The scenery around Nio flashed—almost indiscernible with the speed he had achieved. The assassin was not taking any breaks and had run for almost a day now.

Yet, his body—clad in a dark robe and tight-fitting linen clothes—was without sweat. By his side was a sword. Under his garb was an assortment of hidden weapons. He had no armour, but it was not needed.

Not a single thing in Nio’s path could notice the man. He was not even a shadow or wind passing through the world.

Mila waited patiently. She had much to think of and constantly went over what she had learnt the previous night.

Even as the night came once again, Mila had not finished considering what she had learnt. There was too much. She didn’t believe Nio’s son had managed to remember even part of what his father had taught him.

But Beino had the stack of parchment Nio had left. Mila had nothing but her memory to rely on.

Luckily, Mila had time. Nio was content to run silently and not interact with anything. She slowly but steadily managed to commit everything needed to her memory.

By the time night settled in, Mila was confident in recreating the new technique once she was back in her body. Now, she could focus on other things.

For one, Nio started to slow. The fields around them became level, burnt-down wastelands. From time to time, they passed remains of a skirmish or a corpse.

In the distance, Mila saw tall walls presiding over the surroundings. The dark hid the city’s features, but she could tell tall towers and buildings stretched towards the darkness above.

Before reaching the dark, silent city, Nio stopped. He gazed at the many destroyed buildings around the city, ruminating on something.

Mila knew he was searching for something. His senses stretched towards the city, scanning for anything out of the norm, but found only emptiness.

And that was more unsettling than finding an enemy garrisoning the damaged walls. Nio stepped towards the city, hesitant and alert.

Even this seasoned assassin was unnerved. Mila finally felt the man’s heartbeat change. He was pumping all his mana into staying as covert as possible. Each step was slow and measured.

Nio was waiting for a response. At one point, he stopped breathing. Momentarily, the sounds of wind were all that the world had.

But then, Mila realised there was more. Something almost indiscernible was coming from the city. Not quite a sound, but close enough.

The unnatural sign made Nio draw his sword. He lowered himself to the ground and touched the dirt, sending his senses under it.

It was then that Mila realised the almost sound was coming from below. She tapped into Nio’s senses but found nothing more than what the man had.

In the end, there was nothing else to do but move forward. Nio kept low and advanced. Slipping between the rubble and destruction, he neared the city proper.

The walls were now all Mila could see. They stretched upwards, seemingly endless. Under their shadow, everything became dark.

As Nio neared a large split in the stone and metal barrier, Mila wondered how someone had made such a scar in the monolith.

It wasn’t the only place where such damage was done to the walls. Mila had spotted several such breaches. They had likely been where the attackers had stormed inside from.

Now, there were no traces of these enemies. There were no traces of flesh and bone at all. Mila had noticed it long ago. She was sure so had the assassin.

Of course, there was no comment. Nio was frantically searching. There had to be danger. Otherwise, Aaers would not have asked him to come.

But all they had was an unsettling feeling and the not-noise. It was almost like a constant thrumming, permeating through everything by its presence.

Mila tried to guess what it was but came up empty. She had never experienced anything like this.

That didn’t mean Nio hadn’t. From how the man acted, Mila guessed he had an idea of what it was. Perhaps the being next to Aaers had warned him about it?

As Nio stepped through the large gash into the city, he raised his sword to fend off any attacks. A moment later, he spun to the side, narrowing his eyes.

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There was nothing there. Just more rubble and burnt-out buildings.

Nio shuddered and hid behind a larger boulder. He scanned the empty street. The thrumming didn’t stop, pressing against their souls. He bit into his tongue, gathering his courage, and began heading towards the centre.

Some remaining signs affirmed this was the Empire’s capital. Mila had never even stepped close to the place but had heard plenty of stories. She had heard songs, tales, and anecdotes from fellow soldiers. They all told a tale about a glorious city clad in magic and full of riches and beautiful escorts.

Nothing was remaining of that. It was good those people in her dreams would not see their favourite city in this state. Couldn’t see… They were all dead…

Which reminded Mila of how her dreams always ended. She felt Nio’s mana once again, committing everything she could to her memory.

While Nio snuck deeper into the city, Mila continued to learn and refine what she knew. It would have continued if not for a sudden noise ahead.

A crack of a rock and the sound of a boot on the stone. Nio halted, letting his wide scans focus on that direction.

