Fourteen People (2)

"You... still came." The guard in a watchtower at one corner of the wall saw Iron Mask's figure. His lips moved, and he let out a sigh.

"He ruined one of my sons. I can't let him ruin my other son as well," Iron Mask said in a deep voice.

"Is this all of you? If you want to go throw your lives away, there's nothing I can do. After tonight, don't say you've ever seen me." The guard helplessly opened a small door in the wall and turned away. "Remember to shut the door."

"Let's go. Let's kill the demon that ruined my son." Holding up a torch, Iron Mask stepped through the door. He turned to look at Chris and the others, appearing especially weathered in the flickering firelight.

"That is precisely our purpose," Austin said quietly, his tone exceptionally grave.

Chris said nothing more and stepped through the door. As his Breathing Method rose and fell, his own Rhythm fitted the surrounding environment as never before. The Rhythms around him began to turn bit by bit. Chris's expression stiffened slightly before returning to normal.

"What is it?" Austin asked as he followed him inside.

"Nothing. It's just that the Rhythm here feels exceedingly ominous. Who knew how many living beings had been buried in this land?" Chris said in a low voice. Observing their surroundings through Rhythm alone, it was as though the dying wails of life filled every inch of the ground.

"Indeed. Resentment is everywhere." The mark on Austin's forehead flickered as he gave Chris a somewhat strange look. Through the Gift of True Knowledge, he sensed that there was something off about Chris's words, yet Chris was not lying.

"Move toward the destination. We don't have much time." Chris did not look at Austin as he continued, "Two to a team. Keep a certain distance between teams and advance carefully. If you find an enemy, use signals to communicate. I'll proceed alone."

"Make sure each of you keeps hold of your Dragon Powder. When we encounter the Scale-kin, that Dragon Powder will be our chance at victory." The Dragon Powder Chris spoke of was one of the supplies provided by the Interkami Kingdom.

The Scale-kin would hesitate when facing creatures that carried the aura of dragons. If the dragon aura was strong enough, they might even abandon their attack. Otherwise, without this weakness, the Scale-kin's terrifying speed and attack power would leave them without much confidence in facing them head-on.

Although things related to dragons had become increasingly scarce, the Interkami royal family possessed dragon blood. The royal family took pride in dragons, so many nobles collected dragon-related objects to display their taste.

This Dragon Powder had been made from dragon scales and dragon bones contributed by Gelosk. Though most of them came from Sub-Dragons, they were more than enough to deal with the Scale-kin.

"Be careful." Austin did not say much more. Following the plan they had discussed before coming, he quickly divided the party into pairs and had them advance while keeping a certain distance apart.

This was also to guard against Scale-kin attacks. If a whole group stood together when the incredibly fast Scale-kin launched a surprise assault, they would have a hard time evading it, and casualties could easily occur.

If they could, they truly wished this were a fairy-tale adventure—one where they defeated the Demon King, the heroes all survived, and the ending was happy and complete.

But reality was not a fairy tale. Of the fifteen people who had entered, no one knew how many would still be alive by the time this was over. They were not even certain they could win.

In the dimness, cages and abandoned houses could be seen everywhere, as though they were recounting what this place had been like ten years ago. Chris picked up a raven feather from beside one cage and recalled the intelligence they had gathered.

When Negary had first descended, he had only two messengers—two crows. After occupying the Kexi People's village, the Kexi People formed a new hunting party and brought back crows batch after batch. More and more crows came under control.

When spring arrived the following year, vast numbers of crows laid eggs and hatched many young. The hunting party then shifted to searching for prey to serve as food for the crows, and Rea's trade began from that time as well.

At first, some merchants came to trade food for animal pelts. Only afterward did the place become a gathering point for smuggling trade along the border between the two countries.

About seven years ago, this place had been designated a Forbidden Land. By then, the crows had already grown in number, and cleaning up the remains of their food each day required dozens of Kexi People working together.

So the place was simply made into a Forbidden Land. Those gleaming white bones no longer needed to be cleared away and were left where they lay. That was why some half-dug pits could still be seen here.

Normally, apart from the Crow Men, only the transport teams bringing food for the crows came here. Other than the main road retaining a faint trace of human presence, everywhere else had been completely abandoned.

The female priest and a Divine Grace Knight walked together. They had been assigned to the same team, moving along a desolate path. To infiltrate safely, they had even extinguished their torches, advancing solely through the female priest's Gift of True Knowledge vision.

"Be careful. There are traces of living creatures moving around here," the female priest whispered.

The Gift of True Knowledge of the Divine Grace Church formed a True Knowledge Rune on the forehead of the one who received the gift. Through this rune, they could obtain another kind of vision, in which the world seemed to become a field of gray.

Within that grayness, the essence of things revealed their colors, granting the gifted the power to pierce darkness and mist and see many things invisible to the naked eye.

Further use of the gift could develop even more advanced abilities. Austin, for instance, had used the Gift of True Knowledge to reach the point where he could distinguish good from evil in people. Every thought that passed through someone's mind would flash with color in his vision, allowing him to determine whether they were friend or foe.

That was why, when Iron Mask led the way, Chris had looked toward Austin as if asking for confirmation. He had feared that Iron Mask intended to lead them into a trap. Only after receiving a trustworthy answer had he led everyone after him.

"Understood." The Divine Grace Knight's muffled voice came from beneath his helmet. He half-drew his knight's sword and warily watched the surroundings. The sachet of Dragon Powder hanging from his body trembled slightly, giving off the scent of dragons to prevent the Scale-kin from killing him in a single strike.

As long as he held them off for a moment, the other teams would come rushing over to support him. Of course, at certain times, he would also have to make sacrifices—sacrifices of life—to draw the enemies' attention so that the other teams could reach Negary safely.

"Wait, be caref—" The female priest seemed to have discovered something. Before she could say what it was, blood splashed out and spattered across the knight's armor.

Without hesitation, the Divine Grace Knight drew his sword and watched the movements around him with vigilance. He made no sound. Beneath his helmet, however, some liquid began to flow unnoticed.

Thus, one person had fallen from the fifteen-man assault force.

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