Chapter 693 Hellmouth Valley
Furrowing her brows, Shiro immediately dived down at breakneck speed.
Seeing the fear and panic in their eyes, Shiro figured that she might as well listen to the story later.
Just before one of the swords could hit the mother and daughter, Shiro pulled back on her bow and fired an arrow.
*PING!!
Knocking the sword aside, her sudden appearance grabbed their attention.
"Tsk, annoying person. Leave! This is not your business!" One of the shrouded people shouted out as their voice was quite feminine.
"I know it's not my business but I'm just a nosy one. I can't help but intervene if I see people getting harmed. Though of course, if you want to tell me a good reason then I'll leave." Shiro smiled.
"You want to know what she did? Fine, I'll tell you. These two are wanted poison users that tried to kill a whole city of people. The little girl is the master and the older one is the student. We've finally cornered them after they ran out of poisons so please stay out of this!" The shrouded woman glared at the two hatefully as Shiro raised her eyebrow.
Glancing back, Shiro narrowed her eyes at the duo.
Looking back at the shrouded woman, she could see that the hate was real and that there were even tears forming on the edges of her eyes.
'There's a good chance that they're telling the truth.' Shiro thought to herself.
"Sure, go for it." Shiro smiled and hopped back slightly.
Seeing her reaction, both parties didn't expect that she'd actually step back since the people appearing in these kinds of situations would help the duo that looked like mother and child without any questions.
"What? Unless you're lying and you want me to fight the lot of you?" Shiro raised her eyebrows and the shrouded woman shook her head hastily.
"Many thanks." She nodded before lunging towards the two.
For the next few moments, Shiro watched as they hacked the two into small pieces starting at the limbs.
Since they took the effort to kill them as painfully as possible, Shiro could really tell that they hated the two.
"Fu… Thank you for staying out of it." The shrouded woman thanked her after taking a moment to calm herself.
"You're welcome. Appearances can be deceiving. If I didn't take the time asking you about what happened, you would have just looked like some crooked bandits." Shiro smirked.
"This outfit is to help against her poisons. We had no choice." The shrouded woman laughed as Shiro nodded her head.
"That's just unfortunate then. Do you happen to know if there are any blessed weapons around here?" She asked with a shrug.
Hearing her question, they looked at her with confusion.
First of all, no one would tell others where a blessed weapon could be since they're the most powerful weapons that one could get their hands on. Not only were they basically indestructible, they also had benefits outside of divinities so many would die to get their hands on a weapon like that.
If they knew where one was, they'll try to keep it a secret as much as they can.
Second of all, let's say they were going to tell someone, the last person on the list would be Shiro since she was a stranger.
"No idea? Oh well, see you." Shiro shrugged and gave them a small wave.
Unfurling her wings, she soared into the sky.
Looking at their shadow, they looked at one another before leaving.
After a short pause, Shiro returned to the spot with a grin.
"Phew. I thought they might have known but seeing their confusion, I think I'm safe to try getting this weapon." Shiro muttered with a grin as she glanced down on her left arm.
Shimmering slightly was Quella's familiar who had whispered to her about the existence of a blessed weapon nearby while they were killing the two poison users.
Since the group of shrouded people didn't know the existence of this weapon, she didn't need to worry too much.
"So where is it?" Shiro asked while glancing towards the butterfly.
[Follow me.]
Flying behind the butterfly, Shiro tried her best to make sure that she was as camouflaged as possible. However, it was a little hard when her white wings were essentially glowing in this environment.
Once she was near, she deactivated her divinity and walked the rest of the way.
Upon arrival, Shiro's smile twitched slightly.
"Wasn't this the Hellmouth Valley that you told me not to come to before?" Shiro asked.
The mountains surrounding the valley seemed to pierce into the sky as dark grey clouds shrouded the peak from being seen. Occasionally, she could see large faint shadows through the clouds as they were most definitely large scale monsters that could erase her with a single sneeze.
However, there was more to this valley. In front of her was a deep ravine with jagged rocks along the walls. She could even see a few moving shells shifting through the crevices as this was where Quella said the weapon was.
[It is, but the weapon is down there. Most of the monsters have been scared off by its aura so this is probably one of the best chances for you to go down. Plus, the weapon isn't the only benefit. Hundreds of adventurers have died in the ravine so you might find something helpful when you go down. You just need to be careful and make sure you run the moment I say it regardless of what you're doing ok? I've stationed quite a few butterflies around this place to act as sentries so I should be able to tell whenever a monster is approaching you. Plus, you're only going into a ravine located near the valley. If you enter the valley, they will notice you and you will be killed on sight.]
"Hmm… alright. Got any tips on what to do down there?" Shiro asked while stretching her body.
[Not much other than keep your guard up. Hades' trials aren't too complicated. Sometimes it could be as easy as picking a single weapon from a pile of trash or it could be as hard as travelling to the underworld and stealing something before escaping. It depends on how lucky you are I suppose.] Quella replied as Shiro nodded her head.
"Not too bad then." She smiled.
She hoped that it wasn't like Artemis' test since she could have done that one without much of a time limit.
However, for this one, she was surrounded by monsters that could end her in an instant.
Taking a deep breath, she took a few steps back before running full speed.
Jumping over the edge, she dived down for a few seconds before unfurling her wings.
[Follow me quickly.]
Seeing the butterfly navigate through the valley, Shiro didn't hesitate and follow closely behind it.
Suddenly, a feeling of danger washed over as both she and the butterfly stopped and dived down as fast as they could.
*CRACK!!!!
Glancing above her, she could see the giant mandibles of an insect retreating back to the stone walls before camouflaging themselves quickly.
"Christ this place is filled with danger." Shiro clicked her tongue.
[Mn. Keep up the pace and keep your guard up. Sometimes they can attack before I can even warn you like just now.]
"Would have loved it for you to tell me at the beginning but ok." Shiro forced a smile.
Ducking and weaving through the ravine, the two travelled for a long while before landing at the very bottom.
Quickly furling up her wings, she ducked behind some rocks with Quella's familiar as they watched a few of the monsters fly past them.
Once she was sure the coast was clear, Shiro sighed in relief.
Now that they were at the bottom, Shiro looked around and saw several skeletons with broken pieces of armour and weapons.
[Ignore them for now. We need to grab the chance for the blessed weapon as soon as we can.] Quella reminded as Shiro nodded her head.
"Don't worry, I know which is more important and I think I also know where the weapon is." Shiro smiled while glancing down at her hand.
There was a faint mark that seemed to shimmer ever so slightly whenever she pointed it in front of them.
Recognising the sigil belonging to Hades, Quella was shocked and wondered where she had obtained it. After all, she didn't have Hades' divinity. But that was a question for later. Right now they need to hurry up before they're spotted by the monsters in this ravine.