Day and Night were obscured inside the Decaying Forest but neither of the two noticed at first due to their lack of vision. However, based on the activities, habits, and behaviors of the various life form inside the forest, Raya guessed that at this particular time, it should be nighttime when most predators are active.

The night lasted for just over 30 hours and the daytime had less than 8 hours.

None of this bothered the duo however as they would simply deal with anything and everything coming their way.

⌈How close are you to the source?⌋ asked Raya.

⌈I'm not sure. Not too far, not too close.⌋ Six replied.

⌈Hm, I'll scout ahead.⌋ Raya said before dashing forward and disappearing into the thick and dense shrubs.

Raya lowered her body to the ground carefully sneaking through the tall wild grass. Occasionally she would let out hissing sounds to get a better view of her surroundings using a similar sense called echolocation.

Wild overgrown vines hung from the branches of the giant trees. Mixed with these vines were serpentine creatures blending in with their environment exceptionally well. Raya wouldn't have noticed if it weren't for her skill "Beast of the Hunt" which highlighted traces and tracks of various prey in bright red.

Creeping forward after determining the place to be safe, Raya came into a clearing. The lakeshore, unlike the initial beach she and Six crawled up from in their escape from those parasites, looked rigid and dangerous like crystal shards used to ward off any creature from nearing it.

The crystal lakeshore from Raya's rough estimation was about 20 meters from the water to where she stood.

Raya picked up a handful of the crystal shards but quickly dropped them as a stinging pain came from her palm. These crystals were extremely sharp, like the edges of obsidian, and easily cut open her hardened skin reinforced by the Bio-armor skill.

Taking a closer look, these crystal shards began to vibrate until they started moving around like ants, jumping onto the drops of blood falling from Raya's hand. Soon, more and more of the crystal shards woke up from their motionless state and started swarming toward the source of food, resembling the crushing and undulating waves of the ocean.

Unlike what she expected to happen, these crystal ants seemed invulnerable to her strong acidic blood, devouring it with relish and searching for more.

A sense of crisis overcame her body and Raya immediately jumped away from the lakeshore, instinctively flinging her wounded hand outward and flinging more drops of blood in the far distance away from her.

At this time, Six had caught up with her, and noticed Six's peculiar actions. ⌈What's wrong?⌋ She asked.

⌈We can't continue forward. We'll need to find another way around it. Where is the source of your Viral Resonance?⌋ (Raya)

⌈Beyond this... strange crystal waves, and below the surface of the lake... Damn it, why underwater?⌋ (Six)

⌈Sigh, it's a good thing it's not coming from the crystal ants. We can find another way into the depths of the lake. Let's go.⌋ (Raya)

...

After a few twists and turns, the duo appeared on a cliff that had raised platforms stretching across the crystal sand, over the pitch-black lake, and connected to the other side of the lake that spanned several dozen kilometers wide.

Strangely, the Viral Resonance Six detected wasn't in a fixed place like the Hive tree but was occasionally moving from one point to another then settling for a bit and repeating the same process three times since the duo's arrival near the edge of the crystal sand.

It wasn't that surprising since the Hive tree was actually a living organism.

The duo jumped onto the raised platform with grace. Seeing that it was stable enough to not move under the pressure of the two, they continued jumping from one platform to another, ignoring the crystal sand below that rolled and turned following their actions, waiting for one of them to make a mistake and fall into their tiny razor teeth filled mouths.

Eventually, they passed the 20-meter mark and finally stood above the lakeshore line where the water met with the crystal sand.

[Let's continue further, lest we unknowingly dive into a nest of those crystal ants.] Raya said to Six.

Six nodded and the duo contained down further until they were now far beyond the lakeshore.

Just like the polluted black sea they swam through to get here, this lakeshore was pitch black in color and was very difficult to see past a dozen inches.

However, occasionally sharp triangular fins would break the surface creating a ripple and disturbing the still lake surface. The owner of these fins were eleven-meter-long sharks that had an extra set of fins on their sides and 3 pairs of triangular eyes.

Unlike normal sharks, however, their bodies had an additional layer of armor that liked like steel plates perfectly lining their slim bodies.

[You go first.] Raya said with hints of shadenfreud.

[Er, you're joking right?] Six asked taking a step back.

[A little. But you need the source of the Viral Resonance, don't you? It's actually not that important for me.] Replied Raya.

[What happened to not being afraid of challenges and fighting worthy foes?!]

[There's that, and then there's this. The two are not the same. What, you want me to commit suicide by jumping into shark-infested waters? God knows what's down there.] (Raya)

[...] (Six)

[Why don't we come back to this... another time? Hey, Six, where'd you go?] (Raya)

Splash!

Raya turned her head to look at the waters below and caught the sight of Six's long tendrils dipping underwater and disappearing with her body.

Shrugging her shoulders with a faint smile, Raya jumped into the waters below following after Six.

Splash!

Almost immediately after she dove into the water, she detected at least two dozen sharks swarming around them in a circular motion. Strangely, the sharks didn't attack the two but instead were quite mild, coming near them and brushing against them before swimming away.

Even after Raya attacked and killed one of them, the rest didn't seem to respond, only drifting a little further away from her. Not in fear, but because the scent emitting from a shark's corpse disgusted them like the foulest of smells.

At the bottom of the lake was a glowing crystal structure 5 meters in diameter and 13 meters tall.

The crystal structure brightened and dimmed as it pulsed every 5 seconds, sending out a weird electromagnetic signal into its surroundings.

Dust and fine particles of rock, minerals, and other inorganic substances came up from beneath the crystal structure as if it were excavating something from the earth. Gray clouds flickering and glinting from the reflection of light flashed along with the crystal structures pulsing, and soon the digging stopped and after the dust settled, pairs of tentacles covered in hooks, serrated teeth, eyes, and mouths could be seen lashing about, searching for its next meal.

The crystal structure pulled itself out from the crater it created to reveal an active geyser, occasionally spitting out smoke rich in nutrients and minerals. This was the source of the crystal structures' food, and also the origin of those crystal ants on the lakeshore; a byproduct of the crystal structures feasting and pulsing. It was also the reason why the sharks were tamer than their appearances, probably the doing of the crystal structure.

As soon as Six neared the crystal structure, the mild sharks swimming around started to become restless, and soon their dormant vicious behaviors were awoken as they began to swarm toward Six who dared to approach the crystal structure.