The Aegis Dome

Retrieving the lodged sword onto the fallen sentry's throat, Seith started gasping heavily to catch his breath, expelling excess black mist from his core.

Vontravis's raven form shifted like liquid iridescent ink before transforming into his humanoid form.

"Your situation is more dire than I thought. Being in this state from cutting a few earthlings? Pathetic."

"I..." Seith's breathing was starting to stabilize.

"I absorbed too much mana at once." Sorenians inherently have a different constitution than the earthborn races. To them, mana is akin to the air humans breathe to stabilize their bodies. Thus, it's constantly absorbed, circulated, and released, not stored in the core for a long duration.

What happens if you overbreathe? Of course, you're bound to feel breathless. This is why Sorenians rarely utilize mana when they have something incomparably better in their arsenal.

But, to a cripple like him, was there any other choice?

The mana present in the black mist was undeniably dense, but it wasn't pure. As soon as he consciously absorbed it, impure mana began rushing at his mana veins in uncontrollable quantity, as if eager to be devoured. Even Seith, who had been doing this for years to adapt to the Lord's absurd orders, felt a little overwhelmed.

Vontravis lightly dragged a corpse and tossed it to the sea. Its blood left a crimson trail of flesh and minced organs.

"I've always wondered about this, but where did you learn to wield a sword? You're quite proficient."

Seith's expression turned dumbfounded at his words. Realizing his mistake, Vontravis quickly added with an embarrassed tone.

"Of course, that was a dumb question. How the hell would you have known?" He shook his head and sighed to himself.

"How far is the distance to the shore?"

"Around a thousand or so miles. At the usual speed, it'll take us three to five days."

Seith clicked is tongue.

'It's too long.'

As if reading his thoughts, Vontravis immediately replied.

"I know what you're thinking. But if your wings weren't torn, it would have easily taken us a few hours. Now who's fault could that be?" He repeatedly tilted his head closer as if taunting the boy. Seith could only silently grumble.

If he used mana to levitate his body like he did a while ago, there's a chance the abundance of mana in the sea would dwindle mid-flight, leading him to pummel down. In the first place, this reason was what led them to forcibly seize the ship upon seeing it in the first place.

"Don't you specialize in hypnosis? Maybe you could control a few marine beasts to push the ship faster?"

"Of course I can, but it's too much work. The creatures here are especially feisty." Seith's expression darkened.

"Vis, I don't intend to waste time on a bloody boat with Aster making a fuss about how smelly the corpses are. You want me to stay put in here for three days straight? I'd rather jump down and converse with fishes."

Vontravis coughed awkwardly, hesitantly giving in.

"Alright, alright. Don't jump. Absolutely don't."

He lightly fixed his silver monocle and and removed his leather gloves. He clicked his fingers, leading the runes vertically etched onto it to glow in radiant ruby. As he muttered ancient phrases under his breath, the ship started rocking back and forth as the waves surged more violently.

Something deep within the depths was causing the disturbance, its colossal form slowly rising to the surface. A low-frequency, deep hum reverberated from beneath the seas, normally sending goosebumps down to the spine.

However, Seith quietly remained his balance while Vontravis concentrated, constantly muttering as if engaging in a silent conversation.

Soon enough, large grey tentacles lodged themselves onto the sides of the ship, transparent mucus dripping from its huge teethy suctions.

Its fins and mantle rose in full glory as its eye peered open, looking directly at them with an eerily curious gaze.

It was a Lorweth Kraken.

"You said they're feisty." Unlike his aid's words, it seemed pretty docile.

Vontravis's muttering slowly receded to a halt, his crimson eyes emitting a faint domineering glow.

But, contrary to his aura, he goofily pointed at the corpses messily strewn across the deck and revealed a faint smile.

"It smelled food here." As if agreeing, the Lorweth Kraken responded with a low vibrating cry.

"Good. Save two for us."

Sincerely shocked, Vontravis groaned and seriously contemplated.

"Hm... while I'm not quite sure of your taste, stale human meat doesn't suit my palate."

"Yes, yes..."

Belatedly sinking into his system, Seith immediately turned around and grimaced.

"What the actual fuck?!"

[Profanity, Seith! Profanity.]

[Wait, how does he know how humans taste like?]

[It's best if we don't take it seriously.]

Vontravis immediately ignored him by pretending to communicate with the Kraken. It didn't take long for the tentacles to position itself around the ship and propelled it rapidly to the mainland.

