Chapter 519
Clank…
A low metallic sound spread.
The next moment, Ian’s vision flickered and flared with light. Everything felt oddly confined and stifling. Beyond that, the scene, the crumbling black earth, and the twisted, withered grasses came into sharp focus all at once.
The black land?
Of course, this was a vision.
The moment the dark clouds in the sky flashed with a purple light, the resonating essence of chaos, along with the thunder, had swallowed his consciousness.
"Agent of the Saint?"
A whisper, like a thought to oneself, spread then. He felt the voice resonate through him, not just his ears.
Ian finally realized through whose eyes he was seeing the vision—Seren, the dark knight, who had become his vassal. And she, too, seemed to feel that Ian’s consciousness had settled within her.
"What is it, Sir Seren?"At the voice that followed from the side, Seren turned. Through the eye slits of her visor, a familiar dark knight in full plate armor was visible. It was Valten, the Black Lion, who had once accompanied Ian.
"It’s nothing. Let us go," Seren replied and walked again. The sound of her armor joints clattering echoed in his ears.
Clank— Clank—
Valten, showing no particular suspicion, turned and led the way.
They weren't alone on their slow ascent up the slope. Seren’s gaze swept over the other Black Lions moving up the hill in a long line before finally coming to rest on the figure at its center, a back with white hair fully exposed.
Ian immediately recognized the figure.
Hyked.
That Dark Prince was also the first to reach the top of the hill’s ridge.
As Hyked came to a stop, the Black Lions who had followed him like wings on his left and right took their places on the ridge one by one. Seren, at the very end of the left wing, also stepped onto the ridge before her, following Valten.
Swoosh…
The hill revealed the view on the other side. Beyond the gentle downward slope was a jet-black wasteland where dust swirled, where a desolate plain covered only in rock and soil under an endlessly stretching gray sky.
Seren’s gaze returned to the area just below the hill.
Spellcasters?
Figures with hoods pulled low were lined up at regular intervals. Every one of them had their backs to Hyked and was facing the wasteland.
Just then, one of the mages in the center looked up toward the hill. From under the deeply pulled hood, a gaunt jaw with a scraggly beard and black veins was visible, and above it, eyes that glowed with a light brown, almost golden light.
Click…
Raising her visor, Seren turned her head. As her vision cleared, the profile of Hyked, standing at the highest point of the ridge, came into view.
His white hair fluttered, and his red eyes looked down at the hill below. His expression was firmer than usual.
Just as Seren was about to turn her gaze back to the left, a burst of magical energy swept past her like a gale.
It was a wave created by the spells they had all cast in unison. The mages standing below the hill were each holding out their staves, magic wands, and orbs.
Subsequently, an earthquake that spread from beyond the wasteland swept over the hill.
Rumble…
Seren staggered for a moment but caught her balance. Even so, her gaze remained fixed on the vast, sprawling wasteland.
Crack, crack, crack—
More precisely, on the fissure in its center that had split open in a long line. It wasn’t just the ground cracking. The earth's broken surface was rising, the crack widening like a massive wound.
How many spells are layered on top of each other?’
A mage-like question flashed through Ian’s mind. Of course, it was a question he had no way of getting the answers to.
Rumble—
The tremors grew stronger, shaking her vision. The fissure rounded into a perfect circle, and the earth blossomed upward like a grotesque flower, revealing a yawning hollow beneath.
Moments later, a piece of a ruined spire protruded through.
So this is why.
Ian swallowed a dry laugh.
The mages weren’t tearing the land apart for destruction—they were resurrecting a buried underground city.
Crack, rumble—
The hole in the ground widened rapidly. The unheaved soil rolled outward like waves as the hidden inner fortress, along with the city surrounding the castle, slowly emerged to the surface.
"Huh…"
As Seren’s low exclamation spread, Ian slowly took in the full view of the city.
The spire and the inner fortress had collapsed in places. The city’s buildings were also mostly ruins or shoddily rebuilt structures.
However, even in such disrepair, it was clear this had once rivaled the central Imperial cities in scale. Even now, with a significant portion in ruins, it could still be called a major city.
Where exactly is this?
There was no doubt this place would become the Dark Prince’s main stronghold. If he could just find out its exact name, it wouldn’t be difficult to pinpoint its location. All he could do was hope to learn it before the vision cast him out.
Rumble, rumble…
In the meantime, the massive city had settled completely on the ground. There were no city walls to be found, but that didn't seem to be a problem.
The ground had risen and curled around the city like a rolled-up sheet, forming what looked like a natural wall. It blended in with the city’s ragged skyline, creating an oddly harmonious scene.
Thud…
As the earthquake subsided, Seren’s gaze drifted down the slope. Only a few mages remained standing. The rest were sitting on the ground vomiting black blood or had already lost consciousness and collapsed.
So, even this many barely managed to raise the city...
Seren’s gaze lingered on them for only a moment. She then took in the city, now fully settled on the ground, and the inner fortress that rose higher than the hill.
"Are you… still watching?" murmured Seren.
There was, of course, no doubt that the words were meant for Ian.
Yes. I see everything.
Just as Ian thought, Seren added, "Please stand by His Highness’s side, Agent of Saint…"
So that’s what she was trying to say.
Ian snorted. Perhaps this vision wasn’t her doing, yet she hadn’t missed the chance to speak her will.
"Right now, His Highness is—"
"My proud people, who have endured long hours of suffering and patience! Behold!"
A booming cry echoed through the air just then. Seren’s head snapped toward it.
