How to Survive Against Villains Chapter 117

Chapter 117 – Signal of Awakening (Part 2)

I climbed the barren hill alongside Nella, where not a single blade of grass grew.

Dust billowed into the air as we ascended.

From both above and below the hill, worn-out carts moved back and forth, transporting sothing.

Most of those pushing the carts were elderly, with wrinkled hands and hunched backs, their faces etched with exhaustion.

Thunk—

As we quietly made our way up the hill, one of the unsteady carts brushed against my arm as it passed by.

The covering draped over the cart slipped off from the impact, revealing what lay beneath. I paused, glancing down at its contents.

“…….”

It was filled with corpses.

Every single body bore a twisted expression of pain. Their final monts, frozen in terror, were etched clearly on their faces.

This was Wailing Hill.

We were making our way up the infamous hill, a place known for its grim reputation.

“P-Please spare !”

“It’s all my fault! Punish alone!”

The people guiding the cart, now pale with fear, collapsed to their knees and prostrated themselves in front of .

Pressing their foreheads to the ground, they trembled uncontrollably.

One elderly man clung desperately to my cloak, pleading for his life. His frail back looked especially small and pitiful.

While the onlookers showed sympathy, none of them dared to intervene.

A red cloak—it was a symbol of fear in Blyer.

“…….”

I silently looked down at the old man for a mont before I kicked him aside and turned away, resuming my climb up the hill.

This deliberate act of ignoring him was, ironically, the only way to spare his life.

“Those are soldiers,” Nella whispered quietly from behind .

Although our faces were concealed by robes, and our attire might have seed suspicious, the soldiers spotted us and instinctively backed away, making way without question.

We were disguised as shamans, having killed a hunting squad and taken their robes and red cloaks. Ever since we entered the city through the gates, no one had dared to challenge us.

The Nest of Shamans, once a secretive underground sect, had risen to prominence under Kal’s rule, openly displaying their power.

Ignoring the soldiers, we continued following the trail of carts up the hill.

There was quite a crowd, but no one spoke. The atmosphere was bleak and desolate.

A short while later, as we reached the middle of the hill, a vast expanse of land filled with graves ca into view.

The graves varied in size, and it seed that the bodies loaded onto the carts were being piled together to create mass graves.

As the carts gathered around a large pit, Nella started moving in that direction.

“Not there,” I said.

“Huh? Then where…?”

“Over there.”

Beyond the pit where the carts had gathered, there was another pit—deeper and larger. It looked like it had been dug a long ti ago but had never been filled in. A foul stench emanated from it, reaching all the way to where we stood.

Unlike the other areas, this place was heavily guarded by knights.

As we approached, one of the knights raised his sword, blocking our path.

“What business do shamans have here?”

A blue epaulet glead on his shoulder. He was one of Blyer’s elite knights.

[Roughly ten knights nearby are equipped with artifacts. Quite a number.]

More than ten knights with blue epaulets patrolled the area around the pit. If they were ard with artifacts, it likely ant they were mbers of Kal’s personal guard, the most elite of his forces.

The number of knights made direct confrontation risky.

But confrontation wasn’t part of the plan.

“We were sent from above,” I said.

“Above? By whom?”

“What’s it to you? We’re here under orders to investigate traces of grave robbers.”

“What?”

There was palpable tension in the air. The relationship between the knights and the shamans was far from friendly.

The knight’s expression darkened, his hostility evident. Though he didn’t draw his sword, his gaze alone made it clear he wanted to cut us down on the spot.

“The task of investigating grave robbers was assigned directly to us by the lord himself. Shamans have no business ddling in it.”

“Perhaps the lord didn’t trust you to handle it.”

“You’d best watch your tongue if you want to keep calling yourself a shaman.”

“If you have complaints, take it up with the lord. We’re simply carrying out our orders.”

With neither Kal, Lyon, nor Rengua currently in Blyer, there was no imdiate way for anyone to verify our identity. Besides, who in their right mind would suspect soone was impersonating a shaman in the heart of Blyer?

To further strengthen our disguise, we played our trump card.

“Huff—!”

Standing on Nella’s shoulder, Banri puffed out her face like a stead bun and glared nacingly at the knights.

Despite her attempt to look intimidating, she wasn’t frightening at all.

Still, her presence—an ominous black spirit—fit the atmosphere of the place perfectly.

In this era, unknown entities were considered part of a shaman’s domain. Furthermore, we showed the knight a shaman’s identification badge we had taken from the hunting team’s leader.

The knight hesitated after confirming the badge, glancing once more at Banri before speaking.

“Show your faces.”

“Would seeing our faces change anything?”

“……”

“We don’t like revealing ourselves to others. We have many enemies, you see. And those who see our faces often end up cursed. Do you still wish to see us?”

The knight took a step back, and the others inspecting the area also withdrew with curses under their breath.

“Ten minutes. Finish up and leave within that ti.”

Ten minutes.

Having developed a trauma regarding ti limits after my experience at Nellitori Gorge, I ignored the knight’s warning and descended into the pit with Nella.

Ten minutes.

And what if we went over it?

We stopped in front of a massive pile of corpses—hundreds, perhaps even more.

Nella covered her nose and let out a deep sigh.

