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They tied the boat to the rock and made their way to the island.
"It seems like the guards were here not long ago. Hmm... Judging by the footprints, it smells like the Special Task Force bastards."
Lata said, looking at the nearby footprints.
"Special Task Force? Can you really tell just by looking at footprints?"
"It's a kind of intuition and experience, my lord. I've often crossed paths with them due to my profession. There's a subtle pattern that's hard to explain."
"If even my brother says so, then it must be the Special Task Force."
"He is not a beast, but he seems to recognize every little detail. Isn't that right, kid?"
It was amazing to see the Proch siblings so confident just by looking at footprints. It was a skill that Jin lacked. Although it's only true when it was confirmed that the Special Task Force was really here.
Upon closer inspection, it was clear that the battles hadn't been confined to just the central island. Smoke and fire were rising from various large and small islands lined up in a row.
In other words, battles were breaking out in different places on these islands.
The islands were so close together that swimming or leaping would be sufficient to move from one to another. Jin and his group decided to explore the situation by traveling around the islands.
As they moved, the sound of screams could be heard from somewhere.
On a sunny day, amidst the untouched natural beauty of the islands and the warm breeze, the increasing number of screams felt out of place.
The group couldn't help but feel a strange sense of unease.
"Hey, kid."
"Yeah?"
"Doesn't something seem off about these screams?"
Jin nodded his head.
"These screams seem like they are coming from ordinary people who haven't received proper training."
"I also agree, my lord."
The screams were too intense to be coming from island residents or ordinary people. Because they carried the energy of martial artists at least 6-star or higher.
While it was true that well-trained and battle-hardened individuals could scream in fear, it was unusual for them to do so with such terror.
The people that had arrived on Gaifa Archipelago were composed of the troops of the Four Great Factions. They were well aware of the potential friction between the Four Great Factions, and thus, their ranks were filled with elite personnel.
Even the minimum level of these troops could be considered elite. However, it was perplexing that these elite individuals were screaming in terror.
Jin and others arrived on a new island, and it appeared to be a rugged hill. Due to the relatively high elevation, they could see the island in front of them at a glance when they reached the top.
What they witnessed was a scene they had never imagined.
"Aaargh!"
"Aah!"
People were running around in a chaotic and erratic manner, screaming like frightened beasts.
"What on earth is going on? What's the situation?"
"It's the Imperial... troops, Lord Murakan."
The frantic individuals were members of the Imperial Elite Army. Even worse, torn banners representing the Vermont Imperial family were scattered on the ground. The Imperial family Army was running over them.
The question was, why had these Imperial family troops been reduced to such a state? There were no immediate answers.
However, it didn't take long to figure out the cause of their madness.
"My lord, it seems...,"
"They aren't fighting with someone else."
The Imperial family troops were engaged in battle with each other. Their combat skills and movements were so shoddy that it was impossible to consider them elite.
It was clear that whatever had driven these troops to this extent was a matter of great concern.
As if possessed by something, or as if they couldn't see anything ahead, they continued to scream and swing their weapons without a moment's rest.
Thud! Swoosh! Ugh...! The group watched from behind a rock, and observed how they behaved.
And Jin was lost in thoughts. What on earth was happening on this archipelago?
"It doesn't seem like the result of hallucinogens as there's no lingering smell. The hallucinogens would have a strong odor if it were so potent to drive them this mad."
"It's not a drug either."
The Proch siblings said.
While they were discussing the smell, Jin was inspecting to see if there were any traces of mana on them. It could be due to dark magic or psychic magic, unknown to Jin. There were Zipfels here, after all.
However, there were no traces of mana on the small island where the Imperial family troops were creating mayhem.
It wasn't a drug or a spell. If not, what kind of trick could make the Imperial family troops like this?
Jin turned his gaze to other islands. There were loud noises, fires, and black smoke.
'Sir Lata mentioned that the footprints were not from the Imperial family troops but from the Special Task Force. The Special Task Force sensed that something was wrong with the Imperial family troops and began to move somewhere else.'
Jin quickly thinks of one hypothesis.
Although they couldn't determine what was driving people insane, it didn't seem to affect individuals beyond a certain level.
"Let's move on."
It wasn't difficult to verify this hypothesis. They just needed to observe the other islands where battles were taking place.
On the next island they visited, they saw Zipfel's mages fighting amongst themselves.
"Uwaaah!"
"Kaaah!"
