The dry wind blew past rocks and boulders that stretched across the vast and dark wasteland of the shadow realm.
Thanks to these natural rocks, shadows were in no way scarce—some stretching a few meters across the ground.
Sounds of abyss creatures echoed from every corner of the area, with many of them prowling around looking for prey.
And in the midst of wasteland stood a massive wall seemingly made of fine steel-like material.
It seemed to stretch for as far as the human eyes could see.
Standing tall at a few hundred feet, with various mysterious writings engraved into almost every part of the wall, with the entirety of it covered by an invisible yet pulsing field of energy.
As if to say it was the last fortress – and it was.
The last wall that protected the people of the shadow realm from being destroyed by the deadly abyss creatures that lay just beyond it.
Just outside the wall, five individuals walked out of the shadows of a large boulder facing the wall.
One was visibly limping from a wound on his feet, being supported by an elf.
"Shouldn't we have gone inside directly? Why stop outside when there are many dangerous creatures moving around?"
"It's because of the security provided by this wall. Bear with us for a bit longer."
Kael scoffed.
Novak was looking at Nyx in a bit of surprise.
He had seen her from afar but lingered close to observe for a while longer to confirm what this creature really was.
While she didn't fit into any category of creatures he had seen before and also seemed to possess enough intelligence to communicate and act rationally.
"I should tell you beforehand so you don't end up surprised in a bit.
Your friends won't be allowed inside."
Lennar beat him to it, as if reading his mind.
Kael raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, really? Why not?"
Lennar walked towards the gate and stopped just before the pulsing energy field between him and the gate.
He raised his hand and placed it gently on the surface, and his hand phased through it without any resistance.
Kael, who had seen the wall immediately when they came out of the shadow, finally understood how the so-called barrier worked.
He couldn't sense any essence from the writings carved into the wall but still felt that it was, or at least one of the reasons why the barrier existed.
The trace of essence came from a part of the wall further away from where they stood.
"You see, the wall is rather special.
It was created a few centuries ago during a period called "the wanderer's era" to protect the people who were constantly being devoured by very powerful abyss creatures."
"So... how does this tale concern us exactly?"
Kael already knew where the conversation was going and what would happen after.
"I'm saying that they won't be able to go through the barrier since it prevents anyone with a level of corruption from passing through."
"In fact, I'm still surprised that there's still someone outside the wall that's not corrupted."
'I see.'
He knew that they wanted to leave the realm based on a few things he gathered during their exchange. First was the slow but continuous rate at which the corruption was spreading across the realm, though he didn't know why.
He had first noticed it when he arrived, but it had slowly increased with each passing day.
Meaning the abyss creatures would keep getting stronger and further fall to become much stronger creatures.
It would probably get to a level even the wall can't stop.
What surprised him even more was the fact that he didn't get corrupted at all—even after staying there for close to a week, as if he had become immune to it.
They seemed to already know about that fact somehow.
The bait he set for Lennar was simply an assumption, and it paid off massively.
The question now is, how did he fit into this plan of theirs?
A look of worry appeared on Serin's face.
She tugged Kael's cloak to get his attention.
As if trying to communicate with him without speaking, Kael understood what she meant.
He leaned closer and whispered.
"Don't worry; let's just stick to the plan."
He turned to Lennar.
"But what about them? Surely you're not going to just leave them here, right?"
Lennar looked at Kael for a bit, without a dent in his disturbing smile.
"While the settlement doesn't officially offer this, there's a small area further along the wall where corrupted people stay.
And it's relatively safe."
'Relatively safe, my foot.'
"So it gets attacked by abyss creatures very often?"
Lennar hesitated. Novak responded instead.
He had been silent since they arrived.
"I'll be frank with you—yes, it does get attacked, but not as much as you think.
But it is rather dangerous, because there have been situations where much stronger creatures have shown up in that area."
A hint of worry appeared in Kael's eyes for a moment.
"Aren't there any strong people there?"
"Of course there are, but how long do you think they can hold against a defiled, or in a very rare situation, even a wretched creature?"
A brief silence enveloped the space as soon as Novak finished the statement.
Even Kael knew that wretched creatures were nation-level disasters.
Between beast and monster ranks are on par with even saints, but beyond that would make the strongest of saints hesitate.
Kael was already getting a bit disturbed; he almost thought about scraping his plan, but he knew it was their only option.
He adjusted his cloak.
"And you want them to stay in this place?"
At this point, even Lennar wasn't as confident as he was a few minutes ago.
"I know it's not good, but at least they get supplies from within the walls, and they've been able to survive as a group for a long time now."
Nyx spoke to him.
"I'll keep you informed about what's going on in the outskirts."
"Okay, I'll have to count on you regarding that."
It hadn't been that long since he contracted her, but Nyx had already proved helpful in a number of ways.
It made him wonder if it was just due to traces of her original personality or just how the contracted subordinates were supposed to act.
The latter seemed more likely, but he couldn't rule out the fact that Nyx still possessed a part of her original personality even without her memory.
Just then, Novak leaned closer to Kael.
"If it makes it easier, you can accompany them to where the small settlement they'll be headed to is."
Kael looked at Novak with a hint of interest in his eyes.
"Won't we run into monsters along the way?"
Novak looked at Lennar, who suddenly turned away from them.
"Lennar, I know you placed a marker there, so why don't you help them just once?"
Kael's interest in Novak grew a bit more.
'He must also have a story of his own about that place.'
"Why should I do that? We only need to bring him inside with us; they're none of our business."
"Hey, I see things are getting a bit confusing, so let me clarify; get them there safely, or I will simply walk away from this deal."
Lennar burst into laughter.
"This is comedic; you're making demands? I don't think you understand; if I leave you here, abyss creatures will come for you.
You wouldn't survive a week."
A grin appeared on Kael's face.
"True, but we might not survive long enough to leave this place, but we'll certainly last longer than you think.
But you guys, on the other hand, need me—without me, your stupid plans turn to dust."
He didn't know anything about what they were planning.
But he risked the fact that he knew he was in an important place to whatever they wanted to do.
There was a brief period of silence
The corner of Lennar's mouth twitched.
"Fine, you this time.
You can't say we're bad hosts before we even start talking."
Serin looked at Kael, with signs of fluid forming at the corners of her eyes.
"Thank you, Kael."
"Don't worry, I can't leave a valuable member of my team to her own fate."
The words sound awkward to him the moment they come out of his mouth.
She was definitely strong enough to make it to the shelter with Nyx's help.
But for some reason, he couldn't shake off the feeling of wanting to protect this lovely, innocent-looking elf.
'Focus, now's not the time for unnecessary thoughts.
The door in the shadow reappeared again.
"Let's go."
They all headed inside, and the door disappeared without a trace, just as it appeared.