Kingdom's Bloodline

A rare moment appeared in the dim cave. The light emitted by Silver Shadowman lit up the place.

"Wake them up...?"

Thales leaned against the wall of the cave and panted. After some serious consideration while he remained vigilant of his surroundings, he gave up on almost every action to fight back. Silver Shadowman was obviously not someone he could deal with.

The teenage boy asked, puzzled. "Who are ’they’?"

Silver Shadowman gazed intently at him in the light with eyes so black that they looked like there was nothing inside.

"Them."

Silver Shadowman was still speaking in the Western Peninsula’s common language, which was not very old, with a Northland accent.

His facial profile moved delicately under the illumination of the sparkling light, making him almost appear like a real person who was speaking. It was rather strange.

"You saw them, those homeless souls of the deceased. The outcasts that hover between life and death."

Thales felt a shudder in his chest. ’What?’

"Hover between life and death," he muttered to himself and lifted his head, trembling in fear. He looked at the dark cave walls around him and imagined how the countless ghosts appeared on them just now... Those withered, rotten faces.

Thales could not help but feel a chill run down his spine. He buried his face in his hands and, with arduous effort, let out a breath in pain.

"Turns out to be that there really are those things in this world, huh?"

’Haih... They even thought of this for me. A holographic, four-dimensional and dynamic horror show. This world is so. Damn. "Amazing"!’

Dejected and miserable, Thales took five seconds to free himself from the unpleasant memories. He raised his head weakly.

"But how...?" He leaned against the cave wall and pressed the bruises on his body gently. He asked Silver Shadowman feebly, "Why are there so many souls of the deceased below Dragon Clouds City? Souls who are so bored that they’re specifically here just to scare people?"

The light on Silver Shadowman’s body sparkled slightly. He seemed to be hesitating.

In the end, he still replied, "The Arunde Castle stands on the ground above our heads." His words, which traveled out of the silver light, made him sound as if he was talking in his sleep. His words even brought about a faintly discernible echo.

"It has been here for a few thousand years. This place has borne witness the roaring flames of the Great Dragon, the footsteps of the elves, the fighters of Northland, the tyrannical rule of the Empire, and even the orc’s maces."

When he heard the unfamiliar name, Thales froze.

"Aaaarunnnde... Caaaasstle..." The prince repeated, confused. But his eyes then brightened. "Wait, are you talking about Dragon Clouds City? Arunde Castle is its former name?"

Thales immediately understood something. With that sudden realization, he started evaluating Silver Shadowman with a strange gaze.

"If you refer to it by this name... then you must be from the ancient times, erm... Are you from the era of the Empire?"

However, Silver Shadowman only gazed quietly at him and did not reply.

"Alright." Thales spread his hands, knowing that he had just invited ridicule on himself. He crossed off the option of ’making conversation out of nowhere and probing for information’ from the list of how he was to deal with Silver Shadowman, who was neither human nor ghost. "So, souls of the deceased?"

When he heard this, Silver Shadowman slowly lifted his head. He seemed emotional as he looked at the cave. He turned and moved away from the spot in front of Thales.

The footsteps formed by the silver light left brilliant and splendid marks on the rocks.

"This land has experienced countless wars, bitterly cold winters, disasters and deaths. Heads fell on the ground, blood splattered everywhere, dead bodies were strewn all over the fields, and haunting wails filled the air."

Silver Shadowman walked forward slowly. His words rose again and he still held that illusory echo contained within his voice. There was a melancholic tone in it that refused to go away.

"Over the past few thousand years, countless people met their demise here, and the souls of the deceased from the past gathered here, unable to leave.

"Gathered here, unable to leave... unable to leave... leave..."

This time, the echo was especially obvious, and it gave Thales a shock. It was only at this moment that the prince noticed that Silver Shadowman was not speaking by making sounds. Instead, his voice came straight into Thales’ mind!

’Wait. Words that are ringing in my head. This situation... It’s vaguely familiar...?’

But before Thales could figure out what it was, Silver Shadowman changed his tone.

