Morden raised a hand to stop Herman, who was about to step forward to investigate. He walked slowly toward the spot where the shadow had appeared.
The dirt and gravel on the ground began to jump and quiver, as though so invisible force was drawing them in.
Saul looked down and swept his gaze across the area. This was his first ti witnessing Morden casting a spell. Though Morden had once been tainted and his body now held only limited magical power, he remained the strongest in pure combat ability among the four consciousnesses.
When he was about three ters from the shadow, Morden ca to a halt. By now, the soil beneath his feet was surging like waves.
“Don’t attack just yet—let’s see who it is first,” Saul called out from behind.
Morden gave a slight nod, and then the soil in front of his feet really did part to the sides like receding waves.
The plants rooted in the soil moved aside just as swiftly, driven by the sa force.
Without taking another step forward, Morden gradually parted the vegetation obstructing the view of the shadowy figure.
Sunlight stread down from above, finally reaching a corner long hidden in darkness.
Saul squinted. At last, he saw the figure clearly.
And then his pupils widened slightly.
“Mark?”
As the branches shifted aside with the upheaval of the soil, Saul saw that the unmoving figure beyond was none other than Mark—who hadn’t been seen for a very, very long ti.
Mark had once been a resident senior at Kaz’s laboratory, responsible for cleaning and organizing. But later, in an effort to be promoted, he frequently went out. After several changes, the laboratory’s manager role had fallen to Angela. When Angela left with Billy, the position beca unstable again—Saul encountered soone different every ti he visited.
Mark didn’t respond imdiately. He remained standing, facing southeast.
Saul knew—that was the direction of the Wizard Tower.
Morden turned to look back, awaiting Saul’s decision: attack, or probe further?
Saul took two steps forward. When he was within five ters of Mark, the man—who had stood as motionless as a statue—suddenly turned his head and looked at him.
“I’ve been waiting for you,” Mark said.
The mont he moved, every consciousness went on guard.
Up until just now, this person hadn’t moved at all. There hadn’t even been the slightest twitch of muscle from breathing or a heartbeat.
He looked like a corpse.
But the mont he turned to Saul, it was as if every cell in his body ca alive.
“You’re Mark?” Saul narrowed his eyes. He didn’t see any abnormal spirit forms on him.
“It’s . I’m here to take you in. You can’t enter the valley on your own,” Mark replied calmly.
His face showed no trace of emotion. He looked even more like a vessel than the four test subjects beside Saul.
“Then who am I?” Saul suddenly asked.
Mark fell silent for a mont, his expression still lifeless.
After a few seconds, his pale lips parted. “Saul.”
“How do I know you’re really here to take ?” Saul smiled faintly. “I don’t just go off with strangers.”
Mark didn’t get angry. He raised his right hand.
A mouth split open in his palm. It opened wide, revealing a crimson tongue.
The tongue uncurled, and at the center of its tip seed to be sothing transparent—unseeable, yet clearly pressing against the tongue, preventing the mouth from closing.
Veiled Crystal Essence
“Brother Saul! Brother Saul~”
Penny began to act coy in a small voice again.
“Don’t rush.” Saul soothed the little butterfly, then stepped forward.
All four consciousnesses kept their eyes locked on Mark, though their postures didn’t convey a sense of imdiate danger.
“Looks like Kongsha summoned you too. Are there others in the valley? I need to be ntally prepared.”
As Saul approached, Mark’s head slowly rotated to follow him, but his body didn’t move an inch.
By the ti Saul stood beside him, his head had turned a full ninety degrees. The tension in his muscles made his veins pop beneath the skin.
Yet Mark’s expression remained as calm and cold as ever.
“Mark… Dorothy… Monroe…” Mark began reciting nas one by one.
Saul’s brow furrowed as soon as he heard the first. As the list grew, so did the tightness in his expression.
Until one na made him abruptly interrupt.
“Wait! Did you say Monroe?”
Mark stopped his chanical recitation and stared blankly at Saul. Then he said, “Yes, Monroe.”
Monroe?
Monroe was in there too?
“I asked who’s in the valley now, not who’s been there.”
“Yes. Monroe is in the valley.”
Monroe had access to Veiled Crystal Essence, and could very well have entered Elven Valley with Kongsha. But he had clearly returned to the Wizard Tower and even passed on a ssage to Saul on her behalf.
Yet now Mark claid Monroe was in the valley!
Saul thought back—Mark’s first na had been his own.
Face darkening, he asked, “Mark… is Mark in the valley too?”
“Yes. Mark is also in the valley,” Mark answered.
Morden sensed sothing was off. He stepped sideways to shield Saul and said in a low voice, “Master, this man’s not right.”
Saul understood: Morden didn’t want him to follow Mark.
But right now…
Saul glanced around. Though the forest was dense, it didn’t obscure too much of the view.
The trees stretched all the way to the distant mountains, but there was no sign of any valley terrain.
The only valley in this direction would be Hanging Hands Valley to the east.
“This is the location Kongsha gave . Without a guide or a key, we won’t be able to enter.”
“Exactly! Exactly!” Penny chid in enthusiastically.
She craved the Veiled Crystal Essence the most.
Just then, Mark spoke again.
“…Saul is also in the valley.”
All four consciousnesses turned to look at Saul—amused, yet unnerved.
“I’m also in the valley?” Saul instinctively asked back.
Suddenly, an intense sensation of weightlessness hit them. Everyone felt like they were plunging downward at high speed.
Or rather, falling.
They looked around, down at their feet.
Saul’s first instinct was to take flight.
But even after he rose into the air, the sensation of falling didn’t lessen at all.
He saw similar flickers of alarm on the others’ faces.
Yet the scenery around them hadn’t changed in the slightest. Saul could still see dust dancing in sunlight, tree leaves swaying in the breeze.
“Do you all feel like we’re falling?”
“Yes, Master!” ca their replies.
Especially Herman—his figure was trembling slightly, struggling to stay upright under the sensation of descent.
Saul tried closing his eyes. The sensation grew even stronger. He felt suspended midair, with both his brain and eardrums screaming that he was plumting.
But when he opened his eyes—hah! The scene before him was the very image of peaceful tranquility.
“Is it my brain lying to , or are my eyes the ones deceiving ?”
Boom—
The free-fall sensation stopped abruptly.
Everyone—except for the stiff, puppet-like Mark—lost their footing and fell to the ground.
“Cough, cough!” An spat out a mouthful of dirt and scrambled up. She craned her neck toward Saul. “Master, are you okay?”
Saul had still been hovering a ter off the ground, but the sudden cessation of the weightlessness had shocked his ntal strength, causing his spell to falter and drop him.
Luckily, the impact was no worse than jumping down from about a ter high. It didn’t match the feeling of falling for dozens of seconds straight.
Saul hadn’t felt this disheveled in a long ti. He pushed back his hood, dusted the dirt off his clothes.
“I’m fine. Are you all okay?”
Just monts ago, it had felt like they’d plumted from tens of thousands of ters in the sky—yet their bodies hadn’t sustained any damage.
That contradiction made it impossible to maintain any spells.
“Everyone, hold off on using ntal strength to probe for now,” Saul said as he pushed himself up.
“We may already be inside Elven Valley,” Agu said, having just gotten to his feet as well.
“Yes!” said a voice with a hint of laughter.
They turned to see Mark, once stiff as a statue, now wearing a mocking smile.
“Welco to the Forest of Seasons.”
He stretched his arms out wide. The mouths in his palms curled into twisted grins.
(End of Chapter)
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