Chapter 411: I’ll Be Ready

The forest grew strangely quiet the further Damien and Arielle traveled east. Birds no longer sang.

Even the insects seemed to avoid the area. Every now and then, Arielle would stop mid-step, her staff glowing faintly as her eyes scanned the shadows between the trees.

“Something’s wrong here,” she murmured.

“Well… someone finally spoke up.” Damien nodded, though his gaze was already fixed ahead. He had felt it too—a faint pulse of essence unlike anything natural. It was distorted, sharp-edged, lingering in the air like smoke after a fire.

“Stay close,” he said.

The two pressed on until the trees broke apart, revealing a barren stretch of ground scarred with blackened soil.

At the far end stood what had once been a building. Stone walls jutted out at odd angles, half-collapsed, with shattered beams and scorched rubble scattered across the ground in various places.

Arielle drew in a sharp breath. “A stronghold?”

Damien crouched, running his fingers over a charred stone. The residue of magic essence clung to it, faint but undeniable. “Not a stronghold. A hideout.” He straightened, eyes narrowing. “And it wasn’t destroyed from the outside. Look at the wall breaks—they’re bursting outward.”

Her brow furrowed. “Something broke free.”

“Not something. Many. Most likely the tainted mana beasts that Delwig dealt with.” Damien stood up and scanned the area for a second before he spoke again. “Let’s go in.”

They stepped inside cautiously, the echo of their boots against stone unnervingly loud. The interior was worse.

Cells lined the walls, their iron bars twisted and melted as though torn apart by beasts far too powerful for confinement. Some cages were shattered completely, others scorched black from essence explosions.

The stench was overwhelming—demonic essence still clung to the walls like a greasy film, the air thick enough to sting the nose.

Arielle gagged, covering her mouth. “It reeks of corruption…”

Damien remained quiet, his eyes scanning. He stopped at a broken cage, kneeling to touch the chains scattered across the ground. They were etched with faded runes, containment seals burned to useless ash.

“They were restraining mana beasts here,” he said, voice low. “Force-feeding them demonic essence until they broke.”

Arielle’s eyes widened. “This was… the birthplace of the ones we fought outside Delwig.”

Damien’s jaw clenched. He picked up a shard of bone from the ground—too small to belong to a beast. He turned it in his fingers, his expression darkening. “Not just beasts. People too.”

Arielle froze. “People…?”

He pointed to the remains of a smaller cell, barely wide enough to house a human. Shackles still dangled from the wall, their metal warped and stained a deep, unnatural black. Arielle’s skin crawled at the sight.

“They weren’t just experimenting on beasts,” Damien continued grimly. “Whoever was behind this wanted to see if humans could endure the same corruption.”

Silence hung heavy between them. Arielle’s grip on her staff tightened until her knuckles whitened. “Then that means… there could be corrupted humans walking free.”

Damien didn’t answer. He didn’t need to. The thought alone was enough to chill the blood.

They pressed deeper into the hideout. The walls grew narrower, the air heavier. At the center of the ruin, they found a chamber unlike the others.

This one was lined with cracked glass tubes, each large enough to contain a grown man or beast. Essence stains still clung to the insides, glowing faintly crimson in the darkness.

Arielle’s voice was a whisper. “How many did they make?”

“Probably enough to matter.” Damien ran his hand across the rim of one shattered tube. It was slick, sticky with residue even after abandonment.

He lifted his fingers to the light—his skin glowed faintly red. He clenched his fist, wiping it off quickly.

“This wasn’t destroyed by intruders,” he said firmly. “The captives broke out. Look at the claw marks. The scorch patterns. The destruction started inside these walls.”

Arielle’s expression hardened. “So they’re loose.”

“Yes. And considering the tracks outside, they headed west—toward Delwig.”

For a moment, neither spoke. The implication was clear. The hideout was abandoned, yes, but its work had already succeeded. The corrupted beasts they’d fought so far were only the beginning.

Damien exhaled slowly, forcing calm into his voice. “We need to report this to Ivaan. The general must know what’s festering on his borders.”

Arielle nodded, but she couldn’t shake the unease pressing on her chest. She turned toward him, frowning. “You’re too calm about this. Did you expect to find something like this?”

Damien paused at the question, his eyes unreadable. “…Not exactly. But I already knew someone was experimenting. The beasts we’ve faced weren’t random mutations—they were manufactured as I stated repeatedly before. This just confirms it.”

Arielle studied him for a long moment, then looked away. There were times Damien’s composure unsettled her more than the horrors they faced.

They made their way back out of the ruined hideout, the sunlight outside a sharp contrast to the gloom within. Yet even the sun seemed dimmer, muted by the weight of what they had discovered.

As they reached the treeline, Damien stopped. His gaze swept across the ground, lingering on deep gouges in the earth. Massive footprints, half human, half beast, pressed into the soil.

He crouched low, tracing one with his hand. “…Some of them didn’t leave days ago. These are fresh.”

Arielle’s breath hitched. “You mean—”

“They’re still close.” Damien rose, his eyes sharp as steel. “And if we don’t find them first, they’ll find us.”

~~~~~

Meanwhile, back in Delwig, Lyone collapsed into the dirt after another sparring session, sweat dripping from his chin. Apnoch stood over him, arms crossed.

“You’re improving,” the captain admitted gruffly. “But don’t get cocky. Out there, hesitation gets you killed. And remember—your talent won’t save you if you lean on it every time.”

Lyone, chest heaving, forced himself to nod. In his mind, though, he saw Damien’s serious expression when he was leaving the last time with Arielle.

They didn’t go with him because he wasn’t ready and even now, he still wasn’t ready.

Lyone clenched his fists. “I’ll be ready,” he muttered to himself.

But even as he spoke the words, Damien and Arielle were walking straight into the shadow of horrors far beyond what Lyone could yet imagine.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep