after taking a deep breath to recollect her nerves, but the reply she got had an even more powerful impact than Sylph’s first answer.
"Mhm! I really love him!"
In an instant, Kate’s mind short-circuited. It was as if her brain had endured severe mental damage, leaving her in a daze. If Lake had witnessed the scene, he would have been over the moon in satisfaction of seeing someone else fall victim to Sylph’s brain-rotting stupidity.
Suddenly, a loud thud sounded out as Iris, who was previously flying ahead of the group, plummeted to the ground like a wilted flower. If one of the green wolves hadn’t moved to catch her on its back, it was very likely that she would’ve fallen into the murky water.
"Iris! Are you okay?!" Sylph called out worriedly as she quickly flew off the Alpha Wolf’s back.
The pack of wolves also came to a stop as Sylph fluttered over to Iris’ side to inspect her condition.
"I-I’m fine! I just lost concentration for a moment, that’s all." Iris replied hurriedly, seeing Sylph’s genuine worry. However, despite her guarantee, her heart was in shambles as her mind tried to wrap around Sylph’s previous statement.
’Damn it, that bastard! How dare he go around seducing our Princess!’ Iris gritted her teeth the more she thought about it, but she quickly recovered herself. She didn’t wish to cause any trouble to the group so she quickly reassured everyone.
’I’m going to kill him the next time I see him!’ Iris grudgingly thought to herself as the thought of Sylph being defiled by Lake filled her head. Her mood instantly dropped as various scenes filled her head but she ultimately continued to lead the group.
Bramble, who flew behind his sister, couldn’t help but secretly laugh when he saw everyone’s reactions. He had the blessing of charm, which gave him the ability to almost instinctively perceive the emotions of others.
It was also because of this that he could tell that when Sylph said she liked Lake, she meant it without a single shred of romantic tendencies. However, he chose not to clarify anything, as he could almost sense an entertaining misunderstanding in the making.
Deep within the clear waters of the bay, where light had a hard time penetrating, Lake continued his exploration. He had already been swimming around the bay for more than three hours, yet he had barely explored even a tenth of the bay.
The bay was easily tens of kilometers wide and had tens of thousands of sea monsters swimming around. Although Lake was invisible and didn’t have to worry about being attacked while moving around, it still wasn’t easy to explore every corner of the massive bay.
The monsters often blocked the path forward, causing him to waste time dealing with them or taking detours. Thankfully, he now had access to a wide array of spells that made navigating far easier.
His swimming speed was too slow? He would just enhance it with magic. A school of fish blocked the path forward? He would blow them all away with a single spell.
Paired with his invisibility, which made it almost impossible for anybody to find him, he was mostly undeterred when roaming the waters.
However, even with the help of his spells and skills, he still spent more than three hours swimming around without any results. The bay was simply too large, and Lake was mostly swimming around aimlessly in search of a clue.
When Lake thought about this, he regretted not checking the system map before it went offline, as it would’ve made exploring the bay significantly easier.
Thankfully, not all hope was lost, as Lake was still able to use his Master of Fate ability to piece together some clues on the possible location of the disruption.
After swimming around for three hours and inspecting the fates of the fish he passed by, he discovered a few hints that led him deeper and deeper into the center of the bay.
This region was guarded by a slew of Rank Two aquatic creatures that kept him from recklessly approaching. A giant crab crawling on the ocean floor, an electric eel that had visible sparks bouncing off its long slimy body, and even a massive great white shark whose mouth was easily twice the size of Lake’s body.
Each creature was incredibly strong, and even Lake would have second thoughts about fighting them head-on in a one-on-one fight, not to mention when they’re all grouped together .
Because of this, even with his complete invisibility, Lake still proceeded with extra caution as he slowly approached the center of the bay.
As Lake swam through the narrow gaps between the rock formations and sea creatures surrounding the area, he came across a narrow crack in the sea floor, leading into a pitch-black tunnel.
Curious, Lake extended his sixth sense down into the crack but was quickly alarmed as he stumbled across something that left him momentarily stunned.
’That life force signature... There’s no mistaking it...’
Suddenly, Lake’s eyes narrowed as a theory emerged in his head. Looking around, he carefully observed the fates of several creatures around him, his eyes trailing between them as the Web of Fate began to quickly reveal itself to him.
It didn’t take long for Lake to get a clear view of the Web of Fate and the current chaotic mess it was in. Jumbled and broken, reconnected and untangled, constantly changing and shifting. This was how Lake would describe the current state of the Web of Fate which made it impossible for him to learn anything from it expect for its estimated position and look.
Seeing the current state of the Web of Fate, Lake knew it was useless to try and navigate through a wide-range check, so he narrowed down his search radius to only the area around the tunnel in front of him. Soon, a familiar sight revealed itself before him.
A fate wrapped all in black. It looked like an amalgamation of mold and dirt with wart like protrusions sticking out from it as an ominous mist swirled inside. It was a sight Lake was all too familiar with, having only recently witnessed it a few days ago during the Prestige terrorist attack.
’Those heathens... So they really were the ones behind this.’
Lake gritted his teeth as he felt his rage slowly boiling up deep within him. However, he quickly managed to bring it under control after taking a moment to collect himself.
Right now, he wanted to do nothing more than go down there and purify its corrupted existences, but something was keeping him from acting rashly.
Peering into the abyss-like darkness, Lake felt a throbbing headache begin to attack his skull as he sensed the powerful life force hidden deep underground.
’I’ve found the source, but it’s accompanied by an annoying host...’
Although it’s been a while since he last saw one, Lake could still recognize its uniquely powerful life force. The powerful aura and mana waves being sent off from its body deep underground were more than enough for Lake who had already seen three of such creatures to identify the host.
The creature corrupted and responsible for the coming incident, a creature Lake had no hope of dealing with even with all his tricks and skills in a fight, and one that had left a long-lasting impression on him.
That’s right, deep below the bay’s floor, resided a corrupted Rank Three creature.