Creak, creak—
A carriage traveled along a mountain road in the indistinct night, its wheels occasionally hitting stones and jolting the whole vehicle.
Two black-haired horses galloped on all fours, pulling the enormous carriage at incredible speed.
They had been racing for several kilometers without showing the slightest sign of fatigue. They weren't even foaming at the mouth or whinnying.
Moreover, their eyes were like pools of dead water, never showing the slightest change. They only knew to race onward along the road ahead.
That was because they weren't alive to begin with.
Inside the gently swaying carriage, an oil lamp hung in each corner, casting a soft, dim yellow glow that intertwined the shadows of three people.
Gelman, Dong, and Ging were the three passengers in this speeding carriage—and the only ones.
At the Ancient Labyrinth Castle, Dong had asked Gelman whether he still wanted to accompany them after learning of the risks of this journey.
Gelman thought of Shizuku, far away on the New Continent, and the child they had yet to welcome into the world.
But it was precisely because he thought of them that Gelman didn't hesitate for long before agreeing.
Even if it meant facing terrifying danger, he had to go and put an end to this crisis—one even more dreadful than the Great Chaos caused by the "God of Gu Yuan" over a year ago.
He couldn't let the "God of Flesh" swallow the eastern and western shores of Lake Möbius whole. If that happened, humanity's future would be utterly doomed.
After so much effort and so many sacrifices, retreating into the tiny shell of the Six Continents and waiting for the end of the world would be utterly tragic.
Ging had also chosen to accompany them. Aside from his longstanding fascination with the