Published at 17th of September 2026 8:15 am

Chapter 2023: The Objective

This chapter is updated by JustRead.pl

Luca looked at Adam’s expression and couldn’t help but frown.

"What’s the matter?" he asked. "What did they see?"

Adam did not reply for a few moments.

The others, especially Leah and her party, felt oddly uncomfortable in that silence. They wondered how dangerous the lands beyond the mountains were for Adam to react in such a manner.

Adam finally turned to Luca and said with a strange look on his face, "Nothing."

Luca frowned. "What?"

Adam finally turned to him and said with a nod, "The path through the mountains is clear."

He then turned to Leah and the rest and continued, "I saw not a single vampire guarding the pass. Not even those ghouls."

He added after a moment of deliberation, "Either the vampires have grown far too complacent, or they possess supreme confidence in their own strength. So much so that they do not consider anyone entering through the mountain pass to be worth their attention."

Leah and her party did not know what to think or say. They had expected at least some monsters to be guarding the pass. But finding out that there were none made them even more apprehensive.

She couldn’t help but swallow nervously, then say, "My lord, is this truly the right course of action? We will be in enemy territory. There are only seven of us. And our enemies... who knows how many there are."

Adam turned to Leah and studied her for a moment. Then he waved a hand and said in a carefree manner, "Don’t worry. My brother and I are strong. We won’t let any of you die."

Those words did nothing to reassure Leah and her party. If anything, they now truly felt they were walking toward their deaths.

Of course, Luca fully believed in his own and Adam’s strength, so he wasn’t worried. Instead, he asked thoughtfully, "What about those ravens? Did you see any?"

"Not in the pass, no." Adam shook his head. "But I saw some beyond the mountains."

"Ravens?" Leah couldn’t help but ask.

"Ah, yes." Adam nodded. "It’s how the Vampire King spies on everyone in this secret plane."

Michael was horrified. "Are you serious?! I’ve seen countless ravens in my time here! Do you mean to tell me that those were the eyes of the Vampire King?!"

Adam felt internally amused. He looked at Michael and said in a solemn voice:

"Yes, Michael. They know your every move. They watch you in your sleep. They know what you have done. And they know what you will do. You better watch out."

Michael shuddered and began rubbing his arms. "D-Don’t say such ominous things!"

Adam laughed.

Leah and the rest couldn’t find what was so funny. They all had grim expressions on their faces. More importantly, they couldn’t understand why this Magus was taking the whole situation so lightly. They began wondering if Adam could even be trusted with their lives.

Luca looked at their expressions and could tell exactly what was going on in their minds. He turned to Adam and sighed.

This guy... why is he like this?

By now, he knew Adam’s personality well. The man may appear flippant and carefree, finding everything in the world a joke, but that’s what he wanted others to believe. Deep down, he was serious and cunning.

But Leah and the party did not know that.

"Shall we let them in on the plan?" Luca said, interrupting Adam’s laughter.

Leah’s eyes narrowed. Finally, they were going to be let in on the objective behind their journey beyond the Lamiyan Mountains.

"Ah, yes, yes." Adam nodded with a smile. He waved a hand, and a rolled parchment shot out from his sleeve.

Luca grabbed the parchment and laid it out on the ground.

"Listen carefully." He glanced at Leah, Michael, and the rest with a solemn expression.

The five adventurers immediately gathered around him. The moment their eyes fell upon the parchment, expressions of surprise appeared on their faces.

It was a proper map of the secret plane.

Not one of the crude sketches or incomplete maps occasionally circulated among adventurers, but an incredibly detailed chart of the entire region. Mountain ranges, forests, ruined settlements, and even smaller geographical landmarks had all been carefully marked.

Most shocking of all, the map contained detailed information about the lands beyond the Lamiyan Mountains.

Leah’s eyes widened. "A map of the other side..."

Michael stared at the parchment in disbelief. "How is this even possible? Where did you get this?"

For generations, Adventurers’ City had remained largely isolated from the western side of the mountains. Few people had ever ventured beyond the Lamiyan Mountain Range, and those who did rarely returned with useful information. Yet the map before them depicted the region in astonishing detail.

Luca ignored their stunned expressions and pointed toward the western half of the map.

"This is where we are," he said.

His finger traced across the towering mountain range and settled on the eastern half of the map.

"We will cross through this pass and enter the lands beyond the Lamiyan Mountains."

Then his finger stopped at a large X marked within the eastern region.

"This is our objective," he added.

Leah and the others stared at the mark, countless thoughts going through their minds.

"You are not expected to understand the full purpose of this mission," Luca continued in a solemn voice. "But you need to understand one thing."

He looked at the five adventurers with a solemn look in his eyes.

"From the moment we cross those mountains, we will be entering completely unknown territory. The map is accurate, but it cannot tell us what we will encounter."

He tapped the X again.

"Our task is simple," he said. "We reach this location and retrieve an item."

"An item?" Leah frowned, her gaze shifting between the two Xs on the map. "What is this item, and why do we need it?"

Luca shook his head. "We don’t know what the item is. But we believe it is important to our plan to escape this secret plane."

When Leah and the others heard those words, they grew increasingly solemn. This was the first time they had directly worked on something related to escaping this nightmare of a place.

Leah glanced at the other X marked on the map. She was intimately familiar with that place. It was inside Adventurers’ City, after all. The Sun Temple!

"What about that?" she asked. "Shouldn’t we have visited that place first?"

Luca glanced at the map, then at Adam. He turned back to Leah and replied, "It has already been dealt with."

Leah’s eyes slowly widened. "What... what do you mean, dealt with?"

"We’ve secured what we needed from that place," Luca said.

He pointed his thumb at Adam casually. But his casual words struck Leah and the others like a bolt of lightning.

"He has already killed the High Priest."

Share