Chapter 46: Chapter 46: Cracks In The Mirror

The red magic circles spun in unison.

A high-pitched, piercing scream erupted from the cultists, hitting us like a wall of noise.

I fainted to the ground after withstanding the terrible noise for ten minutes.

Or, to be more accurate, I just acted like I fainted so the robed figures would think their little ambush succeeded.

Whispering Village was never their actual base of operations.

In my past life, I tried following the novel’s original plot to save Ray from his fate, only to meet an empty, ruined village with a crackling fire and no enemies in sight.

Their real stage is hidden somewhere else.

I knew I had to play my part as an unconscious victim if I wanted to bust them out of hiding and find the core of their operation.

But I didn’t expect them to attack Ray, too.

Through my half-closed eyelids, I saw his lean body convulse hard on the ground from the noise attack.

The sight almost made me break my composure and reach for my skill.

But I shouldn’t react just yet.

This isn’t only about his life.

It is about stopping a threat to the whole capital.

"Is this the kid?"

One of the figures stood directly above me.

He kicked the side of my head with his boot to check if I would gesture or move.

I kept my breathing shallow and my muscles totally relaxed.

"Yes. Lady Anasthesia wanted him specifically," another voice answered from the shadows.

"What about this one?" the first guy asked, pointing his boot toward Ray’s shivering form.

"Burn him. We have already tortured him enough, so his burning soul will greatly please Lord Azrael."

Two of the figures nodded in agreement.

They grabbed Ray by the arms and dragged him roughly away from my spot.

A very strong cultist bent down and hoisted me over his shoulder like a sack of grain.

He carried me somewhere deeper inside the ruined village.

The wooden houses were destroyed, but still big enough to accommodate people in the shadows. He walked inside a broken hut situated right near the village elder’s old house.

It was just a pile of rotting wood on the surface, but inside, they had a hidden trap door that led straight underground.

He jumped inside the hole, carrying my weight easily.

Torches lit up a whole new path, making it look like a deep dungeon cave. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

’Were they keeping their base in a cave this whole time?’ I thought to myself, bumping against the guy’s back as he walked.

I could actually sense the raw mana change in the air down here. The energy made my body stiffen instinctively.

Outside the cave, back in the night air, two cultists were busy tying Ray to a wooden pole stuck in the dirt.

"Do it fast. I need to get down there to see the ritual," one of them hurried, pulling the rough rope tight around Ray’s chest.

Ray quickly gained consciousness.

He shook hard against the ropes, crying out for help, but the annoyed cultist just punched him right in the side of the head.

"Stop fucking moving."

Bam.

The cultist threw another fist.

It landed squarely on Ray’s pale face. Ray’s head hit the wooden pole, and blood started dripping from his forehead.

The robed man kicked him in the ribs again and again, letting the blood fill the dirt below the pole.

"Stupid little fuck," the man spat.

But just when he was about to hit the crying boy again, a loud whistle echoed through the woods.

"Wha?"

The two men turned around quickly.

They raised their hands, forming red magic circles to prepare a spell.

A loud rustling of branches was heard from the trees directly behind them.

They turned their heads for just a brief moment to check the noise.

That was their mistake.

Zephyr appeared right in front of them out of thin air.

The golden-eyed hero moved so fast he looked like a blur in the night. He caught the first cultist by the top of his head and slammed him straight down into the hard ground.

"Guh!" the man choked out as his skull met the dirt.

The second cultist, the one who had just hit Ray, panicked.

He finished forming his red circle to launch a fire attack.

But Zephyr just reached out his bare hand.

His unique core activated, and he drained the spell’s power into nothingness in a split second.

"Huh?"

Zephyr grabbed the powerless cultist by the throat and lifted him clean off his feet.

He looked down at the bleeding Ray tied to the pole.

With anger-filled eyes, Zephyr snapped the cultist’s neck.

He casually threw the dead body straight into the campfire.

The smell of burning cloth and flesh filled the square.

Zephyr stepped over to the wooden pole and quickly untied the ropes. Ray collapsed into his arms, sobbing in pain, but he was finally safe.

Back inside the hidden cave, the bumpy ride came to an end.

After ten long minutes of walking through the winding tunnels, the cultist carrying me reached a large underground chamber.

He dropped me onto the floor.

I kept my eyes open just a tiny slit to scan the surrounding area.

The walls were filled with fresh markings and symbols that clearly represented a demonic summon.

The smell of blood and flesh mixed with the mana-filled air.

Right in the centre of the large room was a wooden chair.

It was currently empty.

A woman sat on the stone floor right near the empty chair.

She wore dirty robes, had rotting, black teeth and greasy grey hair that fell forward, hiding most of her face.

Anaesthesia looked down at my limp body and smiled in a really creepy way.

"Youuuu areeee hereeee," she whispered.

A summons in the middle of the cave.

Is she planning to resurrect the Demon King this soon, or was this another ploy to break the barrier between realms?

Whatever it is, I have to stop it.

Far from the happenings of Whispering Village, Kiara’s blood heated automatically, sensing something bad was happening to Shane.