Chapter 687: Mist
A thick, golden mist swallowed the entire path whole. To the left lay a dense forest, its trees pressing close like a wall of green; to the right yawned a deep chasm, its edge lined with towering trees that matched the height of Clementine’s line of sight.
The girl bit her lip, hesitating.
The golden fog before her looked ancient—unnaturally so. It was clearly a trap. She had cast seven or eight spells in succession, none of which had dispersed the mist or revealed its nature. The spells passed straight through it as if it were nothing more than harmless, ordinary air. But Clementine knew better. She couldn’t afford such naivety.
If she didn’t go in, she’d have to detour. But retracing her steps would mean losing her compass—and with it, her sense of direction.
The centaur had said: Keep walking straight, and you’ll find the Trophy.
So… should she gamble?
She pondered for a long moment. Then, suddenly, she gritted her teeth, cast a Shield Charm on herself, raised her arm to protect her face, and plunged forward into the fog.
…
A grey mouse curled beneath a thick cluster of wild garlic, hiding its presence behind the pungent scent. Its black eyes peered through a crack in the leaves, heart pounding as it watched the scene ahead.
A massive gorilla sat in the center of the clearing, its throat rumbling with low, grumbling sounds. It complained bitterly about the one who had escaped right under its nose, its head hanging low—its tiny flower pendant drooping lifelessly.
It was absurd, yet Jabari, the mouse, couldn’t help but imagine a child, sulking and pouting.
Not far away, a three-horned lizard slowly extended its head from a hawthorn thicket, its eyes rolling toward its master, watching with a sly, calculating gaze.
A cheetah strolled elegantly over, letting out a series of mocking chuckles. It stood upright, one paw patting the gorilla’s drooping head.
The gorilla roared, shoving it aside with a heavy hand. The cheetah tumbled across the ground, then scrambled up in an instant, settling beside Wade and licking its claws with casual indifference.
Wade chuckled softly. He reached out and ruffled the gorilla’s coarse fur. “Well, I suppose that’s a lot to ask of you.”
He plucked a bud from the ground. With barely a gesture, the flower bloomed in his palm—its lavender petals unfurling, releasing a delicate fragrance into the air.
He tucked the blossom behind the gorilla’s ear, then glanced at the thorn-choked forest ahead. “Let her run. It doesn’t matter. As long as she wants that Trophy, we’ll meet again.”
The compass in his hand pointed unerringly toward the dense thicket. In this forest, even ordinary creatures seemed to grow dangerous. The thorns had formed a wall of steel needles, so thick and unyielding that even a Tree Guardian couldn’t move through it freely.
It was as if the forest itself were whispering: No passage here. Turn back. More traps await ahead.
But Wade wasn’t willing to circle endlessly. He stroked the cheetah’s soft ear and said, “I’ll take the rest of the path alone. You three—deal with the little mouse behind us. No one gets through except Harry…”
He paused, then sighed as he remembered the missing mantis. “...Try your best. If they break through, it’s fine—I can handle it.”
The three magical puppets regarded him. After a moment, they each lowered their heads slightly in silent acknowledgment.
Then, the gorilla turned, its expression twisted into a snarl. The lizard swiveled, its tongue flicking as it scented the air. The cheetah crouched low, its eyes glowing faintly in the darkness.
Their gazes converged—locked onto the mouse’s hiding place.
Jabari froze. He couldn’t risk the chance they hadn’t seen him. With a panicked leap, he shot from his cover, darting into the cracks between tree roots, claws scraping the earth, kicking up a cloud of dust.
Behind him, the thunderous roar of pursuit erupted—like a storm tearing through the woods. The gorilla smashed through trees with brute force. The lizard slithered forward with impossible speed. The cheetah’s paws left clear, deep impressions in the soil.
The chase grew louder, then faded into the distance. Wade didn’t look back. He didn’t care how many champions might still be following.
With a flick of his wand, the thornbushes ahead parted as if pushed by an invisible hand. The thorny branches twisted aside, coiling like serpents, revealing a narrow path barely wide enough for one person.
Wade stepped into the tunnel. Above him, a glowing orb floated ahead, its light pushing back the shadows. Where it shone, the thorns recoiled—bending away like a curtain drawn aside—revealing a straight, unbroken path stretching ahead.
…
The grey mouse fled through the forest like a shadow, heart hammering. A stone hurled by the gorilla grazed his tail, splintering bark behind him. He twisted sharply, barely avoiding the cheetah’s gleaming claws.
Worst of all—there was no sign of the lizard. It had vanished. It felt like it could appear at any moment, dropping from a hidden branch.
His whiskers trembled. If not for his small size, if he couldn’t slip through cracks and crevices, he’d have been caught ten minutes ago.
Just as he dashed blindly forward, a figure emerged suddenly from behind a tree—Clementine.
Her face was pale, her expression tense. She raised her arm and gave a sharp signal—pointing to the direction Jabari should flee.
Without hesitation, Jabari charged toward her. But just as they were about to pass each other, Clementine screamed, swung her wand wildly—and with a sudden, invisible force, yanked him sideways!
The cheetah, still charging, couldn’t stop. It shot through the forest and plunged headfirst into the golden mist.
Its momentum halted instantly. Its leg muscles spasmed. Its tail stiffened. Its spine arched violently, as if trapped in a sudden, unnatural gravity.
Jabari didn’t understand what had happened—but he knew the moment. He shifted back into human form, wand raised, while Clementine, already prepared, shouted:
“Blazing Flame Spell!”
She’d laid a hidden trap beneath the ground. The moment the spell struck, flames erupted—leaping up in a roaring column, instantly consuming the cheetah puppet in a blazing inferno.
“Roar!” The gorilla charged forward, knocking the cheetah out of the mist—but it skidded to a halt at the edge, its face twisting into a human-like panic.
That was when it finally understood why the cheetah had frozen.
The world had inverted. The ground beneath its feet felt like the ceiling. The sky above was now the floor. Every step felt like it would send it plummeting into endless, starless darkness.
It had been given a spark of human thought—now it felt fear.
In that moment, paralyzed with terror, the gorilla stood motionless.
The flames consumed it completely. One after another, spells struck—
“Split-into-Parts Spell!”
“Disintegration Spell!”
“Thunder Explosion!”
The gorilla stood in the mist, realizing then that the fog hadn’t actually flipped the world. It could have stepped forward at any time and escaped.
But as soon as it tried, its remaining form shattered—crumbling into pieces, falling to the ground in a pile of smoldering ash, emitting thick, black smoke.
A yellow stone, once its eye, rolled twice across the earth. A faint light flickered within it—then died out completely.
Jabari exhaled in relief. Only then did he realize how fast his heart was pounding, how every muscle in his body trembled.
The cheetah rolled on the ground, finally extinguishing the fire. It stood beneath a beech tree, watching as the gorilla disintegrated.
Then, slowly, it lifted its head. Through the golden mist, its emerald eyes locked onto the two wizards on the other side.
“It won’t come back,” Clementine said quickly. “We need to go. Now.”
But before she could finish, a sudden, ancient wind howled through the trees.
She spun around—her eyes widening in horror.
A thin, serpentine tongue, long and deadly, had wrapped around Jabari’s neck.
He still wore the look of relief, his hand rising to scratch his neck—completely unaware. Then, in an instant, he was lifted into the air, his boots flying off as he struggled helplessly.
“Clack!”
Clementine’s gaze froze.
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
