On a dark night, the crow searches for Sophia and Orphea. Crow can determine that although this is the outer ring of the forest, there is no way to get out of the forest in one minute unless there is a fast-moving arcane.


    At this moment, Sophia and Orphea run through the dense woods. Sophia counts to sixty in her mind, acutely aware that the crows are searching for them.


    "Orphea! We need to hide. The crows will probably come towards us first, and we won''t be able to escape from the forest in this little time." Sophia says anxiously.


    Without waiting for Orphea to respond, she immediately materializes a cleaver and then chops it into a tree. Sophia immediately opens a tree hole large enough for two people to hide inside and throws the wood far away but leaves a wood with bark.


    "What? Why... we''re near!" Orphea frowns and asks, unwilling to hide in.


    "The crow will definitely come towards us first and one minute has passed, we can''t escape from this forest within this little time!" Sophia says again in the tree hole.


    With that, she instantly grabs the Orphea''s hand and pulls her inside the tree hole. After that, she quickly covers the tree hole with the wood that has bark. The wood with bark perfectly fits with the hole and no gap can be seen.


    Inside the tree hole is a snug space, just big enough for two people to hide in if they press close together. In the darkness of the tree hole, Sophia and Orphea are so tightly entwined that their breaths mingle, and they can even sense each other''s heartbeat reverberating softly.


    "I-It''s so dark here..." Orphea stammers, trembling slightly, as she instinctively hugs Sophia tighter.


    "There is nothing to be afraid of, it is such a small place, there are only two of us." Sophia rolls her eyes.


    "Well then, why you are sure that crow will come to us at first?" Orphea asks.


    "Because we ran outside the forest, and the man took Saze and ran deeper into the forest. If the crows had gone to find them first, we would have run out of the forest." Sophia says quickly.


    "Well, that sounds reasonable. But...if we hide like this, the crows won''t be able to find it?" Orphea enlightens but asks again.


    "I''m not sure, I hope the crow will just pass through and leave." Sophia''s voice was uncertain.


    After waiting in the tree hole for a while, Sophia and Orphea feel a surge of majestic mana descending from the sky. They soon realize that the crow has arrived, and their hearts begin to race involuntarily.


    "Don''t speak and move." Sophia says calmly.


    Upon hearing this, Orphea immediately covers her mouth with her hands and presses tightly against Sophia. Clinging to Sophia, she doesn''t dare to move an inch out of fear, not even daring to breathe.


    Sophia is just as scared as Orphea, her body trembling slightly as she subconsciously hugs Orphea tightly. She holds her breath, not daring to move, silently hoping that the crow will fly past them without noticing.


    "Hm? Something weird here..." The crow flies in the sky says lightly.


    Majestic black mana descends, covering the area around it. Then the crow lands on a tree and uses its powers to look around and examine everything it sees.


    "A piece of wood that was cut down? Oh, hiding in the tree. It''s a good idea, but it''s a pity that their plan failed since I have the detect arcane." The crow says with a sharp voice.


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    "Which tree is it~?" The crow hums softly as it searches for any signs of a cut on the trunk.


    As the black mana spreads around the trees, a series of images appear in the crow''s mind. The crow checks the images in his mind over and over again to see if there are any cut-down trees or any useful information.


    The heartbeats of the two girls inside the tree hole grow increasingly frantic, their bodies stiffening as breaths catch in their throats. Not only did they know that the crow had noticed their presence, but they even knew that the crow had landed on the tree where they were hiding right now.


    In this way, the crow uses its mana to examine the surroundings, but it overlooks the tree beneath its feet. As the mana continues to scatter, the crow begins to doubt itself and the piece of wood that has been cut down.


    "Did they leave that piece of wood on purpose to confuse me?" Crow asks in its mind confusedly.


    It flaps its wings and flies towards the piece of wood in the distance. After landing next to it, the crow lowers its head and begins to carefully examine the cut marks and remaining mana as it tries to find something.


    "Hmm... the cut marks are clean not broken by a beast, the silver mana remains on it... did I just miss something...?" Crow tilts its head.


    "Maybe it''s really used to confuse me, it''s really clever. I have to speed up now, I hope they haven''t escaped from this forest yet." The crow flaps its wings once again and rushes to the sky and further.


    When the crow flies away, it also takes away the majestic black mana. When the mana disappears, the two girls in the tree hole immediately feel relaxed, and then slowly pushing away the blocking wood.


    "Great! The crow didn''t notice us! It was just standing above us!" Orphea cheers in a small voice.


    "Don''t get too happy yet, we didn''t escape from this forest then means we are not safe." Sophia says and pushes the blocking wood.


    As the blocking wood falls, their eyes narrow by the things in front of them. A little crow stands in front of them, this little crow is all black, and even has eyes or no eyes. This is a clone condensed with mana.


    "Clone...?" Orphea asks.


    Kraa!


    The crow spreads its wing raises its head and lets out a huge scream resounding around. Orphea stuns but Sophia quickly reacts and moves.


    "Run!" Sophia grabs Orphea''s hand and runs again.


    Sophia immediately runs away in another direction towards the outside of the forest. As for the little crow, it screamed and was dispersed, only to be replaced by the scream of another crow.


    Kraa!


    As the shrill cries of crows fill the sky, Sophia and Orhpea''s hearts begin to despair. They were caught. If they want to fight, they can''t beat the crow. If they want to escape, they can''t run. They could only wait for death to take them away.


    "Ahahaha! I knew it! I knew that you guys were hiding there!" The sharp voice of a crow sounds in the sky.


    The crow slowly landed on the tree in front of Sophia and Orphea with majestic black mana. At this moment, the crow stares down at them and they also look up at the crow.


    "Alright, so where do you guys hide while I''m searching this area?" The crow asks.


    The inquiry is met with silence. The two girls shut their mouths tightly, showing no intention of answering the crow. Meanwhile, Sophia scans the surroundings, her eyes searching for something.


    "Don''t want to answer? What about this? Whoever answers first I will make sure that she walks out of the forest alive." Crow declares, thinking that one of them might answer it question instantly.


    However, things did not develop as expected. Sophia ignores the crow''s words while Orphea keeps her gaze fixed on it. Her lips parted slightly, but she grits her teeth and shuts her mouth tightly.


    "You want to answer? You can just say it, I won''t break the promise. I need only one female heart so just answer this simple question then you can survive." Crow says slowly.


    "I-I won''t betray my friend!" Orphea shouts loudly to the crow.


    The crow stuns for a while and laughs.


    "Ha... Ha... Haha... Hahahahaha! AHAHAHAHAHA!!" The crow laughs maniacally as if hearing the funniest joke in this world.


    Under the dim light of the eye rune of night, the scene of the crow laughing towards the sky is like an evil villain. It laughs for a long time, its body unable to stay still as it moves, causing its feathers to fall off along the way.


    "Betray?! Hahaha! Aw come on, girl, you may not learn many things but at least one thing..." The crow stops a bit.


    "And that is... abandon your kindness and humanity! In this garbage world, kindness has no value! There is no place for survival! Everything...! Everything must be based on your own interests!"


    "So what are you waiting for?! While your friend wasn''t paying attention, just answer me quickly! You have to know! Betrayal is not a shame! Betrayal, surrender, corruption, and other dirty desires are not a shame! In fact, it''s normal... because this is your instinct! This is human''s instinct! THIS IS HUMAN! HAHAHAHAHAHA!"