His gaze remained fixed on the giant bird, and only the sound of that creature’s heavy breathing broke the silence of the nest.
Every inhale, like a massive storm, bent the surrounding branches.
Every exhale sent masses of mist through the nest and made the giant feathers dance.
Without taking his eyes off the monster, Lian counted the time in his mind.
One...
Two...
Three...
With each exhale, the wind was pushed outward, and right after that, a few seconds of silence followed.
Only those few seconds, that short gap, were enough for the sound of his steps to be lost in the roar of the wind.
Sometimes the line between life and death was only one step, and sometimes only one breath, exactly like now.
Lian slowly came out of his hiding place, he had made his decision to reveal himself and talk to those three, but to reach them, he had to maintain caution.
It is true that his concealment skill was still active, but he did not want to take any risks, and it was better to move carefully to eliminate any risk.
At that same moment, the bird’s next exhale filled the surrounding space.
He moved.
Three steps, stop, silence again, move again, each time, his body clung to the shadows.
Even Abyss Veil was still active and had reduced his presence to almost zero.
A few minutes later, he was only a few meters away from those three captives, they still had not noticed his presence, all their attention was on the bird that was sleeping a few steps away.
Of course, they still could not see him, Lian had already checked their information and realized that they were from a species called Lacerians, and all three of them were below level 20.
They posed no threat to him, so there was no need to worry, if something went wrong, he could kill them in the blink of an eye.
And then he deactivated his skill.
At that same time, one of the girls quietly raised her head, and her eyes fixed on Lian.
All six of her eyes opened at the same time, fear surged across her entire face, her mouth opened, she was about to scream.
But before that, Lian placed his index finger in front of his lips.
"Quiet." His gaze was completely calm, and just that, one word, neither loud nor quiet, but so firm that the girl froze at that moment.
The boy also quickly turned his head, when he saw Lian, his body tensed, fear also surged on his face.
As if he was looking at another monster.
Even though his hands and feet were still trapped in the sticky saliva, he pulled himself forward and placed himself between Lian and the two girls.
His body was trembling, he was scared, but he did not step back, and with a voice that could barely be heard, he said.
"...Please..." His throat was dry, it took a few moments for him to continue.
"If... if you want to kill us..." His gaze fell for a moment on the two girls behind him.
"...Just kill me."
Lian was silent for a few seconds, there was fear in that boy’s eyes, but more than fear, a kind of habit could be seen, as if this was not the first time he was facing death.
And more importantly, even though he was scared, he had no problem sacrificing his life to protect his sisters.
This was an admirable act, not everyone could put others’ lives above their own in such a tense atmosphere that smelled of death.
Lian calmly let out his breath.
"If I wanted to kill you, you would already be dead."
Without waiting for a reaction, he knelt down and pulled out his knife.
The boy immediately tensed up, but the blade did not land on his body, it sank into the sticky strands of saliva.
Lian carefully cut the thick strands, the elastic liquid separated with a quiet sound.
The boy’s right hand was freed, then the other hand, then his legs, the boy just stared at his freed hands for a few moments.
As if he still could not believe it, he had been freed? This strange creature had saved him and his sisters?
Lian, without speaking, went to one of the girls, a few more cuts, and she was also freed.
The third one too.
The three of them just stared at him, fear was still in their eyes, but now surprise had also been added to it.
They had not lowered their guard, but they seemed ready to form a relationship of trust and familiarity.
"...What... What are you?" The first girl said quietly.
But she did not finish her sentence, Lian put his knife away into his storage space.
"I saved you, so first you have to answer my questions, tell me about yourselves and your species." There was no time to waste.
Any moment, that monster could wake up, and his only chance to get information and find a way out would be lost, so he went straight to the point.
The three looked at each other, a few seconds of silence followed, and finally, the same boy answered.
"We are from the Lacerian species, one of the three lizard species of the Forest of Giants, because of the drought, food has become scarce, and we came out to find something to eat, but that giant bird caught us."
Lian looked directly into their eyes, so the place he was in was called the Forest of Giants, with what he was seeing, such a thing seemed normal.
But the concept of three lizard species intrigued him a little.
"So giant monsters are common in this forest? If so, why do creatures as small as you live around here?"
"We have no choice... the only place where there is still water is the three forests that receive rivers from the Forgotten Tree... the other two forests are dangerous for us, at least here, as long as we are at home, the giants do not come after us."
’The Forgotten Tree? Water shortage? And three forests, huh?’ He got a general view of this small world’s structure.
But he still did not have enough information, he needed to hear more about the lizard species, the other two forests, and even this Forest of Giants.
The rest of his group members were probably somewhere in one of the three forests, and if his guess was correct, contrary to what this boy said, the other two forests should be safer for them.
Also, those two forests could be the reason why the federation had not assessed the threat level of this Special Area as that high.
And only he had been unlucky enough to spawn in the most dangerous place from the start.
’Is it really fair that I always fall into the most dangerous places?’ He sighed.
"...You... came from outside?" While Lian was thinking, the boy asked with a little hesitation.
Lian did not answer, but looked at them in surprise, and this silence and look were enough for them.
The first girl quietly moved her lips, her voice was more like a whisper.
"So... the legendary gate... has opened again..."
Then... no one said anything.
Even Lian, his mind was full of questions, did these three know about the rift? Did they know that there are places beyond their world? And how did they realize that he also came from outside?
And again? Does that mean this was not the first time the rift between the Special Area and the Ruined Realm had opened?
Had others from outside entered this world before? And if so... who? Could they have been natives?
Just as he was about to ask the next question...
A very quiet sound echoed in the nest.
Click... all four turned their heads at the same time.
One of the massive eggs had trembled, and on its white and golden shell, a very small crack had appeared.
Only a few centimeters, but for the four people standing there...
That same crack was terrifying! Because it could cause the giant bird to wake up!
Lian slowly turned his gaze toward the giant bird, its golden eyes were still closed.
Not much time remained until one of this bird’s chicks was born...
An event that can cause the awakening of the monster...
———
( The Lacerians’s Visualization )