Something strange happened.

When the party reached the village the day before, the Children of Yeshe had been present. Strange, and with no interest in what Moon Killers had to offer, but they had spoken to Amber. She was a Royal Knight, and that was enough for them to let their concerns be known.

Now the place was deserted. And that was strange. These people were obsessed with their land, the land Yeshe had secured for them, and they would sooner die than let it go. They had shown as much during the Scarlet Kin attacks. Even when their own people fell, they held on.

What had driven them away this time? The most likely explanation was a ritual. The Children of Yeshe were strange enough for that to be plausible.

Luccy, their leader, had other plans. She sent Storm out, his speed covering the entire terrain in short order, hoping they would find the Children of Yeshe tucked away somewhere, worshipping a statue of Yeshe or something equally strange.

Storm was back in no time, and the news he carried was the one they had all feared. The people were nowhere on the terrain.

"Isn’t it possible they’ve gone to Yakutsk to secure food supplies?"

Solus asked.

"I don’t think they’d send all of them. They’re still kids, after all."

"Should we investigate further?"

"What are you thinking? We need to return to base and report this to Chica immediately." Walker added.

They contemplated for a moment before Amber’s words caught their attention.

"You guys, I’ve found something."

Walker frowned.

"What are you doing? Who just walks into someone’s room like that? What’s wrong with you?"

Amber paid him no mind and continued to speak.

"I can smell blood throughout the place. I believe the people here have all been killed."

She pushed the door open wide enough for everyone to see. The blood was fresh, rich, and dark, but something was off. It didn’t look like the blood of someone who had died. It looked deliberately splattered. And worse, there was no corpse.

On Luccy’s orders, they spread out and searched the remaining rooms. Some were clean, others bloody, and yet not a single corpse turned up.

Something about all of it made Scar uneasy. He couldn’t shake the feeling that this was Lionel’s doing. The dark energy he had felt, the unusual scene at Area 9, all of it pointing in the same direction.

"This isn’t a coincidence. The Dreamwalker was clearly feeding on Selena’s trauma, but they shouldn’t be able to manifest ghosts or replay events from the past."

"Not to mention how bizarre the Scarlet Kins acted."

Scar was more determined than he had been in some time. He needed to know who was behind that dark energy, it was familiar, and that alone unsettled him. Whoever it was had left the Chosen One tablet behind for him to find. They were either an ally or a foe. He intended to find out which.

"We can’t leave it like this. It’s only a matter of time before it reaches Yakutsk, and when it does, all our efforts will be in vain."

Solus glanced through her mind for a moment.

"I’m not sure why, but this feels connected to Lionel the necromancer. During Selena and Scar’s encounter, the moment she started to enjoy it, his expression soured, and he disappeared. It might just be a manifestation of her trauma, so we shouldn’t rely on it completely, but it’s still worth considering."

Storm nodded in agreement.

"We shouldn’t overlook the Scarlet Kins’ behavior. The danger-level threats that fled the forest didn’t do so willingly. It’s likely they were forced out by something they feared."

It made sense that Lionel was behind it. The corpses had vanished, and necromancy was the only explanation for that. If Lionel was the culprit, then the dark energy Scar had felt finally had an answer. It was believed the Chosen One tablet had given him his necromancy Inheritance.

But Lionel should be old by now, late nineties, perhaps even past a hundred. Surviving that long would be remarkable for anyone. But if he had awakened his Divine State, it wasn’t entirely out of the question.

"This does make things less confusing. If Lionel was involved, it’s possible he awakened an ability to recreate the memories of the dead."

Amber motioned positively.

"He may have intended to strengthen the Dreamwalker enough for its attack to reach Yakutsk. But since we killed it, he’s probably shifted to a different approach."

Luccy motioned in contrast.

"A similar incident happened in Paramount not long ago. Civilians died, Moon Killers were killed too, and some bodies vanished. If Lionel was responsible... why didn’t he kill us?"

It was growing more complicated than Scar had bargained for, but he wanted to see it through. If whoever was behind this was an ally, the advantage would be significant. But the thought he couldn’t quite shake was whether it might be the so-called Highest One.

Before Scar could say anything, Solus made a suggestion.

"We should try getting information from Paramount. What happened there could help us understand this better."

"They all died... Only the bodies of the Moon Killers and a handful of people remained. The rest disappeared entirely. No one knows what happened there." Luccy added.

Storm hurried his words.

"Then why don’t we investigate this ourselves? It’s still connected to our mission. Leaving these mysteries unresolved might come back to haunt us."

A soft smile tugged on Scar’s lips.

"Yes... we should. Treating this like a normal mission could end badly for us."

Luccy exhaled and let her head drop back as though leadership was something she had long since stopped caring about.

"You’re not wrong, but we’ll need Chica’s permission. Paramount isn’t within our territory, so it could be complicated."

Walker groaned.

"What? Are you going through with this? This is madness. Since when did we start going beyond our mission?"

Luccy scowled.

"I already told you, your leadership and mine are different. And again, I want to see how far Scar has come. They’re eager to hear about his progress."

Solus watched as Scar shook his head in disbelief, her expression darkening as he did.

"You shouldn’t do that, Luccy. Regardless of past enmity, the two of you are allies now. You mustn’t."

Luccy furrowed her brow.

"What did you say?"

Scar watched the mood change, but he was confused. What was Solus trying to achieve by standing up for him? Her words weren’t going to get anywhere. Luccy’s loyalty was to Dain, and she would report what she saw regardless of anything Solus said.

That was part of his goal. If he played his cards right and if he were careful enough, Luccy might come to respect him enough to keep certain things from Dain.