Kyle raised an eyebrow at the beautiful stranger after noticing her silence for the past few minutes.

"So, do you suggest we continue, as in climb onto the bridge that looks… very capable of murder?"

He knew what had to be done, and the reality of his idea was for one of them to act as bait, to see if there would be any reaction from whatever was bound to guarding its territory. In truth, he was not at all eager to be that bait. The beautiful stranger showed no change of expression, nor did she respond to him, and instead seemed lost in thought.

'What could she be thinking…?'

Kyle's gaze shifted to Adela, whose face had grown paler than before. A terrified look was fixed upon her features as her eyes lingered on the corpses. The emotionally fragile girl could not fully endure the sight; it was the same reaction she had displayed when Kyle was beheaded, and also when he drove a blade into his own heart. In fact, she had wept then.

Right now, perhaps the sight was too much for her to endure. Ordinarily, he would have criticised her countless times in his mind for such weakness, for she had been born into a world where scenes like this were the norm. Even if not quite so barbaric, the sight of death had surely crossed everyone's path.

But he could not bring himself to do what his usual self would have done — perhaps because he too felt a deep aversion to the sight, despite having witnessed worse, though never on this scale.

If he were to count the corpses, they would likely number around fifty, and that was only a rough estimate, for he had not looked at those shattered completely, with many parts missing.

Orion's face was cast in shadow, and he stood firm without uttering a word.

From Scouty's perspective, there was no sign of danger in the vicinity. Yet the scene before them and the faint mark of damage left by the same kind of arrow that had been shot at them suggested that peril was indeed near.

Kyle, realising the group was paralysed on what course to take, stepped in with his idea. He spoke evenly, gesturing towards the far side:

"Danger is unavoidable, so perhaps one of us should act as bait, test the bridge, and see if something comes for us."

The beautiful stranger gave him a silent look of acknowledgement. His plan was sound, for since they had no knowledge of how strong their enemy was or even what species it might be, the wisest course was to use bait.

But who exactly was prepared to risk their life right now? Not even Kyle, who had proposed the plan, was willing to do it, and to place themselves randomly in danger was nowhere near clever, as the bait might be the first to die.

Even if they had escaped that initial perfect shot from this assailant, the same could not be expected this time, for they were uncertain of the assailant's position. What they were most certain of, however, was that only a few had crossed the wooden bridge successfully; many of the remainder had been killed.

...And in that attempt, they were not ready to join the former party, whose fate could now be seen as fulfilled.

Orion smiled awkwardly.

'So who wants to try to participate as bait?'

His eyes shifted slowly to Kyle, who remained impassive. The handsome youth's thoughts teemed with the possibility of Kyle being the bait. Besides, he was the only one on the team who could not die, owing to what he claimed was an affinity with his Element, and that thread that emerged from his hands was likewise a skill of that Element, the name of which he did not yet know.

Soon, his train of thought was broken by Adela's trembling voice. She was still lingering on the sight below, fighting with all her strength not to vomit.

"...I am not certain about the bait idea."

Na-Ri's face hardened into a dark expression.

"We are going to cross the bridge, no matter what it takes, and we will all survive. So prepare yourself."

Orion and Kyle's eyes fell on her in shock, their resolve trembling. They were unsure what kind of confidence was consuming the beautiful stranger, but there was a wildness clinging to it.

'Has she finally gone mad? In one way, if we attempt this challenge and a battle breaks out, we will never be able to fight on that decrepit bridge.'

And Kyle was right. That bridge was no place for combat; the ropes looked as if they might snap with a single harsh tug, and the planks were soft with rot beneath the foot. One slip, or one strong strike, would send them plunging into the gorge below. If a battle began there, it would be nothing more than a gamble with gravity, and no one sane would call that winnable.

Unable to keep it buried in his stomach, Kyle voiced it aloud:

"No way we are going to do that, Lee. You keep acting as if we have a safe hook. Not to be rude, but why would you tell us to keep moving when a monstrous arrow could suddenly be shot at us?"

Orion nodded in agreement with Kyle's claim and added:

"Yes. I do not really understand what is on that mind of yours, Lee. But let us be realistic here."

Adela glanced at the three as the argument heated, while Na-Ri kept her expression indifferent for a long moment before finally speaking in a blank tone.

"Trust me. That is all I will say."

'What!?'

***

A few minutes later, they reluctantly followed her onto the bridge, moving together and fighting to maintain balance as the ropes swayed and groaned with each step forward. None of them dared to look into the depth below, keeping their eyes fixed on the far side while forcing themselves to remain alert.

'Oh my gods, this is madness. I do not even remember how I agreed to her trust me. Damn it.'

Kyle scowled, unwilling to accept what he had walked into. At some point, he even began to wonder if she carried some sort of charm that bent reason to her favour.

All of a sudden, the beautiful stranger raised her hand from the lead, halting their movement. Then, out of nowhere, a shrill neigh split the air. A masked rider appeared on a dark horse, bearing down on them from behind with a monstrous bow drawn and an arrow aimed, the same kind as the one fired at them earlier.

'And here we have our killer, the one who does not want any visitor to cross its bridge.'

Unconsciously, Kyle summoned his StarGod Twin Daggers without looking at it. Adela and Orion caught sight of the gleam, but had no time to think on it with death already bearing down on them.

Without pause, the beautiful stranger gave a sharp command and unleashed a barrage of ice shards to intercept the deadly arrow.

"Jump straight to the other side! Now!"

With their reflexes, that was not impossible. Besides, they were already close.

However, the arrow that had been released caused a slight turbulence in their jump, and Adela missed the leap, going down with the collapsing bridge...

'Not this time again!' Kyle thought with a resolute expression.

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