After hearing Frugal's warning, everyone drew their weapons alertly.
At this moment, Jacob heard a faint sound of rustling, and thereupon, he was finally able to see the enemy with his night vision.
Over a hundred meters away, a massive pitch-black snake appeared in everyone's view, and it was crawling right in their direction. Furthermore, Jacob noticed the snake's eyes were bleeding as if something had popped them with a fork not long ago.
"It's injured!" He instantly shouted, "It's not coming to attack us, but running away from something!"
The others also noticed that the snake seemed to be too panicky to attack them, and Jacob was probably right.
"That's a Dark Python! What could've happened to make him flee this way and in such a sorry state!?" A fox-faced orc identified the magic beast and exclaimed.
"Whatever it is, I don't think it's stopped chasing it! We can't stay here in its way. Quickly scatter and hide your presence!" Jacob grimly ordered before he jumped towards a tree and climbed it.
The others quickly heed his command and quickly get out of its way since they didn't want to draw any insects, nor did they want to fight with something that could make a tier-7 epic Dark Python flees like this.
The Dark Python still hadn't noticed the group as it was too occupied with running away, and it was 6 meters long and 2 meters wide. As it came closer, everyone was able to clearly see it wasn't just his eyes that were destroyed, but many scales on his massive body that were torn apart.
But the strange thing was there was no one behind it, yet it still continued to run away crazily.
Right at this moment, everyone saw, over twenty meters away from their hiding positions, dark gray mist crept out within the dark forest. The mist seemed to have a mind of its own as it directly moved towards the incoming Dark Python.
The mist wasn't massive either, but it turned out to be a 7-meter mist cloud. The Dark Python was instantly enveloped by this mist cloud, and it only noticed when it was too late.
The onlookers were astonished before fear crept into their hearts when they heard the Dark Python's eerier shrieks. But the mist cloud was so thick that no one could see what was happening inside, and a few moments later, the gut-wrenching shrieks died down.
Jacob had a dour expression as he couldn't see anything despite activating the fluid acceleration and the mask. All he was able to capture was hundreds or even thousands of tiny cold dots.
'Don't tell me that cloud is a cluster of insects?' Jacob thought as a chill ran down his spine. He knew his speculation was mostly accurate, and this made him feel extremely alarmed because he could deal with one enemy or even ten, but those tiny insects were simply out of his fighting ability or anyone else, as a matter of fact.
'Maybe that's why this is a no-retune zone…' He thought gravely while hiding himself even more carefully while gloomily looking at the dark gray mist, which was now static on the Dark Python's location.
He didn't dare to move in that mist's presence, and not just him but everyone else had the same intentions. They didn't want to end up like that python.
Even the arrogant Aven and Frugal were filled with horror as they clearly hadn't encountered such a creature the last time they passed through this place. If it weren't for Jacob's quick response, they would've foolishly attacked the Dark Python, and then it was over for them once that ghastly mist appeared.
Just like that, 4 hours passed, and no one moved a muscle as that gray mist was still there. But right at this moment, the mist suddenly churned before it moved towards the dark forest and then vanished just as quickly as it appeared.
However, there wasn't even a trace left of the massive Dark Python, not even a drop of blood! It was like it didn't even exist.
No one moved for another hour, but just to make sure that the mist was gone, Jacob signaled Bryan, who was hiding on the same tree as him, "Fire a 1-Star spell on that mist's last position."
Bryan knew Jacob's intention and nodded before he mumbled a small spell and pointed his finger at the mist's last location.
A mud ball suddenly condensed in front of his finger before it shot like a bullet and then exploded in the same spot where the mist was, creating a small explosion of dust.
However, ten minutes passed, and nothing happened, which made everyone sigh in relief.
Jacob jumped down the tree and gravely said, "Alright, it's time for a meeting. Gather here, everyone!"
One after another, the group started to gather together.
"What was that?" Bryan questioned coldly when he saw Aven appear.
"Your guess is as good as mine," Aven replied with aggravation.
"Are you kidding me? We could've been dead if not for Leader Viper's quick reaction. You said this path was safe. This is what you called safe?" The elf furiously questioned. Everyone knew they had just dodged a bullet, and now they were naturally going to blame Aven.
"Shut up! Do you think you're on a picnic? We are on an expedition, and sometimes, even a safe passage could turn into a dangerous trap. So, stop blaming others for bad luck. If you want to leave, you know the way." Jacob reprimanded in an icy tone as he looked at frowning Bryan, "Do you also think it was Captain Snow's fault?"
Bryan knew Jacob was stating the fact and looked at the elf, who had an ugly expression, "Control yourself, Oply! I'm with Leader Viper. It was just a bad encounter."
Then he looked at Jacob and sternly asked, "But we can't ignore this either. Whatever that thing was, it's very dangerous. The Dark Python was devoured whole despite having a touch of skin and bones equal to an intermediate epic-rank treasure. I don't need to tell you what will happen to us if that thing attacks us."
"You have a point." Jacob nodded, "But I don't think we will encounter it again. It was a coincidence. However, if, with some awful luck, we did encounter it again, I have a way to destroy it."
Bryan questioned with narrowed eyes, "May I ask what way?"
"A trump card, which I don't want to use unless necessary. So, do you want to continue or not? Because we will." Jacob questioned sternly.
Bryan pursed his lips, hearing this ambiguous answer. In the end, he ground his teeth and nodded, "I can't leave my commission like this unless absolutely necessary. I'll trust your judgment."
Jacob nodded in satisfaction before looking at Aven and said, "We are going to move forward in a new order…!"