"They were supposed to be in a quiet, deep slumber, without any consciousness, without getting involved with living people, and without having anything to do with the world. They would have slowly lost themselves and lost all sense of time, until their vitality completely fades from them and they no longer existed."

The man turned abruptly. The silver light emitted by his body suddenly became denser, like an oil lamp that had its brightness increased. His tone became stern and serious.

"Until you woke them up."

Thales was utterly startled. "Me? But, but I did nothing!" He extended his hands in an innocent and confused manner. "How did I wake them up?"

Silver Shadowman turned to Thales. His facial features, brought out by the contrast of light and shadows, suddenly had its features become much more prominent.

"No," he said firmly. "You did it."

Thales looked totally astounded.

Silver Shadowman slowly raised his right hand and turned his palm towards Thales. His palm emitted a faint, silver light.

Thales immediately began to feeling uncomfortable. There seemed to be something in the silver light that was prickling his skin, just like when this dangerous being threatened him and pressed him for an answer just now.

"I can see, just like how all of them can see, that you have a special power.

Thales’ heart clenched. Silver Shadowman’s tone was flat, but for some strange reason, it made Thales short of breath.

"It lurks within your robust body, drawing nutrients from you and letting you reap its benefits in return. It enables you to communicate with those in the living world and those under the ground—to contact the living and the dead."

Thales arched an eyebrow. ’Huh?’

"The moment it becomes one with you, you would be hovering between life and death, and blurring the lines between the living world and the underworld."

Silver Shadowman’s words made Thales’ heart skip a beat.

’Between life and death.’ He immediately understood something.

"With you serving as the key, you opened a pathway between the two unconnected worlds," the man said sternly. "The deceased souls were supposed to be unconscious and without the ability to affect living people, but they were all disturbed from their sleep and woken up; like hyenas that swarm towards rotten things, and sharks that swim towards blood."

Thales blinked in shock. He stared at Silver Shadowman’s dark facial features which had become even more prominent with every passing second.

"Do you mean," he asked softly and in disbelief, "the Sin of Hell’s River?"

Silver Shadowman did not reply. The uneasy Thales did the first thing that came to mind.

He clenched his fists, took a deep breath, and summoned the Sin of Hell’s River. He utilized its most common effect—the strengthening of his audiovisual senses.

Within a few seconds, the Sin of Hell’s River surged into the blood vessels around his eyes and ears on his command, making his world brighter and clearer. But at the same time, Thales immediately sensed that his surroundings had become different!

A distance away, numerous silhouettes appeared on the cave walls where the silver light could not reach. All the newly appeared and strange faces of the ghosts looked at Thales.

"Ah... So painful, my chest..."

"No, why do you want to kill me? I didn’t join the revolution..."

"Luke! Luke Sada!"

"They can’t stay here, the orcs’ vanguards are almost here. Even if we were to kidnap them, we would have to kidnap everyone in this village..."

"Hahaha, all of you won’t be able to believe this. I tied that ice mixed breed on a frame, twisted his intestines out with red-hot tongs and poured kerosene on them. I can never forget what they did to my Lisa. I want every single orc who falls into my hands to die a painful death..."

At that moment, there was a dark chilliness, airy and quiet murmurs, pained wails... The nightmare from earlier had now returned to Thales’ sensory organs.

The prince was shocked.

However, even though the Sin of Hell’s River had sensed the threat, it did not stop surging through his body. In fact, it operated at an increased speed, in an uncontrollable manner, and continued to strengthen his sensory organs.

Based on Thales’ memories of his past life, that feeling was similar to when a horror movie suddenly turned from two-dimensional to three-dimensional in an instant during the frightening climax.

"I’m only doing this for the monetary reward, and to fill my belly. Why do I have to work myself to death for them? They never see pawns like us as humans anyway..."

"I’m so hungry, general. We’ve eaten all the prisoners of war, and the criminals, I’m so hungry. Can, can we eat the sick and the elderly? They’re going to die soon, anyway. If we fill our bellies with them, we can even protect their families on their behalf..."

"I don’t understand. We are fighters, and we have our own honorable reputation. Is there any honor to be gained from slaughtering civilians...?"

