The horses neighed as the entrance to the second mountain was in their line of sight.

Only a mere fence served as the indicator that they were now going inside the second mountain of the Mir Mountains and Pier fiddled his fingers in anxiousness.

"So... where are we going now?" Pier asked as the carriage stopped just right outside the fences.

"Get off," Ciaran said and Pier had a disbelieving look on his face.

"No, what if you suddenly leave me here?!" He said in a nervous voice and Ciaran tried not to facepalm himself.

"I will get off too," He explained and Pier had a slightly relieved look on his face.

"Really?" He asked.

"Yes"

"Can you get off first so I can make sure you won't leave me?" He said while doing a fake puppy eye behind Ciaran even though the man could not see his face.

Sigh

Ciaran took a huge breathe at Pier's child-like attitude again.

He got off the coachman's place and hurried to open the door of the wooden carriage for Pier.

"We have arrived at our destination, young master," Ciaran spoke as he bowed slightly and he held his hand out for Pier to grab on to.

"Hehe, thanks man," Pier said in a goofy voice as he played along with Ciaran's act of respect towards him.

When they fully got off, Pier turned to look around.

The trees of the second mountain were a lot bigger than the first one. They extended so high above that Pier does not know if he can even climb one.

'The trees here are even bigger than the one back at the forest!' He recalled the time when he fought with the magic beast at Sokran Forest and saved Gideon.

"Hey, can you at least give me a gist of what the monsters here are like?" He asked as he stepped on a dry leaf and it produced a crunchy sound as it broke down into smaller pieces at the pressure.

"They do not like hearing the sound of dry leaves getting stepped on."

Eek!

Immediately, Pier shrieked as he clung to Ciaran's arms.

The green-eyed man lightly laughed at Pier and the young master turned to smack him in the arm.

"That's not nice," Pier said as he distanced himself from Ciaran, not that he actually did. He just stood firmly beside the man and held onto Ciaran's arm with a small gap between them.

"Really?" Ciaran had an amused look on his face.

He had finally thought about it after all the thinking he did.

It was not a façade that Pier was trying to have.

Both of Pier's childlike side and his serious one are a product of his genuine emotions.

Ciaran concluded that it simply depends on the young master's emotions on which side he chooses to show.

Ciaran then proceeded to put his hand on his mouth and he whistled.

The noise rang out in the seemingly desolate and quiet mountain.

"I thought you said monsters hate noises, why are you making one so loud!" Pier half-whispered and Ciaran shrugged his shoulders.

"I wanted to call monsters?"

Pier gasped at the statement.

"I hope you get attacked first!" He wished and Ciaran laughed at the words.

"They won't see me though," He spoke, and immediately, the dark surroundings became even darker. Pier's eyes widened as he watched everything get blacker until he could only catch the rustling of the trees.

"H-Hey, Ciaran?" He called but the man did not answer. Pier held on the man's arm tighter as his anxiousness skyrocketed at the sudden darkness.

"They're here," He whispered and Pier had a scared look on his face as he turned his head to where Ciaran was.

"W-Who?" He asked but all he got was silence in response.

Rustle!

The trees and the plants around them started to shake again and Pier started to produce his fire magic to give light too.

"Do not use your magic," Ciaran instructed in a low voice and Pier stopped doing so.

He was still clutching Ciaran's arm in fear.

"Remember to always cover your face whatever happens," He explained in the darkness and Pier nodded his head.

He did not want to make any noise and he was hoping that it was Ciaran who would get attacked first by any monster who approached them so he allowed the stranger to do all the talking.

Pier adjusted the hood of the oversized cloak better and it covered his face fully.

It was then, Pier started to hear a new kind of sound in his surroundings.

'Footsteps?' He tried to discern the now abundant noise around him.

"Shadow," a voice called out and Pier flinched as he turned his head in the direction of the sound. However, regardless of how good his eyesight was, he could not pierce through the darkness.

"Yes," Ciaran spoke and Pier also turned to look at the man beside him.

'Who are these people?' Pier wanted to ask but he was trying so hard to imagine he had some sort of invisibility magic that he would not get noticed by the person who just called Ciaran 'shadow'.

"Who's that person beside you?"

'Fuck.' he cursed silently when all his efforts of imagining he was invisible went all down the drain.

"This person will help us with the rampage," He spoke and Pier was starting to sprout a question mark from his head with all the confusion he was getting from the conversation.

The voice from the shadow did not speak for a moment.

