The essence blade vanished from my hand and dispersed into the air, while everyone stared at me.
I had just finished cutting those threads connected to them one by one... threads that had already begun forming again.
Meanwhile, I gave them a quick summary of what was happening.
Elliot raised a hand and ran it across the side of his face.
"So what you’re saying is that we’re in a city controlled by something hidden above us using ethereal threads we can’t see, and Leona saw this in a vision before we entered the maze, but she thought it was just a bad dream until now, only for you to advance to Rank Three and get rid of the mental influence that was preventing you from seeing these threads before... and here we are."
I simply nodded.
"Yes, that’s the gist of it."
Ellen looked at me with her bright red eye.
"And how did you get rid of the mental influence?"
Everyone looked at me, waiting for an answer... should I just ignore them?
After some thought, there was no need for that, especially since we would be stuck together for a long time.
"I have a Relic."
Ellen narrowed her eyes, but she didn’t ask further.
Izel let out a sigh, her red hair swaying slightly.
"So that explains all those strange things in this city."
Kyle nodded at her words.
"In the end, the similarity we felt wasn’t without reason."
Elliot glanced at the cloudless sky.
"Whatever that thing is, it’s strong... ridiculously strong compared to us or anyone in this city."
Unfortunately, he was right. Otherwise, thousands of Awakened wouldn’t have ended up like this... not to mention that hundreds of years had passed while they remained this way.
Everyone tried to ignore the fact that it was above us, and so did I.
"We’re leaving this place now and heading north."
I spoke in a tone that left no room for argument... and no one was in the mood to argue anyway.
"Are you planning to listen to that man’s words about the ruins?" Ellen asked, while I nodded.
"There’s no other choice anyway... and I think you’ve all been thinking the same."
Their expressions made it clear that I was right.
"In the end, it isn’t a coincidence that a gate led us here." Elliot exhaled.
Even during this short time, we had stopped here, the threads had already begun forming again on our bodies.
"Come on, let’s move. We don’t have all the time in the world."
...
We moved through the city streets quietly, avoiding everyone by using my perception.
We were heading straight north, where I could see the enormous tear in the high maze wall on the horizon.
Going back and leaving from Arthania’s house would have brought us into contact with that strange woman again... and I didn’t want that.
We would also have to circle around the maze to continue on our path, and that could take days or weeks.
"What about Arthania?" Leona asked beside me in a low voice.
I raised an eyebrow.
"What do you mean?"
Leona hesitated briefly before continuing.
"She wasn’t like the others."
I sighed.
"Arthania is strange. I don’t know how to describe it, but she’s like someone who wants to refuse, but at the same time doesn’t refuse."
"Do you mean she isn’t fully under control yet?" Elliot asked from beside me.
"I’m not sure." And for that reason, I didn’t want to risk meeting her again or telling her before leaving.
Not just her, but even that old man Elias.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Leona biting her lower lip.
"Can’t we at least help her?"
I raised my brow at her words. Less than a full day had passed since we arrived here, and she was already attached to Arthania... I won’t deny it, she had been kind to us, but that wasn’t enough to risk ourselves for her... and who knew how things would end.
But to my surprise, Leona wasn’t the only one showing hesitation. Even Elliot, Izel, and Ellen were.
But one of them was different.
"No... that’s an unnecessary risk."
Kyle’s calm voice came from behind.
I nodded at his words.
"He’s right... we’re getting out of here without any detours."
No one objected or argued, because in the end they knew I was right.
So, we kept moving through the stone streets. We didn’t run too fast, because that would make noise and reveal our presence.
But we weren’t slow either.
As we moved forward, I sensed a group of Awakened a few hundred meters ahead of us, and if we kept going the same way, we would run into them.
"Take the right."
No one argued, and we all turned right.
Then, after dozens of meters, we turned left again before continuing forward.
Only for me to feel one of them almost stepping out of one of the houses ahead.
"Turn."
We took another path, only for me to feel him step out into the street.
It was true that the night bell had rung some time ago, but many people were still wandering the streets, including some of the Awakened from the banquet.
We kept moving like this the entire time, sometimes stopping in place and hiding until they moved away, sometimes changing direction... I did my best to avoid everyone.
But even with my perception, avoiding every person in a small city wasn’t easy.
So, after we reached the southern edge of the city, what I feared happened.
We were surrounded from all sides.
Whether it was the street beside us or behind us, there were people.
And now, right in front of us, one of the houses’ doors opened, and someone stepped out. There was nowhere for us to hide in this narrow street.
At the same time, we had no ability to conceal our presence, so jumping upward wasn’t the best option either... especially since there were six of us.
And worst of all, at the end of this street there was an open field.
"Let’s just pretend we’re taking a night walk."
I said that while we moved forward, pretending everything was normal.
It wasn’t as if someone would pounce on us at any moment... but I wanted us to leave calmly without anyone noticing or seeing us.
After all, I still didn’t understand whether they were one or not.
As we moved forward through the closed street, someone stepped out from behind the door.
It was a dark-skinned man with a strong build and a bald head.
In addition, he was an Awakened... just Rank One.
The moment he came out, he noticed us and turned his head our way, while we continued walking toward him until the distance shrank to a few meters.
Then the man recognized us.
"Aren’t you the people Lady Arthania brought here?... Aren’t you supposed to be at the banquet now?"
I smiled.
"Yes, we just left... and I wanted to take a walk around the city since I hadn’t seen it yet."
"Then shouldn’t Lady Arthania be with you?"
I shrugged.
"She said she had some work to do and told us to do whatever we wanted."
The man nodded.
"Then let me be your guide. You might get lost."
I almost frowned at his words, but I quickly tried to refuse.
"No need to trouble yourself on our behalf."
The man shook his head.
"No, it’s not troublesome at all. It’s what I should do for you... after all, you will become one of us."
He emphasized those last words... I even felt something strange in his tone.
"I think we’ve had enough walking, and we’ll be back in a little while, so there’s no need to change your plans."
The man smiled.
"It’s impolite to refuse like that, boy."
He glanced at the huge tear that was growing closer than ever, and his smile turned into something strange.
"Or were you trying to leave..."
Before he could finish speaking, essence surged through my body, while a long essence blade formed in my hand, and I closed the distance with the man.
Before he could even react, I swung at him, while Elliot’s voice rose behind me.
"Caius, no!"
But unlike Elliot thought, my sword did not cut the man. It passed over him, and I cut the threads binding him.
Threads that were thinner and weaker than the ones binding us by several times, so it was easy. With one cut, I ended everything.
All of this took a single moment.
Only then did everyone understand what had happened, while the man stood stunned in front of me.
But unlike what I expected, he did not remain like that.
Soon, the man’s body collapsed to the ground, and I saw that soul dissipate.
"Did... did he die?" Leona asked.
But that wasn’t all. The moment his soul vanished, something else began happening.
The skin on his face, his hands, and everywhere on his body began to break apart.
The skin crumbled away, revealing the flesh and muscle beneath... only for those too to begin crumbling.
His eyes, his flesh, and his blood...
Everything vanished before our eyes, leaving only a white skeleton covered in some clothes.