Chapter 197- Trip to the East 16

Words : 1080 Updated : Sep 27th, 2025

The rays of the sun cascaded down the earth in a warm hue, as its brilliance pushed the darkness that came with the moon into its transitory sleep. The morrow had come and with it, new challenges. The sunbeam permeated through the Dome and into the Cave illuminating its interior into a surreal sight. The walls glowed green, with intricate, and iridescent shades of white and black patterns that brought a brilliance to its structure. The Carriages were lined in a row, further into the Cave, while the horses were kept in a make-belief-stable, at the corner of the entrance. The sound of snoring was soon overcome by the sound of loud clapping as a Merchant walked into the Cave with hurried steps. "Wake up! Wake up! We need to get back on track, so get your things prepared and be ready to leave!" Malen announced while he stared at the two merchants left other than himself, and the three errand boys who worked for the Merchants stood sluggishly and tiredly to their feet. He glanced at the other side of the Cave to find the sleeping bodies of the Mercenaries, at least some of them. On counting them, he realized one was missing, and it was the same one that had been giving him a headache for a short while now. "Was it, Kael?" he muttered under his breath when a presence hovered him, and a voice shook him to his very foundation. "Yes?" the presence said, causing him to shift away from his standing position in a defensive stance, only to find pitch-black darkness that hid the face of the very person he thought about. Malen glanced at him and then heard the chatter of the other merchants, causing him to turn their way with an annoyed expression. The Merchants hastened their steps in getting their things ready as a result. While they did so, Malen slowly composed himself as he stared at Raph. "The merchants and I will go first, then the Mercenaries. I hope that all will be well on your side" he said, and slowly turned around to leave when Raph stopped him with a reputation. "Did you check the state of the carriages? Or the horses? Or scout the area to ensure that there aren't any demons left?" Malen turned towards him, with his brows furrowed deeply while the sounds of the Merchant arranging their things began to decrease. "I checked them personally. You don't have to worry about it". They were locked on each other's gazes for a moment, or at least, what seemed like his gaze. Malen wasn't sure, but he definitely wouldn't let a boy try to outsmart him. "I see". After what seemed like an eternity, Raph finally replied and the Merchants resumed their pace while Malen turned to walk away. Discover hidden tales at My Virtual Library Empire This occurred for a few seconds until he was finally able to trace the reason for his peaked interest in the lines. "Are they pulsating?" He muttered with an intrigued tone and began to note down some peculiar characteristics or changes. Soon enough, his interest peaked again for another reason. 'These things....look too natural, and organized to be patterns....and it seems like it leads to somewhere'. He couldn't understand it himself, but something began to chew at him, the more he understood what he saw. He backed off from the wall, dusted his cloak, and began to walk around the Cave, tracing the patterns as he did so. Noticing their rhythmic pulses that came to life each time they glowed green. It was enchanting, nearly deceiving and his thoughts wandered on the probable cause of the phenomenon. His curiosity led him further into the Cave, past the Merchants who had begun to fix up their carriages and the horses together and then Malen, who was busy supervising the process. It seemed like none of these concerned him at the moment, and he was just enjoying the walk. None of them paid him mind of course, or at least most of them. Rodrick would, from time to time, peek at Raph from the third carriage, which held the unconscious bodies of Lucky and Azby. His curiosity got the best of him at some point and he decided to walk after, but not before talking to his teammates. "Hey Cruz, Colyn. Take care of things for me, okay?" He said, ignoring Cruz's complaints and walking after Raph. He walked after Raph carefully, attempting to avoid getting spotted while he observed him. 'Is he....searching for something? What is he thinking?' He thought while Raph halted in his tracks. With a raised brow, he hastened his steps towards him, abandoning the idea of approaching him stealthily. "Hey, Kael?" He muttered with a raised tone in his voice as he got to him, only for Raph to hurriedly place his index finger against his mouth. He halted as well in confusion, while he stared at Raph, who slowly pointed forward. Confused by his action, he looked ahead as well, but just as he assumed when he first glanced at it. He saw nothing. The glowing emerald lights led up to the point where they stood, and beyond that was just a vast darkness that they did not want to thread in. He glanced at Raph, and as usual, he could not tell what the young lad was talking about, but his thoughts began to reel in, in an attempt to convince him. 'If it's Kael, then he must be pointing at something serious'. He looked forward again and squinted his eyes dark, trying to adapt to the irrationality of the darkness. For a moment, it seemed futile, in fact, dumb. He couldn't see anything and couldn't understand what he was made to look at. This continued for a while, up to the point he had begun to lose interest and was about to look away, but just then, something subtle caught his attention. 'What was that? In the darkness?' He thought in confusion as he focused harder. It took his eyes a while to get the image clearly and his brain some further time to process what he saw, but by the time he was done, a clear, vivid image was imprinted on his head that caused a cold shiver to creep up his spine. '7th tier Grand Demon; Mountain Baby'.@@@@

Chapter 197- Trip to the East 16

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