There was feedback. Several mana signatures— all of them decently large. But none that would be a threat for the assassin.

Finding a goal to fulfil, Nio quickened his step. His whole demeanour changed, falling into old habits. The constant thrumming from below was all but forgotten—at least for the moment.

And soon, Nio found his targets. A party of 5 uniformed soldiers was searching through the city. The accursed symbol of Eternity brought rage to her and Nio alike.

It didn’t force Nio into action, however. His body didn’t even twitch despite the anger he experienced. He simply continued to observe the party.

The soldiers advanced. They did it methodically, keeping each other in sight and with minimal talking. Their whispers were mostly just to make sure everyone was still present. While they were professional and self-sufficient, Mila knew there had to be another one.

And soon, Nio found them sneaking in the distance. He hesitated but decided to leave the six of them be. They were heading for the same place, and it seemed Nio had decided to use them as probes.

Mila didn’t know how feasible it was but had no other choice but to watch as Nio skulked behind the group.

Their progress became faster. The group of six advanced with less caution and more speed than Nio had. Soon, they had crossed through the city and had found nothing.

Now, in front of them was a palace. Or… Or what was once an imperial palace.

Honestly, there was not much left of it. Only the foundation still remained—the rest of the once-beautiful architectural achievement was destroyed otherwise.

Nio slowed down again, letting the group of six move ahead and explore the rubble. His fingers clenched as he looked at the ground, feeling the thrumming had grown stronger.

Whatever was the cause of this was below the palace. Mila was now sure the source was there. From the way Nio acted, it was where the Soul Bead was located.

The prospect of exploring another underground tunnel system didn’t excite Mila. She was sick of cramped places after the last escapade in Stilag.

And the hope of the underground structures being collapsed was quickly dashed when one of the soldiers discovered a path down. The man tapped on the ground in a quiet rhythm, gathering everyone’s attention.

Mila watched them group up and discuss something. Their whispers were too quiet for Nio to discern, but it was clear they were not happy. Their leader had materialised next to them a moment ago and was ending the discussion with a clear order—‘Descend.’.

The single word was enough to restore order. Nio watched the five men vanish into the hole while the leader remained above ground, watching the surroundings.

After a minute had passed, Nio acted. He shot out from behind the large column he had hidden behind and ran towards the leader. He had changed his weapons from the sword to the dagger.

It took only a moment before Nio had his target in his hands. He pierced the man’s throat, not letting him utter a sound.

Without removing the dagger, Nio picked up the corpse and brought it away. He dropped it in a hole that once had been a basement and intended to hide the body by dropping debris on it.

But before finishing his work, Nio froze. Not only him, but Mila too. Their minds had trouble processing what they were seeing.

They watched as the corpse bled out. The place the dagger had pierced was an endless fountain splashing onto the ground.

It was unnatural. It was as if the blood was pulled out from the corpse forcefully. And as soon as it touched the ground, it vanished. Every last bit of the blood was drained from the body and swallowed by the dirt.

Once the body had been sucked dry, the flesh began to decay. The husk flaked and collapsed. Soon, the bones shone through the skin and flesh as they turned into dust.

Then, even the bones crumbled into nothing. Only the uniform remained to remind them there had been a corpse of a man there before.

From what Mila could tell, Mio wasn’t surprised. He simply couldn’t believe—or perhaps accept—what he was seeing.

They still didn’t move. Mila wondered why the last remaining evidence of the death also began to decay. “...Even that?” Mio whispered as he watched the clothing being destroyed.

Showing how unnerved Mio was, he whispered. “Is it because they were his belongings? Perhaps there was some essence ‘It’ wanted clinging to the uniform and weapons?”

Mila wanted to shudder. She didn’t want to know more about ‘It,’ but this was the perfect chance. She hoped Mio would say more, but he remained mute after the outburst.

Mio looked around once more, and Mila noted how empty everything was. It was just stone and some wood. There was nothing here. This place was dead.

Whatever was below had eaten it all. And Mio turned to head towards the hole that would lead them to the secret hidden away from the world.

Mio’s steps remained steadfast while the thrumming remained the same. But Mila could swear it was now almost gleeful after having the snack the assassin had offered.

As they stepped into the hole the soldiers had vanished into, Mila was thankful for not being able to experience normal sleep. She was sure this experience would bring her countless nightmares otherwise.