Chapter 230 228

Chapter 230 228

Like a bird elegantly soaring to the sky, Val leaped out of the ditch, landing gracefully on the solid ground beside its entrance.

His boots hit the floor of the Shadow Valley with a muted thud, and he paused to glance back at the ditch.

He was planning to cover it up with the tree to keep it hidden from prying eyes.

Just as he was about to put his plan into motion, he heard footsteps.

The sounds seemed to emanate from multiple directions, creating a sense of disorientation.

Val didn't know where to look to pinpoint the source of these footsteps.

Relying on his eyes was useless in this moment.

Thus, he didn't hesitate and used a skill that would help him the most in this situation, or so he thought.

However, reality proved otherwise.

Although he poured ten units of soul power into his eyes to activate the most basic form of his Heavenly Eye skill, and as a result, gained an X-ray vision with no blind spots that granted him a comprehensive view of the area around him, he still couldn't spot anyone.

'Although I heard footsteps, there's clearly no one around us.'

'It's like I made a mistake.'

'Are my ears playing tricks on me?'

Val was still on high alert. He thought it was too soon to come to the conclusion that he was safe.

After the appearance of the Red Moon, the world was no longer the same, and what you see and hear in the wild might be you being paranoid, but it could also be true.

Downplaying such encounters usually leads to a jump scare at best and death at worst.

To confirm what he'd heard, Val turned toward Voidslayer. Lifting it up, he asked, "I heard footsteps. Did you?"

"Yes, Master, I heard them too," Voidslayer replied swiftly. In this situation, where every second mattered, it couldn't afford to be lax. The spirit sword continued, "But I can't detect who these footsteps belong to with my spiritual sense. Are you experiencing the same issue? Can you also not see the source of the footsteps?"

Val simply nodded in agreement.

Then, a terrifying thought struck him.

He might be encountering something many in the north feared!

Immediately, his expression took a turn for the worst. It turned grim, his eyes narrowing and his jaw tightening.

He thought about something terrifying. Although his innate trait made it impossible for him to feel fear or pain, his body tensed and he was put on edge.

Voidslayer's vision had no blind spot. It provided him with a 360° view of its surroundings. So it couldn't help but notice the drastic and sudden change in Val's demeanor.

Its master had not been this tense even when he found out about the existence of the Unknown and realized how horrifying it was! Just what could've caused it change. It didn't need to think twice to solve the mystery.

There was only one thing that could make Val react this strongly, and honestly, it was something that Voidslayer also dreaded to encounter.

"Master... are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Voidslayer trembled slightly. A sword that have developed a spirit, it could experience life and death. So it wasn't too much of a stretch to say it could also feel emotions much like humans. The emotion it was experiencing at the moment was similiar to the emotion a child would fear sleeping alone at night after watching a horro movie. It was fear!

Val voiced out his agreement.

He and Voidslayer were truly of the same mind. See, they have even come to the same conclusion after just hearing a footstep.

"It's good we are both on the same page." Val spoke in a voice wrapped with a sense of foreboding. "I think the footsteps belong to it."

Upon hearing Val's words, Voidslayer thought its worst fear was finally coming true.

If even an intelligent specimen like Val believed that the footsteps belonged to 'It,' then there was no denying it any longer.

They were unfortunately dealing with the unexplained phenomenon known to plague the forest and mountain ranges surrounding the Lower City!

To most, it was just a paranormal phenomenon, an enigma not to be trifled with as doing so had only ever led to death.

No one had survived to tell the tale after the footsteps caught up to them.

Heck, even their remains weren't found!

Voidslayer knew it was a creature from the Abyss, a being so incomprehensible that not even the wizards of the great era of exploration could understand it.

No one knew what it looked like, or what its motives were.

The only certainty was its terrifying origin: it came from the Abyss. It sneaked into their world when the wells were created.

Tha dud tha dud tha dud!

The footsteps became louder and more urgent.

Voidslayer felt startled. It had faced all sort of scary things with Assam, but the Nameless was the scariest of them all. They barely survived that encounter. If not for Assam's inheritance and Valerius's timely intervention, helping them out of the Abyss, they would have died there at the hands of the Nameless.

Nameless was the codename of the source of the footsteps.

Nameless was named as such by the High Lords of the Elder Council of the wizard community.

The Elder Council was the center of the wizard community.

To explain it in simple words, they were above one thousand and only below one.

They only needed to answer to the Wizard King, while everyone in the wizard community were at their mercy.

They existed for the sole purpose of enforcing the rules set down by the wizard king. They also had the duty to impeach the king when he was not in the right state of mind and doing something wrong.

'It's quite eager,' Val calmed his tense senses even though he was hearing the footsteps closing in on him from all sides.

After all, panicking never helped in tense situation. Only remaining calm and clear headed did.

However, ripples appeared in his calm demeanor as a sense of impending doom washed over him.