"Listen up, soldiers. Your honor is not up for you to decide. You don’t get to decide who are the civilians and who are the enemies either. Instead, it’s decided by the brigade, the Empire, and my orders. Do you understand? Now, soldier, kill this Northland brat, because he is an enemy. This is what honor is...’"

The voices grew louder, and his surroundings became colder and colder. Thales held his head in pain. He closed his eyes and started convulsing.

’Shit. How is it so...’

The deceased souls around him became more and more restless. Many of them even climbed towards him.

At that moment...

"Go away!" Silver Shadowman’s furious roar rang beside his ears.

The cave was once again filled with bright, silver light. It was so blinding to the eyes that it made Thales curl into a ball.

"Go back to your rotten nests!"

Once Silver Shadowman shouted these words, the deceased souls’ miserable cries sounded once and slowly faded away. They dodged the silver light while in agony, and shrunk back into the darkness.

Those frightening murmurs and emotions also drew back from Thales’ sensory organs like flood water. Then, the area around him became quiet again.

After quite some time, Thales feebly removed his hands from his head while he sat, leaning weakly against the cave wall, and he felt the Sin of Hell’s River disappear from him.

’Damn it.’ He panted and cursed in his heart. ’Damn it, damn it, damn it!’

"For now, these deceased souls are unable to harm your body directly." Silver Shadowman’s voice echoed once more. "But they can destroy your mental state and pollute your soul by affecting the environment, therefore making you a living corpse. Of course, if they were a little stronger, and you a little weaker..."

Thales opened his eyes. He exhaled in frustration.

The silver light emitted by the man slowly reduced in brightness. He put down his palm which radiated with silver light, and stared at the teenage boy quietly.

Thales said dejectedly, "Great. It turns out that the Sin of Hell’s River can also open one’s astral vision to see ghosts, or emit sound waves that attract souls.

"Totally amazing," he said mockingly.

Silver Shadowman went beside Thales again. He lowered his head and gazed at Thales. "I recognize this power. I once had a friend who was just like you."

Silver Shadowman’s words made Thales perk up. "The Sin of Hell’s River?"

The man shook his head in the silver light. "He was tormented by this power, and thus was rejected by Hell’s River, he could not fit into this world either. That was the greatest misfortune in his life.

"Just like the pitiful deceased souls that are stuck here between life and death because of an evil curse."

Depressed and agitated at the same time, Thales chuckled tauntingly. "I reckon that I’m no better."

But he thought of something. The exhausted Thales raised his head and asked, "An evil curse? You mentioned this more than once. What does it mean?"

This time, Silver Shadowman, who still had his head lowered to stare at the boy, remained quiet for a long time. The silver light he emitted flickered.

Finally, Silver Shadowman spoke again, "These tortured souls of the deceased are not trapped here out of their own wishes."

His words were filled with sadness and pity. "In contrast, they are bound here because of an evil curse, and cannot continue their journey of death.

"Because of this curse, they are cut off from the cycle of life and death and are stuck in this swamp forever, enduring endless hardships."

Thales was taken aback. He stood up laboriously and looked around, but he could only see the dim cave and the dark cave walls.

There was nothing.

The prince forced down the terror in his heart and asked curiously, "What sort of curse?"

Silver Shadowman was silent for a few seconds.

When Thales almost could not help wanting to urge him to speak, Silver Shadowman turned to face Thales. His facial features sparkled continuously in the silver light. His tone was solemn as he enunciated each word,

"The curse of the Iron Blood King."

Thales’ eyebrows twitched. "The Iron Blood King? I remember this legend." The prince scratched his head. "The Iron Blood King. Every Northlander knows him. He is... he is... I think he built something..."

Thales bit his lower lip hard and thought carefully. He felt like he was about to recall what it was.

Silver Shadowman let out a soft snort and jolted him out of his memories. "The Iron Blood King, the first human king to lead mankind to fight against the ancient orcs. The constructor of ’Mankind’s Final Defensive Line’."

"Yes!" Thales blushed, feeling like he was being looked down on. He shrugged. "I mean, yes, I know.

