Chapter 113 - Army

Joan was still in his lotus position, eyes closed and Isaias woke him up. His eyes were sunken and his eyelids were black. Making Isaias have an impression that he was awake all night. His looks aside, he was having a different aura in his look. Just as Isaias was about to ask him, Joan replied to him.

"Seventh Stage Sky Realm," Joan said to him.

"Ah," Isaias replied and he thought he just misheard it.

"Say again?" Isaias asked.

"Seventh stage," Joan said then squeezed his eyes. Trying to stand up but his legs were weary. He failed to stand up but slammed his butt on the floor. That night was very exhausting but he was awake throughout the night to cultivate. Isaias helped him and then gave him a cup of water.

"Wow Joan, you struggled that much for a whole night? You need to rest, I will cook," Joan said then laid down on the sack of corn.

Isaias then cooked him with vegetable soup. A porridge to the exact. It was healthy for the body and so Joan ate it while hot. It was then he slept and his consciousness faded. He was in the depths of his sleep. It was then, Isaias drove Priscilla to exit the forest. They did not meet any enemy encounters on the way and so Joan slept without getting woken up halfway.

Meanwhile, the army commander was at his strategic table, contemplating the mysterious adventurers.

"I am greatly confused why they didn't found any dead bodies on the battlefield. Neither any of their scent that came from adventurers. The bodies are only from the Nightmares that has disintegrated after their essence has been absorbed? I can sense fifty nightmares were killed on the battlefield after looking at the place they battled. And they are only a few?" The commander asked.

"Yes, commander! They are only numbered a few but I have seen them with my own eyes. They fought the Nightmares and they managed to repel them. It made me curious why they are heading that way commander. It was maybe just an accident that they fought them. Their primary goal was maybe to go to a place way beyond that," The scout said.

"The Tomb?" The commander replied in his curiosity.

"Yes," The scout added.

"Why are they going to go there?" The commander asked.

"I can only conclude that they survived the battle. If not, then it is such a waste," The scout said.

"If they survived, I should meet them personally." The commander said to him. About-facing him and stared at the window.

"Send a search party to find them. You lead the mission. If they survived, then you know where they are headed. You need to know their names as they are potential recruits," The commander said to him.

"Yes commander," The scout said to him.

It was then the scouts concluded that the adventurers survived the attack. There's no body of a human but just weapons of enemies that have fallen. They also found their campsite for that night and saw that the campfire was still hot. Bones littered the ground and sticks were just piled beside the campfire. The scouts went back to their commander and reported what they saw.

"So your report?" The commander asked.

"Commander, there is a possibility that the adventurers survived. But I have only seen three different tracks from three different persons. I haven't seen a mound of buried dead so I speculate that no one died from them. I can conclude that it was them," The scout said.

The commander felt joyous that his scouts said that they were alive. He needs to meet these so-called adventurers that they met in the battleground. Thanks to them, they stalled enough time for them to prepare and attacked full force.

Another question in his mind was how did they battle the Nightmares without even a casualty. If they managed to carry the deceased away from the battle, then it would be a lot harder to pull off. Imagining how fast the enemies were and carrying another luggage will become a hindrance to the team's escape plan. Another thing that he thought was there was a Holy Knight together with them so it was possible to survive that long. If he was a master or grandmaster, then the possibility to survive was higher.

But the enemy numbers were in three hundred. Survival will be as slim as it was. Thinking that they would have to deal with great numbers with just a few of them.

It was then, Isaias was driving the carriage and was striding downhill. They passed by the campfire that they installed and has seen the aftermath of their battles. Caved in grounds were seen left and right. Weapons were discarded left and right and were left. Isaias stared farther and saw the aftermath of a great battle that happened.

It was probably the battleground of the Human army and the last Nightmares that they battled. Traces of lamps being broken were what littered the ground. Some shards of glasses were littering the ground. Isaias can only imagine that the battle was hard-fought.

They paved the path towards the Tomb and they were in a wilderness. Only bones of dead animals and vultures were hovering above them. The wind was dry and the road has cracked due to El Niño. The season was on its driest and it seems the rain has long left the place. Making the environment die out slowly.

The distance from the Tomb was getting closer and closer. Making Isaias saw the Tomb erected from afar. It was then, they paced up towards the Tomb. They entered a dead forest and the leaves of the trees were falling from their branches. It was not autumn but the forest was behaving unnaturally. It seemed that the forest was tainted. Making Isaias thought that a seed of evil was erected from the place. The clouds were dark and flashes of lightning were seen inside it.

Travelling some more, they were encompassing curve roads and was like a snake's paved path. More trees were seen drier than the ones on the forest entrance. The branches were darker and some were whithered and can become a potential forest fire if an ember was nonchalantly thrown on the leaves.

Priscilla was walking but she was also disturbed by what they were paving on. She was getting unrest. Neighing on the process while breathing heavily. Isaias felt that they were getting closer, seeing the Tomb nearer from before.