“I think we view this relationship a lot differently from one another,” Leonidas said slowly, his head turning toward Lady Eve.

Despite the fact the two were on horseback, the difference in their height and their horses’ heights made it so the disparity in their eye levels was still obvious.

Lady Eve frowned when hearing this, expecting the worst from Leonidas’ next comment. But, what she actually heard left her silent.

“You’re still trying to find the next stop, the next location you’ll have to hop off from to choose a path to take and wave to ride. All of your actions are meant to maximize short-term gains and to ensure that you come out ahead.

“I don’t see things that way. I’ve told Anabel this and I will tell you this as well, a woman will never be my reason. So, this isn’t me telling you that we should link arms and fall into each other’s embrace.

“However, what I am telling you is that this bet you’ve made is the last one you’ll ever need to make. This isn’t a short-term path, mine extends beyond what you can see.

“The sooner you realize that there’s no better bet to make, the sooner we can move past this.”

Leonidas looked away, not waiting for Lady Eve’s response. He hopped off his horse and placed a palm on its long, sturdy neck.

“Stay.”

The command in his voice was undeniable. The steed almost instantly lost all of its demonic nature, its long black mane and crimson eyes losing a hint of their luster as it obediently froze in place.

“Can you sense your Substitution Doll?” Leonidas asked.

The Substitution Doll was a Blessing Lady Eve had used to escape the Basilisk Curse that protected the hideout. For obvious reasons, she was unable to retrieve it. But, as far as Leonidas knew, a Substitution Doll was good for up to three uses. After all, something that cost 100 Blessing Units was bound to have some hidden extra benefits.

Lady Eve’s brow raised. “If I get closer, I probably can.”

“Though it’s uncertain, if we dig through the rubble, we might be able to find something useful. And, even if we don’t, we’ll be able to recover your dolls. You used two, if I recall correctly.”

Lady Eve fell into silence. Even if they only found the dolls, that was still worth the effort. Her heart bled every time she remembered she only got to use each once. However, the odds of them exposing themselves were also high.

There was no cover other than the darkness of night and the terrain wasn’t exactly friendly. They could end up burying themselves alive if they weren’t careful enough.

On the other hand, Leonidas’ words seemed to imply that there was something even better to be found, and if that was the case…

The wall of the valley was about 20 meters. With the strength of two Apostles, clearing that depth wasn’t impossible in a few hours. If they were aimless, it would cause problems. But, with the compass provided by her Substitution Dolls, it was a different matter.

“Alright, let’s do it.”

Leonidas and Lady Eve slid down the side of the valley, a curtain of dust following their wake. This time, Leonidas had the balance and control to stay on his feet, memories of the last time he had done this dancing through his mind.

The two reached the bottom and began their climb back up the opposing side. Large and small rolling rocks, large patches of soil, and angled trees were all things that could be found in their path. The trees, especially, were a hassle to deal with.

Along with what must have been an enormous rock slide, the trees that had lined the top of the valley fell along a slope, but they hadn’t been completely uprooted. The result was old and ancient trees with roots as deep as dozens of meters clogging up what could have been clear digging regions.

Luckily, Lady Eve was able to point out exactly where they should start so they didn’t waste time.

The two worked quickly and in silence, their senses primed. Neither had forgotten that they were approaching Lower Ogre territory. Though they were still a good distance away, this already could be considered a midway point. The eerie silence of the night outside of the dull thump of shifting stones was almost heavy.

Leonidas settled into a rhythm, using a combination of his tail, arms and legs to shift rocks out of the way. In just two hours, the pair had made it to the first Substitution Doll, a time that could have been cut in half had they not been deliberate about clearing enough that they wouldn’t be buried.

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Leonidas’ gaze scanned the area as Lady Eve put the first away, a heavy weight on her shoulders seeming to clear.

Looking up, Leonidas noted that they were about 30 meters away from where the face of the valley had been, and thus where the entrance to the hideout had once been. This meant that from the entrance to the Basilisk statue, there was about that amount of distance. Lady Eve’s second substitution doll should be within a few dozen meters of this place, as should the remains of the statue.

“Let’s go for the second one. If you feel anything odd, any sluggish movement, let me know immediately.”

When Leonidas said these words, Lady Eve’s brows shot up. She suddenly understood what their purpose here was.

She nodded and pinpointed the location of the second Substitution Doll.

Though it was more dangerous, the pair changed their tactic. Rather than working vertically, they began to push across. They rolled down the stones above their head to fill in the gaps where they had once been and slowly moved forward. Often, they would find themselves having to go up a measure for safety, but after securing the path, they would descend once more.

It was another half an hour into this experience that Lady Eve froze.

Leonidas’ gaze narrowed. “Do you feel it?”