"The Iron Blood King’s death in battle, Mankind’s Final Defensive Line falling into the enemy’s hands, the ancient orcs invading south all together, and the demise of the ancient chauvinistic countries. These signify the end of the Barbaric Era and the beginning of the era of multiple kings. I remember now." Thales sighed. "Ah, I really miss history lessons."

However, he then furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "But what does the Iron Blood King have to do with the curse?"

Silver Shadowman shook his head, causing the light shining on the cave walls around them to flicker.

"It is a miserable thing from ancient times that is still present even now, and it is cruel and sad. You don’t need to know the details."

Thales narrowed his eyes in dissatisfaction.

The man’s facial features froze momentarily. He seemed like he was sighing. "You only need to know that it is a sin committed by a group of noble people.

"With hope and love in their hearts, they tried hard to save the world. But in the end, they made a monumental mistake that brought us an endless flow of problems and disasters."

His next words made Thales gasp a little again.

"Even the wizards abstained from talking about it, seeing it as a taboo."

Thales went still for a moment. He even held his breath for a short while.

"Wizards?" The prince looked at Silver Shadowman, and started growing suspicious of his identity once more. "It is related to them?"

Silver Shadowman turned. Great rays of light streamed out of his armor made of silver light. "They are not just related to it. They played a lead role in it."

His voice became cold and solemn.

"The curse of the Iron Blood King is a disaster caused by magic, and a stray path that the wizards took.

Thales continued staring at him in shock.

’Yes, indeed, if this man is someone from the era of the Empire, before the Battle of Eradication, he definitely knows about magic and wizards.’

But before he could ask, Silver Shadowman spoke again. He turned towards the dark cave and said in a low voice, "Because of this curse, this mistake, many of the dead, no matter who they were when alive, and where they belonged to, had their souls locked here in this Black Track before their souls could head to Hell’s River, unable to enter and be reincarnated.

"If life was a long rope, then these souls are living in an encased knot, neither moving forward nor backwards. They are the most tragic and pitiable beings."

Thales recalled that colorful male deceased soul, and the soul’s eerie face as he sneered at him. He could not help but shudder.

"So, they... didn’t manage to die?"

Silver Shadowman shook his head in disagreement. "Death is not frightening. The truly frightening thing is to not be able to continue moving forward after you die."

"What do you mean?"

"Death is the elimination of both body and soul." The man slowly raised his palm in the silver light. The silver light on his palm formed the shape of a human to show Thales the separation of soul from body. "However, for these deceased souls... They lost their bodies and are without a physical shell. Hence, they no longer have a carrier to bear the weight of their consciousness and memories.

"But because of the curse, their souls, which were not supposed to be able to exist by themselves, were left here."

Silver Shadowman’s words became more and more solemn, and the echo from his voice became louder and louder. "This means these souls that should have disappeared but remained for some unknown reason have to stay here for a long period of time. They are unable to create new memories. Moreover, they will keep forgetting their memories from the past, and have difficulty differentiating themselves to others, neither can they differentiate the past from the present.

"For them, the past has already become an illusion, and the future is absolutely meaningless. They neither know where they came from, nor where they are going," said Silver Shadowman, enunciating each word.

"They have long since ceased to be who they used to be. Instead, they became something else, some other monster."

Silver Shadowman stopped commenting on them and gazed intently at Thales, as though he was waiting for him to make an enthusiastic response.

Thales widened his eyes with incredulity and tried hard to digest this knowledge of the supernatural.

’But... Come on. This, this isn’t scientific...’

"It doesn’t sound too good." Thales brazened it out, suppressing the urge to ask for details and criticize the mind-boggling things Silver Shadowman just said.

"So, erm, this curse, these deceased souls... will continue living in this way forever? They won’t run out of electricity or something—"

Silver Shadowman cut him off with a soft snort.

"This is the worst part," the man said calmly but seriously. "These deceased souls are stuck between life and death, and are connected to both the living and the dead. They are affected by both sides at the same time, but it also means that they can also affect both sides."

Thales recalled the ’haunting’ he encountered during his journey earlier. His brow became even more furrowed.

"For example, countless people died up there on the surface not long ago, and it brought on a new round of death and despair, a new round of greed and madness, a new round of hatred and obstinacy. All of these emotions and things deeply affect these deceased souls in the Black Track," said Silver Shadowman as he withdrew his palm.

