The beast head had regained its head, but that wasn’t really what stopped the WaterLord’s attack.

In the middle of the room, at the center of a very large hole, stood a...person covered in green fire. They looked like a person to Eamon; they had a human figure even under the bulky cloth they wore. Their head was covered in a dark, rusty helmet.

"What is that?"

Eamon shook his head. "The Artifact has three Bounds. One for defense and two for attacks. They always change with each use....I don’t know what that is. But...it obeys me."

’...I hope...’

Eamon had never actually used the Artifact. He was only coached on how to use it because one of its drawbacks was that it would fall into dormancy when used. And the longer it stayed unused, the stronger it became.

"You actually stopped by Silver Fall. What type of undead is this?" WaterLord Freya asked with curiosity, her right hand still pulsing with power.

Commander Garran shook his head. "That thing did not stop it! Just as you attacked, it also attacked. The two attacks clashed and were canceled out."

Freya’s eyes flickered at that. Among the Master Knights, there were few who could match her in sheer power when she decided to go all out. She’s powerful, and she knows it. And it’s not every day she meets someone who can match her like this.

Eamon knew this as well. And that was why he did not hesitate to raise his hand. "Attack!"

The reaction was instant. The helmet on the undead peeled away, and everyone realized that the thing was actually a man with a normal, if very dead, face. At least it was all normal until the man’s face twisted, flesh crumbled into slush and reformed into a large hole.

All of this happened in the same instant that Eamon called out. And Freya wasn’t slow to react either.

But the undead was faster.

The undead howled. And it was the loudest thing anyone there had ever heard. It was loud and terrible, and they could see it as it came out of the undead’s head.

First, it was a brief rush of physical, visible shockwave that then turned into a yellow shockwave that directly shattered the ground in a straight line as it headed for Freya.

Unfortunately, Freya got her own Silver Fall attack cutting through the air at the same time, but slower, and the two clashed close to her in an explosion that blew her and the ground she was standing on away, ripping the wall with Commander Garran and completely destroying the throne room.

Eamon was breathing hard and fast. The undead beast head had protected him from the worst of it. In fact, everything sounded muted to him, but he could guess how bad those outside felt with the backlash.

"I hope that kills them..." Eamon muttered.

Chen could only shake his head, speechless. "This.... this type of power....our Clan has this?"

"I’ll explain everything later. First, we need to use this opportunity well! Quick!"

With a thought, he got the beast head to drop them, and then he hurriedly, with Chen’s help, put all of his personal guards into the undead’s mouth, both those that were alive and those that were not. Fortunately, there seemed to be a bit of spatial power in play because the inside seemed bigger instead of getting cramped.

They could hear shouting from outside as the fortress reacted to the loud noises. Things might just get complicated.

Chen finally seemed to get a hold of himself. "Father, what exactly is the plan here? What are you hoping to achieve?"

Eamon gritted his teeth. "Their death. It’s time to stop going on the offensive. Come, let’s hunt!"

Chen could never have predicted how things would turn since the time they stepped foot out of their city.

☆☆▪︎☆☆

Vale could not understand why he was here. Or where he was, for that matter. He was still wearing the tattered remains of his clothes, the ones he fought Eirikr in. They were soaked heavily in his blood, but when he stood, he felt none of the pain.

Vale froze. "Wh.. !!"

His throat spasmed painfully, and he swallowed his dry throat to moisten it. He cleared his throat, looking around wearily as the fact that he didn’t feel any pain or wounds on him settled. He tried again, and this time his voice was a better croak. "Where am I?"

But the surroundings seemed to drink his voice.

The place he was in seemed like a cramped cave but without walls. What made the walls for him was darkness; darkness swallowed everything. The type of darkness that draped over things like funeral shrouds.

Vale could not see anything; he could only feel the rough ground beneath him. Without even registering it, his body had already drawn into itself in a curl, his hands and feet folding, and it took him a minute to understand why his body instinctively behaved like that.

His body remembered the prison where his father threw him in not so long ago. His mind might have soared above that, but the body still bore the scars.

Vale snorted as he stretched. He muttered to himself, "What bullshit."

Then he started to gather the information that he knew.

His Mark Order had reacted visibly when Eirikr was about to kill him, and when Takoda brought his artifact, something happened. All he could remember was a flash of red light swallowing and consuming his vision.

’...alright. From my guess, this must have something to do with the Arcane Wizard. The Forbidden Mark. But what exactly? What brought me here, and where is here? This is all so strange, but....what healed me? Why am I healed?...’

His core bore no damage either, but it was currently empty.

’.. first thing first, I need to take control of my surroundings. I must know what’s happening, why I am here, and if I am in danger?...’

Vale didn’t feel as if he was in danger, but his body was alert and strained for action. ’....Tiber and Slya....my Clan...my Master Knights...what’s going on?’

That was bothering him as well, and his muscles flexed and tensed as if he was back in that desert fighting. He didn’t want to put into words what his mind was asking him.

’...are they dead? What... am I going to do?’

He sat back down. His senses opened and stretched to the highest point to catch even the faintest of whispers. But he heard nothing. He sat there in the dark and began to meditate, to gather enough essence for his core.

’....so I can know what the fuck is actually happening....’

Without him being at his peak, he didn’t want to do anything stupid. He also didn’t have any weapons or the Commander’s Tower. And he realized that all his rings had been destroyed.

As well as Takoda’s Artifact. It was not with him.

He didn’t know exactly how long he stayed there, but he jerked back to active consciousness when his core became full. He was hungry and thirsty, but he ignored all that as he stood, his bones and muscles protesting as they were forced out of rest.

He stretched, and then he made a small fireball. And another, and another, making a dozen in total to hover around him, brightening his surroundings.

He wasn’t in a cave. In fact, he wasn’t in any room at all. He was standing in the middle of a large hallway, the walls of rough stone as if he was inside a mountainside.

The walls were rough, with deep straight and curved holes. The ceiling was made of the same rough, old mountain material. But what made Vale feel alert was the size. The hallway was big enough to hold ten of his Tower, and there would still be lots of space left for the walls.

He began to walk down the large hallway. He didn’t know if it was down or up, but he just picked a direction and stuck to it. He added light ahead and behind him, keeping his pace measured and his movements smooth in preparation for any trouble that might appear at a moment’s notice.

But even with all this, he felt or saw nothing. It was as if he was the only one in the world. And his steps even echoed as if the very area was swallowing them.

And that was why he was surprised when he was suddenly attacked.

The creature was on him before it screamed. From behind. Vale saw a blurring dark shape, dark blue flashing, and he didn’t think twice. He opened his mouth and breathed fire, a blasting red burst that seared the air with a kinetic shockwave.

The reason he went for that was not only as a counterattack but also to use the force of his attack to shove himself back and create space between them. He did not know what that thing was, after all.