Chapter 261: Chapter 46: Wilds in Commotion, a Halt Before the Palace

The Observer slowly withdrew its arm. The sand in the shallow pit, no longer supported by its power, fell back into place with a SHUSH, its light dimming.

The flames in its eyes subsided slightly but remained chillingly intense.

’Directive issued. The school of fish has been herded.’

It transmitted this message into the void, its target the entity known as the "Star Speaker," who might be watching this place from the unseen realms.

It knew the Star Speaker didn’t necessarily need its report.

That being’s glimpses into fate were likely far more profound than its own perceptions.

But this was protocol, part of the contract.

Having done all this, the Observer retreated once more into the deepest shadows of the cavern. Its form nearly merged with the darkness, leaving only two points of Dark Gold flame burning slowly, coldly "watching" the symbols before it. It awaited feedback from the "school of fish," or... the moment when it would need to act personally.

...

「About twenty kilometers from the Rift Valley Slope, on a wasteland of cracked, scorched earth.」

The Iron Wall Imperial Guard Commander had just pulled his Lance from the skull of an Earth Rock Worm. Dark red slime dripped from the tip.

His heavy Black Armor bore several new scorch marks and scratches. Beneath his Face Armor, his breathing was heavy but steady.

He had chosen this relatively open area to make it easier to observe and react, and had successfully shaken off the first wave of pursuers.

However, just as he was about to rest for a moment and get his bearings...

The ground beneath his feet began to tremble intensely. A rustling, scraping sound, like countless insects burrowing and converging underground, grew from a distant murmur into a clear, approaching noise!

He snapped his head up. In the distance, the few Scorching Beasts that had been wandering aimlessly suddenly became extremely agitated. They stopped their random patrols, turned in unison, and let out shrill hisses, facing his direction.

No, to be precise, they were facing a point further away, behind and to his side.

Then they charged at full speed!

And behind them, dust and smoke billowed as more dark red figures emerged from the cracks in the scorched earth and from behind the distant lava hills, converging into a terrifying, scalp-numbing torrent!

The Commander’s eyes, hidden beneath his Face Armor, turned icy.

’This isn’t a random encounter,’ he thought. ’It’s an organized movement!’

’And judging by the direction those monsters are charging...’

"That direction..." He instantly recalled a vague marker on the map, and his heart sank.

Whatever was attracting the monsters over there, a disturbance of this magnitude could never be limited to a single location.

This area he was in had likely been caught in the undertow!

He hesitated no longer. With a low growl, his heavy frame exploded with a speed that defied his size. He abandoned his original route, immediately changing course and bolting in the opposite direction of the monstrous flood.

’I have to get out of this area,’ he realized. ’It’s about to become the center of a vortex!’

...

「At almost the same time, in a complex terrain of colossal skeletons and cooled lava further north.」

The younger of the Storm Twin Blades Brothers was crouched nimbly atop a massive, slanted rib cage, using the terrain’s shadows to warily observe several large Scorching Beasts wandering below.

His older brother was at another hiding spot a dozen meters away, using a special Bone Whistle to mimic the low-frequency sounds of some creature, trying to lure them away.

The younger brother’s Spiritual Sense suddenly flared with a strange sense of dread.

He keenly sensed that the large, somewhat listless Scorching Beasts below had all frozen without warning. Their compound eyes flickered with an abnormally bright, dark red light. Then, they all raised their heads and let out a series of rapid, bizarre, resonant hisses!

Immediately after, a cacophony of climbing and scraping sounds echoed from the depths of the surrounding massive bone cavities!

It wasn’t just Scorching Beasts. More twisted, indescribable shadows began to squirm and reveal themselves!

"Brother! Something’s wrong! Fall back!" The younger brother used a Secret Technique to transmit his voice the instant he sensed the anomaly, simultaneously flipping backward like a wildcat.

The older brother’s reaction was just as swift. He immediately stopped the mimicry, his body blurring into a shadow as he moved toward his brother.

The two brothers exchanged a grave look.

They excelled at stealth and guerrilla warfare, but facing this kind of encirclement, where the entire area seemed to have been suddenly activated, was suicide.

"Head for high ground! To the top of that stone forest! The view is good, and it’s hard for the monsters to climb!" the older brother decided quickly.

The two no longer tried to clear a path or cross the area. Instead, relying on their Extraordinary agility and perfect coordination, they rapidly leaped and climbed among the jagged skeletons and lava formations.

Like two fish swimming against the current, they struggled to escape the rapidly converging and frenzied horde of monsters below, heading for the highest point of this complex terrain.

They were making a desperate flight toward the top of a cluster of sharp lava pillars that rose like stalagmites.

...

「To the southwest, at the edge of a relatively quiet fissure zone.」

Knight Armand leaned against a heavily weathered boulder, panting slightly.

His Dark Silver Armor was covered in the marks of battle, yet it still gleamed. A steady, pale-gold Life Energy flowed along the blade of his Longsword.

The two other Great Knights he had temporarily teamed up with—one from the Ernest Kingdom and a Guardian Knight from the Vilt Kingdom’s Western Territory—were also standing guard on either side, their faces etched with exhaustion and vigilance.

They had chosen this area, which seemed to have few monsters, to temporarily regroup. They had even managed to successfully ambush two stray Earth Rock Worms.

After Knight Armand had consumed the precious Starlight Healing, although he hadn’t achieved an immediate breakthrough, his Life Energy had recovered a great deal of its vitality. Even the fatigue from the prolonged battle had eased significantly. This rekindled the hope in his heart and gave him more confidence for the mission ahead.