No one answered, because all of them had been wondering the sa thing. The area of a major rchant district should not have looked like this. Varion was a large city; even a peripheral district should have contained thousands of residents. Yet from the mont they had entered this area, they had encountered almost nobody at all. Only blood, death, and silence. Far too much silence.
The black-haired young man slowly turned toward the surrounding buildings, his expression becoming increasingly grim. "No. This isn’t right."
The other three imdiately turned toward him. He pointed toward a nearby row of houses. "When I searched this area earlier, I found clear signs of habitation: food, personal belongings, clothing, recent activities," his voice grew heavier. "So of the als hadn’t even gone cold yet."
The atmosphere instantly changed. Because they all understood what that ant. People had been here. A lot of people. Recently. Yet now, the entire area, spanning thousands of ters, stood abandoned. A chill slowly crept down Aria’s spine. The young man exhaled before voicing the conclusion forming within his mind.
"Perhaps we’re trapped inside the illusion zone of a powerful rank five monarch."
The others stiffened. The possibility was not impossible; in fact, it explained far too much. The missing people, the conflicting observations, the impossible deaths, and the growing sense of unreality that had followed them since entering this place. His expression darkened further as he swept his gaze across the silent streets once more. "We need to be extrely careful. If that’s true, then our perceptions may already be compromised."
For the first ti since arriving, none of them felt confident in what they were seeing, what they rembered, or even what they thought they knew.
"I think you’re right. And if that’s truly the case, then we should leave imdiately."
"This place is dangerous. More importantly, we don’t possess enough information about whoever is responsible for all of this. The safest course of action is reporting our discoveries to the guild master and allowing him to handle the matter personally."
The others exchanged glances before nodding. It was a reasonable conclusion—perhaps the only reasonable conclusion.
"Indeed," Aria agreed quietly. "This situation appears to be beyond our current capabilities."
Her gaze drifted toward the empty streets once more: the blood, the corpses, the silence, and the contradictions. None of it felt right. A faint frown appeared on her face. "Let’s leave. Honestly, the longer I remain here, the more uncomfortable I feel. It’s as though sothing is being done to , yet I can’t identify what it is."
The mont those words left her mouth, the expressions of the other three subtly changed.
"Now that you ntion it..." One of them unconsciously rubbed the back of his neck. Another frowned. The sensation had been present from the beginning: a vague unease, a persistent feeling that sothing was wrong. Not danger, not fear—just an inexplicable discomfort that none of them could properly explain.
The four imdiately abandoned further investigation. Without wasting another second, they shot toward the adventurer guild’s district branch from which they had originally arrived. Their rank three, tier two energy surged through their bodies as they accelerated to their maximum speed, rapidly disappearing into the distance. Within only a few seconds, they had completely left Nytherion’s effective range.
Throughout the entire exchange, Aphryne remained standing only a few ters behind them, listening, observing, and smiling. Not a single one of them had noticed her existence. Not once.
"A rank five monarch." Aphryne counted on her fingers. "An illusion zone. And a heinous villain."
A satisfied smile appeared on her face. "What a wonderful cover story."
She nodded approvingly. It seed the outsiders were not complete fools after all. Given enough confusion, they were perfectly capable of inventing explanations on their own. That saved her quite a bit of effort. With a casual wave of her hand, the corpses scattered throughout the street rose into the air before being collected into her spatial ring. Once that was finished, Aphryne stretched lazily. Then, without the slightest hesitation, she activated the sub-ability granted through her bond with Aezaleon.
Space folded. Distance vanished. The next mont, Aphryne disappeared from the silent district entirely, reappearing beside her big sister as though she had never left.
"Are we done, big sister?"
The mont Aphryne appeared, she asked the question with obvious curiosity. Clentine simply nodded. She stood near the balcony with her hands folded, quietly observing the city below. From this distance, Varion appeared almost normal. People still moved through the streets, shops remained open, and conversations continued.
Yet beneath that ordinary surface, subtle disorder was spreading. Conflicting reports, missing mories, contradictory testimonies, and unexplained absences were already beginning to ripple through the city. Sothing had happened. Everyone could feel it, yet very few could explain what.
A mont later, Auguszta appeared as well. Unlike Clentine, her eyes were practically sparkling. The excitent on her face was impossible to hide.
"Have you collected all the resources, sister?" Aphryne imdiately asked, turning toward her. Even her voice carried a trace of anticipation.
"Indeed, I have!" Auguszta’s smile brightened instantly. "Setting aside the legendary and mythical energy stones alone, we’ve acquired enough primary energy stones for all three of us to advance to the status of monarchs!"
The excitent in her voice was unmistakable. For a mont, both Aphryne and Auguszta looked as though they wanted nothing more than to imdiately begin counting their spoils.
"Alright, you two." Clentine interrupted before either of them could continue, a helpless smile appearing on her face. "Calm down."
The two girls imdiately turned toward her.
"I know you’re both beside yourselves after seeing so much wealth." Her smile widened slightly. "Truthfully, I’m interested in seeing the final count myself. But let’s do that together with husband."
Both girls instantly quieted.
"Everything we obtained today was only possible because of him after all." Clentine’s voice softened slightly. "So let’s wait until we’re all together before we start celebrating, alright?"
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