♦️♦️♦️

Unlike Abyss's distinctive blood moon, the bright illumination at the center of the starry sky reflected in the waters was shining in silver. The sun had long set when they reached halfway through the inner coast of the Continent, where the shore was slowly reaching their view.

Determining it was enough, the Lorweth Kraken sent a low cry to Vontravis, who immediately understood the creature's intentions. The ship's pace slowed down.

"It seems this is as far as it can go before it gets detected by Kuanos Genesis's coastal radar. We'll have to sail on our own from here on out." Seith nodded without a word.

He removed his thick cloak and placed it on the ship's railings, then casually squatted to dust off the uniform of a fallen corpse. As promised, they left the two intact and fed the rest to the Kraken.

Seith carefully unbuttoned the red-and-gray military coat and wiped the blood off the rank insignia attached to the left chest, symbolizing a sergeant.

"Put the uniform on." Vontravis nodded, undressing the corpse of a striker before hanging them casually onto his forearm and standing in front of Seith. He fastened his gloves firmly.

Standing awfully close, he cupped his face and slowly ran his fingers along his small scars. Seith tried to turn his head in annoyance, but the former's grip remained firm.

"Stay still." As his fingers traced a gentle circular motion on Seith's cheekbones, the latter's face slowly distorted like a ripple and replaced with fairly average features that still retained a bit of his original look.

His silver hair slowly dulled and turned jet black, and his jaggedly cut horns disappeared like an illusion. However, the most noticeable change was his blindfold, now replaced by illusory sets of eyes.

"What did you do?"

"Hiding your beauty from the world." Seith cringed at his remark and swatted off his hand.

"You sound like a third-rate romance character." Vontravis simply chuckled.

"Try following these with your senses." He slowly waved his two fingers from left to right, attempting to generate a response from his makeshift irises.

"My senses don't work that way. My vision isn't limited to what a human eye can see, but it's not as vivid."

"Then try willing it to move."

After a few trials, the pupils remained unresponsive and stayed motionless in place.

"Well...I guess it's better than going around with a blindfold."

Retracting his fingers in disappointment, Vontravis decided to focus on dragging the corpses to the railings and tossing them down the sea. Hesitantly, he also dressed into the sentry's uniform and headed to the main deck, observing small black dots of what seemed like approaching soldiers along the coastline.

Seith casually leaned onto one of the pillars and closed his illusory eyes.

It didn't take long for the ship's keel to scrape against the sandy surface of the shallow water surface. The unit who'd been waiting for the ship to dock approached it cautiously.

A crisp sound of fingers snapping briefly resonated, and soon two figures emerged and landed on the stone platform.

The soldiers immediately saluted in unison.

"Sergeant Noran!"

"At rest. A light of dawn to Kuanos Genesis." He responded in profound rigidness.

"Glory." As the soldiers cleared the way, a neatly dressed officer approached 'Noran', uprightly facing him formally.

"You seem to have suffered casualties, Sergeant. Were there problems in the Abyssal barrier?" The officer's gaze fell on 'Noran's ripped sleeve and tattered coat.

"19 dead, one lightly wounded. There were no signs of movement in the barrier. We were unlucky. The route we passed through led us to run into a shoal of Lorweth Krakens." Noran's tone noticeably trembled.

It was a first for a unit tasked to circle around Abyss to report this many casualties. It would be better to say they were annihilated.

Peering behind them, the officer confirmed the sorry state of the ship, with mucus still dripping onto the ruined railings. The ones in the capital may not be as aware, but the naval sentries stationed at the borders knew well of the Lorweth Kraken's tenacity at hunting ships.

Thus, he sighed and lightly patted 'Noran's shoulder and shot the sentry behind him a sympathetic look.

"The Abyss shall embrace them in eternal paradise. I will deliver news to the bereaved."

"Please do so."

"Don't you need treatment?"

"My injuries aren't as severe. Besides, I need to report this myself to the branch."

"Even so, it's standard procedure. You know the rules, Sergeant."

'Noran's eyes, which couldn't gaze at them eye to eye, increasingly turned cold. "I know it's to check for possible corruption, but we really haven't encountered any beasts aside from the Krakens."

After a brief sigh, the officer finally gave in.

"...I understand. Everyone, retrieve the ship and return to your post. Shouldn't you rest a bit?"

"My heavy heart will lighten a bit if I report their names as soon as possible."

Shaking his head, the officer headed to the opposite direction. They quickly parted ways.