Like the Imperial family troops, they were attacking each other while in a state of madness, but the situation was even worse compared to the Imperial family troops.
"Ugh, it's rather disgusting," Murakan said with a grimace.
Zipfel's mages were fighting with staffs and bare hands, not using magic.
The Imperial family troops may have lost their minds but retained their combat prowess enough to kill each other in one blow, but the mages needed gruesome processes to kill each other without using magic.
"It's pretty certain this situation isn't caused by Zipfel. Let's move on to the next island. Kinzelo's people should be there."
Locating the island where Kinzelo was situated was particularly easy.
Because they heard the sounds of beasts howling from the island right in front of them. Those were the cries of Kinzelo's beastmen.
The island was filled with the Red Tiger Tribesmen, clawing and biting each other with bulging eyes. Therefore, Kinzelo was not the perpetrator of this situation either.
"When was it, about fifteen hundred years ago? Or was it earlier? It felt similar to this back when Helluram spread that strange plague. Everyone's completely gone mad."
"Is there a possibility that the witch was involved?"
"As far as I can tell, no. Helluram's plague began with a curse, and if she were here, Lata would have been affected as well. Only you and I could be free from Helluram's curse if she were here, kiddo."
They explored a few more islands with signs of battles. They all looked similar to the islands they had seen earlier.
The only difference was that various factions were fighting each other on some islands.
There were islands where the Imperial family Troops and the Red Tiger Tribesmen were both madly fighting, and somewhere the Red Tiger Tribesmen, Zipfel, or all three were fighting together.
The insane individuals exhibited a tendency to attack anything they could see.
Jin's hypothesis seemed to be correct.
He was now almost certain.
"It appears to be at least a 7-star level. This situation is most likely the work of Amela."
Jin spoke, and the attention of the group shifted to him.
"Kid, what are you talking about?"
"Whatever it is that's driving people mad, the threshold is exactly 7-star level battle prowess. From the 7-star and above, you can either resist or not be affected by this."
The Imperial family troops were a group of soldiers, not knights, and they selected only the very best among the soldiers. Thus, apart from the commanders, they were all 6-star or lower.
The mages who were killing each other were the same. They weren't the top mages like White Night, the Spectre Corps, or the first division of the respective mage towers but 6-star or lower mages.
The Red Tiger Tribesmen were all 6-star or lower, and their commanders were not in sight.
"In all the islands where the three factions were fighting, there were no corpses of commanders who were 6-star or above. It means that after the problem occurred, the commanders fled. The Special Task Force mentioned by Sir Lata was also operating in the same way."
The reason Jin concluded that the minimum level is 7-star is because all the victims are either 6-star or less than that.
The main reason was this.
"And I can't see any Runcandel knight going crazy."
Runcandel didn't send 6-star Guardian Knights on external missions. That means all the Guardian Knights who came here were composed of at least 7-star level.
As all three factions had established their presence nearby, Runcandel would likely have set up a camp nearby as well. Yet the fact that not a single person could be seen meant that they all safely retreated.
"Murakan."
[Yes.]
"I think it's better to just fly."
The reason they had used an uncomfortable boat to come all the way here was that flying in someone else's airspace was a serious breach of etiquette.
Since the major factions had brought their forces here to display their dominance, it served the purpose of making them stand out.
Huuung...!
Murakan transformed back to his original form and fluttered his wings. As they ascended into the sky, the group could now get a bird's-eye view of Gaifa Archipelago.
The largest island, right in the center of Gaifa Archipelago, loomed ahead. The entire island was blackened as if engulfed by mold.
At first glance, it might have seemed similar to shadow force, but it felt much denser and heavier.
Anyone could intuitively sense that this ominous energy was the culprit behind driving people insane.
And the "sane" individuals from each faction had stationed themselves around the dark energy encompassing in all direction. They were working desperately to contain it from spreading.
Eventually, the group could witness how the energy's shape was morphing, as if it were being molded like clay.
Squelch, squelch, squelch!
'What's that thing over there? A human?'
The black energy covering the island had formed the shape of a human figure. It was smaller than a Zephyrin but much larger than Murakan. Strangely, the shape bore a striking resemblance to a human that Jin strongly despised.
'Bubare... Gaston!?'
As Jin recalled the name, the freshly molded black figure opened its mouth.
[You guys have been quite a nuisance to me.]
Right after that, the black figure breathed in, as if preparing to exhale like a dragon.
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