He didn’t need her to answer. A sparkling gem shone through several cracks. In the day, it would have been hard to spot. But in the depths of the night, especially with the Night Vision Potion still active, it was all too obvious.

“I got it,” Leonidas reassured.

Lady Eve watched, unmoving, as Leonidas pushed away the last of the rocks. Soon, a smooth spherical gem the size of a palm appeared. It still struck fear within Leonidas’ heart, his chest wildly vibrating and making it difficult for him to breathe.

He remembered the first time he had seen this gem, this crimson light… Those vertical slit pupils.

He had been frozen in place beside himself, unable to move. He could only be carried by a pair who had been Lady Eve’s lackeys.

He had been so small back then, so insignificant. Even now, facing no more than just one of its eyes, he could hardly bring himself to reach forward and grab it.

It wasn’t even a real creature anymore; it was just the husk of a corpse that had lost almost all its strength. And yet, the inferiority was so deeply ingrained into Leonidas’ bones that it refused to let him forget, even in death.

Lady Eve’s expression changed, a panic beginning to take root in her heart. She had agreed to follow along with Leonidas because she had thought his words implied he had a method to deal with this Curse. But, if the both of them ended up stuck here, they could only wait to die.

Leonidas’ gaze never shifted from the Basilisk’s eye, his heart thrumming.

There was one large difference between when Leonidas first saw this eye and now, a difference that went beyond the statue’s destruction.

That difference was War Cry.

“Hoo…”

A strong exhale left Leonidas’ lips, his eyes glowing with more fervor.

War Cry was an attack on the psyche, not so dissimilar to what Leonidas was experiencing now. However, even though Leonidas had learned all sorts of ways to control and apply War Cry through his experiments and studies, he was ultimately still wielding a small dagger.

Growing War Cry required experience, battle and bloodshed, only by continuously facing challenges and piercing through with mental fortitude could you shed the layers of the talent and truly allow it to bloom.

And this… was just another challenge.

Leonidas’ jaw set, his palm reaching forward slowly, but surely. He stared intently into the slit pupils, his heartbeat growing wilder with each passing second.

Leonidas coughed, his throat sheering apart and blood leaking from his lips, but he continued reaching.

‘I might not be enough to match a Basilisk now, but I won’t let the eye of a dead one stop me. Not only will I take this one, but I’ll take your other one too!’

“Ha!”

Leonidas’ palm slammed over the eye. Almost instantly, the pressure that had weighed on both him and Lady Eve faded.

Just as the spirit had said, Leonidas was immune to the traps of the hideout and this eye was the center of all those traps. He only needed to overcome his own bloodline limitations to push past it.

If it wasn’t for their situation, Leonidas would have wanted to roar into the skies, the fire in his chest screaming.

His hair grew by a size, the swishing of his tail growing in power and strength. When he looked back toward Lady Eve, he wanted to press her down to the ground right here and now, a mad amount of blood rushing all throughout his body.

Lady Eve’s heart skipped a beat when she saw Leonidas’ gaze. Right then, she was reminded of that fiendish grin he smiled when his life had been in the palm of her hands. It was all a reminder that the placid and dull expression she was used to seeing wasn’t the real Leonidas at all.

Leonidas shook his head, his hair calming and his tail relaxing. Now wasn’t the time to be thinking of such things, they still needed to find Anabel. But, something in his intuition told him that they might be able to find an answer here.

The two began to work again, soon finding the second Substitution Doll and Basilisk eyeball. Claiming the second crimson orb wasn’t easy, but it was still much easier than it had been the first time. Leonidas felt that his tolerance was increasing.

He placed both eyes in a pouch. So long as there wasn’t clear air between yourself and it, it lost most of its abilities. Leonidas was sure that they’d come in handy in the future.

“The altar should be in that direction. Let’s see if we can find anything there.”

By this point, half the night had waned but their gains were great. Though Leonidas hadn’t thought about it before, the worth of just a single Basilisk eye was probably more than the Level 2 Apostle he had killed.

Leonidas hadn’t initially planned to gain more than the Basilisk’s eyes on this trip, but he felt an odd pull to continue.

As they pressed forward, Leonidas slowly began to realize what this pull was.

‘Mana…’

As a Mage, he was incredibly sensitive to it, he didn’t need a special reconnaissance Blessing like Benet. Of course, this was something only extraordinarily talented Mages could do, but Leonidas had no reference to compare himself to.

Leonidas continued to follow the draw, but when he reached it, his expression couldn’t help but turn odd.

‘It’s further down.’

“It’s getting dangerous, Leonidas. If we continue, the likelihood the stones will collapse is high.”

Lady Eve’s words were like a death reaper’s scythe.