One of soldiers following behind hesitantly approached the officer.

"Sir Oliver, is it really okay to let them go just like that?" Oliver's expression as he turned his head to the soldier wasn't masked with sympathy anymore.

"Of course not. Even if it's a whole group of Krakens, they're trained naval elites. At the very least, they shouldn't have been annihilated so easily. 19 bodies missing but their leader barely has a major injury?" Oliver let out a hollow laugh, placing his hands together at his back.

"I don't fucking buy it."

Oliver knew. Noran rose to the position of Sergeant solely due to his diligence and ability to lead. His skills weren't that good to survive that far and return here. At the very least, he didn't think Noran would think of abandoning his unit to survive.

"Then...?"

"Investigate the ship thoroughly, don't overlook a single clue behind. Send a tail to those two."

Realizing his intentions, some soldiers let out a small exhale in wonder.

"So that was why you let them go so easily, to avoid suspicion. Indeed, Major Oliver's insight is profound." As the officers quietly admire Oliver's insight, he begged to differ. He knew what he said was merely an excuse.

In actuality, he didn't let them go on purpose. Rather, he strangely felt compelled to do so. Throughout their brief exchange, he had felt the overwhelming necessity to listen to Noran's words, as if completely drawn to his pitiable display. He shivered at the thought.

His gut tells him something wasn't quite right, but he couldn't determine where.

He was confident that the one who lept from the boat was indeed Noran. But, he felt there was something else Noran was hiding from him.

The vanguard could never afford to be complacent. The moment they miss out a single detail, a disaster may slip into the mainland and chaos will ensue.

When that happens, the blame will fall onto them entirely for letting it pass through the primary inspection.

Meanwhile, 'Noran' and his subordinate went past the shores and crossed the dense forest. The thick branches completely obscured the view of the sky. Refusing to let their guard down, they haven't dropped their disguises yet.

"Your hypnosis is terrifying. Even though the one standing in front of them is clearly not Noran, they didn't have a single doubt."

"I wouldn't have been able to pull it off without your acting. I'm astonished, truly." Vontravis was being sincere. He was shocked by how the words naturally flowed from Aster's mouth as if he was truly a unit leader.

"It's a first to see you staying quiet. Aren't you curious how I learned those things?"

"If I asked, would you have known the answer? The mind may not remember, but the soul does. It'd better to accept it as it is."

A tingling sensation ran through Vontravis's nape. Then, silently, he whispered without looking back.

"We have a tail. Around a hundred meters radius." Aster nodded.

"I figured. How far until we reach the warp gate?"

"350 meters. We're close."

It didn't take long for the sky slowly came to view and the trees weren't as tightly clustered as before.

Amidst the dark starry night, a huge dome consisting of translucent hexagonal tiles finally came to view, seemingly enveloping the entire plains. Its amber luminescence stretch as far and wide as the eye could see.

"That is?"

Aster wondered in peculiar aense of familiarity.

"Yes, we've reached it, Aster."

The gigantic barrier protecting the continent from the outside forces. The impregnable fortress planted by Kuanos Genesis.

Seeing it proved that they've finally stepped foot onto the Continent's stronghold, the valiant Kingdom of Vendalius.

"The Aegis Dome."

Beneath, a flowing ripple of space like an illusory curtain stood out. As if resonating, the runes etched onto Vontravis's body glowed in faint ruby.

It was a space only visible to those who can wield soren.

Taking advantage of the thick tree behind them, Vontravis quickly seized the opportunity to enter the discordant ripple and lose the tail following them.

The pursuers, belatedly noticing the situation, quickly dispersed and searched the area, carefully seeking their traces. There were none.

As soon as they entered it, a completely different terrain from the forest greeted them. It was more of a stone ruin where nature had already overtaken it, seeing vines and moss on cracked pillars.

On its center was a marble dais where a levitating platform stood.

It was the warp gate.

Vontravis turned his attention to Aster, wrapped the oversized cloak onto the young man's shoulders. His appearance, previously taken on the physique of Noran in his late 30s, slowly returned to the disguised version Vontravis carefully molded back in the ship.

His long hair now dyed jet black stretched freely.

As Aster nodded in confirmation, Vontravis motioned his hand and bowed, ushering him to head to the platform first.

"Praise the Mother of Death."

With a glow of ruby, the runes on the platform responded to Vontravis's call as their bodies immediately disappeared, leaving the hanging vines faintly swaying at the sudden surge of soren.