Chapter 156: Beyond the Barrier

“Whew... It’s incredible,” Miliana murmured as she gazed at the enormous barrier before her. It was dozens of times taller than a human and extended endlessly to both sides. Despite its age, the barrier appeared as pristine as though it had recently been constructed. Its grandeur could only be described as awe-inspiring.

“Who could have built something like this?”

Thump... Thump... Thump...

Aidan tapped the wall with his fingers as if knocking on a door, causing a strange resonance.

“...”

He had expected the wall to be solid, but was surprised to see the bricks ripple like the surface of a calm pond. Startled, he quickly withdrew his hand, feeling as if the barrier was hollow.

“Watch carefully. It's not the wall that's shaking. It’s the magical layer covering it,” Miliana explained, smiling at Aidan's reaction. Shen then tapped the barrier herself.

Thud... Thud... Thud...

However, she was taken aback when her touch produced a different sound from Aidan’s tapping. While his tap had made a clear, dull sound, the sound of Miliana’s touch echoed in an oddly realistic manner, causing her to step back in surprise.

"According to legend, this wall wasn't made by humans," Karyl said, observing the two.

"Hmm? Then how was it created?" Miliana asked.

"It was made by dragons," Gordon answered, looking at her. "It seems you're indeed the Queen of Digon. For us, the barrier sounds hollow, but it responds to dragon mana, doesn't it?"

"Oh..."

Miliana nodded in understanding as it finally dawned on her. It was the first time their conversation had flowed smoothly without bickering.

"You see, that's why Karyl brought you along. Only someone with dragon mana can open this barrier," Gordon explained prompting Miliana to glance at Karyl.

It was a plausible guess, but she knew that Karyl possessed stronger dragon mana than her. He gave her a subtle smile, signaling to go along with it.

"So where's the door?" Miliana asked.

Gordon looked puzzled, as if wondering why she was asking him.

"To the left," Karyl said quietly, drawing everyone's attention.

"It's just a hunch. It feels like it should be there, but Miliana can confirm it, right?"

"Ah, yeah. Right."

Quickly catching onto Karyl’s plan, Milliana placed her hand on the wall, pretending to search for the path.

"To the left," she announced, casting a quick glance at Karyl before starting to walk. Then she whispered to him as she passed by, "My mana has increased, hasn't it?"

Karyl chuckled.

"Of course. You can feel it, can't you? I've opened another meridian and transferred some of my mana into you. You're just not used to handling it yet."

"Tsk..."

She couldn't deny it; she could definitely feel her mana growing stronger. However, Karyl's dragon mana was leagues above hers, and even though she had gotten close to a Sword Master’s level, she couldn't sense the difference. Somehow, Karyl had also become something extraordinary to others.

Besides that, his words also reminded Miliana of that night in the tent, causing her to unwittingly adjust her outfit.

Come to think of it, this party... is made up of incredible people,

Karyl suddenly thought as he walked along the wall.

Three out of the four were at the level of Sword Masters. Moreover, considering Aidan's growth rate in his past life, he would eventually become an assassin with skills close to a Sword Master. This was a power that even the empire, with its numerous knights, couldn't find.

We've come this far.

Karyl felt that new connections with the continent's strong individuals were forming, something he hadn't achieved in his previous life.

"Is there something on my face?" Milliana asked as she noticed Karyl’s gaze, her face slightly flushed.

"No."

The persisting ties had become even stronger.

"Why would anyone look at an ugly mug?" Gordon teased, sensing Miliana’s emotions.

"What? You wretched old man—!" she snarled.

New connections began, Karyl once again felt the difference in this life compared to his previous one.

Suddenly, everyone felt a faint tremor. Under the massive wall, Karyl said in a low voice, "We've reached the gate."

***

"Wait here."

As Miliana focused her mana and placed her hand on the barrier, a hazy mist formed around her, revealing a gate of light. It was an intricate spell, fitting for something created by dragons, even though this was a place where the dead resided.

"Grrr..."

The Sand Serpent, which had brought them to the barrier, let out a low growl as if concerned about Karyl stepping into this tainted land. In response, Karyl patted the creature on its large cheek.

"If anything happens, don't come inside. Return to the dunes. Understand?"

"Grunt... Grunt..."

The Sand Serpent nodded, drawing curious looks from the others.

"We're ready," Aidan said, looking at the open gate in the wall.

"So we can go in without Suan?”

"Once we're inside, Suan won't be able to cross the wall alone. We need to remove the magic on the wall for him too."

"And air out the foul smell," Aidan added.

"Right." Karyl nodded in agreement.

Creak... Creak...

A strange noise greeted them from the other side of the wall. It sounded like bones grinding against each other. As expected of the land of the dead, Karyl’s crew was faced with hundreds of skeletons.

"There’s a lot of them," Aidan and Miliana murmured, looking pale at the sight.

"Hmph."

But Gordon, standing behind Miliana, who had opened the gate, seemed unfazed by the horde of undead. He stepped forward confidently.

"Pesky creatures.”

