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Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy ‌‌the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
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Chapter 73
Act 2. Despair Wears the Color of Ash
His earliest memory always began in the same place.
The Golden Plains, swept by relentless winds. ‌‌‌
As I pushed through the undulating grassland, an impossibly deep blue sky poured down upon my head.
Barcas advanced aimlessly between the boundary of gold and blue, seized by an intense tremor.
At some point, I could no longer discern where I was heading. I simply ran wildly through the wind.
I was free.
I could go anywhere and do ‌‌‌‌anything.
The beautiful world before my eyes whispered ‌‌‌such promises.
My heart thundered as though it might burst.
The scorching heat of blood ‌‌‌coursing through my veins and the cool dryness of air filling my lungs.
Every sensation told me I was alive.
I tasted the ecstasy of existence.
Yet that brilliant moment did not endure.
Thick gray walls closed in from all sides.
A space too cramped to sit, let alone lie down. Trapped within a Sealed Chamber like a ‌‌‌coffin, I clawed at the walls until my nails shattered.
That futile resistance crumbled ‌‌quickly.
Through a ‌‌narrow gap in the wall, the fanatic's eyes peered in at intervals. The Priest would never release me until every trace ‌‌‌‌of ‌the 'evil' dwelling within me was obliterated.
In the depths of that bottomless ‌‌despair, I systematized the death of every ‌sense.
First, I tore away pain.
Then I numbed taste and smell.
At some point, hunger ceased to exist, and the ‌‌desire ‌‌for sleep vanished.
I ‌‌‌‌could no longer be ‌‌‌called a living creature.
Only when I had become an ‌‌empty husk, all contents evaporated, did the tomb's door open.
I gazed upward with hollow eyes at the figure silhouetted against the light. Instead of cold eyes gleaming with strange heat and a face cast as if ‌‌from ‌‌‌‌‌steel, I saw a slender face drained pale by shock.
The Dark-Haired Woman reached toward me, extending her arms. Her delicate fingers touched my ‌‌‌‌cracked cheeks. Yet I could feel nothing beyond the faintest pressure.
That hand, which might have been salvation, drew me from ‌‌the tomb. Piercing sunlight flooded into my pupils.
An unnaturally pallid landscape filled my retinas.
I soon realized that everything before my eyes bore the color of ash.
A colorless, odorless, faded world.
It seemed the entire world might crumble to dust at any moment. ‌‌
Or perhaps it was I who had already become ash. ‌
I slowly lifted my eyelids. ‌‌
For a ‌moment, I could not properly orient myself to where I was.
Only after ‌‌several seconds did the ceiling of the Barracks, draped in dark shadow, come into focus.
I slowly raised my arm.
Not the skeletal hand of a child, but the hand of a man with prominent bones and sinews came ‌‌‌‌into view.
As if ‌‌to confirm something, I examined it, when a sound like a ‌‌‌beast's cry echoed from somewhere.
Barcas rose mechanically to his feet. Almost simultaneously, a soldier burst into the Barracks.
"Count Sierchan! A Dire Wolf has appeared!"
He immediately swung his legs out of bed. Seizing the halberd propped at ‌‌‌‌the headboard, he strode toward the exit while the waiting Attendants swarmed around him, fastening a lightweight breastplate across his torso.
I brushed aside their fumbling hands and ‌‌swept my gaze across the chaotic Campsite.
The pale dawn light cast a dim illumination over the orderly rows of Tents and the soldiers scrambling frantically between them.
Soon I spotted it—a massive black beast nearly eight cubits in length, towering above the rest.
The monster had noticed me as well. The enormous wolf, its body flattened low, unleashed a savage roar and launched itself forward with a thunderous bound.
I extended my left foot forward half a step and gripped the halberd diagonally. The heavy axe blade at the shaft's end tilted upward toward ‌‌the ‌‌‌ground. ‌‌
As the black shadow consumed my ‌‌‌‌vision, I twisted the shaft with tremendous force and swung it in a wide diagonal arc.