"Cia-" Pier opened his mouth to talk with Ciaran but before he could even finish speaking Ciaran's name, he saw the vivid image of a dark figure running towards him at an extremely fast speed.

'Wha-'

Clang!

Pier did not have time to process what had just happened. All he knew was a clash between two metal objects happened based on the clanging noise he had heard.

"Why are you protecting that person, Shadow?" The voice asked again and Pier's body shivered when he saw the small shining things from afar.

'Knives?' He shuddered at the view and he closed the distance between him and Ciaran once more as he felt scared.

"If that person is someone who will help us with the rampage then they should have the capacity to defend themselves!" The voice spoke in an angry manner and Pier had to cower beside Ciaran's side.

"This person does not have to fight. His task will be to destroy the monument while we go in the vanguard," Ciaran spoke again in a low and threatening voice as he felt the person beside him slightly shake in fear.

"Hah!" The voice asked in disbelief.

"Hex, stop," It was now a woman's voice that Pier heard.

'How many are there?' He tried to guess but there was no specific number that popped up in his mind.

"How could we let a stranger enter our already endangered place, Clone!" The angry voice spat with viciousness and Pier felt a piercing gaze look through him.

"Shadow personally brought him here, there's nothing to worry about," The woman's voice spoke calmly and Pier swore he could hear the angry voice snorting at the statement.

'Hello, I come in peace...?' He wanted to say it out loud but he was afraid that the seemingly endless amount of blades he had seen would be buried in his body.

It was no time for jokes because he only had Ciaran to protect him from the voices.

"Enough," Ciaran's voice spoke out loud, and immediately, the darkness started to subside.

'....' Pier observed what just happened as he stared at Ciaran.

'Could it be?' He started to make assumptions in his head about what he had just seen.

The darkness subsided and it went back to the normal scenario he had seen before arriving at the entrance of the second mountain.

There, Pier's eyes widened when he saw the sight that unfolded before him.

"C-Ciaran..." He whispered as he pulled on the man's cloak. Ciaran turned his head to look at Pier again and he saw Pier was pointing up at something above.

'Oh'

He wanted to laugh at Pier's face but the young master was probably scared shitless out of his mind right now so he decided not to.

Up above the trees, there were countless black crows perched on each branch and they were all looking at the two individuals who had their footing on the ground.

"Disperse," at Ciaran's commands, all the crows flapped their wings simultaneously and they started to dive at the ground.

"Aah! They're going to peck my eyes out!" Pier shrieked as he covered himself with Ciaran's cloak and the green-eyed man could not help but laugh at how Pier looked so terribly scared at the murder of crows that was descending.

"What are you laughing at you idiot! Cover your eyes!" Pier called out as he also proceeded to grab Ciaran's neck with his other hand and pulled the man down to cover his eyes with his other free hand.

Pier hid his face in Ciaran's cloak while he was covering the man's eyes with his own two hands.

'It would be bad if Ciaran gets blind from getting his eyes pecked out! I won't have a guide anymore!' He panicked as he prioritized covering Ciaran's eyes with his hands.

However, it was far from what he had expected. The murder of crows all flew past them and started to land on the ground that was in front of them.

After a few minutes of silence, Ciaran decided to speak.

"Hey, Frosty, you get scared very easily for someone who is a successor of a household expert in war," He whispered in Pier's ear and the young master flinched at the sudden baritone voice that reached his ears.

Pier decided to peek through Ciaran's cloak with only one eye open and the other still closed.

And Alas! there he saw the group of crows all gathered in front while watching them intensely.

"Should we burn them?" Pier asked as he kept his other eye closed.

'Gotta keep an eye out for Selener!' He remembered a particular phrase he learned in college from the superficial friends he made.

He secretly started to move his hands towards inside the cloak he was wearing. Pier was planning to do a surprise attack with his fire magic on the scary crows when Ciaran spoke.

"Don't"

"Huh?"

"Don't burn them"

"Why not?"

"Remove your hands from my eyes first," Ciaran spoke and Pier did a small 'oh' before he noticed his hand was still grabbing Ciaran's neck and the other was covering his eyes.

"Why shouldn't I burn them?" Pier asked as the crows silently stared at them.

"Because..."

Ciaran whistled again with one of his hands.

At the signal, the crows immediately started to fly again but this time, they were swirling around in groups. Pier watched with wide eyes as the crows all went into groups and they flew closer to each other. The group of crows ranged up to a hundred if Pier were to estimate them.

