Axel frowned briefly, then continued deeper, eager to see what this was all about.

As he continued deeper, there was a slight change in temperature once more.

Perhaps it was due to the depths, but as he entered deeper into the place, it grew colder, and the air grew thicker and denser.

Finally, Axel couldn't help widening his eyes upon seeing what was going on there.

At some point in time, the place had been turned into a battle arena by the awakened beasts.

Although he knew that awakened beasts possessed intelligence, he didn't expect it to be to this extent.

Nevertheless, he stared intently at the arena.

Ahead was what seemed to be the judges of the battles, and located atop were countless glowing greenish-yellow crystals that radiated a unique light.

The cheers erupted violently with all sorts of roars and animal sounds, attracting Axel's gaze below, and he noticed to his astonishment that two people had stepped into the arena.

One was a half-beast, half-human youth who looked to be around the same age as he and Axel. Meanwhile, his opponent was a slender lady with cat ears and a fox tail.

Her expression was cute, almost somewhat filled with teasing as she coquettishly stepped into the arena, radiating all sorts of charms. However, the young man seemed unfazed by her act.

'What's going on here? The awakened beasts built an arena in the center of this ice land?' Axel furrowed his brows in deep thought, and after glancing around for a bit, he left the place.

He weaved through the guards patrolling around the area before leaving and heading in the direction of Modret.

When he got there, he raised a brow, noticing that Modret was already done setting the tent and was chatting idly with the little Angel.

…

On Modret's side, after waiting for more than a few hours for Axel to return, finally, Angel woke up from her sleep.

Surprisingly, she no longer cried, but Modret could tell that she had lost the happy smile she once had.

"Angel… you know death isn't the end, right?" He tried to spark some hope in the little girl, but it seemed she was already aware of the truth.

Nevertheless, there was still some truth to Modret's words!

After all, wasn't he living proof of that fact?

Death truly wasn't the end.

If one could reach the level of gods, then resurrecting someone was no longer impossible, although it would be a difficult feat.

Modret shook his head internally. There was no need to convince the girl of these truths.

With time, gradually, if he could reach such a level, given the chance, he would bring her back to life.

"That's if Axel doesn't do that first…"

Modret laughed lightly, then caught sight of Axel returning through the corner of his eyes.

His brows immediately shot up as he went to meet him.

"So? What's it about?" he asked with a curiously raised brow.

Axel stated everything he had seen, causing Modret to rub his chin in deep thought.

'An arena in this place filled with ice? And three Celestial Gates stationed outside them? What could be their reason for creating such?'

Many guesses entered Modret's mind, but he could tell that all of them were wrong.

He let out a sigh and was just about to go and accompany Axel when a low rumble sounded from Angel, who was staring at them with wide curious eyes.

"Hungry?" Modret felt the urge to smack himself.

How could he have forgotten that Angel was merely a child? Moreover, she wasn't an awakened.

Angel nodded shyly.

Modret laughed, then was about to ask Axel to get some meat for him to prepare when he noticed the youth had already vanished, most likely going to capture the meat.

He burst out laughing at Axel's antics. The youth was behaving like some sort of uncle who was being responsible for his only surviving family.

'Nevertheless, it isn't bad…' Modret was happy that Axel was finally gaining some life to him.

He began setting up the fire, and after a few minutes, Axel returned with four little rabbits.

They were already dead, and their blood was dripping onto the white scenery, staining it red as he walked.

Finally, he reached Modret and placed them gently in the appropriate place, then walked to Angel and ruffled her hair.

Angel gave him a warm, inviting smile, which caused Axel to also break out into a smile for the first time in a long while.

He sat beside the little girl as they watched Modret engage in his craft.

Modret's hands were a blur as he made quick work of the little creatures, skinning them and washing them of their blood.

Already used to her sister doing this, Axel didn't obstruct her view of the process.

Along the line, silent tears began to fall from the little girl's eyes once more, and Modret could tell it was because she was reminded of her sister.

However, when the delicious aroma of the meat wafted through the air, her mouth fell open, a drool sliding from the corner of it.

'This smell… it's far different and better than sister's own! Wh—what is this smell?' Angel curiously widened her eyes in shock.

She had seen the process of Modret cleaning up the meat and even marinating it, however, she couldn't tell what exactly was making the meat smell so nice.

Her mouth was watery, and her stomach began protesting consistently, as though it was eager to devour the meal.

Modret watched the little girl through the corner of his eyes with a faint smile.

Before long, he was done cooking and searing the meat. He dished it out to the trio and sat beside Axel and the little girl, watching as she hastily devoured her food.

"Delicious… it's so delicious!" Angel's voice, filled with melody and passion, rang out as she devoured the meat greedily. For a moment, it seemed like it would disappear the next moment.

Modret laughed and just watched the scene play out.

Meanwhile, halfway through the meal, Modret signaled Axel through the corner of his eyes.

Axel understood what the signal meant.

Tomorrow, they would go and explore the beast arena.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.