Chapter 1835: Path Opener

Jack sparred with the two ladies for half an hour before he forced them to quit by throwing both of them to the ground. He then ran into the tent while claiming that he was tired and wanted to sleep. Jeanny and the others were speechless by his rather unconventional method of ending the spar.

Everyone went to rest after that. They were woken up a few hours later by loud gongs accompanied by John's voice powered by mana manipulation. John knew everyone ignored his warning last night. He didn't care. They had to resume their journey at the appointed time. There was no exception, no matter how tired they still were.

Most of these people ended up feeling miserable through the entire journey of the second day because they were sleepy. On the second night, most of them went directly to sleep once they stopped moving.

John made sure everyone was aware that they were not on a picnic. They were on a quest with the world's fate at stake.

Despite their rush, they still chatted along the way. With Jack around, it was hard not to. He got bored if it was a silent journey. He went around chatting people up. As a result, everyone got to know each other better. The group had a deeper bond compared to when they set out. Even Wilted's people were now more open to the others in the group.

They were on the fifth day of their journey when they got close to Chris' coordinates. They had to stop because the path forward for those traveling on the ground was blocked by a large wall. The wall was very long. Its surface was decorated with strange diamond-shaped patterns.

"That's not a wall. Prepare for battle!" Jack said as he and Pandora landed from the sky.

"Battle?" The others used their Inspect on the wall then.

*

Jormungandr (Eternal monster, Reptile), level: 95

HP: 5,800,000

Strength: 12,182

Physical Defense: 14,560

Magical Defense: 11,240

*

"Jor-Jormungandr...?"

"The Midgard serpent from the mythology?"

As they were making sense of the situation, they heard a rumbling sound. The trees shook. The wall in front of them shifted. Not long after, a colossal snake's head rose in the distance before it came to them. It hovered above them, watching.

Everyone had their weapons at the ready, but no one moved.

"Uh... Should we attack?" Giant Steve asked.

"Hey, wilted. Why is such a strong monster here?" Jack asked.

"I... I don't know. I don't remember ever inputting this type of monster," Wilted replied.

"Why didn't it attack?" Joe asked.

The serpent just watched them in silence. After a while, its head moved forward. It was slow, though. It was not an aggressive move. Hence, they all stay put. The serpent's head moved until it stopped right above Wilted. It then lowered its head.

"Stay back!" Joe and Nameless both exclaimed as they put themselves before Wilted. The others also became tense.

"Wait, don't attack!" Wilted call. She pushed Joe and Nameless aside. "I don't think it means us harm."

Wilted took something out. Jack recognized it as the Chris' Memory Stone he had given her. The stone was emitting a soft glow. The giant serpent watched the glow as if hypnotized.

After some time, the serpent grunted before moving away. Its body, which everyone thought at first was a wall, started shifting. Its lengthy body scraped the ground as it moved. After a considerable amount of time, because of the unbelievable length of its body, the serpent's tail was finally seen, and a path was opened for them.

"Why didn't we just fly or jump over the thing?" Will asked.

"If you did that, I'm pretty sure the serpent would have attacked," Badass answered.

The serpent was still watching over them as they passed. They felt surreal getting stared at by such a colossal snake.

After they crossed through the gap the snake opened, its body shifted back into its original position. The gap was closed again. The serpent's head laid back down to the ground, hidden by the trees.

"Now, I understand why Chris said you need that stone to come here," Jack said.

"I don't think the stone is just for that serpent," Wilted said. The stone in her hand was still glowing, and it was now emitting a strong shine in one direction. Wilted was as if holding a flashlight in her hand.

"I think this light shows which way we should go," Wilted said and started walking.

Before them was a dense bamboo groove. The bamboos were so dense that there was no space between the culms for one to slip through.

"We might need to cut these bamboos to make a way," Joe said as they approached the bamboo groove.

Before Joe could swing his sword, the bamboos moved out of his way, and a path was created.

"Huh? They are alive! They are afraid of getting cut," Joe said.

"Afraid your head. Move aside, will you?" John said and pushed Joe away. He then said to Wilted, "Wilted, you walk in front. I think that stone is not just for showing the way."

"Do you mean, the bamboos gave way to the one holding the stone?" Jack asked.

"I believe that is the case," John answered. "I don't think you will have much luck if you try cutting the bamboos. There might even be unknown repercussions. Everyone stays close to Wilted! Don't do anything to the bamboos!"

"Oh...," Joe stored his sword after hearing that.

Everyone huddled close with Wilted at the front. After walking for some time, the light from the stone suddenly changed direction. At the same time, the bamboos where the light was now pointing moved apart. A new pathway was seen.

"I must say. Chris truly wants to hide this place," Joe remarked.

"What stops us from flying up and looking for our way in the sky?" Paytowin asked.

"How about you fly up and give it a try?" John dared him.

"Okay," a voice answered, except it was not from Paytowin. It was Jack. He spread his gold dragon wing and flew up, only to get a bump in the head from an invisible ceiling.

"Ouch!" Jack yelled while caressing his pained head.

John chuckled. "Hehe, I love having peons who are so eager to test my hypothesis. Anyone wants to try cutting the bamboos next?" He asked.

Nobody volunteered.