Thales froze in confusion. He then arched an eyebrow. ’What?’

"Countless people died?" the teenager asked, not knowing what was going on. "I don’t understand. This... this is the interior of the Cliff of the Sky and is part of Dragon Clouds City’s underground rock formation."

Thales shook his head. "What do you mean when you said that ’countless people’ died up there on the surface—"

But he then froze and his words died in his throat. A street reduced to ruin, and Gleeward and Kurtz’s faces flashed through Thales’ mind.

He remembered something. Then, in quite the considerable amount of shock, he widened his eyes. ’Really? Does that mean that...’

"Wait, ’not long ago’? I think I know."

With an expression of realization and shock, Thales said softly and subconsciously, "Six years ago, the calamities appeared in Dragon Clouds City. Shield District was destroyed, and there... Yes, indeed, countless people... died."

He stiffly finished his sentence. As he spoke, Thales noticed that the light emitted by Silver Shadowman’s body was sparkling intensely.

Their surroundings were still dim, but because of the silver light’s sparkle, the cave immediately looked a lot more mysterious.

Silver Shadowman only spoke again after a long time, "Is that so..."

Silver Shadowman’s light was a little dim, as though reflecting his mood.

"This sort of thing also happened in the past. Wars, famine, epidemics and disasters. The pain of the living provides new nourishment to the deceased souls. It not only stops them from disappearing, but also allows them to strengthen themselves in this boundless darkness, turning them into the most pitiable and despicable mutants that continue to drift about in this cage.

"At the same time, the frightening curse will also become more powerful, causing a perpetual cycle that binds these deceased souls even tighter. They are unable to free themselves and even depend on each other to survive, just like now." The man shook his head slowly. "It’s hard for them to move forward, and they’re unable to escape nor overcome this curse."

Thales leaned against the cave wall behind him and heaved a long sigh. "Existences forced to continue to live forever and affect both the living and the dead... It does sound horrible."

Silver Shadowman crossed his arms, making him look very human, and leaned against the cave wall in a practiced movement, just like Thales had done earlier.

This movement made him seem a lot more affable. He was no longer his condescending, unreasonable and ghost-like self.

"For a few thousand years, countless wizards from the Three Great Magic Towers worked laboriously on topics surrounding the mistake they made with the Iron Blood King’s curse, and their work continued generation after generation."

When he heard the familiar term, Thales immediately pricked up his ears.

Silver Shadowman seemed to be lamenting. He swayed his silvery head slowly, and his pitch-black facial features moved a little. "But every time they try to conduct research on it and disclose the secret behind it, or work hard to remedy it and make it right, they worsen the already frightening mistake even further and cause even more horrifying consequences."

His voice then became extremely dispirited. "...Even bringing about the eradication of the world."

Thales was startled when he heard what Silver Shadowman said. He turned to the strange Silver Shadowman and shook his head firmly. "The eradication of the world? I don’t understand. Was it... that serious?"

Silver Shadowman snorted coldly. He turned slowly towards the teenager. An unspeakable power seemed to have gathered in his pitch-black eyes, making Thales’ heart sink.

"You are still too young, Jadestar. You were never aware," Silver Shadowman said flatly. "You have not been told, and are not aware as well. You are not yet prepared to face the mission that belongs to you."

Thales frowned. "What?"

Silver Shadowman let out a soft, high-pitched voice. A ripple appeared in the vibrating light, and he sounded as if he was chuckling. But in the next moment, his relaxed facial features became dark again.

The silver light emitted by the man’s body converged once more and became brighter in an instant!

Silver Shadowman moved away from the cave wall and put his hands down. He stared quietly at one corner of the cave.

Thales, sensing that something was not right, immediately stood up straight and asked warily, "What’s going on?"

Silver Shadowman’s answer was very brief. "They are here."

That one single sentence was enough to make Thales tense up. When Silver Shadowman spoke, an indistinct chill ran down Thales’ spine.

The prince anxiously raised his head and swept his gaze over the cave walls around him. He soon noticed that something was not right.