The crescent-shaped blade pierced through the wolf's tough hide, severing the dense muscle and thick bone in a single, fluid motion.
From the severed wound, viscous blood erupted like a fountain.
I wiped the liquid that had splattered across my cheek with my sleeve and turned my head to survey the surroundings. Between the coniferous trees standing like a palisade, I caught sight of gray ‌‌‌‌beasts scattering with agility.
Recognizing their retreat, I lowered my gaze to the massive corpse sprawled across the ground.
'It appears this one was the alpha.'
Wolves lose their hierarchy in an instant once their leader falls, their ‌‌unity crumbling away.
I drove the pointed spear tip into the earth and moved toward the collapsed Tents to assess the damage.
Between the broken tent poles and heaps of sand-colored fabric, I could see a furry black beast lying motionless. As I bent down to examine the wolf's corpse, its heart pierced clean through, a light voice with a casual tone reached me from behind.
"Quite the boisterous welcome ceremony on your first day back in your homeland."
I turned ‌my head to see a Nobleman standing there, his bare torso covered only by a loose, hanging outer coat. He was ‌a Barakan Warrior. He drove the axe-spear in his hand into the ground and gestured toward the ‌‌‌‌Forest with a nod of his head.
"Shall I have the men pursue them?"
"I cannot disperse our forces now. First, attend to the damage and strengthen the perimeter."
"There is scarcely any damage to speak of. They only managed to carry off a single pack horse."
The Nobleman rubbed the back of his neck with one hand and responded offhandedly.
"One youth who underwent his coming-of-age ceremony this year sustained minor injuries, but fortunately, there were no casualties."
I straightened my body.
The sun had risen brightly by now, illuminating every corner of the ‌‌ravaged Campsite.
I surveyed the surroundings calmly to gauge the full extent of the damage, then turned my eyes back toward the Nobleman.
"Have the Campsite organized. We move before scavengers ‌‌‌drawn by the blood arrive."
"As you command."
As the Nobleman turned and departed with an unhurried gait, I moved toward the center of the Campsite.
My eyes caught sight of ‌‌‌soldiers struggling to calm the agitated horses and servants clearing away the ‌‌‌‌broken Tents.
I passed them and walked toward the water containers positioned beside the large Barracks.
A ghostly ‌‌‌pale shadow reflected upon the clear rainwater collected the previous day.
I gazed at it for ‌a moment, then cupped water in my hands and washed the blood from my face. The lukewarm water imparted a subtle sensation against my skin.
I wiped it away roughly and brought my hand to my nose, inhaling deeply.
The metallic tang of blood had faded, replaced by a faint, watery scent.
I could not determine which smell was preferable.
Olfaction was the ‌‌‌‌‌first sense I had recovered. Yet still, I could not connect the stimuli transmitted to my brain with emotion.
I could distinguish the type and intensity of sensations perceived through my nose, but they did ‌‌‌not translate into preference or aversion. I merely learned through study to differentiate ‌‌‌what pleased ‌‌‌others ‌‌‌‌from what did not.
And according to what I had ‌‌‌learned, the scent of blood particularly induced displeasure in people.
I removed my stained armor carelessly, discarding it on the ground, and examined my shirt.
Fortunately, no bloodstains were visible. Yet an unpleasant odor—one he remained unaware of—might have seeped into the fabric.
He turned his steps toward his barracks to change into fresh clothes.
It was then that he spotted a ‌‌‌‌Quarter Dwarf fidgeting anxiously before the tent positioned at the center of the campsite.
Barcas approached without hesitation, closing the distance swiftly.
"What is the ‌matter?"
My voice emerged so harsh and discordant that even I found it alien to my own ears.
The woman flinched, her eyes widening with apprehension.
"Ah, the young lady... she hasn't been seen since earlier..."
A sudden ringing erupted in my ears.

---------------
Brought to ‌‌you by Valir Scans! ‌‌‌‌To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
---------------