To maximize her looting of valuables, Elvia adopted a strategy of targeting the furthest items first before moving closer.
She headed straight for a luxurious wooden chest half-buried in the bushes furthest away.
With a hard kick, she shattered the long-rotted lid of the chest.
Her hands rummaged through it rapidly, while her mouth ran with disdainful commentary:
“Tsk, a broken gold-plated goblet? Trash!”
“This silk is completely moldy and rotten. I wouldn't take it even if it were free!”
“Oh? This sapphire necklace is in decent condition... too bad the chain is broken, so it won't be worth much.”
“What on earth is this? A dagger with a faded enchantment? Scrap metal!”
“Huh?! This box...”
She suddenly pulled out a small box wrapped in black velvet and opened it.
Inside, a ring with a faint magical halo lay quietly. Her eyes lit up instantly.
“A Ring of Soul Protection?! Good stuff! It's mine!”
She stuffed it into her shirt without hesitation.
Lin Gui watched the two money-crazed figures in speechless exasperation.
Taking advantage of the window while Theia lured the demons away, he pulled a few bottles of crude mana restoration potions from the wooden crate and downed them.
The bitter liquid slid down his throat, bringing a warm sensation of recovering mana.
He unfolded the map to check it once more.
By now, they weren't too far from exiting the Whispering Forest.
With his currently recovering mana, they should be able to charge out of the forest and reach the border of the Withered Rift before his reserves ran dry.
Once there, they could search for the scout camp marked by the Adventurer's Guild.
After completing the special commission, they could head straight for the Royal Capital.
Just then, Elvia rushed back to the raft carrying a pile of "spoils."
She dumped them all into the supply crate, not even giving them a second glance before spinning around and dashing out again.
To carry more, she had even taken off her coat to use as a makeshift sack to wrap the items.
Just as Elvia's eyes lit up, targeting the next glittering treasure spot...
A series of heavy, heart-stopping footsteps suddenly echoed from the distance.
Accompanied by the loud crashes of large swathes of trees being violently snapped and brought down by brute force!
“Lin Gui! Run, fast!!!”
Theia's alarmed cry sounded, rapidly approaching.
She was sprinting back at an astonishing speed.
Behind her, a massive cloud of dust billowed, followed by a dense, dark tide of demons!
Leading the pack was a mountain-sized figure with bulging muscles, wielding a giant greataxe burning with eerie green flames.
The curved, massive horns on its head radiated a suffocating pressure.
It was none other than a terrifying High-tier Legendary Minotaur Demon!
With bloodshot eyes, it let out an earth-shaking roar and launched a death charge!
Elvia felt her soul nearly leave her body, her voice cracking in panic.
“You damn half-demon! How the hell did you pull a Legendary demon?!!”
There was no time to pick and choose treasures now.
She threw down the two items she had just picked up and hadn't even looked at yet.
She turned tail and ran for her life toward the raft, moving more than twice as fast as she did when she was grabbing gold!
Theia zipped past her in an instant.
Clutched tightly in her arms was an exquisitely crafted, silver-white longbow inlaid with golden magic patterns.
Along with a pile of loose gold coins and treasures.
She cried out with a miserable expression:
“How was I supposed to know! I just saw it sleeping peacefully and took a few things from beside it!”
“Screw you!!!”
“My mother has been dead for ages! You can't screw her!!”
While retorting, Theia had already leaped lightly back onto the top of the wooden crate.
She quickly dumped the miscellaneous items from her arms.
Grasping the stolen golden-patterned longbow with both hands, she frantically channeled the Transcendent Rank energy within her body into it!
“Arrow Storm!”
She let out a soft cry and drew the bowstring back into a full moon!
In an instant, countless emerald-green arrows formed of pure energy materialized out of thin air.
Like an infuriated swarm of hornets, they shot toward the pursuing demon tide with a sharp, whistling sound, blotting out the sky!
Splat! Splat! Splat! Splat!
The low-tier demons charging at the front were instantly riddled with holes.
They fell with agonized wails, and the demon tide's charge ground to a halt!
However, the dense storm of arrows only kicked up a shower of sparks when hitting the leading Legendary Minotaur Demon.
It failed to even scratch its skin, serving only to infuriate it further!
It roared, its speed not slowing in the slightest.
Its massive hooves trampled the earth, making a thunderous rumble as it charged frantically!
“Get the hell out of here!!!”
Elvia scrambled and crawled back onto the raft, her voice completely hoarse from screaming.
Though sweat beaded on Lin Gui's forehead, his hands remained perfectly steady.
He pushed both 【Levitation】 and 【Shroud of the Gloomy Night】 to their absolute limits simultaneously!
The moment the Legendary Minotaur Demon's massive shadow loomed over them and its burning greataxe was about to cleave down—
The entire raft, along with everyone on it, vanished into thin air!
Boom!!!
High up in the sky.
A massive explosion echoed from below, accompanied by the Minotaur Demon's furious and bewildered roars.
The three on the raft could clearly feel the turbulent air currents caused by the terrifying impact.
Clutching the longbow, Theia let out a long sigh of relief, patted her chest, and said with a chuckle:
“Thank goodness you're here, Lin Gui...”
Before she could finish—
Elvia, having barely recovered from the fright, pounced forward like a cat that had its tail stepped on.
She grabbed Theia by her collar and roared:
“You jerk!! Do you have any idea how much that magic ring on the skeleton's finger was worth?! At least a hundred thousand gold coins!”
“That was enough to fund a whole week of my luxurious living in the Royal Capital!!”
“It's all because of your damn sticky fingers!! Now look what you've done! We can't get any of the treasures down there anymore!!!”
“I... how was I supposed to care about all that! This bow is definitely worth more than all those gold coins and treasures combined!”
Theia retorted, though her eyes flickered with a bit of guilt.
Elvia froze.
Only then did she focus her gaze on the silver longbow with gold patterns that Theia was clutching so tightly.
She seemed to recall something. Her expression changed dramatically, and she sucked in a sharp breath, lunging forward to snatch it.
“Give me that damn bow right now!! You stinky half-demon!”
Believing Elvia also had her eyes on this top-tier longbow, Theia held onto it even tighter and yelled:
“No way! You can have all the other treasures, but not this bow!”
“I risked my life to get this! Besides, you're a knight and don't even use bows, so you might as well let me have it!!”
“Bullshit! Do you even know what this is before you try to keep it!”
Elvia's eyes grew red with anxiety, and she lunged forward to fight for it without a care.
But how could she, a High-tier High Rank knight, win a physical struggle against a nimble Low-tier Transcendent elven ranger?
If they weren't floating in the sky with such limited space on the raft, Theia would have kicked her off already.
Listening to the two women behind him wrestling over the bow—
unleashing all kinds of screams, curses, and the sound of tearing fabric—
Lin Gui, who was struggling to maintain concealment and fly the raft,
gazed at the seemingly endless forest ahead and let out a long, weary sigh.
He never should have listened to these two girls and gone down to pick up those things.
Rate on N.U.
