"Ah." Arthur exited the forest and saw the beginning of the mountain. The sky turned dark gray; the night was ending.
"Finally here…" He sighed, and the four men left the forest while still being in relatively good condition. Then, they saw the large snow-filled hill that went high up.
They had to start climbing.
Isaac frowned while massaging his temples.
"Let's move." Arthur motioned for them to continue. They began pushing their legs through the snow, and soon they reached the entrance of the mountain.
There was a sign that said the mountain was forbidden land.
Arthur pulled up his black mask, covering his mouth and nose. It was an ordinary mask, nothing like White Online's masks.
The four men pulled up the hoods, covering their heads. Then, they followed Arthur and walked past the sign.
Their speed declined gravely as they started climbing the steep hill.
"Huff… Huff…" Arthur started panting as exhaustion started building up. However, he continued climbing with great vigor.
Soon, the end of the hill was near. The first one to reach the top was Xerxus, who had previous climbing experience.
Once reaching the top, he inhaled the fresh air and opened his eyes wide. He could see the towering mountains and endless fields of snow. There was no end to the mountains, and it even made him hesitate whether they should continue.
Soon after, Arthur reached the top with rough breathing. However, after standing next to Xerxus, his breathing started turning calmer.
After him, Kalzer, Amour, and Isaac stepped on top of the hill at the same time. The sight was painful because there didn't seem to be an end to the snow and mountains.
The sky had turned bright with the yellowish wheel of fire hanging above.
"L-Let's rest here. I need to see something." Arthur dragged his feet behind him as he climbed on top of another smaller hill. In there, he knelt on the snow ground, slightly hiding behind a snowbank.
The four men frowned but followed after him. They gathered around him, curiously looking over the snowbank, where they had a clear view of the mountain's entrance.
A few hours later.
An erratic-looking man ran out of the snow forest, his forehead drenched in sweat.
"Lunatic…" Arthur murmured and continued looking at the forest. Shortly afterward, close to ten hunters left the forest while displaying relatively calm looks. They grimaced slightly after seeing the mountains but prepared to go there if needed.
Lunatic turned to the mountain with a pale face, "D-Did they go there?"
One of the hunters followed in their footsteps and grimaced after they went past the sign.
"Leader, they entered the Mountain of Winter!"
"Shit…" Their leader cursed under his breath but smiled after turning to look at Lunatic, "Sir, should we enter?"
"Of course not!" Lunatic immediately screamed and looked at the leader like he was a fool.
"O-Oh." The leader was stunned.
"Shit…" Lunatic bit his lip, "My father will be so angry. But… they entered that wretched land, and the chance of survival is extremely low… but what if Secret Society is helping him?
"No… They never leave the mountain. I don't have to worry. Arthur will get killed by them!"
"Alright, I will call reinforcements!" Lunatic shouted and pulled out his phone. "We go to the other side of the mountain to intercept them if they miraculously escape the mountain. Our reinforcements will stay here and wait if they happen to return here!"
The hunters nodded and waited as Lunatic made the call.
After the call, they turned around and started making a return trip to White Paradise. From there, they would get vehicles and use them to travel to the other side of the mountain.
Walking would take them a few weeks to reach that place. There also was a chance of Arthur and the others reaching the other side faster than them!
However, Lunatic was still confident that Secret Society wouldn't let them leave!
After they left.
Arthur grinned slightly, "As expected."
"Why won't they enter this place?" Xerxus asked while still whispering.
"…" Arthur didn't know the answer, "I am not sure."
"Maybe because of the weather?" Amour suggested while looking around, "It could scare him off."
"No, unlikely." Arthur shook his head, "Anyway, it doesn't matter. Let's continue. We have to find shelter before the weather turns colder!"
The four men nodded, and they followed Arthur as he started to navigate through the snow-covered mountain with the help of his compass.
After five hours of hiking up the mountain, they were exhausted.
Also, thick layers of clouds started appearing in the sky. Soon after, snowflakes began dropping, and with the cold wind, it wasn't long before a snowstorm was upon them.
Isaac's eyes shone as he stared toward the layer of snow that assaulted their vision. While everyone else covered their faces while pushing forth, he continued walking silently with his eyes open.
Then, he extended his hand towards the snow, and it looked like he was grabbing something. Almost instantly, the clouds began dispersing alongside the snow.
Slowly, the snowstorm got steered away from its current location. The clouds slowly moved towards the forest where they came from.
While Lunatic and the hunters had almost finished their journey, the snowstorm suddenly appeared on top of them, making the visibility extremely poor!
"Where did this snowstorm suddenly come from?!" Lunatic screamed while trying to move forward, but the intense wind made it extremely difficult!
Their journey's length doubled because of the sudden snowstorm!
"Whew…" Arthur removed the mask after the snowstorm disappeared. He inhaled the fresh air and patted Isaac's shoulder, "Good job."
Isaac nodded while taking pats from Kalzer, Xerxus, and Amour. They were all satisfied that there were people with them who could ease their current situation.
Xerxus had his superspeed and was an incredibly valuable asset. However, during the climbing, he wasn't that much of use. He could only take one passenger while moving at super speed. Any more, and he wouldn't be able to protect them from whiplash.
Also, after taking the first passenger to safety. The chance of him finding others would be incredibly unlikely.
Thus, Isaac's presence made everyone sigh in relief.
