PATCH NOTES:I split chapter 92 in chapter 92+93 for pacing reasons, and added on a small scene that's included below. This scene is basically right before Levi decided to attack the Huntsmen, when the refugees were being chased:
All her life, Hana only knew pain.
It drenched every aspect of her existence, like toxic sludge that seeped into the pores of a sponge. No matter how many times she tried to squeeze it out, it would always return, dirtier and uglier than before.
Her parents were executed when she was only five years old. She couldn’t remember anything from before that. The old man that acted as a healer in their village told her that it could either be psychological or due to the head injury she suffered from the soldier that struck in her head when she tried to rush to her parents.
Hana had hated that soldier for the longest time. Now, though, she felt only gratitude. She owed that soldier her life. Anyone who interfered with a public execution was to be put to death as well.
Over the following years, she did her best to survive in the slums. Due to her speed and agile stats, she gained a job as a messenger. She tried her best, but it was never enough. Sickness, poverty, violence, starvation… She experienced it all.
So when the opportunity came to escape, she didn’t even hesitate to accept. She didn’t care about how her odds of success were so low, they might as well be zero. She didn’t care that the Huntsmen would show her no mercy if, when, they caught her. She didn’t care that the escape offer came from a shadowy cloaked figure that appeared one day in their village, refusing to show their identity.
Call her foolish. She didn’t care.
She just wanted to be able to wake up without fearing for her life every day. She wanted to smell fresh air, air untainted by the constant stench of refuse and waste and death. She wanted to not fall ill every winter because the water supply would get contaminated. She wanted to not be hungry all the time.
The rest of the escapees agreed with her. They listened to the unknown figure’s instructions, taking the exact route that they outlined and finding the wooden cart and horse they’d left for them.
She didn’t know who they were. A member of the Resistance, some traitor inside the Yukihasan military, a concerned third party… It didn’t matter.
To her, they were her potential savior.
And that was enough.
The escape was long and difficult. The figure had given them a map upon which was marked countless traps and obstacles. Minefields, tripwires, hidden wardschemes… They had navigated the route with meticulous care, terrified that the map would be wrong and they’d end up getting blown up.
Fortunately, they made it through.
Only for the Huntsmen to catch up to them, a scant dozen or so feet away from the border line.
How cruel life was.
Hana thought she’d been prepared to die. Thought that she’d accepted it.
But…
When it came down to it, she didn’t want to die.
She locked eyes with the young man in front of her. Some Luminarchan adventurer. A noble, judging by his appearance.
Hana doubted he’d care about her. Nobles never did, regardless of where they were from. They’d never stand up for slum rats like her.
But even still…
“Help,” she whispered.
As she expected, he didn’t do anything. Behind her, the Huntsman’s shadow fell over her. The cold sensation of death washed over her.
“Please.”
The young man’s fingers twitched.
And the nature around them came alive. _______Onto the actual Chapter 96:“We call it the Curtain. It is without doubt one of the most advanced, complex, and elegant barriers in the entire world.”
They stood in front of a flowing river. It was clearly manmade, only about a foot wide, and it was debatable whether it could even be called a river or not. The river cut a perfectly straight line across the forest, the foliage abruptly stopping at the edge, as if there were some unseen repellent making sure that the water remained visible. Not that the river was the barrier; rather, it merely denoted the point of no return, a naked warning to those on either side that to cross it was to invite death.
Though the Huntsman’s expression was emotionless as he regarded the river, his tone was almost reverent in contrast.
“The Curtain is sustained by a vast runic ward schema created over the course of a decade that covers a hundred square meters in total,” he continued. “The Dragon’s Leyline that powers it ensures that it will never run out of mana. It utilizes over a dozen detection protocols, and even I don’t know how to bypass them all. Invisibility, teleportation, animal transformations… It matters not. The moment you cross this river, the Curtain will know, and then your lives will be forfeit–”
“Annnd that should do it,” Levi said, interrupting him. He waved his hand in a complicated motion before stabbing forward in a lazy thrust. The Curtain, which had been invisible, shimmered into sight. It was a hazy pale green color, but before their eyes, it steadily receded from the point where Levi stabbed his hand until there was a circular hole about three meters in diameter. “Let’s go.”