Gordon hadn't earned his reputation as one of the five great Sword Masters for nothing. Aside from Karyl, who had already lived once, Gordon had cleared the most dungeons among them. He had experience dealing not only with undead but also with spectral monsters.

Wham!

With a powerful punch, he shattered the skull of the skeleton in front of him. As the creature fell, he stomped on its ribcage, sending bone fragments flying like splinters.

"But there's something I'm curious about," Gordon said, not slowing his stride, appearing as if he was merely taking a walk. No undead seemed capable of stopping him.

"What's that?" Aidan asked.

Gordon's fists moved so fast they were barely perceptible, turning the skeletons to dust and creating a mist of bone fragments.

"You said the cure for my disease is in the Ghost Castle, right?"

"Yes."

"Is it really effective? If it's been sitting there for a thousand years, won't it cause more harm than good?" Gordon asked, crushing another skeleton's skull with a skeptical look.

"If you tell me to eat another dead creature, I'll start with you," he added.

Karyl chuckled. "Oh, come on. The monster you ate was over a hundred years old. If you could handle that, you can definitely handle a thousand-year-old elixir."

"It's not the same as these things," Gordon grumbled, grabbing a zombie by the head and shaking it. "Filthy creatures," he muttered before smashing its head. With that, a putrid stench filled the air, and thick, sticky blood oozed out.

"Monster..." Miliana and Aidan muttered, looking horrified.

"He's insane. He actually ate a monster?" Milliana muttered, looking at Gordon in shock. "Not even our tribespeople eat monsters, no matter how desperate we are.”

She shook her head in disbelief.

"Shut up. You clearly haven't witnessed the horrors of war," Gordon snapped. "When your mother was defending Digon, there wasn't even monster meat to eat."

“...”

"How did I end up with such greenhorns..." Gordon muttered, clicking his tongue at Miliana. "You should be grateful for the Oasis your mother worked so hard to create."

"Right. Who was it again that wanted to use that Oasis for blackmail?" she retorted.

Despite the constant onslaught of monsters, the two of them continued to bicker, and Karyl found their exchange most amusing.

“Gordon, don't be so grumpy. When will you ever experience something like this? It'll be a memory of a lifetime."

"A memory? More like something to forget," Gordon grumbled.

Karyl smiled at their banter as they pressed on through the sea of undead.

Thwack—!

Gordon smashed another skeleton's head and looked at Karyl. Although the huge Martyr hung from his back, it seemed that he had no need for it. In fact, he didn’t even use his mana; instead he relied solely on his physical strength to crush the monsters to pieces.

“What we’re about to do has never been done before,” Karyl said, his eyes fixed on the approaching Ghost Castle.

"Of course. We're the first to attempt a raid on the Ghost Castle," Milliana said, looking at Karyl as if he was stating the obvious.

"Indeed, we’re the first," Karyl replied. It was true that he had never attempted this, not even in his previous life. This wasn't a future change Karyl had orchestrated. The challenge had always been there, a daunting task that no one had ever succeeded in completing.

I didn’t come here just to get Gordon’s cure,

he thought, recalling a conversation with Allen Javius.

"If tempered through the Spring of Vision, the spirit power of the Five Great weapons can be enhanced to even contain a soul."

𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Initially, Karyl had believed Allen’s words without question and sought the Abyssal Rock. But instead of finding a method to temper his weapon, Allen had imparted his Arcane Mana to Karyl and then vanished.

Though I couldn’t contain Allen’s soul, I managed to properly temper the Freezing Talon.

The Freezing Talon wasn't suitable for containing the spirit of the Blazing King, Ramine, whose essence, the Ein Trigger, was already embedded in Karyl. Thus, the Freezing Talon's slot remained empty.

Frost

The most fitting spirit for the sword would undoubtedly be Ethereal, the Queen of Tides. However, with no trace of the other Spirit Kings except for Ramine, the best match for the Freezing Talon’s cold element seemed to be none other than the owner of the Ghost Castle.

Lich Zarka Hochi—the embodiment of death itself. His essence alone exuded coldness.

The last army I need to gather,

Karyl thought to himself. Once this army was assembled, the full-scale war against the empire would begin.

“Man, it's so far. How do we even get there? It would've been easier with the airship,” Aidan grumbled, growing weary of the relentless assault of the undead.

“Gordon, have you ever flown over this area with an airship?” Karyl asked calmly in response to Aidan’s complaining.

“Of course. I flew over it once on a trip to the Eastern Lands. Even then, it was quite a hassle.”

Gordon’s mention of the Eastern Lands piqued Aidan’s interest. “Why? Do undead fly too?”

“Yeah.”

Aidan chuckled, thinking it was a joke, but Gordon was serious.

"Uh...What?" Aidan asked, his eyes widening in disbelief.

“Just wait. You’ll see soon enough,” Gordon said.

"CRAAAAH!!"

Suddenly, a terrifying roar echoed in the distance, as if responding to Gordon’s remark. Karyl immediately realized what they were up against. There was no mistake about it—that eerie, bone-chilling roar could only come from one creature.

“That’s the Bone Dragon,” he murmured.