Chapter 202: we need to leave before sundown

He remained disoriented for a long time. His mother’s death had torn open old wounds, reviving a grief he had thought time had buried. Yet amid the pain, the dream had given him one precious gift: a clear memory of her face.

It had been so long that her features had nearly faded from his memory, but now he could see her as vividly as if she were standing before him again.

"Young master, you’re awake!" The chef’s shout snapped Ethan out of his daze, a tear sliding down from the corner of his eye as he turned toward the sound.

Facing the chef, he regained his composure. "What happened?" he asked in a hoarse tone, then sat up.

Before the chef could answer, he caught a glimpse of Eva from the corner of his eye, and his gaze narrowed at the sight of her covered in blood and green liquid.

He quickly reached for her, his finger trembling slightly as he placed it under her nose. Feeling her warm breath on his fingers, he felt a wave of relief wash over him, and his tense heart loosened.

Then his mood shifted. His fist clenched, and fury nearly overwhelmed him.

"What did this?" he asked through gritted teeth, his voice icy cold, sending a chill down the chef’s spine. The joy of seeing his master awaken was reduced by half.

"Those flowers," he answered quickly, pointing to the sunflowers swaying eerily, their fangs peeking from the center.

Ethan’s gaze fell on the sunflowers, and a whip of icy mist erupted from his fingers. The temperature around them plunged.

"So... cold," Eva murmured as she curled into herself for warmth. Ethan quickly retracted his powers, took out his fur coat from his ring, and covered her.

"Take care of her," Ethan ordered, then jumped down from the boulder and strode toward the swaying flowers to the north.

Julian was handling the other areas. The dried husks on the ground bore traces of Julian’s slaughter.

Ethan stretched his numb limbs, an icy mist leaving his parted lips as the surrounding air grew cold. Streaks of icy frost crept from his legs, freezing the ground and crawling toward the unsuspecting flowers ahead.

The flowers froze into sculptures, their forms encased in icy mist. The other flowers noticed something was wrong and quickly moved away from the creeping frost.

Ethan waved his hand slightly, and the area was suddenly blanketed in icy mist, swirling like raging tornadoes.

He lowered his fingers, and the mist surged toward the flowers. The wind picked up, while the sounds of rustling flowers and crackling ice filled the air as the flowers desperately tried to escape.

The mist left icy sculptures in its wake, spreading far and wide, turning the surroundings into a frozen land.

Julian felt the sudden drop in temperature and instantly knew Ethan was awake.

"Finally, let’s both end this... the flowers are getting annoying," Julian muttered to himself as he swung the excess green fluid from his sword.

Ethan and Julian fought for hours as the morning sun set, illuminating the destruction below.

They noticed the flowers seemed sluggish in the sun, and as the sun grew brighter, the huge flowers shrank until they were the size of a normal flower.

"What’s wrong with them?" Julian asked aloud as Ethan walked toward him.

"The sun might have affected them... so strange," Ethan muttered. He had never encountered a plant monster in the dungeon before, and this one could create illusions.

’Huh? That’s not an illusion per se; it’s more like it makes you relive your deepest memories,’ Ethan thought. A sigh escaped his lips.

"We should leave this area quickly before it gets dark," Ethan muttered, turning toward the boulder.

"Hmm. There’s no need to shapeshift; we’ll use our beasts," Julian added, knowing they needed rest after expending so much power to destroy these flowers.

Ethan hummed, stretched his shoulders, then walked toward the boulder in long strides.

Julian followed behind him, rolling his shoulders to release the tension from fighting for hours without rest.

As they reached the boulder, they saw Eva sitting cross-legged, her chin resting on her propped-up hand.

"I overslept. Why did no one wake me?" they heard her murmur softly.

Eva noticed their gazes on her and looked over, only to see a pale Ethan and Julian, who was covered in green fluid.

She said nothing and quickly channeled energy into their bodies; green mist seeped into them, restoring all their lost energy.

"Are you alright?" Eva asked in concern as her gaze scrutinized them, feeling relieved when she didn’t see any bloodstains on them.

