Facing the darkness that was less than ten meters away from him,
the scared-to-death merchant wailed on the ground like a bird with broken wings.
Accompanied by the fruit box he had been carrying, which fell to the ground, he himself tumbled down and sat there like a helpless toddler who hadn't learned how to walk yet.
It was not surprising.
In his more than ten years of life's journey, Gai En had seen bandits, encountered armies, and had personally experienced the extortion of cruel lords.
But he had never come across such a thing that could not be described in words.
It was as if the chaotic black fog, which seemed to have its own consciousness, devoured everything, a filthy, desolate, and dense abyss of pitch-black darkness.
Where could a normal person encounter such a thing?
If one had to talk about it, it was in the mythical stories told by the elders in the village when he was a child, where such terrifying beings existed.
This was something beyond common sense, logic, or humanity!
"Ah..."
"Help..."
"Me... Save..."
In his despair, Gai En strained his neck to turn his head and send a fear-filled plea for help to his companions behind him.
"..."
No one spoke.
In response to Gai En were the equally paralyzed merchants and the apprentice boy's eyes filled with hopelessness, just like Gai En, who was lying on the ground closest to the black fog, were too shocked to move an inch.
However, deep in Gai En's pupils, there was a spark of light that still flickered.
It was the lantern light, swiftly receding further away,
and the three figures who were running for their lives, chasing the only light source.
Nade was holding the lantern, with Ronald and Thomson following the sole light, dashing toward the depths of Black Mountain.
In the distance, from the direction they had come,
the prime culprit for extinguishing the camp's Firelight had already revealed itself.
It was the same surging, dense black fog!
"Done..."
"Uh!"
Before he could fully express his final despair, Gai En was completely engulfed by the darkness that surged towards him. Along with the other several people and the light, they all disappeared into the dense fog that couldn't be penetrated by the naked eye.
————
"Is it possible to explain this now?"
At the other end, the three men running uphill were desperately fleeing.
Different from Thomson, who could barely manage to run, Ronald still had the mental capacity to question Nade by his side.
"..."
After a few breaths of silence, the merchant who was swiftly leading the way with the light of the lantern finally replied slowly:
"Mr. Ronald, what are you talking about?"
"We've got nothing to do now but run for our lives; how could I, a mere merchant, know what this thing is."
"..."
"Then let's keep running first."
Looking at Nade, who seemed reluctant to directly answer his question, Ronald felt puzzled.
He was certain that he hadn't misunderstood the implications in Nade's words earlier, so why was this 'merchant', who had previously encountered a similar event, now unwilling to share information?
From any perspective, it seemed the best solution was for everyone to find a way out together.
It made no sense...
"Ah!"
Before Ronald could try to probe Nade further, Thomson, who was following on one side, suddenly stumbled.
The middle-aged man, about thirty with graying temples, crashed harshly to the ground.
Nade, who was leading with the lantern, kept going without any intention of waiting for the others to get up.
"Ts—"
"Don't fall again."
Frowning and shaking his head, Ronald still reached out to pull Thomson up and then hurried to catch up with Nade in front.
This delay meant Ronald no longer had a chance to ask again.
Struggling to keep up with Nade, the three formed a line and continued to advance into the mountain in the pitch-dark night.
However, this progress was proving difficult to shake the sinister black fog that trailed behind them.
Despite the poor lighting, the dense and profound black fog still looked formidable at night, and glancing back for just a moment was enough to feel an immense pressure of having nowhere to escape.
This situation lasted for about a quarter of an hour—
Then, finally, a new change occurred.
Because Ronald had been constantly watching the distance between the trio and the black fog, he would look back every so often.
In one such moment of looking back.
He clearly felt that the spreading speed of the black fog behind them had started to slow!
If it was like the speed of an adult jogging at first, now it was like that of an average person taking a walk.
Was this good news?
Subconsciously, Ronald glanced at his wrist.
A cuneiform tablet from the twin river region, related to divinities, was hidden there.
He was sure that it held some sort of power.
But due to a complete lack of knowledge in this area, he couldn't utilize that power, apart from its passive ability to ward off rain.
Otherwise, maybe he could have used it to do something.
Forget it—
Shaking his head, Ronald dismissed the idea of entrusting his life and safety to such an object.
In comparison to the stone tablet, whose details he couldn't make sense of, he trusted his own thinking more.
Now there was neither the environment nor the time to fuss over the "Rain Mist Divine Hammer."
Then Ronald shouted to Nade ahead:
"Nade, the speed of the black fog behind us has slowed down."
"..."
Hearing Ronald's shout, Nade's figure at the front visibly paused, the lantern he was holding also coming to a standstill as its bearer stopped.
Turning back and staring into the darkness behind, Nade nodded in the night.
"It's definitely slowing down, but it hasn't stopped."
"We still need to move forward..."
"Ahhhhhh!"
Just as he was about to discuss further with Ronald, a mournful and regretful scream came from ahead of them.
While the two stopped in place, completely unsettled, Thomson hadn't.
In a panic, he'd gone another ten meters or so forward when he suddenly knelt down, crying out in anguish, repeatedly pounding the ground in front of him as if the earth were scalding his hands.
"..."
The sudden commotion immediately drew Ronald and Nade's attention.
After exchanging looks, they carefully approached Thomson.
Soon, the cause of Thomson's behavior came into view.
After passing through the shrubbery ahead, a substantial mansion loomed on the dark ground, only about a hundred meters away.
The flicker of firelight from the ground-floor windows confirmed that it was inhabited by 'someone.'
Presumably, it was the sight of this kind of 'hope' in the depths of a despairing night that had caused Thomson to break down completely.
Following that, Nade handed his lantern to Ronald and then went over to help Thomson, who was still on his knees:
"Thomson, this isn't your fault."
"I've seen how you've cared for your apprentice with my own eyes, this is in no way your responsibility."
Hearing these words of comfort, Thomson wrapped his arms tightly around Nade's arms, his face streaming with tears full of sorrow. Nade merely watched him quietly choking up, not minding that his clothes were being pulled out of shape.
He didn't say another word—
In contrast, Thomson, still emotionally shattered, continued his weeping.
"Ah..."
"I... I actually abandoned that child!"
"When I took Mig away, I promised to make him a fine businessman."
"I really did promise!"
After the most profound fear, the ordinarily cheerful merchant, though his mind was not yet clear, was vaguely aware of what he had gone through and what he had lost.
The apprentice whom he had brought from the village and nurtured like a child.
He had just callously abandoned him.
That was the true reason for his display of such misery!