Chapter 152
She had no idea what the Nu clan had done.
Nor could she understand why.
Power was only sustained as long as there were people to serve under it.
What could they possibly gain by ruining the entire South?
“Jin.”
At Yasamin’s brief summons, smoke gathered, and Jin appeared.
“We’re heading south. Go ahead of us and assess the situation.”
“Understood. Has something happened?”
“Read this.”
“…Everything was fine when I was there.”
Jin’s expression was just as dumbfounded. Understandably so. It hadn’t been long since he’d returned, and yet, something like this had unfolded in the meantime.
“Enough. Go immediately and report back.”
“Yes, sir.”
With a bow, Jin vanished.
Siren called for Pamilla to prepare for the journey, while Yasamin hurried off to find Eltan.
And so, hours later, when the moon had risen—
The three of them mounted their horses, spurring them forward without hesitation.
“Hyah!”
With the urgency pressing down on them, they had packed only the bare essentials.
Now, all that remained was to ride.
“Grrr…”
“Rrrrr…”
Without stopping to sleep, they raced across the desert, breathless.
She had expected the situation to have worsened, given that several days had passed since receiving the note.
But wasn’t this too much?
Siren couldn’t hide her devastation as she gazed at the village standing at the desert’s edge.
Beneath the scorching rays of the brilliant sun, a child, turned into an infected, wandered aimlessly.
Clouded eyes, a rotting arm, dragging legs.
Everything about the child showed that a considerable amount of time had passed since the infection took hold.
“Don’t look, Sei.”
“…Ah.”
“We don’t have time to fight our way through. We’ll pass as quietly as possible for now—we need to check the royal castle first.”
“…Alright.”
Breathing wasn’t easy.
She couldn’t tell if it was because of the heat of the South or the ache in her heart.
How had the infection spread this far?
Everything had been fine when they left Wilkeron!
“Master.”
As they moved, keeping to the shadows, Jin emerged.
“The royal castle is empty. Additionally, we have yet to locate the Nu clan.”
“Keep looking.”
“As you command.”
Although Jin had been sent ahead to the castle, they needed to go as well, in case there were traces Jin had missed.
“Hies wouldn’t have left without leaving any clues.”
Yasamin muttered under his breath, running a hand roughly through his hair.
“You said there was no way this wasn’t Hies’ doing.”
“That’s right. I don’t know the reason, but if the Nu clan is moving, it’s because of Hies’ will. And Hies… wants to have me. He must have left a message somewhere, as if luring me in.”
“Even so, to resort to this…”
The more she thought about it, the angrier she became.
A mere execution wouldn’t be enough to make up for this.
The South had turned into a ghost town.
There was almost no trace of the living.
If they were only hiding, that would be a relief. But if not…
‘There are too many infected wandering the streets.’
If this continued for another week, the people would either die from infection or from starvation.
In the end, it would be one or the other.
‘Is there no spell to turn the infected back into people?’
It would take an almost miraculous power—but was it truly impossible?
To heal rotting flesh, regenerate severed limbs, and restore failing organs to their proper function.
Could such a healing technique be spread across the entire South?
Gods were not omnipotent.
Unlike humans, they could wield Raksha, but they were still bound by its rules.
As she walked through the alleyways, Siren thought over it again and again.
Was there a way to resolve this, even if it meant sacrificing herself?
And finally, when they arrived at the chillingly silent royal castle—she realized.
Perhaps this was the moment when the great cycle of fate demanded repayment.
‘The place I abandoned and left behind. A problem born because of me, one I must resolve myself. The time has come to close the second act of my life.’
If so, then this was both destiny and inevitability.
A duty and a responsibility.
Crossing the unlit corridors of the royal castle, they headed for the temple.
It was owned by the Nu clan, making it a place even the southern warriors rarely approached.
Yasamin, wielding the Raksha of fire to illuminate the surroundings, strode forward with a hardened expression.
Behind the statue of the Sun God Nu, a passage stood slightly open.
With a firm push, a massive secret tunnel was revealed.
“Ugh.”
The stench wafting from the entrance made Siren pinch her nose.
She conjured a flame of her own and sent it drifting inside.
“Were there infected in here?”
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