"We’re fine, but we need to leave before sundown," Ethan responded as he sat down to catch his breath.

Julian felt uncomfortable with the sticky fluid covering him. Fortunately, it didn’t have a bad smell; otherwise, he would have been forced to search for a stream in this place.

Since Eva hadn’t freshened up either, it seemed she couldn’t access her space at the moment, so he didn’t bother asking her to take him there.

"Huh? Didn’t you both clear out the sunflowers? Why do we have to leave?" Eva asked in surprise. She had thought they would camp there for the night, rest, and continue their journey the next day.

"No, those flowers stopped moving as soon as the sun came out. And it’s pointless to keep killing." Julian explained as he pulled off his dirty shirt.

At his words, Eva rose to her feet and walked forward, gazing ahead, and was surprised to see the normal-sized sunflowers.

"So strange... very strange," she murmured to herself. A fitting name for these sunflowers came to mind.

Vampire flowers. They hunt at night, disarming their prey by putting them to sleep before devouring them. No wonder no animal life could be sensed around here—only eerie silence.

Julian and Ethan rested for thirty minutes before mounting their beasts and leaving the area.

Eva lay down on Foxy’s back, the wind ruffling her hair as the sun shone on her.

She glanced at Ethan and Julian out of the corner of her eye, wondering what they had seen in the illusion; she could sense their somber mood.

’They must have revisited a painful memory. Curse those flowers! I wish I were a fire user so I could burn them to ashes.’

"Finally, we’re out of this damned forest," Julian said out loud, his voice filled with relief.

Ethan hummed in response, his tense body relaxing.

Eva snapped back to reality; she straightened up and noticed they had left the sunflower field and were entering a normal forest.

"We need to mark this place and report to Mom as soon as we return," Eva muttered, already marking it as one of the dangerous areas on this island.

They could face beasts, but they couldn’t guard against the illusory mist.

"I’ll do that," Ethan responded. He then took a bottle of water from his ring, gulped it down, retrieved three more, and passed them around.

"Catch," he called out, and Eva caught it. She nodded in thanks before opening the cap to drink.

Her stomach growled with hunger, and she turned to Ethan with a hopeful look.

"I have water and raw meat in my ring." He shook his head, and Eva turned her hope to Julian.

"Don’t ask; only weapons, potions, and clothes are in my ring. I’ll remember to put some food inside next time." Julian’s response made her give up completely.

She rubbed her growling stomach. Then the chef came into her field of vision, and her eyes lit up.

Eva couldn’t help but thank her past self for bringing the chef along. They were exhausted from the fight and didn’t have the energy to cook, and now someone was here to do it for them.

Ethan signaled for everyone to stop at the forest’s boundary; they needed to refuel before heading into the unknown.

"We’ll rest here for today. Tomorrow we’ll tour this forest, but we have to be extremely careful." Ethan added the last words grimly, his gaze falling on the shadows of swaying sunflowers behind them.

He turned to the quiet chef and took out some meat from his ring. "Make lunch for us."

The chef took the slabs of meat as Eva jumped down from her beast and hurried to him.

"Tell me everything you need from the kitchen. I’ll help take it out of the space," Eva said as soon as she neared him.

Ethan’s eyes brightened slightly at her lively figure, and the gloom in his heart lifted.

"We should go look for a stream. I need a bath," Julian suggested, his body itching even though he had changed into clean clothes.

Ethan turned toward the forest of giant trees and tall grasses, then pricked his transformed beast’s ears. Every little sound rushed in, but there was no sound of gushing water nearby.

"You have to wait until the sky darkens before you can access Eva’s space. There’s no sign of a nearby stream," Ethan broke the disappointing news to him.

Julian frowned, frustrated that he had to wait a while for a bath. But he had no choice.

Eva helped the chef prepare lunch. The simple routine made her forget the fear of loneliness she had felt back in her own world. Here, she had people to talk to and laugh with, and food to eat. She was truly grateful and content.