The Huntsman stared at him, then stared at the hole. Beneath his blank expression, Levi got the distinct sense that he was utterly flabbergasted. “What did you just… What?”
They made their way into Yukihasa. As the Huntsman passed through the opening, he glanced down at a tattoo on the back of his hand, as if expecting it to somehow react. When nothing happened, the confusion radiating off him intensified tenfold.
“Impressive,” Selene said, glancing behind them as they continued forward. “Puncturing and expanding space to create an opening while not disturbing the space occupied by the barrier itself?”
Levi smiled. “You have good eyes.”
Indeed, the Huntsman had been correct when he said that it was impossible to pass through the barrier unnoticed. Unless, of course, one technically did not pass through the barrier, but rather manipulated the fabrics of space to create a spatial opening while keeping the barrier itself intact. A technique Levi had shamelessly stolen from a master thief back in the day.
The Huntsman quickly regained his composure, albeit seeming a bit more perturbed than before. It appeared that Levi’s bypassing of the barrier unsettled him even more than Levi effortlessly taking down his entire squad. However, he didn’t let it show outwardly, instead continuing with his explanation of Yukihasa’s internal state.
“The war is mainly fought on the central islands,” the Huntsman said as he led them through the forest on an elaborate route to avoid all the traps. Levi and Selene were both ready to impale him in the back if he tried to escape or do something unsavory, but it appeared that this Huntsman’s self-preservation skills were particularly high. Merriweather would be proud. “Western Yukihasa, containing the mainland and the larger islands, are fully under the Emperor’s control, while the Resistance occupies the islands out in the far east. They’ve been steadily expanding their territory over the past decade, but just a few weeks ago they suffered a major loss and had to evacuate from several sizable islands. As of today, the Resistance controls just a little under a third of Yukihasa – and that number is sure to go down as the war continues.”
Levi hummed thoughtfully. They were currently on the mainland, traveling eastward. Though…
“Do you happen to know anything about the Hollow cultist that escaped to Yukihasa roughly eight centuries ago?”
The Huntsman paused. “Slaisah the Abhorrent? The one who attempted an artificial daemon transformation?”
“The one and the same,” Levi confirmed. “Do you know where he originally fled to within Yukihasa?”
The Huntsman was silent for several moments as he recalled the information. “Our records from that time are spotty,” he finally said. “I know he was ultimately found on the island of Fuki” – Anastasia nodded; the information matched up with the Church’s records – ”but he’d traveled all throughout Yukihasa before that, as though he were in search of something. I believe he spent most of his time scouring the eastern islands? I don’t recall which ones, though.” He paused. “Why?”
“Nothing you need to know,” Levi said, exchanging a glance with the other two. “For now, just take us to a nearby town.”
It was nearly midnight, and he’d like to get at least some rest for the night. He could see Anastasia stifling yawns out of the corner of his eye, though Selene looked serene as always.
“Sure,” the Huntsman agreed easily. “There’s a farming town up ahead, though by now it’s more of a city. That okay with you?”
Levi nodded before casting an inverted sound canceling charm around the Huntsman’s head, cutting off all sound from the outside world. The Huntsman’s head jerked at the sudden silence and he let out an annoyed grunt, but he knew better than to complain. Levi then turned to Anastasia. “Did the Church ever manage to map out Slaisah the Abhorrent’s movements?”
Anastasia shook her head. “Once we found him in Fuki and put him down, that was the end of it. Back then, Yukihasa didn’t look too kindly upon the Church, and we didn’t want to overstay our welcome.”
“Hmm…” Levi furrowed his brow. “We’ll have to investigate the eastern islands and see if they have any remaining local historical records or oral traditions, then. This might take a while.”
