IBHJ Chapter 903

Shirou followed the glitch girl deeper into the tunnels.

He was currently being hunted by both the system and other players. To get out of this mess, he needed to understand the terrain around Zaun, build his own mental map, and then make his move.

Chain trailed close behind.

As the One King's aide, she knew everything about this game except for the deepest parts of the Holy Land. This new map was a mystery she was eager to unravel and report back to the One King.

Mordred was probably the most carefree of the bunch. She simply wanted to be close to her mom.

Meanwhile, the iron-headed My Daughter Is Super Cute smashed through eighteen walls in a row, her health bar halving as she used her own blood to forge a path forward.

Emerging from the tunnel, they found themselves in a dreamlike tropical rainforest shrouded in mist, with two towering ancient trees vaguely visible in the distance.

[System: Entering Unexplored Zone, #%$#@#$%...]

The system message was garbled.

Shirou immediately grew wary. He hadn't forgotten that this was the Council's connection point.

The system prompt suddenly becoming garbled meant that the Council had done something here.

"Let's stop here," Chain said abruptly, her expression serious. "We need to turn back now."

"Why?" he asked. This Lv9 player clearly knew something.

Chain shook her head. "We need to go back, Miss Evil Flower. Even though it's weird to find it here, what's ahead is the Emperor's territory."

So, this map was connected to the final boss, Emperor Frieza? He raised an eyebrow.

"Mom, come quick and look!" Mordred yelled from in front of a tree.

"What is it, Mordred?" he asked, walking over.

"Look at the fruit on this tree—" she pointed up at the fruit hanging high in the branches.

Shirou looked up and froze. Inside the enormous fruit, a tiny angel was curled up, her wings folded around her like a sleeping Thumbelina.

And it wasn't just this tree. In the fruits of other trees, flowers, and even clumps of grass, there were more tiny sleeping angels!

[Angel of Destruction Lv9]

Reading the system windows hovering above the sleeping angels, Shirou sighed. High-level monsters from advanced maps had somehow ended up in the newbie area. He knew the game designers were unreliable – after all, they'd created [The Village's Best Sword] and [The Village's Best Shield] – but putting such tough monsters in the starting zone seemed like a surefire way to scare off new players.

"You're right, Chain. We should get out of here," Shirou said, turning to her.

He was here to level up, not get killed. While he had Evil Blossom, which could exploit game mechanics like a glitch to keep him safe, he couldn't say the same for Mordred.

Seeing Shirou's sensible approach, Chain gave him an approving nod. "Good."

The fact that uncharted territory existed even in the newbie zone was something that needed to be reported not only to the One King but also to the Emperor's Conquest Guild.

"Um, where'd that dumb lady go?" Mordred looked around.

As they prepared to retreat from the hidden map, My Daughter Is Super Cute was nowhere to be seen.

"She probably went deeper into the map. But don't worry, she'll find her way back eventually," Chain reassured them.

"Now that you mention it, she is... pretty reckless," he said, recalling My Daughter Is Super Cute's crazy antics. A bead of sweat rolled down his forehead.

Was it lag, or was this girl genuinely... stupid? Hard to say, especially since she spoke in some alien language.

But then...

Thump, thump, thump.

The familiar rhythmic sound of head-banging echoed through the rainforest, like a never-ending drum solo in the dense foliage. It was, without a doubt, My Daughter Is Super Cute's head-banging performance.

And as the banging continued...

"Ah!" A sharp cry pierced the air from deep within the forest.

"Rustle rustle," countless startled birds erupted from the trees. Then, with several "crack crack crack" sounds, the fruits containing the sleeping angels began to split open.

Red, blue, green... sticky juices oozed out of the fruit.

Chain's face paled. "Those monsters are awake! We have to get out of here!"

But the warning came too late. In a flash, the fruits burst open completely, revealing the drenched angels inside. Their wings unfurled as their bright eyes blinked open. They were awake.

Spreading their white wings, they took to the air, carried by the breeze. It was a beautiful sight, like something out of a dream. But the beauty was deceiving. These angels, with their pure white feathers, were not messengers of love and light. They were hunters. Monsters.

The first thing the angels did upon awakening was take to the skies, hunting down any creature in the dense forest. Animals, plants, even microorganisms - nothing was safe. And that included Shirou and his companions.

"Aaaaa—"

Three angels swooped down towards them. Chain reacted instantly, her golden chain snaking out from her right arm to ensnare one of the angels by the foot. With a sharp tug, she flung the captured angel into another, knocking them both out of the air.

Simultaneously, Chain's left arm extended, the golden chain whipping out and weaving between the trees, forming an iron net in the blink of an eye.

Boom! The last angel couldn't dodge in time and crashed headfirst into the net, blood splattering as her skull cracked.

"Let's go, Miss Evil Flower, watch out for them!" Chain retracted her weapons and turned urgently towards Shirou.

He nodded and was about to retreat when a black beam of light shot out of the sky towards Mordred.

Chain shouted, "Dodge, kid!"

Mordred stood frozen, eyes wide with shock.

Acting on instinct, Shirou lunged towards her, wrapping his arms around her as they crashed to the ground.

The terrifying black light narrowly missed Shirou, the intense heat igniting the surrounding leaves as it slammed into a distant mountain range with a thunderous boom. A massive chunk of the mountain was blasted away, revealing what lay beyond.

He slowly got up, loosening his grip on Mordred. "Are you okay, Mordred?" he asked, looking down at her.

"I'm... I'm fine. But, Mom, you..."

She looked at Shirou with guilt. His body was scraped and bruised from the fall, and his forehead was bleeding, his eyes rimmed with red. It was all her fault. Because of her, Mom was hurt again.

How many more times would she let this happen? Mordred bit her lip.

"It's good that you're okay." He released Mordred and glanced at his own injuries. Artie wasn't going to be happy about him getting her body hurt again. But even if it happened a thousand times over, Shirou knew he'd do the same thing. He might tease and embarrass Mordred, but he'd never let her get hurt.

"Are you two okay?" Chain hurried over.

He turned to her. "We're fine, but it looks like we've been targeted by the enemy."

First the hunter angels, now a long-range blast - it was obvious they were being hunted.

"Indeed," Chain said, her face grim. "And judging by that divine energy cannon..."

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"No, it's probably nothing," Chain shook her head. "But things are definitely getting dangerous."

"It's all that woman's fault!" Mordred pouted.

If My Daughter Is Super Cute hadn't woken up those monsters, none of this would have happened, and Mom wouldn't be hurt because she was saving her...!

"Don't say that, Mordred," he shook his head, turning to Chain. "We need to get out of here, take a less obvious route. Can you help us, senior?"

Chain smiled. "Since you're calling me 'senior,' I'll be happy to help my juniors."

She's actually quite nice, Shirou thought.

Chain continued, "Just like I'd help a kid who wandered into a forest during a haunted house game and started crying because they were lost."

I take it back. His eye twitched. This woman is a menace.