Chereads / A Desireless Agelong Migrant / Chapter 47 - Chapter 47 - Portal From Both Sides

Chapter 47 - Chapter 47 - Portal From Both Sides

"Looks like all the fiends and spectres left the vicinity."

Luckily, there weren't any lurking around and they safely stepped outside.

Quick yet cautious, the four of them circumvented the natural formation that created the valley in between. Even though their pace wasn't slow, they still couldn't get a glimpse of those beasts.

"Let's go."

Aaron's voice rang in their ears and they stepped ahead. The knight commander was extremely careful due to the sparse availability of cover. Thus each stop was brief and each run was brisk.

Exploiting the veil of the shade cast by the hills, the survivors proceeded ahead to the direction in which Aaron last saw the beasts heading. As if he knows the topography of the foreign land like the back of his palm, he guided them safely while threading through the blindspots of an outsider.

Almost an hour or two had gone by since Aaron led the team through the barren land. Before they knew, they had stepped into a desert-like terrain. With grains of sand thickly packed beneath their feet, dunes were abundant in their sight.

Shortly, the knight commander gradually came to a halt before gesturing the party to slow down. Taking a quick peek through the edges of the dune, Aaron stepped backwards and approached the trio.

"You all should see this. But, I warn you, don't you dare make a noise."

The clueless trio glanced at each other before giving a nod. Slowly, they began to crawl to where Aaron came back from.

Seconds later, Adam and the others came back crawling with absolutely stupefied expressions. They simply couldn't believe what they saw over there.

"Can't believe, eh?" Aaron whispered with a smug.

Three dumbfounded faces nodded with their eyes still wide in shock.

Obviously, if one sees a giant floating castle in the midst of nowhere and a massive wall protecting what seems to be an enormous empire beneath it, anyone would be flabbergasted!

Thalia noticed Aaron's curved lips and probed, "You knew about those?" Her brows couldn't frown anymore.

The reply was a nod.

"A mysterious intelligence network running throughout the continent once notified all the empires and kingdoms about the possibility of a civilized community in the Stygian Realm. The news was unsubstantiated but wasn't neglected. Any attempt to know more failed to see fruit and the information slowly faded away from the hearts of the emperors and kings.

But I never thought that the report was true."

Aaron didn't hide his surprise as he finished his elucidation. A cloud of silence instantly enveloped them and none spoke. All their ears could perceive was the faint blowing breeze.

"What's the plan?"

Adam knew that sitting idle while staring at each other will only cause the three to perish without evidence. Thus he verbalised his concern and raised the question.

The knight commander shrugged and conveyed that his head is blank. He was also apprehensive about the colossal castle and the elephantine walls. There were at least a dozen kilometres between them and the settlement, yet a glance of it bestowed a shiver on his entirety.

Buzz~

A high-frequency humming that steadily intensified with each passing minute arose their vigilance to the maximum. Thalia at once tiptoed to the valley between the dunes and her eyes reflected horror.

"Quick, a troop of flying tarragons are coming this way." The elf was panicking as she hurriedly approached the group. Unlike her demeanour, Aaron didn't exhibit any fluctuations on his face and quickly led the crowd away. He moved in a zigzag manner through the dunes while keeping a low profile. The sand dampened the noise of their footsteps and enabled them to move quicker.

Before they knew, they were already out of the sandy terrain and was now hiding behind a tall rock standing alone.

'They haven't left.' Aaron gestured to those who are hiding behind him and they lowered their heads and softened their breathing.

And as those winged freaks were about to leave, it happened.

"Urgh..."

The soldier suddenly felt something climbing up his oesophagus and entering his mouth. Before he could properly cover his lips, he vomited blood!

The aerial tarragons that turned around to leave staggered before turning around.

"Endure."

Aaron had immediately covered the convulsing man's mouth with both palms. The man on the other hand squirmed ceaselessly and displayed expressions as if his soul is leaving his body. While looking out for the creatures, the knight commander whispered in the desperately wiggling man's ears.

