Vesta instantly stood up from her seat, her chair scraping harshly against the stone floor. "A statue? Why are you asking about a statue?" she snapped, her voice sharp, almost accusatory, her usual composure broken.

Sezel's eyes narrowed, his mind racing to understand her violent overreaction. 'Why is she so worked up about it?' he wondered, looking at her. "Well, I too missed it on my way here, maybe you both missed it too," he spoke aloud, sighing.

His gaze shifted to Mari, who stood silently beside him, her small frame trembling, frightened because of the sudden explosion of tension.

Vesta let out a long, ragged sigh, the anger draining from her as quickly as it had appeared. She sank back into her seat, her shoulders slumping. "Sorry," she murmured, running a hand through her long, black hair. "What is with all these questions, anyway?"

"Nothing specific. Just Mari said that she was feeling unwell and she saw a statue on the way," Sezel replied, his gaze fixed on Mari.

Shiki's gaze flickered to the little girl, his expression softening. "What kind of a statue did you see?" he asked, his voice gentle.

Mari was silent for a long moment, her icy blue eyes darting between the three of them as if she were afraid to speak. Then, in a small, hesitant voice, she answered. "It was a small statue. As tall as mister," she said, pointing a tiny, trembling finger at Sezel, who was the shortest of the three. "And it had four arms… and its lower body was like an octopus."

The description painted a picture that sent chills down Sezel's spine. 'Four hands? Lower body like octopus? What is even that thing?' A grim expression settling on his face. Shiki looked equally shocked, his face pale with a dawning horror. But Vesta's look was not that of confusion but of sickening certainty.

She swallowed hard, her throat suddenly dry. "Was there… was there really a statue like that?" she asked, her voice barely a whisper, her eyes lost in a distant, terrifying memory.

Mari nodded slowly, her movements stiff with fear.

"Damn it," Vesta cursed aloud. She hastily took the last bite of her sandwich and washed it down with a long gulp of water. "We need to get out of here," she declared, slamming the near-empty water bottle onto the table.

Sezel and Shiki stared at her. "What?" they said in unison.

Sezel couldn't believe that the calm Vesta would act like this, which made him even more curious about what exactly is this thing?

"Why do you suggest that?" he asked, his curiosity seeping out.

"That thing is an Elite Beast. It marks its territory with statues, and if we've really crossed into its territory, then it already knows we're here," she explained, her voice grim and urgent.

She continued, "We need to get away as soon as possible. If we are unlucky, it should already know that we are here. Elite Beasts are dangerous because they are mindful, and they have abilities." Her gaze flickered to Mari. "Those statues… they're usually a kind of trap, not visible to normal human eyes. I wonder how Mari saw it."

The explanation sent a wave of cold dread through Sezel's mind. But Vesta wasn't finished. She took another gulp of water, her hand trembling slightly, and then she delivered the final, fatal blow. "Soon," she said, her voice a low, ominous whisper, "it will rain poison."

"What? Poison?" Shiki asked, his face a mask of pure confusion. This question shattered Sezel's viewpoint that Shiki was a veteran. Not knowing this information certainly meant that this was his first time in Spirit Realm.

Whereas, Vesta was experienced and a Rank-5 on top of that.

"What exactly is this poison thing?" Sezel too joined along with Shiki's question.

"I don't know that much," Vesta admitted, shaking her head, a gesture of frustrating helplessness. "I only know what I was taught in the briefings."

"Wait… what do you mean, you don't know?" Sezel asked, bewildered.

Vesta shrugged, a gesture that was completely at odds with the gravity of their situation. "It means I don't know much," she confirmed, her voice flat. "This is my first time inside the Spirit Realm as well. I just awakened three months ago."

The words struck Sezel with the force of a physical blow. He felt as if his soul had left his body. The great shock of knowing that they were all rookies, all fumbling their way through this hell for the first time, was not a small one. In that single, devastating statement, their chances of survival had plummeted from a near certainty to a fifty-fifty gamble, at best.

Even if Vesta was a Rank-5, it wouldn't matter when faced with danger that can't be sorted by strength and needs actual experience. But now he can't do anything about it. The team has been brought together and Vesta knew his secret.

He sighed slowly, a long, weary exhalation of pure despair, and let his head rest on the dust-laden table. He didn't care about the grime that stuck to his face. He had lived in dirt all his life.

Vesta stood up. "Come on," she insisted, her voice leaving no room for argument. "We don't have much time."

They all took their luggage and moved out of the café, continuing their journey forward instead of turning back. According to Mari, she had seen the statue in the morning, which meant they had traveled a considerable distance into the beast's territory since then.

They walked through the wilderness-filled roads, through the same broken city. Vesta carried Mari on her back.

"Why aren't these plants dead if it rains poison here?" Sezel asked, looking at the plants, which seemed a little dull and sickly, but were certainly not dead.

"They must have gotten used to it," Vesta explained, her voice tight. "A little at a time. I bet most of these plants are poisonous now."

Sezel frowned. The explanation wasn't enough to satisfy his curiosity, but he let it go. They walked without stopping, taking only short breaks for water. They couldn't risk eating more — their supply was limited and was quickly draining out.

Mari guided them by telling that the sky was still purple. She had some kind of ability too, but they can't tell what, and she wasn't big enough to actually find it out herself.

Soon, the sun gave way to the three moons, their cold, silver light once again draping the world in an ethereal, ghostly glow. The amount of Spirit Essence in this area was noticeably lower than the area they had been in yesterday.

Everyone was exhausted after the whole day of relentless walking. Mari had fallen asleep on Vesta's back hours ago. They decided to stop at a small, one-storied residential building. A large house would be a problem in the case of a natural disaster.

There had been no rain, poison or otherwise, but Vesta insisted they couldn't rest for long. There was no telling when the Elite Beast would sense their presence.

But before they could even step inside, a massive blast echoed from nearby, shaking the very ground beneath their feet. The dark night sky was torn asunder by a silent, blooming flower of orange and blue flame.