Crockta and Tiyo transported Shakhan’s corpse and made a grave for him in the middle of his fort. His shrewd cows sensed he was dead and cried out sorrowfully around Shakhan’s grave.0

After that, Crockta and Tiyo decided to send the cows and other livestock back to nature so they could roam freely. Once the pair were done taking care of Shakhan’s estate, they returned to where the Behemoth’s corpse was and stood in front of the wall of darkness that spread out across the northernmost part of the Forest of Monsters. A pitch-black darkness prevented people from crossing the threshold between the forest and the northern region.2

[There are ten years left for the full opening of the northern region. Entry will be limited.]0

[You two can pass this wall as friends of Shakhan the hunter, who opened up the northern region.]1

“C-Crockta, does the northern region really exist beyond this wall?” asked Tiyo tentatively.0

“Trust me,” said Crockta with confidence.0

Crockta and Tiyo exchanged glances and then walked into the wall of darkness.0

Darkness engulfed their field of vision, and they experienced a sense of buoyancy as if they were flying in the darkness. When their sight returned, they found that they were standing on red ground.0

“…!”0

“This is…?”0

It was a wasteland.0

There was still a wall of darkness, but it was now spread out behind them, and they couldn’t see the forest behind it. It was as if the wall had split the world into two; the scenery was completely different beyond the wall.0

“This is the north…” muttered Crockta.0

It was a barren place. They didn’t see any plants around them. The only plant life they occasionally saw were either cacti or deeply-rooted plants that were able to survive on very little water.0

“First… which direction should we go, Crockta?”...0