Insect Tamer's Ascension Chapter 444. A red world

They headed toward the workers tasked with supplying them the necessary equipment.

Everything flowed without a hitch: measurements were taken for each person, and gear was distributed to all.

All the items were of medium grade, deemed more than adequate for their needs by the kingdom.

Theo opted out of the armor. His current set far outclassed anything the kingdom provided.

After resting through the night, the entire group stood geared up by dawn, set to head to the gate.

Carriages marked with the emperor’s emblem drew gazes everywhere they went, turning heads like a grand parade.

This time, some women spotted Theo and Lucien peeking through the window, sending them into a frenzy. Clara swiftly closed it, prompting a soft laugh from Theo.

One thing stood clear: Theo’s team would attract even more notice now. Few ever got such direct backing from the emperor.

The trip wrapped up in just hours as the landscape turned bumpy and wild.

That’s when Theo first spotted the special wheels on their carriage.

Even over the rugged ground, the journey stayed buttery smooth; no jolts disturbed them inside, like gliding on flawless pavement.

Theo pondered if it was some cutting-edge suspension or a marvel unique to this realm.

Yet the idea of getting one for his family sparked in his mind, instantly becoming a new ambition.

Once they crossed vast forest expanses, every carriage finally stopped.

There it loomed: the gate.

Theo craned his neck out the window, squinting hard.

"What is it, young master?" Clara inquired from beside him, prompting Theo to scrutinize the gate more intently.

"This gate is much weaker; I can sense it."

He perceived the spatial energy threads encircling the gate as sparse and thin, nowhere near as thick as those at the crawler gate.

A faint relief washed over him.

As the team assembled before the gate, Theo advanced and surveyed the others.

The knight Kaelor appeared on edge, nerves frayed, while the typically haughty noble youth had turned surprisingly subdued.

Lysara’s face showed confusion, and the scout steadied himself with heavy breaths.

Lucien, however, maintained a neutral look.

Among them all, only he—besides Theo and his attendants—had entered a gate before, based on the training talks.

Theo recognized this as the perfect time to speak up.

"The gates are just worlds connecting to ours. Sometimes these worlds are harsh... sometimes they are not," he declared, seizing their focus.

"But the emperor wouldn’t send us if it were beyond what we can handle. So let’s get inside with confidence so that we can finish this mission early."

His words barely eased the group’s strain. Theo spotted the anxiety etched on their features.

’I need to work on my speech skills...’ he mused, lifting his hand to beckon them forward.

"We will give our best the moment we step inside. Creatures in there can sense danger a lot better than we can."

Now nearer to the gate, Theo sensed the energy strands caressing his skin and seeping inward.

Unlike the previous gate, these felt serene and comforting, like they were restoring his energy while locking it in place. Theo inhaled deeply, a subtle smile creeping onto his lips unnoticed amid the group’s stares.

That authentic grin of vitality and assurance lifted the team’s spirits far beyond his prior pep talk. Their expressions softened noticeably.

"Hold each other’s hands. We will be entering soon," Theo instructed.

He clasped Clara’s hand; she linked with Elias’s, forming a chain with the knight bringing up the rear and support members in between.

Theo strode a few paces ahead.

A minor pull rippled through the line, but he gripped firmer and tugged gently. Clara caught on instantly, relaying it to Elias, and soon the full group advanced as one.

Theo plunged into the heart of the spatial energy.

In the next instant, the surroundings transformed utterly, and the hand in his vanished.

But only for a heartbeat.

Clara’s hand returned to his grasp, as though she’d arrived a moment after by teleportation. That brief lag revealed to Theo the profound complexity of spatial energy and gates.

Already slipping into battle mode, Theo cast a quick glance at Clara, released her hands, and began surveying their surroundings.

Something seemed off about the soil blanketing the ground; it glowed with a deep, intense red hue, far too vivid compared to ordinary red earth, Theo observed.

Raising his gaze, he spotted massive trees clustered densely together. Relief washed over him with a sigh as he noted the abundance of hiding spots.

Yet those trees shared the soil's crimson tint, while even the undergrowth bore that eerie red shade.

The whole realm appeared splashed with brilliant red paint, giving the flowers a piercing, uncannily attractive edge.

Turning back, he confirmed the full group had arrived, all of them warily eyeing their surroundings.

"Where did the gate go?" the knight questioned with a scowl, staring at the foreboding woods.

"The gate we enter from is different from the one we leave through," Theo answered. "We need to find the exit gate in this world as well."

His explanation flipped the worldview upside down for most of them, stirring a twinge of leadership failure in Theo.

They ought to have known this detail beforehand.