Published at 31st of July 2026 7:39 am

Chapter 1889: One of Our Kind

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The band of adventurers followed the same plan.

Adam left the hideout at nightfall, wading his way through the rotten sea of undead and making his way to the place where Kara was camped.

Once the sun rose and the undead legion had returned to their resting place below the earth, Genevieve, Michael, and Darren emerged from their shelter and crossed the mist-shrouded battlefield under Valerian’s guidance.

Before long, Genevieve witnessed once again just how diabolical the mist truly was. Time and again, Valerian had abruptly changed direction, leading them through a series of twists and turns.

Without the mist, the route should have been a straight path, more or less. But the mysterious mist subtly distorted their sense of direction, luring them into wandering in circles.

If it weren’t for the familiar connection threading Valerian to Adam together, the party would have wandered in circles without ever realizing they had strayed.

Soon, they arrived before the remnants of a dilapidated building, where Adam, once again, waited for them at the entrance.

"Good job," Adam said to the young dragon with a smile.

"Myu!" Valerian raised his chin high and strutted past him into the dark passageway.

One by one, the rest of the party also entered behind him.

"What’s the matter?" Genevieve stopped beside Adam.

Though he had a smile on his face — he always did, strangely enough — she could tell something was bothering him.

"Nothing." Adam shook his head.

But Genevieve simply stared at him, waiting for him to speak.

Adam was a little speechless. He shook his head, letting out a dry chuckle.

"Nothing, it’s just..." His words trailed off.

He shifted his gaze back to the mist, his eyes narrowing. He remained silent for a long time.

Genevieve couldn’t help but allow her brows to furrow a little when she noticed the corners of Adam’s lips curling upward.

How odd, she wondered.

Whenever something serious happens, he smiles like a madman.

"I feel like someone is watching us," he said quietly.

A faint gust of wind blew in front of the entrance, whipping up the mist. But the mist did not scatter. It never did. If anything, that made the atmosphere even more eerie.

Genevieve turned solemn. She followed Adam’s gaze, but saw nothing but a thick grey mist. "Do you still feel it?" she asked.

"Yes," Adam said. "It’s faint. But it’s there. It’s always there."

What he didn’t tell her was that he’d had this same feeling back in Davos as well.

It was subtle. Very subtle.

Initially, he thought it was because the agents of the Brotherhood were spying on him, watching his every move. But even after meeting them and speaking with the mysterious handler, that feeling never quite abated.

Adam found it stressful, to say the least.

"Hostile?" Genevieve asked.

"...Not quite," Adam said after a long moment of deliberation.

"They’re either simply observing, or skillful enough to hide any unkind intent," he added.

The pair remained silent for a long time, watching for any clues in the mist. But they found nothing.

At last, Genevieve said to him, "Let’s go inside. We’ll discuss it with the others."

"Yeah." Adam nodded. "Let’s go."

***

Almost a week after entering the secret plane, the band of adventurers had finally reunited.

Thankfully, there hadn’t been any casualties. Yet.

"So, let me get this straight..." The half-elf scout, Kara, began with an exasperated look on her face.

"Each one of us woke up inside one of these underground ruins," she continued, "but you... you woke up in the middle of the wasteland above ground?"

Adam shrugged. "Yeah..."

"That too, with only a few minutes left before the monsters rose from the earth!" Valerian stood on his hind legs and spoke exaggeratedly.

Adam smiled, rubbing the little fellow’s head roughly and eliciting a playful hiss out of him.

"And if it weren’t for Valerian, I wouldn’t have woken up in time," said Adam.

"Hmph!" Valerian nodded.

"So how did you manage to get past them?" Koby asked curiously. "How do you slip through their ranks every night, anyway?"

Everyone turned to Adam, hoping to get an answer.

Even Darren. He believed that Adam must have used some dark magic to make such a thing possible. He couldn’t think of anything else.

Adam brought a finger to his lips as he glanced at Koby.

"Hush-hush, it’s a secret," he said jokingly.

Except, he wasn’t joking. It very much was a secret.

Before any of them could press for more answers, he smoothly changed the subject.

"Our destination is only a few hours away from here," he said. "There’s a giant gate, flanked by towering statues. I didn’t have much time to thoroughly study the place. But that’s where we’re going tomorrow."

"Any monsters near this gate?" Kara asked in a serious voice.

"No." Adam shook his head. "For some reason, the mist doesn’t reach anywhere near the wall or the giant gate. Same for the fighting undead. The area around the wall is empty."

Michael chimed in. "When you say the undead don’t fight near it, do you mean... they’re too afraid to get anywhere near the wall?"

"I’m not sure." Adam smiled wryly, shaking his head. "As I said, I didn’t have enough time to study the place. But the feeling I got was..."

He paused, thinking of the right words to speak.

"I don’t think the monsters are afraid to go near the wall," he continued. "It’s more like... they don’t want their battle to reach it. If that makes sense."

He looked at everyone present, then said as though making a guess:

"They fight with complete disregard for everything else, yet there’s a clear boundary around the wall. Neither side willingly crosses it. Even when the fighting drifts too close, they instinctively pull away and fight somewhere else."

"It’s as if both armies have silently agreed that the wall is off-limits," Genevieve said.

"Yeah... something like that." Adam nodded.

"Well, whatever." Kara shrugged. "Tomorrow, we can finally leave this obnoxious place. You have no idea what it has been like, cooped up in here all alone while all that screaming and fighting goes on outside every night."

Darren scoffed at that statement. He rose to his feet and walked to a corner of the hall.

Kara glanced at his departing back and frowned.

"Forget about him," Michael said helplessly.

He then turned to Adam and said expectantly, "So tomorrow, yeah?"

"Yes." Adam nodded. "I’ll leave once night falls. Then tomorrow, Valerian will guide you all to me."

The rest of the adventurers agreed.

***

Past the veil of the mist, the wall stood silently as it had for countless years.

Above the gate Adam had spoken of, flanked by two statues, a pale figure sat motionless.

She wore a flowing dark gown, her snow-white hair flowing gently in the wind. Though separated by mist and ruined earth, her gaze remained fixed in the direction where Adam and the others had taken shelter.

Her blood-red eyes gleamed with malice. Slowly, the corners of her lips curled into a beautiful, graceful, but cruel smile. Her lips parted, and she whispered in a pleasant voice:

"His Majesty will be pleased to know that this group has found its way to the gates of his kingdom."

She turned her gaze to another point within the dense mist.

"Though I can’t say the same about that one," she murmured. "Hmm... should I go and help him?"

Amusement flickered in her blood-red eyes.

"After all, it’s been a long time since one of our kind set foot here..."

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