Supreme Husband System! & Supreme Wife System!

Chapter 163: The course to the central layer

Although the band was somewhat surprised by the changes, they were prepared for them.

This time, instead of Alois and Liam, Sierra and Esma, two beings of the ”Diamond” rank, appeared in their ranks. In addition, they had three ”Perfect Doppelgangers” with them, who had already lost touch with the Doppelganger Forest, becoming an important part of the group.

They confidently moved towards the central layer. By the end of the day, they had successfully reached the boundaries of the middle layer, encountering many beasts intoxicated with the energy of madness, unlike last time.

Now the band realized where all that crazy energy had gone. Energy completely concentrated around all the living creatures of the Forbidden Zone, enhancing their fighting power, but at the same time plunging them into a state of madness.

For this group, even under the influence of the energy of madness, the beasts did not pose a serious threat. They didnʼt spend much time fighting them, and they only took the parts they considered valuable, leaving most of them so they wouldnʼt linger.

However, their first night in this place proved to be stressful.

The beasts did not calm down, even at night, occasionally attacking their camp, which they had set up hastily. Although the beasts werenʼt very dangerous, they still exhausted the group.

Even strong beings like Sierra and Esma had to expend energy to deal with these attacks quickly.

Realizing that the difficulty would increase significantly in the middle layer, the group decided to wait out the night and get some rest. They took turns standing guard so as not to miss the appearance of new beasts, allowing the others to regain their strength.

”Be very careful from now on!” Sierra warned everyone when they entered the middle layer the next morning.

Sierraʼs words were taken seriously, and everyone followed her as the strongest member of their group.

Sierra did not like the role of leader, but she understood that she had to take on this responsibility. She couldnʼt entrust such an important matter to Esme, because with every step the situation was getting more serious. As for the others, in the midst of an intense battle, they wonʼt have time to assess not only their own situation, but also the situation of others.

Sierra realized that they had too little experience to handle this task.

As expected, the difficulty of the trial increased many times when the group entered the limits of the middle layer.

The strength of all the beasts increased significantly, and with them the number of attacking beasts.

However, the worst thing awaited the group a little later.

The first doppelgangers appeared, who, merging with the waves of beasts, tried to present unexpected surprises.

But thanks to Nemo and his little beast, all the doppelgangers were discovered in time.

A small beast endowed with abilities, like the ancestor of all doppelgangers in this Forbidden Area, could sense the presence of enemies and even detect their disguise.

In addition, Nemo had Izzy, who was constantly monitoring what was happening around her, not missing anything that could create difficulties for the members of the group. She warned of any unexpected changes in the situation, allowing her to prepare for them in advance.

The third way to deal with the doppelgangers was the unique ability of Idan, Arabel and Nemo, obtained after he became the champion of the couple. This ability consisted of a mental link that allowed the three of them to communicate with others through it.

The group split into pairs and came up with code words that would help them distinguish the real members from the doppelgangers in case of chaos and confusion.

Fortunately, the doppelgangers couldnʼt copy the Systemʼs abilities, which was an advantage for Idan, Arabel, and Nemo.

With the help of a mental link, they could identify their pair, assigned to them in advance, and use code words. This made it much easier for them to identify doppelgangers who were trying to ambush them by pretending to be members of the group.

With each new battle, using this method of detecting doppelgangers, the group gradually became more organized, and their work improved.

As their coordination increased, their movement speed also increased. However, despite their best efforts, they were unable to overcome even half of the middle layer on the second day.

As the sun began to set, the end of the second day was approaching, and the group, tired of the constant battles with the beasts and doppelgangers, decided to set up camp.

Nemo and Eulalia were trying to understand why the complexity of the Forest of Doppelgangers had increased so much. After all, when they first met Idan and Arabel, the Temple was also in this forest, but then they were not attacked by beasts and doppelgangers with such fury as they are now.

They shared their doubts with the others, and soon Sierra made a suggestion.

The last time Nemo and his companions found themselves in the Forest of Doppelgangers, they had no specific goal — to get to the central layer and find the Temple. Perhaps that was why Geminia, the leader of the Doppelgangers and the supervisor of the Forbidden Zone, did not arrange the so-called trial process for them.

Now they have a clear goal — to get to the central layer and unravel the secret hidden in the Temple. The Zone supervisor is aware of this and is closely monitoring their progress.

In addition, there are two Diamond-ranked beings in their group, which somewhat complicates the trial process. After all, the Forbidden Zone will send them an opponent corresponding to their level of cultivation.

The second night was even more intense than the previous one.

It seemed to the group that the Forbidden Zone was not trying to destroy them, but only testing their strength. At night, the beasts attacked them less often than during the day, which allowed them to rest a little.

The third day was not much different from the previous one, except that the group moved faster and worked more harmoniously. However, the number of opponents increased noticeably as they approached the border of the middle and central layers.

It took all day to get to this border. Tired, they decided to postpone the trip to the central layer for the next day. Realizing that the difficulty would increase again, they set up camp and spent the night waiting.

There was only one obstacle left — the distance that had to be overcome to get to the Temple. This distance ran through the central layer, and the difficulty of overcoming it was the highest of all three layers of the Forbidden Zone.