A few seconds passed and black smoke started to arise from each group the crows formed.

The young master had his mouth agape at the beautiful yet eerie sight.

The black smoke became thicker and thicker until it consumed all the crows and Pier could see none left.

"Y-You dare!" A voice rang out from the black smoke after a few more seconds and Pier flinched at how angry the voice sounded.

A person wearing a black cloak like his and Ciaran stepped out of the smoke and angrily marched towards Pier.

"Remove your hood and let me see the face of the person who dared to touch the chief!" It was hard to differentiate whether the voice was that of a male or female and the cloak was covering the person's face so Pier could only stand there unmoving as the person who emerged from the smoke approached him.

"Ciaran, do you know that person?" Pier asked out loud. The hood of his oversized cloak was still covering his entire frame so he was not worried that people would see his face.

"You insolent and audacious person You can not call the chief's name carelessly!" The person screamed and Pier had a baffled look on his face.

Ciaran sighed as he stood in front of Pier to stop the cloaked figure from reaching Pier.

"That's enough, Hex," Ciaran said and the person removed the hood from covering his head.

Pier watched the angry person reveal themselves and he quietly whistled once he saw the cloaked person's appearance.

Long purplish hair

Black eyes

Extremely pale skin

Tall frame

'He looks like a vampire...' Pier thought when he saw the man's face.

"Shadow! Why are you letting this insolent brat call you by your name and pull you like that!" Hex raged in anger as he stomped his foot on the ground.

"Calm down, Hex. Welcome back, Shadow," Another person emerged from the smoke and Pier glanced at the person.

She had her hood down so Pier was able to easily see her appearance.

Just like the man named Hex, the woman had short purplish hair, black eyes, and extremely pale skin.

'Siblings?'

He contemplated on his mind while hiding behind Ciaran.

The woman turned to look at him and he flinched when her gaze reached him.

"Good evening, it is my pleasure to meet the person who will help us with the rampage. My name is Clone," she introduced herself and Pier only stood there.

'What a weird name. First, we have the lousy Ciaran, second, we have Hex that is frequently associated with voodoo and now we have a woman named Clone,' He did not want to admit it but Eliam was the type of person to just keep quiet but he was already judging a lot of things in his mind.

"SISTER, WHY ARE YOU TALKING TO THAT PERSON POLITELY!?" Hex screamed in anger and Pier had the thought of covering his ears constantly whenever he sees Hex.

"Why not, the mysterious figure wearing Shadow's cloak seems gentle," She spoke and Ciaran gave another sigh as he removed the hood of his cloak as well.

"W-What?! SHADOW, YOU GAVE HIM YOUR CLOAK?!" Veins started to appear on Hex's temples at the mention of Ciaran giving his cloak to a mere stranger.

"Yes, now enough," Ciaran spoke with a warning tone. Hex immediately closed his mouth and Clone smirked at her brother.

"As I have said, this person will be the one who will help us in the rampage. Please introduce yourself," Ciaran explained and Pier furrowed his eyebrows at the last statement.

'Introduce myself? Is he crazy? Why would I introduce myself to a bunch of murderer accomplices?!' The absurd thought of introducing himself made Pier shudder in resentment.

Ciaran only stared at the cloaked Pier who did not speak.

"I... I am Pier, nice to meet you..." Hex's nose flared with anger at the introduction and Clone had a calculating gaze towards Pier.

However, the two were even more surprised when Ciaran patted the person named Pier's head as he chuckled lightly.

They had their eyes opened wide at the scenario.

"Greet the guest," Ciaran spoke, and immediately, countless footsteps started to emerge also from the smoke.

Pier watched in awe as hundreds of individuals wearing the same black cloak as him emerged from the thick smoke.

'Did I just get into some sort of cult?!'

"We greet the guest!" They spoke in unison and Pier was frozen stiff at the loud voices.

"Welcome to Nightfall, Pier," Ciaran spoke and Pier widened his eyes.

---

Clang!

Two swords clashed against each other.

The one wearing a knight's armor gritted his teeth as he exerted more force into the sword. However, the person who was wearing royalty's clothes did not even bat an eye.

'This person dared to ask my master in becoming his concubine?!' Gideon tightened his grip on his sword's handle as he further added force and the other person's hands slowly started to get pushed back.

'I will make sure you suffer for the disrespect you have given to my master!' He flared with anger as he took a step back and attacked once more.