Chapter 44: 44

“So you… still came after all” as one of the patrolling sentries at a secluded corner of the fence saw the metal-mask man, he sighed .

“He already ruined one of my sons, I won’t let him ruin the other one as well” the metal-mask man replied in a low voice .

“Only this many people? I won’t stop you if you want to suicide, just don’t tell anyone you saw me tonight” the sentry sighed helplessly and opened a small gate in the surrounding fence, then stepped over to one side: “Remember to close the door”

“Let’s go, go and kill that devil who ruined my son” the metal-mask man raised his torch, went through the door and turned around to look back at Chris and the rest, giving off an air of extreme vicissitudes .

“That . Is exactly our goal” Augustin replied in a low voice with an extremely sombre tone .

Chris said nothing else and went through the door . As he used his [Respiratory Art], his body’s rhythm harmonized with his environment to sense the surroundings . Chris’ expression became stiff for a short moment before returning to normal .

“What’s the matter?” Augustin walked up to him and asked .

“I’m fine, it’s just that the rhythm in our surroundings is very ominous . Untold numbers of lives have been buried on this land” Chris replied in a heavy tone, by using rhythm to sense his surroundings, he felt like he was seeing lives being extinguished everywhere he looked .

“Indeed, thick miasma fills this place” a rune appeared on Augustin’s forehead as he gave Chris a strange look . Through his Grace of Understanding, he could feel that Chris’ words were a bit different from the truth, but he wasn’t wrong .

“Let’s head to the target, we don’t have much time” Chris didn’t look at Augustin and simply continued: “Two people in each team, maintain a certain distance with one another and move forward carefully . Use the signals to notify the rest if you find any enemy . I’ll be the one moving by myself”

“Prepare your dragon powder . If we run into any Bizarre Scales, they’re the only chance we have against them” the dragon powder Chris was talking about was one of the reinforcement goods supplied by the Interkam Kingdom .

The Bizarre Scales had been found to be sensitive to things that carry a Dragon’s aura and show hesitation towards them . If the Dragon’s aura exerted was thick enough, the Bizarre Scales would even give up on attacking them, otherwise, the Bizarre Scales’ power and speed would be extremely terrifying to face . If the Bizarre Scales didn’t have this weakness, they wouldn’t have had the confidence to take the initiative like this .

Although relics related to dragons were becoming rarer and rarer every day, the Interkam royal family itself had the Dragon’s bloodline . As the royal family takes pride in their Dragon’s bloodline, most aristocrats would collect one or more dragon-related relics to show their excellent tastes .

This dragon powder was provided by Grosk, having ground up some dragon scales to obtain . Although the scales actually came from wyverns and not actual dragons, it was more than enough against the Bizarre Scales .

“Be careful by yourself” Augustin didn’t waste any time talking . He arranged the teams as they had discussed beforehand and advanced while keeping a certain distance .

This was a plan to prevent being ambushed by the Bizarre Scales . When a group of too many people stand together, with their mobility and power, it would be extremely hard to avoid casualties .

If possible, everyone here hoped that this would be one of the adventures in fairy tales where the heroes defeat the demon king, they all manage to survive and have a happily ever after .

But real life wasn’t a fairytale . And it would be hard for anyone to tell how many people within this group of 15 would remain after this ordeal, or if they would actually win at all .

Within this dim lightless place, various cages and abandoned houses could be seen littered all around, as if trying to tell a story of what this place was like 10 years ago . As Chris picked up a crow feather on the ground, he began to recall the intel he collected .

When Negary first appeared, all he had were two messengers, which were two crows . After taking control of this Cauchy village, the Cauchy people formed a new hunting party that brought back crow after crow, slowly increasing the number of crows under Negary’s control .

By the spring of the following year, when the large number of crows began to lay more eggs and hatched them, the hunting party’s job was changed to be responsible for hunting prey and bringing them back to the village as food for the crows .

It was at this time that trading began in Reya .

At first, there were just a few merchants who came and traded food for the village’s stock of animal hide and fur, then it slowly turned into the gathering for smuggling trades between the two countries that it was known for today .

It was around seven years ago that this area was declared as a forbidden zone . At the time, the flock of crows had already grown considerably large, it would take over a dozen grown Cauchy men an entire day’s work to clean up the remains of the crows’ daily food .

When this place was turned into a forbidden zone, there was no longer a need for the remains to be cleaned up anymore . They were simply left on the spot after the crows were done with them, which was also why a few unfinished shallow holes could still be seen scattered from place to place .

The only people who were allowed to enter this place other than the Crowmen were the food transportation people, so aside from the frequently used road, all of the other locations were left to rot and degrade over time .

The female priest who was paired up with a Knight of Divine Grace was slowly walking along the silent small road . To ensure that the infiltration was successful, they had extinguished even their torches, so the pair had to rely on the female priest’s Grace of Understanding to see where to walk .

“Be careful, there are traces of living organisms here” the female priest spoke in a low voice .

The Grace of Understanding of the Church of Divine Grace manifested as a rune on the user’s forehead . Through this rune, the user gained a type of inhuman vision in which the world turned into a single color of grey .

Only the essence of things would show up as color within this vision, giving those with this Grace the ability to see through any fog, mist and even darkness, as well as the ability to see things that normal people could not perceive .

Those experienced with the Grace of Understanding could also develop it further to obtain more abilities . Like Augustin who could tell a person’s good or evil intention with his Grace of Understanding . As their thoughts crossed through their minds, it would show up as different colors for Augustin, which allowed him to determine friend from foe .

That’s why when the metal-masked man led the way, Chris turned to see Augustin’s reaction, afraid that the metal-mask man was leading them into a trap . Only after having his confirmation did he lead everyone else inside .

“Understood” the Knight of Divine Grace’s deep voice came from underneath his helmet . He drew his knight’s sword halfway out of its scabbard while cautiously sensing his surroundings . The bag of dragon powder he hung on his wrist was swaying ever so slightly to scatter the smell of dragons around them and prevent any Bizarre Scales’ ambush .

As long as they could delay it for even a brief moment, the other teams would quickly arrive to help . Of course, when the time comes, he would also need to sacrifice a few things, including his very life if necessary, to draw the attention of their enemies and allow the other teams to safely reach Negary .

“Wait, be carefu-…” the female priest seemed to have noticed something, but before she could finish her words, her blood had already splashed onto the knight’s armor .

The Knight of Divine Grace immediately drew his sword without hesitation and cautiously listened for the enemy without making any noise . Under his helmet, some liquid was already flowing without him knowing .

At this point, the raid team of 15 people only had 14 people left .