"Hyah!"
"Hyah!"
Along the narrow path, a sturdy warhorse galloped at full speed.
The knight on its back looked panicked, glancing behind him from time to time as he desperately drove the warhorse to its limits.
Behind him.
The fog that filled all of Black City spread in every direction with claws and fangs bared, devouring everything visible to the naked eye.
Fortunately, the fog did not expand too quickly. With the rider urging his horse onward, the distance between them steadily grew.
"Hyah!"
After racing over a hill, the fog behind him had vanished from sight. Only then did Hal let out a breath of relief.
"Stanford, in the end, I still won!"
He touched the bundle on his back, unable to stop a smile from appearing on his face.
Even if Black City was destroyed, even if he lost his post as commander of the city guards, as long as the thing was still with him, it had all been worth it.
Besides...
"I never wanted to stay in Black City in the first place. It's better that it's destroyed now. As long as I report the discovery of Forgotten City, Her Highness Mervia surely won't blame me."
"What a pity!"
Gritting his teeth, anger surfaced on his face once more.
"If Stanford hadn't held me back, I might have had the chance to enter Forgotten City."
"And that thing..."
Thinking of the scene from that day, Hal's pupils contracted. Fear showed in his eyes, and he instinctively urged his horse farther away.
Black City was a closed-off city. Apart from the merchant caravan that came once a month, no one else entered it.
Few came and went.
And so, the roads were inevitably difficult to travel.
Especially after rain, when the ground was thick with mud. Even