25 Two Apes and One...

"Haa... Haa..." Lily was panting heavily.

During the fight against the panther-like monster, she was not injured, however, she was struck with panic.

Sylvia managed to finish the monster off quickly even though she was hit by an attack a mere moment ago.

Compared to her, Lily just randomly launched her attacks at it without giving it much thought.

And when it was about to punch her, she could only stand there frozen in fear.

"..."

Ophelia took a sharp glance at her before she turned to Sylvia.

"Are you alright, Sylvia?"

"Yes, I'm fine." Sylvia replied unconcerned despite taking a kick in the stomach.

She wiped off a small trail of blood coming out of her mouth.

"But what about Mika?" she wondered as she gazed into the direction he was sent flying.

"Knowing him, he will be fine, but nonetheless we have to go after him."

Thus, the three made their way to Mika.

In the meantime, Mika, who was sent far away from the others, crashed with his back against a gigantic boulder.

"Ugh..." He groaned silently in pain.

As he slowly tried to get up, chunks from the spot he crashed into, fell to the ground.

"That damn monster could have held back a little, couldn't he...?" he complained as he rubbed his back.

The impact was so great that even cracks in the stone boulder appeared.

[Luckily, you were smart enough to increase your defense with magic or else your injury would have been far worse.]

This technique was something he learned a while ago at the academy.

The so-called pure magic, the magic's state before turning into one's element, can be used to coat the whole body, which will increase for example the defense.

"Yeah, I think I would have been a goner if I have to be honest..." Mika admitted with a wry smile.

He looked into the direction he came from.

[I suggest you meet up with the others.]

"No need to tell me. That was my plan from the beginning."

Now, Mika as well was on his way to his comrades.

And as he left the place with the big boulder, a sudden yawn was heard on top of it.

"Who the hell dares to interrupt my nap...?"

The voice was deep and croaky.

Bathing in the sun was a well-toned and shirtless man, who only wore black pants.

His messy black hair stood up in large tufts and as he slowly opened his sharp and tired eyes, he revealed his completely black eyes.

His eyes contained neither emotions nor any kind of colors.

They were pitch-black.

As his upper body got up, he sniffed the air.

"I don't like it..." he expressed his disgust as he frowned his thin eyebrows.

He then proceeded to get up completely and faced a particular direction.

"It smells like them..."

He took a few steps forward and jumped off the high boulder.

When he landed elegantly and softly on the ground, he realized something.

"Hm? What am I doing? Why do I have to dirty my own hands if I can just let my new babies handle this?" he remarked with a smirk.

He pondered again.

"This stench was fouler than usual..."

His gaze was stern.

"Maybe I will go and watch for myself what that is."

With this conclusion, he also left the place.

Back to the girls.

With Ophelia leading the way, Sylvia and Lily trailed behind her.

They were walking for a while already.

During that time, they did not talk to each other.

However, Ophelia suddenly signaled them to halt.

"What's-"

Ophelia hushed Sylvia by putting her hand palm on her mouth.

Cautiously, Ophelia lowered herself behind the bushes and analyzed the wide open space in front of them.

In the beginning, they just blindly followed the path Mika was sent to without noticing that the path would also lead to the center of the jungle.

Copying Ophelia, the two girls also lowered themselves.

In their eyesight was an enormous grass field with a waterfall in the back.

But what caught their attention the most was the black thing in the middle of the field.

"Wait... Is that perhaps..."

Sylvia began to speculate in silence.

The thing had black fur, looked tall, had long extremities, had an oddly big chest and looked overall like an ape.

In other words, the thing matched the description of the monster they were looking for.

Despite finally having found the monster, the girls did not know yet how to approach it.

The monster was currently walking around aimlessly in the center.

The girl trio hid themselves far away and yet they could still sense the danger from there.

Ophelia heaved a sigh.

"Now then... It's your turn. As a guide, I won't interfere with the quest as long as it won't threaten your lives. I wish you good luck." she stated calmly.

With a satisfied smirk, she sneaked to the tree behind them and leaned on it with her back.

Stunned, the two looked at their guide.

On one hand, they were shocked that they had to handle the monster alone and on the other hand, they were speechless by her relaxed posture.

Sylvia put her finger onto her chin.

"Well, what should we do..." she pondered concerned.

Meanwhile, Mika was not that far away from the rest anymore.

He followed a small path in the midst of the jungle.

The trees blocked off any sunlight, thus it was quite shadowy.

As he walked, he brushed the bushes, which caused rustling.

On the grounds, different kinds of insects and small animals were passing by, and above his head, multiple vines made him lower his head every few seconds.

As annoyed as he was, he was filled with hope as he finally saw light on the far horizon.

It meant that there was most likely an open space.

Motivated and with a smile on his face, he picked up his pace.

"Finally I can-"

"!"

His hope and smile vanished instantly when he sensed a dangerous presence on his right side.

The more he looked, the wider his eyes got.

Right beside him, a tall creature with black fur, long arms and a weirdly big chest looked right into Mika's eyes.

In his mind, he cursed how unlucky he was to meet the quest's target especially now and while he was alone.

[Dodge!]

Mika could not comprehend anything yet and just watched dazed as the monster swung its right arm at him.

He could not even put up his guard on time and therefore, took the swing as it was.

And with a loud slapping sound, Mika flew back to the spot he came from again.

The slap was strong enough to make Mika almost lose consciousness.

He managed to keep his eyes half-open, but after he saw the ape-like monster chasing him, he wanted to close his eyes.

It was hopeless.

In his current state, it was impossible to beat the monster.

Due to the penalty from the previous quest from the system, Mika could not use his sword.

"..."

As it was his second time flying, he knew that it was almost time to crash into that boulder again.

He prepared himself for the crash.

However, instead of having his back getting thrown at a hard stone, he felt a person's hand on his back.

The velocity of his flight was reduced incredibly fast until he even stopped.

"Are you alright, brat?" a man with a deep and croaky voice asked.

Mika did not see the man's face as he looked at the ground below, which had traces from the man's feet.

There were two thick lines on the ground due to the man also getting pushed back as he received Mika with his hand.

Taken aback, Mika slowly turned around.

"T-thanks..."

"No problem..."

Mika looked into the man's face and especially his eyes.

The pitch-black eyes of him distracted Mika from his sinister grin.

[Mika, get out of here! Quickly!]

[He is-]

At the same time at the entrance of the Great Jungle.

"M-may I ask, w-why a prominent figure like you came to such a vile place?"

The driver hired by Ophelia was on his knees with his forehead pressed against the dirty earth.

His anxiety was written all over his body as he did not even dare to look up to the person's back.

"Relax, okay? I'm here because Malnor's king begged me to." the person said with a sigh.

The person standing there was a young man in his twenties.

He wore an elegant black suit with a white shirt beneath it paired with white gloves on his hands.

His shoulder-length hair was dark green and matched the colors of his eyes.

From time to time, he tapped his glasses to fix its posture on his nose.

"Haven't you heard yet?"

The name of that man was Lereon Pantl.

"It seems like a demon hid itself here."

And he was a member of the Grand Order.