Chapter 661: Arlene’s Decision
Third Person’s POV
Their group had been transported into a dimly lit icy cave filled with ferocious Rank Three mantis monsters, and the moment they had arrived, the creatures had immediately attacked them without giving them even the slightest opportunity to recover from the dimensional travel.
The mantises had been surprisingly dangerous.
Their bodies were covered with thick crystalline shells, while their razor-sharp forelimbs were capable of cutting through even sturdy magical defenses.
The group had been forced to fight their way through the cave from the very beginning.
After finally reaching the deepest part of the cave, they had discovered an enormous mantis queen along with countless eggs scattered throughout the chamber.
Only after killing the queen and examining their surroundings had they finally understood what kind of place they had entered.
It was a mantis hive.
Unfortunately, despite the danger they had endured, the group hadn’t discovered any particularly valuable treasures within the hive.
In the outside world, such a dangerous place would easily have been classified as a top-tier three-star dungeon, yet the rewards they had obtained from it were disappointing enough to make even Pebba feel that their efforts had been wasted.
Still, after reaching the chamber where the queen had resided, the route leading outside became considerably simpler.
The complicated passages that had previously twisted through the depths of the hive like a maze gradually became more straightforward, allowing them to move much faster.
After roughly five minutes of continuous movement, they finally saw something they hadn’t witnessed since entering the hive: light.
A faint and dim illumination appeared at the end of the tunnel.
"The exit."
Someone quietly muttered, and the group immediately quickened their pace.
Soon, they emerged from the icy cave.
The moment they stepped outside and saw the vast snowy world stretching endlessly before them, everyone subconsciously stopped.
Even Pebba temporarily forgot about her food.
A boundless frozen landscape spread across their vision.
Endless snow-covered plains stretched toward the distant horizon, while enormous mountains rose from the frozen earth like ancient giants.
A thick layer of gloomy clouds covered the sky, allowing only a faint and dim light to descend upon the desolate world.
There was no sunlight or warmth in this realm,
Not even a trace of vegetation could be seen anywhere, yet strangely, the scenery possessed a quiet and mysterious beauty.
It also carried a profound melancholy that seemed to seep into the surroundings themselves, leaving everyone with an inexplicable feeling in their hearts.
Arlene stood silently among them, her cloudy blue eyes fixed upon the distant landscape.
But then something suddenly changed inside her.
Deep within her soul, two different colored soul auras suddenly trembled.
One of them was a violet clump of soul energy while the other was green.
Sensing them, Arlene’s eyes widened slightly, and her heart skipped a beat.
No one noticed her reaction because everyone else was still staring at the strange and magnificent world before them.
But Arlene knew exactly what those two soul auras represented.
They belonged to the two women her master had told her about.
The two women who were supposed to become the means through which she would eventually bring Ethan to her side.
Her master had never explained everything to her.
He had only instructed her to find these two women and use them to gain Ethan’s favor, eventually convincing him to stand on their side.
At the same time, before the expedition had begun, he had secretly provided her with their soul auras, so that she could track and find them.
Those traces had been extracted from the two women without their knowledge, allowing Arlene to locate them even within a realm as vast as the Glaciem Ice Abyss.
She had initially thought that finding them would be difficult.
Yet she had never expected their soul auras to react so strongly the moment she stepped outside the cave.
And there was something else, something that immediately made her heart tighten.
The two soul auras were trembling violently, showing that their current state was of immense agitation and distress.
There was an intense emotional upheaval coming from both of them.
Arlene’s expression became serious.
They are in trouble.
She immediately wanted to locate them and rush toward them.
But another thought restrained her.
What if she arrived too late, or what if the situation was beyond her ability to handle?
What if she tried to save them and failed?
Her hands slowly clenched.
She knew what would happen if those two women died.
If that happened, she would never be able to completely forgive herself.
She understood from her master’s words that he had deliberately used them as bait for her to reach Ethan.
And although Arlene had never truly agreed with such a method, she had still become a silent participant by accepting the soul auras and agreeing to search for them.
She had already suspected that these two women were probably Ethan’s family members.
That was why the thought of allowing them to die for the sake of some larger plan made her conscience deeply uncomfortable.
She couldn’t do it.
She couldn’t simply stand by and watch innocent people die because they had been turned into pawns for her.
Arlene gritted her teeth inwardly.
There was only one thing she could do, and that was to tell Ethan.
If she couldn’t save them herself, then Ethan could.
If the two women truly were the people he cared about, then he would undoubtedly do everything within his power to protect them.
And even in the worst possible situation, if neither she nor Ethan managed to reach them in time, at least she would know that she had done everything she could.
Her conscience would be clear.
She immediately turned toward Edhan.
"We need to move."
Her sudden words made everyone look at her in surprise.
Arlene’s expression had become unusually serious.
"There are two people nearby."
"Two people?"
Edhan raised an eyebrow.
Arlene nodded.
"I think I know them, and I believe they are in danger."
She didn’t reveal how she knew they were her acquaintances, nor the existence of the soul aura that could explain how she had located them.