As if he agreed with the leader's words, he immediately stopped fidgeting. Aaron let out a mute sigh before peeking again. The creatures were pivoting around and they were really close to them.

Luckily, the troop found nothing in their field of sight and left after a couple of seconds.

Aaron felt a burden removed from his back and was about to display a victorious smirk when Thalia tapped his shoulder.

"He's dead."

While Aaron was covering up his mouth and nose as a whole, blood was continuously pumping from his stomach to his head. When the knight commander silenced him, his death became swift and silent.

Thus, in Aaron's arms lay the last one of the five poisoned soldiers.

Guilt was the first emotion that tried to overtake his mind, but the justification that what he did was for the good of the remaining three, overthrow the regret.

"You endured the pain and suffering only because of your will power. Now you may rest in peace."

While burying the deceased patriot's body in the sand, Aaron muttered while paying respects to the fellow soldier.

After a moment of silence, he got up and turned to the duo staring at him.

"The scent of the body will not remain hidden for long. We need to go back to the hills and valleys to survive the scouts."

Adam and Thalia didn't dwell on the loss of a brethren. Though they mourned the soldier's death, they knew well that they need to move on.

With full speed ahead, the trio dashed into the barren and rocky terrain. They roamed around for a while before accidentally discovering a cave. With the assistance of scotopic vision, Adam confirmed that the cave is devoid of hostile entities.

"It's funny how we came back to the same spot."

It was Aaron's voice that had a tinge of derision in it. Thalia and Adam raised their eyes and saw Aaron staring at the hills around them.

"We kept hiding in the valley over there. That hill over there was where the humanoid beings stood. And it was that vast plain land that bore witness to the manifestation of the portal."

The knight commander's words were accurate and precise as the duo stared where Aaron pointed. With the expertise of a skilled geologist, he disclosed the revelation to them.

As expected of a knight commander, Adam commented heartily.

The trio then turned around after a thorough glance at their surroundings and was about to sit down to take some rest when a tremor emerged from nowhere.

Pow!

A powerful yet short-lived blow swept past them. The noise reminiscent of a dampened thud rang in their ears and they turned around to see a confusing scenario.

"Is the portal regenerating?"

Thalia verbalised her confusion as the trio kept staring at the reconstructing reality over the barren plain. The glass-like structure was slowly materialising from the ground up. Unlike a portal, this one looked like a slightly larger public phone booth fashioned out of glass.

As soon as the structure stabilised and halted its growth, the murky surface began to turn lucid. Soon, some vague humanoid figures could be seen on the other side of the opening.

The trio stepped forward and occupied a rather closer position toward the entrance while their tightly knit brows stared at this bizarre event. Their narrowed eyes didn't forget to frequently scout around for the Stygian residents approaching.

While their uneasiness was slowly taking over their calm and collected minds, the trio was anonymous to what had happened on the other side.

****

Overworld, about 5 hours ago.

The abrupt formation of a rift in the midst of an uncharted jungle didn't go noticed at once. But as soon as the corrupted beasts began to overflow from the spatial overlapping, the Trunail Kingdom of the Logos Alliance lying adjacent to the aforementioned forest, immediately dispatched a large number of knights and rangers and mages to confront the wave.

Located in the southern portion of the continent and south-west to Yahudah and Gwilherm, the Logos Alliance was founded by a coalition of the three races. The three kingdoms that joined hands for the betterment of the elves, dwarves and zoomorphs were Trunail, Bezoth and Amegoth respectively.

Surrounded by villages and smaller cities, these nations provided a place where the races can be themselves rather than living amongst the diverse community. While Trunail boasted its extravagant mana coursing through the forests and woods surrounding the nation, Bezoth had a giant mineral vein running beneath them. Amegoth had rather unique wildlife revolving around and inside the kingdom and indicated the varieties of peace.

Into this atmosphere, the calamity arrived.