Chapter 356 Corpses

It was a stone castle in the middle of a dark forest.  The place was pitch black. Light shone from the sky beyond the mist, but it was very faint, even almost invisible to the naked eye. If it were not for their enhanced perception, they would not be able to see a thing right now.

Tristan observed the place. Rather than a castle, this place looked a lot more like an ancient fortress. The place had three entrances wide enough to fit ten adult men side-by-side, but the gates were broken.

As the group flew down, they saw that within both the inner courtyard and the outer courtyard, nothing else apart from bones filled the castle grounds.

Almost all of the bones on the ground had already turned gray. They seemed so brittle that they seemed as if they would turn to ash with just a touch.

Most of them seemed to be at least a thousand years old, but they also saw some who were obviously much newer, most likely only about a few dozens of years old.

"I believe a large battle occurred here in the last expedition," Callan said after observing the sight in front of them.

Callan lit up a torch before entering through the main entrance.

He ordered the saint elf to guard outside while the wounded elves were brought inside to be checked upon and treated. Those elves included the young Mirkwood magus elf, Levi, who had a large scar on his shoulder.

As they carefully walked inside, large inner chambers greeted their sight. Some of them were larger than others, but each of them was at least 29 meters high.

A huge staircase sat right at the center of those chambers.

After the group checked and made sure that the place was safe, the wounded were laid there to be treated and the elders began to treat them with various spells and healing potions.

As for the rest who were uninjured, they followed Callan to walk up the stairs into another large chamber. The chamber was similar to the ones they saw on the ground floor, but when they entered, all the magus steps simultaneously halted.

In front of them was an enormous skeleton at least 15 meters tall. Looking at the skeleton's claws and jaws that were each as large as the palm of an adult man, they could tell at a glance that it was not a human skeleton.

"A dragon?" one of the magus right behind Callan muttered in confusion. It seemed to be, yet it did not.

Callan shook his head when he heard the magus' words, but it was Vizier who spoke in response.

"No. From the skull's shape, it's definitely a wolf."

"What!? A wolf this big!? I have never heard of anything so absurd!" Haladar, the old wood elf, exclaimed in disbelief.

"Yes, it is indeed a wolf," Callan affirmed while still observing the skeleton.

This statement caused the eyes of the previous magus to widen in disbelief. Even Haladar turned silent and began to observe the skeleton with more scrutiny after hearing Callan's words.

While everyone was mesmerized by the huge skeleton, Tristan looked around the room. Just as he began observing, he noticed huge, long scratch marks all around the room.

He also realized that a few of the skeletons in the chamber looked different.

"Those are elven skeletons," Illiana said. Noticing Tristan's curious gaze, she began explaining the slight differences.

Callan, who had been in this mist far longer than any of the elves present, began telling them what he found. He believed that this huge skeleton was the main guardian of this inner layer and that the last expedition team managed to kill it 50 years ago.

To convince them further of his conjecture, he began to point at a few corpses. Upon seeing them, all of the elves present immediately recognized who they belonged to.

After all, those corpses were of powerful and well-known warriors who were part of the expedition team 50 years ago.

Hearing such a thing, Queen Leena quickly looked around. She wanted to walk around and check if her husband was also there, but Callan stopped her and shook his head.

What he meant was clear: He was not there.

Contrary to Callan's expectation, Queen Leena did not get disheartened because she could not see her husband. Instead, her eyes lit up with hope.

"Does that mean he is still alive!?"

Callan paused. "I don't know."

Castian's group, however, recognized two of their high elf magi among the corpses. Not only that, but Vizier also knew one of the dark elves.

As the elves in the group observed different things, Haladar's scream suddenly resounded in the chamber.

"My son!! Ooo... my son!!"

The old elf who came to find his son found the elf he was looking for.

The air surrounding them went from slightly tense to depressing.

King Castian approached Callan.

"So, what have you learned, Callan? Why are we here?" the high elve king asked.

Callan thought for a brief moment before answering, "I have walked around all the inner layers of the Mist for days, but I have not found any other place like this. Not to mention, despite the death of this creature, we are still missing some bodies. I believe there is still another layer after this one, and those who survived entered that layer."

Callan's deduction was sound, so everyone agreed.

"I believe the secret is within this skeleton."

As soon as Callan said those words, Castian immediately understood what he wanted.

"I see you want me to use my [Soul Seek] ability."

"Yes, precisely," Callan affirmed with a nod. "But Lord Castian, it might be very dangerous."

Callan's warning made Lord Castian think about it again, and after giving it some thought, he decided to agree.

"I have promised to see it until the end."

The high elf king walked toward the enormous wolf skeleton and put his hand on it.

"With this kind of creature, seeing its soul memory might take time, so do not disturb me while I am at it."

Although Lord Castian looked at everyone in the chamber while speaking, those words were actually intended for the two elders to hear. Understanding their king's intention, the two elders slowly walked toward Lord Castian and stood next to him.

Lord Castian put his arm on it, and a few minutes after, light gradually appeared and brightened the room.

But as soon as the process finally began, howls suddenly echoing the sky, heard from outside the castle. It was as if the huge skeletons was calling them over, the forest around the castle shooks there must be thousands of them coming toward the castle

"The wolves are coming! Defend the gate!"