Chapter 626 - 626 - Silhouettes

On the horizon, somewhere in the distance, Sara spotted humankind-looking silhouettes. Though they were far and besides the dark outline not much could be seen, Sara was certain that they weren't simply statues or ornaments that survived the test of time but instead real living beings. 

She could feel their gazes, their heavy, negative emotions as they gazed at them. As a sort of instinctual response, her Heritage Trait activated. Her iris began to radiate with a deep purple glow, a faint humming, brimming noise broke the heated discussion from beside her. 

As she halted her steps, so did the rest of the party. They turned to look at her, only to go wide-eyed with surprise in the next instant. 

For most of the Silver Howls, they have yet to see the usually calm and collected purple-haired beaut in such an agitated state. The faint humming, the glowing pair of eyes as they pierced the distant horizon, where, by now strangely nothing could be seen, was beyond mysterious. An eerie air surrounded their young teammate and second leader. 

As for the young adventurers in their ranks, they turned serious, stern the moment they noticed the peculiar behavior of their friend. They weren't surprised, they knew that something unexpected must have happened that triggered such a reaction from Sara.

"W-what is going on? Why is she… doing that?" One of the female mercenaries, with medium-length light brown hair pulled into a short ponytail at the back of her head that walked beside the red-haired Scarlet leaned closer to her and asked in a hushed, whispering tone of voice.

"Not sure, but it can't be good. We have to get ready for anything." Scarlet responded, already tightly clenching the twin daggers in both of her hands. She was already in her battle-ready stance, with both hands raised in front of her chest, holding the weapons in a way that both blades were pointing outwards.

Her pace of walking slowed down considerably, she had shifted her body weight towards the center of her frame, ready to lounge at the first sight of danger at a moments' notice.

Her brother walking to her right, kept her right hand on the cloth wrapping covering Mort, his artifact sword. His fingers wrapped the gemstone adorned base beneath the bandages, ready to unsheath and strike just like his sister. Whilst it wasn't visible to the Silver Howls, nor to the rest of his friends, Mort was already flickering with the silvery shine, conveying its intention, its thirst, and readiness for a potential clash.

Whilst the sisters, Lily and Galina remained mostly cheery and calm, below the surface they both were ready and alerted as well. Lily was already humming a familiar tone, the chant for Mother Nature for her blessing and guidance, whilst Galina kept a clear head ready to support her friends and family if the need arose.

Lastly, at the back, Naybeah seemed just like usual, pulling a large woolen sack that held the humongous bug monster's head. A growing, eerie smile kept on growing on her face, the prospects of yet another glorious battle were already boiling her blood with excitement.

"Miss Sara…" Eventually, Captain Don, couldn't stay silent, not knowing what was going on. Turning towards the girl, he looked at her glowing purple eyes and asked with a serious outlook on his aged, wrinkled and bearded face.

"Can you explain to us, what is happening?" He asked with a serious tone. Then following her gaze, he too looked at the distance ahead of them. "Did you perhaps… spot something in the distance?"

Crysta standing in between the two kept silent, a reaction very much unlike, uncanny to her usual behavior. She too was focused on the same, now-empty spot in the distance. Her eyes were squinting, her fists were clenched tightly, her body was slightly shaking. 

"We are being watched, Boss." Crysta suddenly spoke up catching not just the Captain, but every other Silver Howl by surprise.

Taking only a moment of silence, she continued. Her eyes not moving from the horizon, her gaze not easing from the stern, solemn display she said.

"Humanoid figures of unknown affiliation were watching us. Not sure if they are the other competitors or some other inhabitants of this plane… but they were watching, monitoring our movements."

"They have been following us for a while now." Sara finally decided to enter the discussion, revealing a detail that made the old Captain turn stiff for a moment. He turned to look at Sara before following her gaze towards the horizon asking with a slightly raised, emotional tone.

"What?! Since when? Why haven't you informed us… me?!" He exclaimed, darting his gaze around from the front to the left then swiftly to the right, trying to find clues to support both girls' shocking statements. 

How could he have missed it, not feel it, not sense it? With all the decades of experience under his belt, he believed that he had honed his awareness as well as his [Battle Sense] to a degree of level that he would never be caught unaware of. Yet, if their claims are true then he had failed. It would mean that he was unworthy of being the leader, the one that the rest of his men, women as well as these kids could safely rely on.

Noticing nothing out of the ordinary even as he darted his gaze and scrutinized every rubble, every wreckage he could see, a bitter smile slowly emerged on the old man's face.

He sighed after what felt like several minutes of tense silence and shook his head whilst heaving an exasperated, tired sigh.

"I see." He muttered, slumping his shoulders as the air slowly left his lungs, not raising them even as he inhaled in the next second. "I… understand…" Was the only word he finally managed to blurt out before turning silent.

Sara noticed the emerging melancholy on the old man, but before she could speak some words of comfort, she felt the unknown, mysterious presences appear yet again. Whilst there were no silhouettes in the distance this time, she could clearly feel at least a dozen if not more creatures slowly sneaking up on them from all directions.

"Captain…" She muttered, but by the time she voiced her concerns, the old man himself was alert as well. The sadness has instantly vanished from his eyes, replaced by the same somber expression as the rest of their team.

He slowly reached for the sheathed long sword hanging by his waist, whilst raising his left fist in the air. Opening his palm, he gave the non-verbal signal to stand at the ready, alerting everyone that something is happening.

"We are surrounded," Sara spoke up, just as a shadowy silhouette appeared on the horizon, visible to all.

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Hello Readers!

Hope you had a happy holiday season!

From now on, we would settle in for a 1 Chapter / Day schedule with the following bonus features available to you all:

Powerstone Goals

100 Power Stones -> 1 Chapter,

200 Power Stones -> 2 Chapters,

300 Power Stones -> 3 Chapters,

Golden Ticket Goals:

50 Golden Tickets -> 1 Chapter,

100 Golden Tickets -> 2 Chapters,

150 Golden Tickets -> 3 Chapters.

Once we reach the target, I will immediately work on delivering the promised bonus as soon as possible.

Also, this is by all means not mandatory, but instead an incentive in case you wish to show your support! After these last two days of rest, I'm feeling ready and refreshed! Push me to my limits!