Seeing Kenggi’s expression, it seemed that Kite had also spared potions at some point.
As Ruela looked around and sternly admonished, everyone nodded quietly.

“Well, now that we’ve heard the announcements, shall we depart immediately? No need for a break, right?”

Ruela nodded in response to Kite’s suggestion.

“Yes, let’s go. I’m not tired at all.”

“We’re also prepared.”

Following Mitchell’s response, the others quickly began to depart. Ruela, confirming that everyone was ready, clicked on the teleportation location she had designated earlier.

“Why is it so quiet?”

Mitchell carefully scanned the inside of the monster alert line while loading arrows onto his bow.

After moving to the designated teleport location, they were preparing for the hunt by receiving buff skills and eating food.

“I don’t hear that distinctive growling sound. It’s uncomfortable.”

Raphael also spoke with an uneasy expression.

“Wasn’t it like this earlier?”

Kite looked at Tien, who was sitting and replenishing mana, and asked.

“I’m not sure. I didn’t pay attention to my surroundings back then.”

Tien, having said that, gestured for everyone to be quiet, then listened carefully to the noise.

“It’s definitely strange. I don’t know if it was like this earlier, but it’s clearly different from the areas we’ve been through so far. Not only the cries of lower-level monsters but also the sounds they make when moving, and the intermittent crackling sounds that are scattered around are not present. And…”

“And?”
“There’s something strange. I can sense people’s presence.”

“People’s presence?”

“Yes. If it weren’t so quiet, I would never have heard these sounds. Breathing… and something like the sound of a slight collision.”

“Where is it?”

“Inside there.”

“Could it be that the Watchers are guarding it?”

Hazen swept his long, flowing hair roughly as he mumbled.

“That’s possible. The north is the only place we haven’t explored yet. Since we’ve been collecting keys in order so far, the Duke Kuran probably has an idea of our next target. So, it wouldn’t be strange if they had set up Watchers in advance on the monster side.”

“Should we go back?”

Raphael sighed.

Thanks to quests and named monsters, their levels had risen significantly. Kite was level 93, Raphael, Mitchell, and Hazen were at level 92, Tien was at level 90, and Ruela was at level 82.

However, until Ruela reached the 3rd stage of the housing system, there were still a few more level-ups to go. Exposing their identities to the enemies at this moment would be problematic.

“I think that’s what we should do.”

Seeing Kite contemplating, Ruela made the decision instead.

“Go back?”

Kite asked, surprised by her unexpected answer.
“Yes. Since we came here using teleportation, we can’t return immediately no matter what happens. Because the cooldown time is shared. Considering that we don’t know the Watcher’s full capabilities, it’s difficult to endure here for an hour.”

Even with Ruela’s words, the men were looking inside the monster boundary with regretful expressions.

“Holding out for an hour outside and then going in? Even if we say we’ll come back later, there’s no guarantee that those people won’t be here.”

Representing the sentiments of his brothers, Tien expressed his opinion.

This was already the second time they were turning away from the monsters right in front of them. Everyone might have made plans or found it tiresome and unpleasant to come back all the way here.

Ruela didn’t entirely disagree with Tien’s words. However, she needed to remain level-headed.

She began to persuade her comrades with a gentle tone.

“As Tien said, maybe after enduring for an hour, we could defeat the Watchers and even the named monster. But look at us.”

Her comrades didn’t quite understand the meaning behind Ruela’s words, and they tilted their heads.

“Anyone can see that we are members of the Pharaoh’s Guild. Even if we succeed in defeating the named monster, as soon as the Watchers we haven’t dealt with report to Duke Kuran, Pharaoh’s Mansion will be attacked. But we are not yet prepared.”

“Oh, I see. I was too impatient because of the thought that we need to eliminate Duke Kuran quickly.”
When Mitchell responded with an expression of realization, Ruela smiled as if to express her gratitude. She understood well why they were in such a hurry. Fortunately, the situation with other guilds seemed to be similarly unstable. The Legend Guild, which had been leading the way, had also come to a halt with only five keys. This means either they haven’t yet discovered the identity of the sixth named monster, Balder Guildmaster, or he is too powerful, making it difficult for them to succeed in the strategy. In such a situation, with a long way to go, they couldn’t afford to expose their identity to Duke Kuran and turn their hideout into chaos. Moreover, Kite’s armor, which had gold in it, continued to bother them. What they needed now was time to regroup and reorganize perfectly.