The archipelago of Yukihasa had hundreds of islands. Even if they kept to only the ones out in the far east, that was still dozens upon dozens of islands they had to investigate.
And that was assuming that the Source had a physical location at all. If the Source was metaphysical in nature, or if it was hidden by some folded or layered space…
Levi could already feel a headache developing at the base of his skull. He resolved to put it out of his mind for now. It was too late to think about it; he’d deal with it tomorrow.
After about thirty minutes, they reached the city of Oroppo. Yukihasa’s islands weren’t able to sustain much agriculture, so the country relied largely on the farms on the continental mainland. In the past, they would’ve also imported food from other countries, but with the borders closed, they had to dramatically increase their reliance on their own farms.
Oroppo was one such farming city that’d undergone rapid development through the past decade to meet the higher demand. They crossed vast fields of crops: rice paddies, orchards of fruit trees, rows upon rows of legumes… Oroppo easily rivaled the size of Canum.
As they approached the stone walls surrounding the city proper, the Huntsman turned around and gestured at his ears. Levi blinked, then coughed when he realized that he’d forgotten to disable the sound-canceling charm earlier. He hurriedly did so, and the Huntsman spoke.
“It’s very obvious that you three are foreigners. You’ll need to disguise yourselves somehow. ”
Ah, right. Yukihasa had a standing kill-on-sight order for all foreigners. Even though Levi was confident that the three of them could take on the local militia with no effort at all, he still wanted to preserve secrecy and keep a low profile for as long as possible. It was the same reason why he hadn’t just barged through the Curtain; he’d rather not deal with waves after waves of Huntsmen being sent after them.
Levi applied a glamour charm to himself, adjusting his features and clothing. He applied a glamour to Anastasia as well, her golden blonde hair turning midnight black. Selene, for her part, simply closed her eyes and concentrated; her appearance began physically morphing a moment later. Demons tended to hold some innate shapeshifting abilities, though it was limited.
The Huntsman eyed them with a critical eye. “Good enough. Just don’t say anything; your accents will give you away.”
At the gates, the Huntsman had a muttered exchange with the guards on duty. This time, Anastasia joined Levi and Selene in preparing her skills in case the Huntsman decided to betray them, but he held true to his word. The guards appeared to be too terrified of the Huntsman to question him; they stepped to the side and allowed them in with barely a question.
The moment they entered Oroppo, Levi immediately knew that despite the agricultural expansion, Yukihasa still wasn’t able to sustain itself properly. It was evident in the gaunt figures of all the citizens that walked around them, their cheeks sunken and their bones angular against their pulled skin. The signs of constant low-grade starvation were obvious. And this was a farming city too…
Selene remained completely unaffected, but Anastasia regarded the people around them with pain in her eyes. She knew the logistics better than Levi; she must be aware that if Yukihasa just opened its borders and allowed food imports, then the people here wouldn’t be suffering.
There was only one inn for the entire city. Since the western area of Yukihasa was firmly under imperial control, travel was still allowed, though it was a lot less than before. The inn had plenty of rooms, and when the innkeeper caught sight of the Huntsman, he immediately offered the rooms for free.
The Huntsman paid in full. Levi and Anastasia didn’t even have to prompt him. They had a brief dinner, and then they retreated to their rooms for the night.
Levi spent ten minutes inscribing runic scripts on the walls of the Huntsman’s room. The Huntsman watched him with some bemusement, but didn’t object. He was probably just relieved that Levi didn’t decide to break his limbs to ensure he wouldn’t be able to escape.
Admittedly, the thought did cross Levi’s mind for a second…
But the Huntsman had been cooperative, even polite, so far, and so Levi settled on using the runic scripts for now. After inscribing the final one, Levi channeled some magic into them, and a barrier came to life, covering the walls entirely.
“Oh,” Levi said as an afterthought. “Did you, ah, need to go to the restroom?”
The Huntsman shook his head. “I’ll manage.”