A visible cloud of black fog seeped out of the cave walls around Thales, filling up the narrow cave. And with every bit of black fog that seeped out, the area where Silver Shadowman’s light illuminated reduced marginally.

It was just like a worm that swallowed the light.

Thales felt his blood run cold as he watched the expanding black fog. He instinctively shrank back. He had seen this fog before. In fact, he saw it just now.

"This is the physical form of the curse," Silver Shadowman reminded coldly. "Don’t touch it."

Thales frowned. "Urk... Good plan."

Very soon, dried and rotten faces, as well as arms with bizarre colors, stretched out from the walls where the black fog was the densest.

Thales gritted his teeth. As the light grew dimmer, he could not see the souls of the deceased in the distance, but the teenager no longer had the courage to activate the Sin of Hell’s River. He was afraid he would cause another round of disasters.

"But didn’t you chase them away just now?" He wisely chose to get closer to Silver Shadowman, even though the latter had nearly killed him for his actions just now.

Silver Shadowman clenched his fists and the light grew brighter.

"Over the past one thousand years, the terrifying curse caused an innumerable number of frightening deceased souls to gather here." The person’s tone may be serious, but he did not seem to be too affected by the sight, as though he was used to it.

"Most of them faded away through time, but there are some who escaped the disaster brought by time. They have some semblance of intelligence left in them, and they are very unique, powerful, horrifying, and difficult to deal with. In fact, they can even exchange a few blows with me."

Silver Shadowman turned his head around swiftly and looked at the darkest corner of the cave.

"...Such as this one."

Thales looked in the direction where Silver Shadowman was ’staring’, and when he looked towards that corner, his face paled instantly.

A face appeared on the wall.

’It’s THAT ghost again.’

It opened its shriveled mouth again and while its teeth—the color of rust—quivered, it drifted out of the wall.

It was still dressed in its ancient armor, its complicated braids, those white, protruding eyes, and it still possessed that colorful body despite being in the dark.

’It’s the first soul of the deceased that appeared, the most unique one, and also... the one who killed Kurtz,’ Thales thought to himself.

Compared to the other ghosts who only dared to climb on walls and did not have the courage to get close to the silver light, this unique soul of the deceased let loose an endless black fog of curses. It completely broke free of the walls and floated in the air before drifting to the center of the silver light.

Thales tensed up!

The soul of the deceased lifted its head. Its white eyeball shone with a dark green light when it looked at them.

Thales bit down hard on his bottom lip and seized the dagger by his waist, even though he did not know whether it was effective.

But then, this time, the unique deceased soul looked at Silver Shadowman.

It spoke in the national language of the Ancient Empire, which had turned from something unfamiliar to something familiar to Thales’ ears, and there was a gloomy and profound tone in its voice. Its words were paced, with pauses almost in between each word, and its voice traveled into Thales’ ears again.

"You... You again. Northlander."

’Northlander...’

Thales stared curiously at Silver Shadowman next to him. His assumptions about his status appeared in his mind again.

The muscles on the withered face of the deceased soul quivered slightly. It shook its head and this action, only possible for a human, made it look as though it was remembering something.

"Why won’t you give up? Why won’t you join us? Why do you resist?"

Silver Shadowman shook his head. The silver light on his body gathered on him. The area it illuminated became smaller, but the light in turn became brighter and managed to chase away some wisps of black fog that were approaching this place.

"General Linka." The man in the silver light was very relaxed, but he was very fluent in his use of the national language of the Ancient Empire. "You were once a great warrior, a powerful opponent, and a brutal executioner, but at that time, you were at least a person.

"And now, the curse has affected most of your mind." Silver Shadowman said with a cold snort, "You are no longer yourself. How sad."

Thales widened his eyes. He looked at the colorful soul of the deceased, then at Silver Shadowman.

’They...’

The deceased soul known as General Linka revealed his terrifying teeth and growled.

"Northlander, you relied on the power of a god who has already lost his support, and persevered until now, but the power of the curse exceeds your imagination."

The cold laughter of the deceased soul traveled into his ears. The black fog surrounded his armor, yet it did not manage to hide away the colors on his armor and the ornaments on it.

