Thunder Mist Jungle: A Forest of Traps

The deeper they went, the thicker the fog grew.

Visibility dropped from more than ten meters to five or six.

Farther in, they could see only two or three meters ahead.

Thunder boomed overhead again and again, making their eardrums ache.

Lightning struck, its deathly white glare briefly piercing the dense trees.

The air reeked of ozone, sharp enough to sting their throats when they breathed.

Killua led the way, treading lightly.

His ears strained to catch every faint sound in the forest.

"Slow down, everyone. The traps ahead are getting denser."

The others quieted their breathing and followed close behind him, inching forward.

They had gone only a few dozen meters when Killua stopped abruptly.

He crouched and brushed aside layers of rotting leaves.

Beneath a thin layer of dead twigs lay the mouth of a deep pit. Its floor bristled with sharp wooden stakes.

Leorio sucked in a breath, cold sweat beading on his forehead.

"They disguised that pit perfectly. One careless step and we'd be done for."

Kurapika scanned the interwoven branches around them, his expression grave.

"They've been working on this part of the forest for a long time. They've blocked off the entire route."

Gon stared at the pit in surprise.

"I never saw beasts set this many traps back at Giant Crocodile Lake."

Killua stood, his brows drawn tight.

"And that's not all. I can sense at least five or six more traps within the next fifty meters."

"At this rate, we won't make it through the forest before dark."

The group pressed on, but the situation grew more difficult.

Spike pits hid beneath the ground, strangling vines hung overhead, and rockfall triggers waited above the mountain path.

The traps overlapped and connected, forming a chain of defenses.

Killua could not scout ahead and