Levi then returned to his own room, only to find Selene and Anastasia arguing with each other once again. When they saw him, Selene fell oddly silent.
Anastasia was the first one to speak. “She’s insisting on sharing a room with you,” she said, appalled by the very thought.
Levi paused. Oh, right. On their way to Durlistle, they had camped outside in the wilderness every night. This was their first time sleeping in an inn. “I see. And?”
Anastasia stared at him. “What if she does something while you’re asleep?”
“What makes you think she’ll do something?”
“She’s an archdemon… I mean, why else would she insist on being in the same room?”
Levi shrugged wordlessly. “She hasn’t done anything the previous few times. I doubt she’ll start now.”
“The previous few times?”
In the end, Anastasia insisted on staying in the same room as well, to make sure Selene didn’t try anything. Selene merely scoffed, got into her bed, and went to sleep.
Anastasia and Levi stayed awake for a little while longer, sitting next to each other on Anastasia’s bed. There were only two beds in the room; Levi opted to sleep on the floor.
“What you did earlier today,” Anastasia began, her voice quiet. “Are you certain about what you did?”
Levi blinked. “Saving the refugees? Yeah, of course. Don’t you agree that was the right choice?”
“I do. It’s just…” Anastasia hesitated. “This is different from attacking Montague Castle. There, the worst that would’ve happened was Duke Montague retaliating, or perhaps the Royal Sentinels and Adventurer’s Guild getting involved. You, Qorbin, and Liliya would’ve been the only casualties. Here, however… You caused an international incident, one that will result in a full-on war if it gets out. The consequences this time have the potential to be so much worse, and…” She trailed off uncertainly.
“I’ll make it work, don’t worry.”
“I hope so,” Anastasia said. “I don’t know how long it’ll be before Yukihasa discovers what truly happened at Durlistle, but once they do… I’d like to think that the three of us can persuade Yukihasa to change their policies before then, but the truth is… I’m strong, but I’m just a High Priestess. You may be an archmage and Selene may be an archdemon, but… We’re up against an entire country.”
Levi was silent for a moment.
Well. He didn’t blame Anastasia for being worried. He also doubted there was anything he could really say to assuage her worries, at least not at the moment. So he just nodded.
“Then we’ll just have to make sure to not mess up.”
Anastasia cracked a smile. “Of course–” She paused as she noticed something. Selene was fast asleep, but she was tossing and turning around, her face twisted and strained. It was clear that her dreams were disturbing her. Anastasia gazed at her for a long moment. Finally, quietly, she said, “She lost her entire world, didn’t she? To two entities that couldn’t even be perceived.”
Levi nodded.
Anastasia seemed to realize now why Selene was so insistent on not being alone as she slept. Her face softened.
“Soon,” she said. “Soon, we’ll reach the Source. And then we can figure out what to do from there.”
The next morning, they had a quick breakfast – rice porridge and some nuts – before setting out to leave. The inn was at the center of the city, around a ten-minute walk away from the gates. About halfway in, Levi suddenly came to a stop.
“What,” he said flatly.
Anastasia, Selene, and the Huntsman stopped as well, turning to look.
In the marketplace, a small crowd had gathered around wooden gallows. There were several men, prisoners, in line to be hung. They were made to carry signs with symbols upon them.
“Civilians caught stealing grain,” the Huntsman said, interpreting the symbols. “An executable offense. You see it every now and then – when someone gets too hungry, too desperate.” He tsked. “A shame.”
“And why is that?” Levi asked, his voice deceptively calm.
The Huntsman shrugged. “Well, they don’t just stop at executing the perpetrator alone. To disincentivise any other offenders, they often execute the entire family.”
Indeed, behind the men stood–
Children in chains, waiting their turn for the rope.
Levi stared for a long moment as the executioner and the assistants got the men and children into position, securing the ropes around their necks.
Then, he let out a deep breath.
Okay.
Forget about keeping a low profile.
He needed to have some words.