The second female lead Dual Cultivates

"T-There was a place like this down here? I never would have guessed" Nao looked at the bewildered human who could no longer tear his eyes away from the depths of the crystal cave in front of him. It was for a good reason as well.

The whole cave shined with precious stones and other jewels embedded into the walls at random intervals which made multicolour light reflect from their surface. It made the cave glow in different shades of the rainbow and gave it an 'out-of-this-world' effect.

"Should we try to enter? It doesn't feel like an entrance to the node chamber but I still want us to be careful" Nao explained as she examined the surface of the cave. The rocks looked quite beautiful but ordinary.

And with the possibility of not being the only party present here, these protections might have been put into place by another demon to not let anyone in.

"I don't see a problem. If it's the node barrier then we won't be able to enter anyway. Otherwise, we can send a message to Maria to be careful" Suna agreed as she observed the same thing. The surface of the rocks was even not harmed by the passage of time.

The whole cave system looked rather fresh and on a second look, it looked artificial as well. Natural caves had a roughness to them that this one did not.

Nao tried to dig her hand into the barrier to get entry but the magic inside the shield repelled it. It was nowhere strange enough to be a node shield since the sensation felt familiar to her.

​ Nao was sure she had seen such protection before that only allowed selected parties to enter and exit from a said location. But everyone who could afford to put such a thing up had to be an influential figure. Why would something like this pop up here all of a sudden?

"It repels demonic energies. Should we try and blow it up?" Suna asked as she readied her magic. Nao had considered the same idea before she had dismissed it due to obvious reasons.

"Let's wait first before doing something like that. The barrier is just as likely to explode as it is to break" Nao reminded as she held Suna back. The magic building in Suna's hand also disappeared as soon as she loosened her hold on it.

Nao was not sure if the magic would only repel demons or if it would repel humans as well. What about half-demons? Did it account for it?

Nao quickly glanced at the younger sibling of the duo who had been leaning against the barrier. He looked paler and his face looked red but he had not passed through the barrier yet. So did it mean that the barrier rejected humans as well?

"Well, looks like we're stuck waiting for Maria now. Hopefully, it doesn't take into account her unique situation" it likely won't since there were only a handful of known half-human and half-demon hybrids that were rumoured to be. Nao had never seen anyone besides Maria either.

Nao turned to take a headcount before sitting down, only to find one of their members missing. The elder brother, Samuel, had disappeared from their group and no one had mentioned it yet. Had they just not realised? Not even the younger brother?

"What are you doing?" Suna's cry attracted Nao's attention toward the other side of the barrier where the terrified human sat. He looked as if he had seen a ghost and every colour had drained out of the human's face.

"I, this, how did this happen?" The human looked confused about his new circumstances and Nao did feel sorry for him. It was likely not his fault that he had crossed over. But it complicates things for them.

Not to mention, it now begged the question of how it had been done? Why had the younger brother been able to cross the barrier and not the younger brother? Nao quickly took a look at the younger brother who had a closed-off expression on his face.

"It doesn't matter how you got in there. Since you're already inside then go and find a way to get the barrier down for us" Suna ordered. She had a complex expression on her face as well. She had the younger brother clutching at her wrist but Noa could not see his face to find out what kind of expression he had.

The elder brother took all the attention onto himself with his weird ways of expressing himself. The voice of the elder was passing through a barrier before reaching Nao and it was still loud enough to give her a headache. She did not want to imagine what it would do if there was no damper in between.

"-and it's too dangerous. I cannot possibly leave Daniel with you alone because it would be irresponsible and dangerous and -", "Just hurry up and take this barrier down"

Nao finally snapped, which snapped the other shut as well. It felt good to have that annoyance shut off as soon as her angry voice reached the male. The scared expression did not waver but it did change.

"A-Alright. B-But does be careful. Things are not as they seem to be" the elder warned as he walked away. Somehow, it left Nao with an impression that he meant it in more than a vague way and was warning them to be cautious at all times.

Surely Noa was not the only one catching these subtle hints and one look toward Suna confirmed her suspicions. Maybe it was a good thing Maria was away for now.

"So, what are we doing now?" The kid at Suna's side asked as he rounded his big and innocent eyes toward the pair. Not even one shred of fear lingered in the kid's eyes in such a situation.

It was really weird and Nao felt chills go down her spine as she took in the situation from another angle.

She had believed that the danger had been far away from them this whole time but what if it was not so far away from them? What if the danger was near to them all the time.

"Is something wrong, sis?" Daniel asked as he innocently tilted his head. For some reason, Nao felt warning bells ring inside her head as the kid neared her. Without Maria and Samuel in the picture, the demeanor of the kid seemed to have changed completely.

"Nao, look out" Suna cried just as a shadow jumped between Nao and the approaching kid. No, in between but on the kid’s figure which halted him in his tracks.

What was going on here at the moment?

(100 Chapters already? WOW)