After emerging from the rift, Northern immediately closed the gateway.
People began to move; it didn't matter which side they came from-besides, the leaders of the opposing sides were suddenly nowhere to be found.
Casualties were taken care of, and many could be seen leaning against the fallen bricks of the castle.
Northern had gone inside what was left of the building, searching for Hao with Jeci following him like a loyal dog wagging her tail, despite being wounded.
Northern paid her no obvious attention, but his mind was slowly beginning to drift in her favor.
They entered a bunker-like door and went down the stairs, revealing an underground dungeon with a rotten, throat-cutting smell.
Northern pinched his nose with his hand, calling with a muffled voice as he strolled forward, "Hao?! Hao?!"
He continued forward, still calling, while glancing left and right before stopping.
"I know you're here. What harm would it do you to just answer me?" Northern took his hand away from his nose as his face hardened and his voice dripped with seriousness.
That split second, however, he was assaulted by such a strong smell that he quickly pinched his nose again and distorted his face in horror.
"What the hell died here?!" he cried.
Finally, another voice echoed through the dungeon hallway.
"Ah, finally, the kid decides to show himself."
Northern stopped in front of the iron bars right after the one he was initially at. He didn't need Hao to talk; from the moment he stepped into this place, he had detected the man's presence.
He just needed to know if he was in one piece, which was why he kept calling.
"You look healthy, contrary to what I expected."
"And you look..." Hao paused, sizing Northern up with almost glittering wide eyes before narrowing them back, trying to hide his surprise. "Grunt! You caused all of this!!"
Northern reared his head back in a joking manner. "Hey, hey, be careful with all the accusations."
Hao glared at him and turned his eyes to the person who came to stand behind him. He scoffed almost immediately.
"What, you already have a wife now?"
Northern frowned darkly. "Enough jokes, let's get you out of here."
"It's an iron bar made of -"
Northern pulled out one of the bars with his right hand. He stopped and looked at Hao with sincere curiosity.
Hao swallowed his words and spit. "Nothing, let's get out of here..." He thought to himself, *That metal is forged from the rocks of a dried volcano's belly; it should be indestructible...*
He swallowed a couple more times as he watched Northern rip the iron bars like he was tearing a rag cloth to shreds.
Afterward, they rescued the other prisoners and left the building.
The people on the surface had done most of the first aid for the wounded. The castle was in a state that made Gilbert's mouth bitter.
He stared at it with a despondent expression on his face.
Annette, spotting him from where she was resting, managed to push herself up and walked towards him with the help of a long wooden rod.
She also stared at the gaping hole in the castle that had exploded earlier.
"I thought I would be able to help the world for once."
Annette grimaced at him, then calmed her facial features and let out a sigh.
Gilbert's voice rang out before she could say anything. "Standing here , staring at this broken home, makes me reflect on my past choices."
Annette interjected, "So many died today. Drifters who could have excelled outside this disaster. Some I had to kill with my own hands, and some I watched fall beneath the teeth and claws of monsters."
Her gaze hardened. "And this is all because of what Rughsbourgh did."
Gilbert's brows furrowed. "What Gilbert did, he did to save this place."
"Shut up, Gilbert!" Annette yelled, her voice laced with obvious disrespect.
He glared at her, cut short of words by her sudden tone.
"If Rughsbourgh wanted to help at all, he had the power to assemble Sages and Ascendants, and that's what he would have done. But I guarantee you, what that man had planned for these kids was pure wickedness."
"Annette, keep your voice down..." he said cautiously.
People were already beginning to be drawn to them, and Annette didn't seem to care.
To make it worse, Gilbert's cautious tone only made her angrier than she already was.
Left to her, she would have screamed for all of them to know that Gilbert had a part to play in the destruction and suffering they had been caught in for the past year.
But she suppressed the urge and stayed silent, breathing steadily with a furious glare at the
Then a menacing grin spread across her face as she saw Northern walk out of the building. She leaned closer to Gilbert and whispered to him,
"Your doom marches towards you with anguish and terror. I bet he'll make your life and Rughsbourgh's miserable."
After that, she limped forward on the stick to meet Northern.
Gilbert watched Northern from where he stood. At some point, when their eyes met, he felt his gaze waver-whether it was out of fear or simply intimidation, he didn't know.
The last time he saw Northern, he was sure he could defeat him, even though he was pretty
But now, Gilbert wasn't sure of anything. Northern looked less cocky and more humble- which made reading him even harder than before.
Moreover, news had spread quickly that he was the master of Night Terror.
Northern had been playing all of them during the event where Night Terror was slaying all their monsters.
That event, along with Raven's absence, drastically led to the changes that happened to Lotheliwan Stronghold.
With an ocean of dead monsters available, people began to fend for themselves. The settlement outside the castle spread into the decrepit cities.
The need for the party leaders reduced. Braham threw a tantrum, which he tried to honor by hunting Night Terror, but it was futile.
Annette started acting strangely, which ultimately led to her drifting away from his grasp and
Braham abandoned them when he saw they couldn't be of any good use and brought in
soldiers from Sloria Stronghold.
It turned out he had been feeding them information for a while and also stealing Hao's non- bound items to Sloria.
Where a specialist who could unlink items from the soul existed. These items were traded with Luinngard Empire and were how Braham and Afkon were buying their way home.
All this he knew because Ryu and Myu, expert spies, had been tailing Braham since before all
He knew of Braham's tendency to betray them, but the guy's importance left them no choice.
And now, he regretted all of it.
Towards Northern, he didn't know whether to be grateful or angry.
But one thing was clear in his feelings: Night Terror was powerful, and if Northern had to defeat such a monster to tame it, then he was much more powerful than Gilbert had thought.