The perpetually dark sky cast a gloomy atmosphere over Sivagadh Fortress. For the people who had lived there for years the darkness had become an ordinary sight so they barely noticed it anymore.
But for newcomers, it was different. Every time they stepped outside, they were greeted by the same black sky stretching endlessly above them.
There was no warm sunlight, clear blue horizon, only darkness that could easily make someone feel depressed after spending enough time beneath it.
Clyde stepped out of the infirmary.
Mina, Sean, Connor, and Ray were still unconscious. Their injuries had already been treated, however, and their complexions had returned to normal. Their breathing was stable, and their bodies were slowly recovering. For now all they needed was time.
Clyde was no longer worried about Mina. She had looked extremely weak when she first entered here, but her condition has improved considerably now.
As for the others, Clyde did not think about them much.
Mina was the only one among them he considered a friend.
Sean, Connor, and Ray had even tried to kill him before they arrived at Sivagadh Fortress.
Clyde had no reason to concern himself with their recovery except making sure they did not die before he could deal with them later.
After confirming that their conditions were stable, Clyde left the infirmary.
His appearance had changed as well. He was now wearing the black leather armor set he had requested from Hammer to make, reinforced with several layers of specially treated material he gathered from the Ruins.
A long red coat covered the armor with a hood hanging behind his neck. His longsword rested at his hip.
Clyde adjusted the strap of his coat and walked toward the main intersection.
He soon spotted Samuel and the others waiting there.
The entire team was already prepared.
Samuel carried his spear, his equipment secured neatly around his body. Leyan stood beside him with his usual solemn expression, Don carried his large shield and sword. Maira had her two curved blades at her waist, and Arven held his staff while checking the equipment attached to his belt.
They were clearly ready to leave.
Samuel noticed Clyde approaching and nodded.
"Everyone’s here," he said. "Good. I’ll start the briefing."
The others gathered around him.
Samuel unfolded the mission document.
"As you already know, another team entered a Ruin several days ago and failed to return. They haven’t sent any communication either." Samuel said. His expression became serious as he continued, "Our mission is simple. We enter the Ruin, locate the missing team, and determine what happened to them. If they’re still alive, we bring them back. If they’re dead, we investigate the cause of their deaths and report everything we find.
We don’t know what we’re going to encounter inside. The Ruin has already been classified as dangerous, so don’t assume anything based on the mission description. Stay together and don’t wander off alone."
Everyone nodded.
Clyde listened silently. He had no idea what they would find inside this Ruin. The mission itself sounded straightforward enough, but something about it bothered him.
A team had entered a Ruin and simply disappeared. No indication of what had happened.
He had a feeling that this one would not be simple.
But he kept that thought to himself for now.
Samuel reached into his equipment and pulled out the amulet containing the coordinates of the Ruin.
He held it into the portal. Magical energy immediately began flowing through the artifact.
The air in front of the group distorted before a familiar vortex formed, shimmering with unstable light.
"Let’s go." Samuel stepped forward. One by one, the others followed.
Clyde entered the portal last. The moment he crossed through it, the world around him twisted, then everything changed.
Clyde’s feet touched solid ground.
He immediately looked around.nHis expression became slightly more serious.
The Ruin was kind of different from the previous ones he had visited.
Massive medieval stone buildings floated through the air around them. Entire sections of land had been torn apart and separated, leaving enormous gaps between the floating platforms.
Broken roads stretched into empty space before abruptly ending.
Ruined towers floated upside down in the distance.
Above them, the sky was almost completely black.
Dark clouds covered the horizon, flashes of lightning occasionally illuminated the clouds and ruins below it. Thunder rolled across the entire Ruin creating distant explosions. Dust drifted constantly through the air, and far in the distance stood something even larger, a massive castle floated above the ruined landscape.
Its towers had been partially destroyed. Several walls had collapsed completely, leaving enormous gaps through which the dark sky could be seen. Parts of the castle itself appeared to have been torn apart, with broken sections of stone floating around it.
For several seconds, nobody just stared.
"Damn..." Maira muttered.
"Yeah..." Samuel looked toward the distant castle, the dark cloud. "I think this Ruin is going to be much more challenging than any we’ve visited before."
Clyde could not disagree. He slowly scanned the surrounding ruins.
The destruction was extensive. Whatever had happened here, it had not been a simple battle between a few monsters and survivors.
Something had devastated this entire place.
Samuel tightened his grip around his spear.
"Let’s start looking."
He turned and began leading the team deeper into the Ruin.
Clyde followed behind him, his hand resting casually near the hilt of his sword.
His instincts were already telling him that they were walking into something much more than a simple rescue mission.
The only thing that stood out in the entire Ruin was the massive castle so they agreed to head toward it immediately.
Along the way, they saw the corpses of humans and monsters floating through the air. It was not an unfamiliar sight to them. After everything they had experienced, seeing the dead scattered across a Ruin was just an ordinary sight.
When they got closer to the castle, however, something suddenly emerged from behind it.
A massive head covered in black clouds rose into view.
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