Hyked, who had at some point turned his back on the city, was looking down at the hill.
"Lu Vile has reclaimed its true form at last!"
Drawing his sword from his hip in a single motion, he raised it above his head. His white hair billowed, and a dark blue chaos erupted from him.
"My blessing shall protect all things in the city!"
The dark blue darkness spread like wildfire to the Black Lions in an instant.
Schwing! Clang!
The Black Lions, clad in dark blue chaos, each raised their weapons to the sky. The only one who didn't move was Seren, Ian's vassal. This was likely the reason she stood at the very end of the line.
Seren, letting out a low groan as she watched Hyked and the Black Lions, suddenly looked up at the sky.
Woosh—
Above, the clouds swirled into a colossal vortex. Its eye opened over the inner keep at the city’s heart. From it surged the same dark-blue chaos, staining the heavens and streaming down upon the city.
"This land is still the territory of the Empire," said Hyked.
He was no longer bellowing like before, but his voice rang out with a clarity that echoed and resonated through their very bodies.
"Ugh…" Letting out another low groan, Seren looked back at Hyked.
The white-haired Dark Prince, clad in dark blue darkness and holding his sword high, looked supremely ominous and, paradoxically, holy.
"And you are all still subjects of the Empire."
After looking around at the hill below once more, he lowered the sword he had been holding high to his chest.
"I swear. We shall, without fail, return to our homeland soon."
At that moment, a roar shook the air. Seren finally looked down at the hill below, where a vast wave of soldiers and citizens had spread out, cheering.
Her gaze suddenly shifted sideways—Hyked stood there, sword lowered, staring straight at her. The instant their dark blue eyes met, Ian wondered if his presence had been sensed.
Then a smile curved across Hyked’s face, and in the next breath, Ian’s world turned upside down once more.
Ian blinked, startled.
His senses snapped back at once, and his vision filled with the bobbing head of the horse and the green foliage beyond.
He was back to reality.
Did he gather all the survivors in the area?
Yet his mind lingered on what he’d seen.
Lu Vile was indeed a great city, but far too many had been there for a single stronghold. Survivors from scattered outposts must have been drawn together. It was clear that Hyked had gathered the survivors from scattered bases into one place.
Perhaps Lu Vile wasn't the only city that would serve as a gathering point. If he were the Dark Prince, he would have created several more gathering points just in case.
Though I don’t know if it’s possible to form multiple domains.
Ian, who had been thinking while gripping the reins, suddenly twitched his brow and looked toward the side. A silver-haired fairy with a gray hood pulled low was looking at him with shining green eyes.
"You’re finally awake, Ian," whispered Thesaya, meeting his eyes.
Ian, who had been looking at her sitting side-by-side on their saddles for a moment, asked, "How long was I like this?"
"Well. About twenty minutes?"
Thesaya shrugged and added, "Do you know how surprised I was when you suddenly clutched your chest after the thunder? I thought you were having a heart problem. Of course, your eyes turning purple were just as surprising."
Ian’s lips curled up slightly. "You did a good job of not making a fuss. You didn’t even lay me on the ground."
"Did you forget? I’m a spellcaster, too." Thesaya raised her left hand in front of her face and flicked her fingers slightly. An orb, fixed by several chains to her leather-gloved palm, swayed.
"It looked like you were seeing something important, so I just left you alone. It didn’t seem like you were going to fall off anyway," said Thesaya.
"To get even that right. How clever of you."
"Really? Then tell me. What did you see, Ian?" Thesaya whispered with a smile.
"Lu Vile."
"Lu Vile? What’s that?"
"The name of a city. It seems you don’t know it either."
Just as I thought.
Ian clicked his tongue and added, "The Dark Prince and his troops and people are there."
"What?! You saw him?" Thesaya’s eyes widened.
Six days had passed since they left Tahena, and the journey had been peaceful enough for Ian to share his experiences beyond the Black Wall with Thesaya.
And Thesaya had just heard up to the part where he met Hyked. The reason the story had only progressed this far was because she had chattered on with trivial questions and off-topic stories.
Of course, it was also because she had been fooling around a lot.
As if she had ever worried about Charlotte, Thesaya was enjoying her first outing in a long time.
"How coincidental. How did you see him? Was there some sort of link that allowed the vision to happen?" asked Thesaya.
"It’s not Hyked, it’s Seren," Ian said with a shrug.
He took out a silver cigarette case from his pocket dimension. Inside were more than ten well-dried cigarettes. They were the ones Thesaya had refilled.
Ian took one out, put it to his lips, and snapped his fingers to create a flame, adding, "I haven’t gotten to that part yet, but she ended up becoming my vassal."
"That Black Lion is your vassal? No wonder. So that’s why you told me that useless name! Good heavens, that’s so cool. Like a real corrupter!"
Thesaya, who had been exclaiming in admiration as she watched Ian inhale the smoke, said, "So you can keep peeking in on her?"
Ian shook his head, exhaling smoke. "No. That was my first experience. And of course, it wasn’t intentional."
As with Moro and Yog, he could sense Seren’s presence if he focused his consciousness. That was why he hadn’t been worried about Seren’s well-being at all, but that was all. Other than that, there was nothing he could do to interfere with Seren.
"Really? Then maybe the thunder wasn’t the cause. Other external factors might have triggered it."
Ian’s gaze, which had been looking up at the unusually close dark clouds, came back down. Beyond the hazy, scattering smoke, an exotic-looking forest became clear.
Thesaya, who had been staring intently at his profile, said, "For example, a demonic realm."