Nether City was as quiet as ever.
Death Dirge guarded the various strongholds throughout Nether City. The Bone Giants had fallen asleep to avoid wasting energy, the undead revived by Bone Resurrection quietly remained in the barracks, and the undead workers diligently hauled bricks and farmed.
The entire city was as quiet as a silent film.
"There's no trace of an otherworldly presence, so why are there buildings that don't belong in the Netherworld?"
On an inconspicuous mound outside Nether City, a figure wearing a crown of white bone and a tattered robe gazed at everything before him.
Azure flames burned fiercely where his eyes should have been, making him look sinister and cold.
Ghoul Franter stood there. Undead creatures occasionally passed by him, and a squad of Death Dirge was even stationed several hundred meters away. Yet none of the gazes sweeping across the area detected his presence.
"Ares's soul fire disappeared here, but I haven't sensed any existence above the Eighth Tier."
Ghoul Franter raised his withered head, his voice filled with doubt and curiosity.
"What could make a Nightmare Soul capable of stepping into immortality disappear from the Netherworld without a sound?"
Ghoul Franter and Nightmare Soul Ares both came from the Forest of the Dead in the Netherworld.
But Nightmare Soul Ares was a fugitive, while Ghoul Franter was a hunter.
To capture Ares, who had stolen the Nether Mark while the lord slept, Ghoul Franter had tracked Nightmare Soul Ares for three years.
Some time ago, the fluctuations in Nightmare Soul Ares's soul had grown frequent. Following those fluctuations, Ghoul Franter had come to the Vast Bone Continent and reached the territory of Nether City.
But after arriving at Nether City, every trace of Nightmare Soul Ares had vanished into thin air.
If not for