The area around them grew darker. It was like a chamber where the light was about to be extinguished.

"Northlander... you are already struggling to retain your own sanity, and you still wish to continue suppressing us? You cannot persevere forever. I can sense that your power... No, the power given to you by that god is fading away."

Silver Shadowman snorted softly. He did not speak.

’A god who is no longer supported? Fading away?’

With what he could see in his dim line of vision, Thales cast a glance at the deceased soul’s terrible appearance, and he could not help but feel his skin crawl.

Then, he looked at Silver Shadowman, and he began to pray quietly in his heart. ’Regardless of who gave him his power, be it a god or a devil, please make this silver sadist remain strong.’

The deceased soul continued speaking in the national language of the Ancient Empire,

"You will never be able to suppress us and the curse forever. You are a deceased soul yourself. You cannot remain strong and new forever. You cannot last."

An indescribable dark light shone from the soul of the deceased’s white eyes.

"But we... We will never disappear. The curse will never end. The battle on the surface has never ended. Deaths and fresh blood continue appearing, and our nutrients are endless. One of these days you will join us, and you will be together with us. You will turn into an existence who will never disappear."

As if they were responding to his words, the other souls of the deceased around the area opened their mouths and roared coldly. Their voices rose and fell.

The roars echoed in the cave. The strange black fog and the fading light made Thales shiver even though it was not cold.

Silver Shadowman moved his head from side to side and exercised his wrist, which was made of silver light. He looked like a hooligan who was about to join a brawl. "General, your greatest tragedy is that you constantly forget that you have already died and disappeared a long time ago."

Thales had a feeling that if there was no silver light on Silver Shadowman to show that he was no ordinary person, he did not appear different from a normal person.

The prince coughed. He tried to join the conversation using the national language of the Ancient Empire. "You... know each other?"

"Of course." The man’s black mouth widened slowly, as if he was smiling coldly. "He is the commander of the Final Empire’s fourteenth army, Cain Camur Linka. People know him as the Snowland Butcher."

Thales stared at the soul of the deceased in disbelief. He fixed his eyes on his terrifying face.

’Final... Empire? So how many years... has it been since this General Cain-something died?’

"I remember his name, his title, and all of his achievements." Silver Shadowman stared at the soul levitating in midair, and his tone was grave. "I remember them even clearer than my own past."

"Ha ha ha ha ha." The deceased soul, Cain Camur, opened his terrifying, shriveled mouth and started laughing coldly in the cursed black fog.

"I could say the same to you. One of these days, we will return to the embrace of the earth, and that day will be the day where the glorious and prosperous Empire returns. And you, presumptuous Northlander, will lose in the end."

Silver Shadowman stared at him coldly. He did not move, nor did he speak.

"You will... lose in the end."

At the same time, with endless hatred and enmity, the countless souls of the deceased on the walls opened their mouths and let out deafening, chilling wails simultaneously. "AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!"

Thales tensed up and instinctively covered his ears.

As for Silver Shadowman, he stood his ground without fear. In fact, he took a step forward and blocked Thales’ figure from view.

The black fog around Cain Carmur grew larger. It covered the countless rays of silver light before it went to fill the entire cave with black fog.

"...You will lose in the end."

In the next second, with endless black fog around it, Cain Camur’s withered and rotting face appeared instantly in front of them!

Thales was shocked. His vision swiftly turned dark.

The roaring general of the deceased souls and those who had died many years ago pounced on Silver Shadowman in an aggressive manner.

The teenage boy’s field of vision grew darker until he could no longer see his surroundings clearly.

In the dark cave, the souls of the deceased’s shrill howls could be heard clearly. Thales could not help but feel terrified.

Amid the roars were the repeated growls of the General of the Empire, and his words caused them to shiver even though it was not cold. "You will lose in the end..."

In the next moment, the black fog completely enveloped Silver Shadowman. Not a single inch of him was left uncovered, and not a single bit of him was left visible.

The final wisp of light eventually disappeared from Thales’ line of sight. Only darkness remained, as well as the general’s growls.

"Eck... stedt... You will lose... in the end."