Unfortunately for Mira, she was bound to be disappointed when she reached the area where the Cursed Basilisk and the Branch Head were fighting.
The entire area was obliterated due to their fight. Even if something did survive, it would be utterly useless as it would most certainly be destroyed.
Luckily, Mira found quite a few snake carcasses, or what she believed to be Basilisk descendent corpses. Though Mira could faintly tell that their bloodline wasn't nearly as strong as that serpent that showed up and swallowed the Earth Elemental, much less so comparable to the real thing.
However, even after collecting numerous Basilisk Descendant corpses, Mira barely felt happy about it. Mainly because she felt Rhydian's desire to consume them. She was baffled by this as she had no idea why she wanted to eat them, but then she remembered that this beast companion of hers can actually grow stronger through the things she eats.
Though she was very skeptical that eating them would actually bring Rhydian any tangible benefits as most of what she ate were just cannon fodder that could hardly be of any use to her.
Just like she thought, even after eating her fill, Mira couldn't sense any changes in her and could only sigh at the loss of such little treasures.
Anyways, Mira, Robin, and Rhydian quickly swept through the place, but were unable to find anything of value. Not only that, but they hadn't run into a single beast on their way here.
That's not too surprising though as the Basilisk's enraged roar probably killed a bunch of them while knocking the rest unconscious. How could a bunch of beasts who have already lost their minds possibly resist such a terrifying roar?
Mira could only stay conscious for a number of reasons, the main one being that Elenei had secretly protected her, but even without that Mira would've been fine. Relatively fine…
Her mind definitely would've been shaken and her body injured, but she would've survived without much issue.
As for Robin and Rhydian, the latter has a relatively high cultivation and can protect herself from such things especially since the roar was from so far away. Rhydian, on the other hand, is a beast that is presumably above Mythical Beasts. The echoes of a roar caused by a high-level beast can't do much to her.
Essentially, as long as one wasn't too close, had a clear mind, and wasn't too weak they'd be able to stay conscious after the Basilisk's roar.
Fortunately for Mira's group, most of the beasts here fell under the second category.
A few hours later, Mira's group were standing back in the middle of the place where the Source was supposedly located.
"So what do we do now? Do we wait for the Branch Head to come back? Or can we finally leave this shit hole?" Mira asked without any hint of emotion.
Robin was silent for a bit because she also had no idea what to do. They are clearly standing in the area where the Source was located, but forget finding the Source, they haven't found anything other than a few dead beasts!
To make matters worse, she had no idea where the Branch Head even was! He clearly ran off for some reason, but he probably forgot that he even has subordinates.
Actually, now that she thought about it, he didn't even bother waiting for her or the 3 other men that came with them! He just went straight into things like he always does!
Robin's face darkened when she reached this conclusion and she could almost guess what happened.
Something unexpected happened that he wasn't prepared for and now he's currently facing the consequences of his actions.
While she knew that she probably wouldn't be much help against whatever released that roar, she could easily take hold of the Source while the Branch Head deals with the main enemy. In fact, that's literally what her job was going to be!
The original plan was for her to be the one to collect the loot while the Branch Head and the other 3 men fought the guardian of the treasure.
It was that simple! In fact, if she knew exactly where the Source of all this was, she could've made it there in a few hours at most!
Mira watched on as Robin's expression changed numerous times from frustration to anger to helplessness, then finally resignation with a hint of the previous emotions.
She snickered in her heart even while knowing full well that she probably messed up Robin's life in some way by stealing it.
For a moment, she felt a bit weird at the thought of something bad happening to Robin, but immediately after her expression hardened into cold, hard, indifference.
She would never put herself at risk of ruining her potential for someone she barely knows. Plus, it's not like Robin will actually be able to use the High-Grade Spirit Stone Mine Source. It'll most likely be directly given to the Mercenary Association Headquarters, so it's not like she's outright stealing Robin's possessions.
'Sigh… This is just how the world works. At the end of the day, not everyone can get what they want. While I think Robin is a sweet girl who has great potential, my life will always be what's most important.' Mira thought to herself before Robin finally answered her previous question.
"...Let's try to find a way to return. Knowing the Branch Head, he's probably already forgotten we even exist. Actually, no, I'm 100% certain he has. Who knows, depending on how long we take to get out of this chasm, we might actually meet him at the Mercenary Association building…" Robin released another sigh at the end before eventually walking off in a direction that seemed like the quickest way out of this place.
Mira nodded and didn't say anything else. She's had enough of this place by now. So long as she can still cash in her Contribution Points when she gets back, nothing else matters.
'Hopefully Elenei has found a nice hiding spot to camp out at for the next few days or so.' Those were Mira's thoughts as she followed behind Robin along with Rhydian.
***
Meanwhile, high in the sky above the chasm, Elenei watched as the Branch Head and the Cursed Basilisk scrambled about trying to look for any traces of her.
Unfortunately for them, even if they knew where she was, they'd still never be able to find her. Even in the off chance that they did, now that she's out in the open, there is no way they'd be able to catch her.
However, watching them running about below her as they searched for any trace of her aura is quite amusing.
She also felt a slight pity for them because before they even emerged from the chasm, Elenei had already scattered her aura all over the place. Actually, the only reason they could even track her aura was because she wanted them to.
Now that she doesn't want to be found, it's pretty much impossible for those two to find her. Well, maybe not so much for the Cursed Basilisk, but from what she could tell… it's a dumbass. At least according to her and most Mythical Beast standards.
With a soft snort, Elenei stopped paying attention to those two and started leisurely flying in some random direction. If it were up to her, Elenei would already be back inside Mira's Soul Sea right after completing the mission, but Mira directly told her otherwise.
Although Elenei thought she was just being overly cautious, she didn't go against it because Mira wasn't wrong.
Right before Elenei left to go steal the High-Grade Spirit Stone Mine Source, Mira said this, "Don't return to me immediately after you grab the Source. Go find a place to hang out for a while and only come back once things have settled down a bit, I get what I want from the Mercenary Association, and finally leave this city."
Elenei knew why she said this, it was because she didn't want the Branch Head or the Basilisk to sense her aura on Mira. She tried appealing to Mira that such a scenario is nearly impossible to happen, but Mira was adamant about this part. Actually, Mira might've been more serious about this part than any other part of their plan.
If only she knew Mira's luck has basically hit rock bottom so that .1% chance of someone finding out that she's tied to the creature that stole the High-Grade Spirit Stone Mine Source will essentially turn into 100%.
Unfortunately, she doesn't know or doesn't quite understand just how bad Mira's luck is and can only grumble at Mira's 'eccentric' thoughts.
***
Two weeks slowly passed by before the raging of the Branch Head and the Basilisk eventually calmed down from their murderous rampage in search of the small tiny bird that swooped in and stole their treasure.
It was also on this day that the Branch Head finally returned back to the Mercenary Association!
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