No Entry Except for the Master - Chapter 68

In the end, Teia and Lilith departed for the Rafelia Archipelago, packing light and moving quickly. Cesar wanted to accompany them, but he had to stay behind to keep an eye on the Crown Prince in the capital. While tracking Hecate, evidence surfaced of Hecate making contact with the Crown Prince. That couldn’t be ignored.

“Keep a low profile and bring Hecate back—even just one of them is enough. The Crown Prince can be discarded whenever we want. What matters is that unknown bastard suddenly attached to him.”

Cesar, recalling Teia’s orders, had no choice but to remain in the capital, waiting for the right moment.

Despite the ominous name “Island of Death,” reaching the Rafelia Archipelago wasn’t difficult. There were no treacherous currents to cross, no mythical sea monsters to fend off. Just eerie silence.

The waters around the archipelago were unnaturally calm. No wind, no current—an ocean that didn’t move, utterly devoid of life. It became clear why it was called the Island of Death. The lifeless waters didn’t stir; they didn’t even deserve to be called an ocean.

“Why do you want to go there? There’s nothing to see—just gives me the creeps.”

“Well, it’s unclaimed land. I want to see if it’s worth investing in.”

“Heh, you’re quite the strange noble, aren’t you?”

No ships wanted to go near those cursed waters. With no wind or waves, it was nearly impossible to sail, and the dead ocean held no value for humans—just a pool of stagnant, rotting water.

Still, Teia paid handsomely to hire people willing to break the silence and take him to the archipelago. He and Lilith headed to the largest island, where the sacred mountain of the spirits, Mount Hielii, stood.

As soon as their feet touched land, the ground began to tremble. It was the moment the land, asleep for thousands of years, awakened to welcome its long-awaited guests.

The sailors who brought them recoiled from the cold stillness and fled. They promised to return on a set day, but they left in haste. Teia didn’t stop them—he didn’t want unnecessary information leaking. For a man hiding his magical abilities, having random people lingering nearby was more annoying than useful.

Like a man on vacation, Teia calmly surveyed the island. The Island of Death was truly devoid of life—not even a rat stirred. He now understood why silence and death were one and the same here. No wind, no meaningless noise.

It felt like even time had stopped. As if the island had been stripped of life and forced to live forever as a preserved corpse.

“There’s nothing else to check—shall we go straight to the place in question?”

Teia needed to verify not only the existence of the werebeasts but also that of the spirits. He also wanted to find out whether the spirit Lilith borrowed power from had any connection to the ones mentioned in the legend.

Without hesitation, Teia began ascending Mount Hielii. Lilith followed along closely behind him. Contrary to what its name suggested, the mountain was covered in dead trees.

They looked lush and green on the outside but were rotted black within—lifeless husks. Rather than returning to the soil as they naturally should, time itself seemed to have stopped, suspending everything in a state of stasis.

Lilith clung tightly to Teia’s hand, afraid to lose him, but her face twitched as the noisy voices returned. Voices that had once only haunted her dreams now echoed in reality as they climbed the mountain. She tried to endure, but the chorus of sounds grew louder and heavier, bearing down on her.

“Hngh…”

“Is it too much for you?”

Teia immediately noticed the change in her. He stopped walking and examined her pale, sweat-drenched face as she gasped for breath. Seeing him hesitate as if considering turning back, Lilith pulled his hand forward. She looked as though she were possessed, driven by instinct—by some unseen force pushing her to keep going.

The roles had reversed: Lilith was now leading Teia up the mountain. Teia matched her pace, careful not to overexert her, playing along reluctantly. They had reached about halfway up when Lilith’s body suddenly collapsed. Teia caught her with one arm.

“Tsk. You just had to be stubborn.”

“Haa… haa…”

Teia knew that to get definitive answers, they had to reach the spirits’ sanctuary at the top of the mountain. But watching Lilith struggle, his feet refused to move.

Then again, things rarely went as he intended. Lilith was the one exception in his life—the only one who constantly made him act against his usual instincts.