Way of the Knights

Chapter 818: Critters’ Realm

—

"…these samples would help us a lot in tracking the cult's bases. Thanks for bringing them back." Laughing Dragon said as he collected the samples. 

"It's Raven's idea so you tell him that." Mark replied, "Anyways, do inform me as soon as you get some clues. I'm putting this at my top priority." 

"Understood." Laughing Dragon nodded. 

"Oh! Hey! You boys are back!" Ellen said after entering the room with Anne. 

The girls went to their respective husbands and gave them a peck on the cheeks. 

"How's the mission?" Anne asked softly while guiding Mark to the nearby couch. 

"Simple." He replied, allowing Anne to take of his vest and give him a back massage as he sat down. 

"Tell us about it?" Ellen asked Paul. 

Paul then relayed the information about their mission. They told the girls what they encountered within the Nightmare Realm, the Abominations, the Qlipoth, them contacting Raven and the realm's eventual destruction. 

"A Qlipoth huh…" Anne murmured as she pressed tight circles around Mark's nape. "That's concerning." 

"At least we got rid of one." Ellen sighed. "But considering the minds of those Sky Foxes and those Bald Eagles. There's probably still more around." 

"Laughing Dragon's already at this case." Paul ġrȯȧnėd as he too received a massage from Ellen. "Knowing that he's going to be after them makes me at ease. I'm sure that he'll give us a lead pretty soon." 

"Well, there's no doubting that. Laughing Dragon is persistent." Ellen chuckled. "Anyways, you two did great. "Raven's right, there's no need for the Nightmare Realm to continue existing. Good riddance."

"You boys did check if it was thoroughly destroyed, right?" Anne asked to which the boys nodded. "Alright, that's good. Go get some rest then."

"You girls have somewhere to go?" Paul asked.

"Mhm." Ellen nodded. "We're going to team up. We're leaving today." 

"Where?" 

"Critters' Realm." Anne said, wincing as she spoke. 

It wasn't just her, even Ellen involuntarily winced when she remembered where they're supposed to go. 

Mark turned around and asked his wife: "Something happened there?" 

Anne nodded softly and replied: "Yeah. We received reports from the Intelligence Department that the mortality rate within the Critters' Realm had not gone down even after our initial methods."

"According to them, the Critters' Realm had the highest casualty rate. Those who had taken-up the missions to go there, majority of them didn't come back. The feedback were minimal as well so we plan on taking a look." Ellen continued. 

"You want us to come with you?" Paul offered. 

"Nah." Ellen shook her head. "It'll be overkill if you two came with us. We're enough for this mission. You two rest here. We can handle this." 

"You sure?" 

"Yeah! Come on, don't look down on your wife now!" Ellen huffed, placing her hand on her hɨps. 

Paul chuckled and give Ellen a chaste kiss before saying: "I wouldn't dare. Make sure you girls do an inventory check and pay close attention to your safety alright." 

"Come back to us in one piece." Mark added. 

"We will. See you soon." Anne kissed Mark and left the headquarters with Ellen. 

—

The Critters' Realm. 

It's probably one of the most, if not the most, hated Danger Zone in the entirety to Divine Realm. Many people abhorred this place to their core. No amount of fancy resources would convince them to enter this place, no threats can force them to go in here. 

The Critters' Realm is notorious for being the graveyard of experts. Many people have tried their luck in here to no avail. 

It is said that this place is swimming in all sorts of resources, some known to man while others are unknown. 

…well, to those who were lucky to leave that place with their lives intact, this rings true. The problem is that, nobody has gone to see what really lies deep within the realm to confirm if this rumor was real since it's too dangerous. 

The Critters' Realm's entrance is located at the Heavenly Phantom Great World – which is located at the far west of the Divine Realm. Thanks to the equipment of the Dawn Council, Anne and Ellen arrived at this place as soon as they left the headquarters. 

The appearance of the ladies raised a commotion. Although there are tons of beauties in the Divine Realm, Anne and Ellen's looks were still ranked pretty high-up even with their married status. 

"Guys, look! It's the Dawn Council!" 

"Woah! It's Fairy Evergreen!" 

"And the Vermillion Princess!" 

"They're wearing their uniforms! They're here in an official business!"

