All of them began searching every hall, first retracing their paths back to where they’d been brought from. They split into pairs and scattered in different directions, but it was futile—they couldn’t find Nebulous Lord.
However, they also knew they hadn’t even searched one-third of the entire fortress within the clan. It had maze-like pathways where it was easy to get lost, so Sael prioritized keeping the team together over desperate searching.
That decision still led them to their doom.
As he and Ghost of Grey Lantern moved together, racing through the corridors, Ghost suddenly halted and seized Sael’s hand, stopping him before he realized the danger.
Sael looked at the short, grey-haired boy beside him.
"Sir Ghost, is all well?"
Ghost nodded grimly.
"Company."
Sael’s expression turned ice-cold as he whipped his face toward the end of the hallway, shrouded in darkness.
Immediately, slow clapping echoed from the shadows.
"Oh, this one here is quite sharp. Surprising. But pardon me, esteemed visitor—I must ask, why are you all wandering about? You were supposed to stay in your rooms until summoned."
The voice clicked with irritation.
"This is why we despise hosting visitors—they never listen and always have restless legs. See, it’s not my fault if you all die today, understood?"
Sael’s face hardened.
"What nonsense are you spouting?! We’re only wandering because you people are being shady—kidnapping one of our own."
The voice clicked with irritation again.
"Accusing us of kidnapping now? Nah, nah—that’s not how things work. If you’d said we killed him, I might’ve believed you. It’s a clan of killers—my brothers and sisters have a knack for just slipping into rooms and slaughtering visitors out of curiosity. But kidnapping has never been our specialty. We prefer being haunted by the dying screams of our victims rather than watching them scream in real-time."
The voice paused for breath.
"So you’re the shady ones. But what do I care? I just have the opportunity to discover how beautiful your screams will sound as you die. I look forward to it... huhuhuuu."
The laugh was bone-chilling, slowly fading as if the speaker retreated deeper into the shadows.
Sael tried masking it, but he was genuinely concerned. Night was his weakness—not because his talent weakened after dark; in fact, it was quite the opposite. But for a much more mundane reason.
However, his citadel, especially the elites, knew about this vulnerability. Ghost of the Grey Lantern had volunteered to accompany him, and he could see through darkness as clearly as daylight. Sael knew the reason Ghost chose to follow was obviously to compensate for his weakness.
And he was grateful for it. But Sael despised burdening anyone.
He clenched his teeth.
"Ghost, go on ahead. I’ll handle things here."
Ghost frowned. Before he could speak, Sael added:
"I’m not asking you to abandon me to die. I’m asking you to find an escape route from this rotten place and return with reinforcements."
The voice rang out again with eerie laughter.
"Huhuhuuu, that’s hardly appropriate talk from a visitor who came begging for help. Your sins keep mounting—now I won’t even feel guilty when I kill you all."
Ghost looked at Sael, reluctant.
But Sael nodded, his eyes blazing with determination. Then he opened his hands, summoning his wooden bow.
At once, Ghost shot forward with blurring speed.
"Ohhh, where do you think you’re going?"
A thunderous clang of sparks rang out, echoing through the darkness as the voice’s owner collided with Ghost.
Sael, quickly pinpointing the source of the clash, drew his bowstring. Three arrows of light materialized and shot forth with devastating speed.
The owner of the voice—a man with short black hair and vertical, razor-sharp red eyes—tilted sideways, rolled, and parried the other two arrows, shattering them.
With that distraction, Ghost of the Grey Lantern vanished like smoke.
The enemy landed, a flicker of regret crossing his face as he glanced back. Then he slowly turned toward the man who had just attacked him.
"You... I’ll make your death swift, then hunt him down."
Sael laughed sharply.
"You flatter yourself, boy. That man will gut you—I just did you a favor... not that I expect bloodthirsty killers like you to show gratitude."
He drew his string again, manifesting another volley of arrows. This time they didn’t just appear on his bow but materialized all around him, bathing his surroundings in pale light.
Their battlefield was cramped and narrow—advantageous for Sael, but he was still somewhat handicapped by the unnatural darkness. Even though Sael was illuminating his area, the light barely penetrated the gloom.
If anything, the darkness seemed to devour it.
He ignored the disadvantages and focused on what he could control. He released the arrows and let them rain down.
They streaked forward soundlessly. The young man charged forward to meet them head-on.
However, the moment he drew close enough, he suddenly vanished—the arrows sailed harmlessly past.
Sael’s eyes widened. Barely a heartbeat later, they widened further. The arrows behind him whirled around and shot toward his back.
Sael spun through the air with a bead of sweat, extending his bow. A cold metallic clang rang out as a massive blade crashed down upon it.
Sael groaned under the brutal impact before being blasted backward, his head slamming into the stone wall.
Sael crumpled to the ground, his vision swimming as blood trickled down one side of his face.
His attacker’s lips twisted into a sneer.
"What? Don’t tell me that’s it... you’re finished?"
Sael’s gaze turned murderous, and he exploded forward. With lightning speed, his bow began transforming—as he reached the young man, he brought down a wooden staff with crushing force.
Simultaneously, rows of light spears materialized around them, bombarding his opponent in a relentless barrage.
But the man only smiled, his eyes blazing with bloodlust. He blocked Sael’s strike overhead, and as the light spears streaked toward him, he spun... and vanished.
He materialized from the shadows between Sael’s back and the wall, his blade slicing down toward the archer’s neck.
In that instant, Sael’s eyes went wide, cold sweat beading on his neck. For one terrifying millisecond, death seemed inevitable.
Terror crawled across his skin, his life flashing before his eyes. But his staff elongated with vicious speed, catching the young Kageyama completely off-guard. It slammed into his chest and launched him through the air.
Sael instantly propelled himself backward, landing over a hundred meters away.
’Cold... cold... these bastards are stone-cold killers!’