Van's eyes were knotted as his eyes remained closed. They were ordered not to have them open before they could pass through the thick wall of cloud that separated the Deadzone from the Darkzone. It also wasn't helping that Adia was currently gripping his arm, almost to the point that he swore it was bleeding. She was not talking to her earlier because of their little argument, but now that they were in the middle of the dark cloud, she hasn't even let go of Van's arm for about 3 seconds now.

The cloud was not really toxic whatsoever, there wasn't even any unusual feeling, just a little bit of warmth and a somewhat heavy feeling flowing through them, but nothing Van had not felt before. It reminded him of the wind skill that Angela used on him during his short graduation match.

​​

And finally, after another 3 seconds of trying to endure Adia's grip on his arms, the weight of the air finally went back to normal, making Van instantly open his eyes and scan his surroundings. Surprisingly enough…

...The scenery they were in before completely changed. From a vast empty desert with no sign of life, to an almost lush field of grass that reflected the sun's rays. He could also see some animals roaming around here and there; birds littering the sky, as well as a small body of water from afar.

Van could not help but let out a slight breath as his eyes continued to wander all around the place. How can something so beautiful be called a Darkzone? Even the Portal that they went into during their Class Excursion when they fought the cockatrices didn't look as beautiful as this place.

The only thing that lessened the beauty of this colossal oasis was the dark cloud they just passed through, swallowing the horizon with its dark and disgusting body. Just what exactly is this dark cloud? Van was not exactly briefed of anything they would see in the Darkzone, as no one had really tried to explore it before.

But even the colossal wall of dark clouds was something Van was not aware of… just what could it be? What is causing it?

"S… sorry."

Van's thoughts were then disrupted as Adia finally removed her hand from Van's arm, allowing blood to flow through it once again. Van, however, only nodded towards Adia before once again putting his attention back to the outside.

"We're not inside a Portal, are we?" Van asked Angela, whose eyes were also looking everywhere.

"No," Angela quickly shook her head, "If we were, we would have at least gotten an [Objective] from the System."

"...The Pit has no objective," Van opened up.

"We're not inside a Portal," Angela's tone did not change, "The air here is not that different from the outside. Why are you even questioning my judgment? How many Portals have you been inside in, 3? Just because you've been inside a special Portal like the Pit, you're not an expert in--"

"I am sure the boy gets is already, Angie," Charlotte interrupted Angela before she destroys Van even further, "But Angela is right, Van. We're not inside a Portal. The dark cloud we passed by before is actually from a Skill of Africa's Platinum Explorer."

"...But didn't he die almost half a century ago?"

"He did, even in death, he keeps us safe," this time, it was Adia that answered Van, "Before he got crushed by the Black-class Cyclops, he summoned this wall of clouds that kept any monsters from passing through. The Cyclops was still able to pass through it due to its strength, but it delayed it enough for the White Imvubu to arrive and kill it…

...If it weren't for him and the White Imvubu, then Africa would no longer be on the map."

Such a colorful history, Van thought. With America, everything that the people knew was told by the Circle. How they were the ones to discover the first System Holder, how they were the ones who saved the world… But ever since Van met the people he was with now, he knew that most of those were lies.

His mother created the Circle… and whatever happened in between was the world's true history. As for the true history of their country, it was anybody's guess.

"Alright, listen up!" Adia then stood up from her seat even as the truck was moving, "We will be clearing out any Portals we see along the way. The White Imvubu is here for another matter, so let's not make her work too hard. We've already lost one member even before going through the dark cloud, let's not lose another."

Although it looked as if Adia didn't listen to the explorer team earlier, it would seem that she was now acting as their leader-- as expected of one of the future leaders of their country, the others thought.

"There--"

"!!!"

Adia was going to say more, but before she could do so, a loud shriek reverberated through the air, enough to shake the truck they were riding on. The vehicle of the camera crew that was following them from behind also stopped, quickly getting out their cameras even amidst potential danger.

"Everyone, out of the truck now!"

Adia roared. But the only ones that were still left on the truck were the 3 still unnamed Silver-ranked explorers. Their Gold-rank Explorer, Kiama, was already outside.

Van, Angela, and Charlotte were also already outside.

"..." Adia could only let out a short sigh as she jumped out of the truck. Why was she even the leader of her country's Explorer team when the majority of the people she was with were stronger than her. But still, it was her job, and she will do the best she could to do it.

"What was it?" Adia then said as she got out of the truck.

"That."

"Hm?" Adia quickly looked in the direction where Charlotte was pointing, only to see what seemed to be a huge bird covering almost a fourth of the sky in their vicinity, "W… what is that!?"

"Looks like a Stymph," Angela calmly said.

"A Stymphalian!? That's impossible. The biggest ones I have seen were just the size of Va-an!"

"..." Although there was something not right from Adia's words, Van didn't mind it any further as he continued to stare at the colossal flying bird. Each flap of its wings was enough to cause the trees under it to wave. If Van didn't embed a part of his foot on the ground, he was sure he would already be blown away by it. A creaking noise also thundered in the air, making Van think that the bird's wings were actually made of metal.

But seeing its bronze-like color, they were probably in the same nature.

"It doesn't… seem to be attacking us? That is very weird."

Stymphalians was known to be aggressive flying creatures that attacked anyone in sight. They were usually found in Rank F-C Portals… and if there was one, there would usually be 5. It gave Adia relief seeing as there were only one of these abnormally gigantic birds.

"...Should we kill it?" Van said. The number of Portal monsters that Van had killed in his life could probably be counted in 2 hands. And so, the little bit of excitement in his tone was obvious for everyone to hear.

"Let's not rattle the hornet's nest," Charlotte answered Van.

"How… strong do you think it is, White Imvubu?" Adia could not help but stutter as she asked Charlotte. Charlotte, however, looked at Angela instead.

"...The muscle demon can probably kill it with one punch," Angela answered, her eyes not leaving the colossal bird that was now gaining some distance from them, "But it is true… it already saw us, but it doesn't seem to have any hostility. I have owned a couple of Stymphs in the Unique Class-1's basement, and no matter how much you tame them, their first instinct when seeing humans is to kill us. This is weird, truly weird indeed."

"Uhmm… If I may?"

Suddenly, one of the Silver-ranked Explorer of the Royal Team raised his hand as he stepped forward. "I am also detecting monsters around us, a lot of them."

"What!? Why didn't you say so!?" Adia quickly put up a stance as her eyes became sharp.

"There's actually one hiding in that bush," the man said, "But…"

"It's also not attacking us," Charlotte was the one to finish his sentence, "That's actually not the only thing weird in this place."

"What is it, White Imvubu?"

"I happened to have taken a peek through this place after I killed the Cyclops decades ago… and I am certain that this area could no longer hold any life. It was even more barren than the Deadzone outside."

"Isn't that normal?" Van placed his hand on his chin, "It was left alone for half a century--"

"Let us do the thinking, boy," Angela quickly interrupted Van, "If we go with your logic, then the Deadzone should have also repopulated its fauna as well as its flora. Something is going on in this place… it's not only that…"

Angela then kneeled, grabbing a patch of soil from the ground, "This is as dry as it could be," she then said before rubbing the dirt off of her fingers, not even a speck sticking onto her palm,

"The trees and plants around us shouldn't be alive in the first place."

"How… do you know all of these?" Van could not help but comment.

"I know things," Angela just shrugged her shoulders.

"That--"

"I think what she is saying is true," this time, unexpectedly, the host of the media team joined in the conversation, "And if my knowledge is right…

...some of these plants don't grow in Africa."