"The direction they're going…are they heading to the Critters' Realm!?"

"Don't tell me they're going to deal with it! And they sent the girls too! Didn't they say girls are the ones who hated that realm the most?" 

"Yeah? But they're not just 'any' girls, Bro."

"True. They're from the Dawn Council. They posses both beauty and strength. I actually hope that they can deal with that menacing realm once and for all."

"Well, I hope that as well. But say, what if the rumors are true. You know, the one about the resources, do you think the Dawn Council would hoard all of them?" 

"Of course not! Why would you ask that? Don't tell me that you don't know how the Dawn Council operates!?"

"They won't take all. Well, it really depends on the result actually. Say that the rumors are indeed true and there's actually hills of resources in there. The Dawn Council will bring samples back for investigation. They will most likely hand-out missions to harvest said resources – you know, like a trade."

"Ah, I see." 

"But there's also the possibility that they'll destroy the realm itself. If they deemed it harmful enough,  they might resort to that instead. If it's not, then they'll do something about it, we'll just have to wait." 

"Oh! That makes sense."

"It does, yeah." 

"Actually, check this out. They just announced the destruction of the Nightmare Realm."

"Ooh! That one's nasty too. Good riddance actually."

"Why, you've been there?" 

"Nope. But I heard rumors. One of the my old friend died in there you know. That's why I don't like that place." 

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that."

"No it's okay. We already moved-on from that. Anyway, I'm hoping they destroy Critters' Realm too." 

"Yeah, same."

—

"That's it! I'm blowing this place up! Don't stop me." 

"Sis, calm down." 

"What do you mean calm down! It's terrible out here! This is a disaster! It's better for this place to go!"

"Girl, it's just mud. You can wipe it off." Anne sighed, exasperated as she shook her head. 

It hasn't even been ten minutes since they entered the Critters' Realm and Ellen's patience was already spent. 

They had a bad landing. Who would've thought that the moment they stepped out of the exit, they will be dropped into a mud swamp. For some reason, Ellen forgot that she could just step on air so when she landed, a splash of mud landed on her uniform. 

If that wasn't bad enough, add the leeches that were hiding within the swamp latching immediately to the exposed skin of Ellen. 

In her irritation, Ellen almost evaporated the whole swamp. She did however burned the leeches into crisp.

It didn't stop there either. Her aggression somehow provoked something. Next thing she knows, numerous vines came rushing towards her, trying to drag her deep within the swamp. 

Ellen burned those too but the vines were seemingly endless. In the end, she was forced to step into the air but the vines still followed her and refuse to leave her be. 

"Anne, you're Tree Whisperer. Can't you tell this thing to calm the fuċk down?" Ellen glared at Anne who was standing still not too far away from here. 

"Tree Whisperer, she says." Anne shook her head at that ridiculous nickname. "Look, girl. I'm already trying, sadly, that thing doesn't listen to me."

"Ah, I see how this is." Ellen snorted. "Well, too bad. I'm out of patience!" 

Ellen suddenly erupted into flames. A keening cry escaped her lips as she transformed into an enormous flaming bird which spat a ball of fire – holding a heat that almost rivals the sun itself, into the swamp. 

"Oh my god." Anne rolled her eyes and surrounded herself with numerous thick golden branches to protect herself. 

*Boom!!!*

A huge explosion shook the entire realm. The burning scent ȧssaulted Anne's nose and a terrible heat swept through the place. She then heard Ellen keening once more and transforming back into her human form.

"Hmph!" She snorted after seeing the devastation she caused. 

She did evaporate the entire swamp herself. Presumably, along with the nasty creatures hiding deep down in that place. Now all that's left if a massive indentation on the ground. 

Shortly after, Anne emerged from the branches and released a sigh. 

"So much for keeping a low-profile." 

"Not my fault. I'm annoyed." Ellen commented. 

"…sure. Whatever floats your boat I guess." Anne wryly smiled as she started surveying the area.

"Eh? I'm sensing crap tons of heat signals heading our way." Ellen tilted her head. 

"Hmm, I wonder why that is. They couldn't have possibly discovered us won't they? Yeah, after that planetary explosion? There's absolutely no way they'd discover us. How mysterious."

"Shut it." 

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