“At least we made it here without any trouble.”

“Exhausted?”

“It would be a lie to say I’m not.”

We had crossed Laup Forest using the shortest route possible, cutting down on sleep and moving as fast as we could. Even then, it had taken about two days to reach Wailing Hill.

“What do we do now?”

“We look for traces. I’ll search the bodies. In the anti, you should wait above and keep your ears open.”

“You want to eavesdrop on the knights?”

It was convenient that she understood so quickly.

Elves had far superior hearing compared to humans, making Nella perfect for the task. Since I was the only one capable of identifying the traces we were looking for, her role in gathering information from above was invaluable.

A mont later, Nella discreetly moved back up, while I crouched and began inspecting the corpses.

“No matter how many tis I see them, I never get used to this.”

The pile of rotting corpses was even more grotesque than usual.

These bodies were the remains of those who had opposed Kal’s regi—nobles, knights, rchants, anyone deed a threat to his rule had been rcilessly purged.

Among them were people close to Lochter—his family, his comrades.

His wife, his daughter, and many others he cherished were buried here.

Leaving the pit open without covering it was a deliberate act—a warning to others.

And yet, so of those bodies had gone missing.

According to the information Nella had provided earlier, in addition to tracking Jack and Howell, the knights were also hunting grave robbers.

This was why I had co to Wailing Hill, and why I was now sifting through these corpses, trying to suppress the urge to retch.

Those grave robbers had stolen five bodies—including Lochter’s family mbers—and disappeared.

Lochter couldn’t have done it alone; he had to have had help.

‘It must have been Karl’s group.’

If Karl had helped, he would have left behind a specific trace for to find. Before we parted ways in Laup Forest, we had agreed on a secret code in case we ever needed to et again.

Karl was ticulous. If he had thought of , he would have left a mark wherever he went.

During our ti together in Laup Forest, Karl had taught many things, especially how to leave hidden signs.

[If there are corpses around, think of my missing piece. You’ll find what you need.]

Karl’s missing piece—his left arm, which he had lost to Boom. Additionally, Karl had a peculiar aversion to handling won’s corpses.

n. Left arm.

“Got it.”

I focused on the left arms of the male corpses and found faint letters etched into their fingernails—barely noticeable.

Korun River, downstream.

The sa mark appeared on the left arms of more than five corpses.

Karl’s group was hiding near Korun River.

Korun River was located south of Blyer, with several small villages scattered along its downstream region.

One of those villages was likely their hiding place.

When I realized the significance of Korun River, I couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh.

“Karl, you poor bastard. Your luck’s as bad as mine.”

He had chosen the worst possible location for a hideout.

It was almost certain that Jack and Howell, who were lying in wait, were stationed around Korun River.

Karl loved hiding in plain sight, but this was cutting it way too close.

As I erged from the pit, Nella, who had been keeping a distance from the knights, approached .

“Did you find anything?”

“I did, but it’s not exactly good news.”

“Is the hiding place dangerous?”

“Let’s hurry. We need to reach them before they’re discovered.”

“By ‘traces,’ do you an an awakening of their Divine Na?”

I nodded slightly, and Nella narrowed her eyes at , her expression showing that she was about to ask that question again.

“How are you so sure Lochter will awaken his Divine Na?”

“I already told you—it’s just a hunch.”

“You do realize your lies are painfully obvious, right?”

“Didn’t you co along because you trusted ?”

“No elf, no matter how gullible, would believe that. I’m only here because I trusted my instincts as a priestess.”

“Then your instincts won’t betray you.”

Hearing my cheeky response, Nella shook her head but followed without further argunt.

“Does Kal know about the awakening?”

Kal was a first-run regressor. He couldn’t have anticipated Lochter’s escape, let alone his potential awakening.

“No. But if Arcane is nearby, he’ll find out soon enough. Lochter’s na will beco known.”

“And what if the awakening doesn’t happen?”

“That’s fine too. We’ll just make contact with Lochter in secret and extract him.”

As we quickly descended Wailing Hill, a procession of carts appeared in the distance, accompanied by the sound of wailing.

Old n, won, and children clung desperately to the carts, sobbing uncontrollably. The soldiers swatted them away with the butts of their spears, and the helpless villagers could only weep as they watched the carts roll away.

Nella, clearly troubled by the sight, muttered,

“How can they treat their own kind like livestock?”

“You can’t compare humans to elves.”

Kal had subjugated nearby territories and villages, forcing anyone with the strength to wield a pickaxe—regardless of age or gender—into his gold mines.

Blyer’s prosperity had been built upon the sacrifices of those unfortunate souls.

But I knew that what was visible on the surface wasn’t the worst of it.

There was sothing far more heinous hidden beneath.

The Nest of Shamans.

Sacrifices—human lives treated as nothing more than offerings.

I didn’t bother explaining this to Nella.

It was too shaful to admit, even as a fellow human.

“Are all humans like this?”

“Of course not. But to the victims, it doesn’t matter. Powerless people suffer the sa everywhere.”

“Is the lord of Blyer truly that powerful?”

“He surrounds himself with powerful people. That’s Kal’s strength.”

“Kal Blazer… The more I learn about him, the more terrifying he seems.”

Terrifying…

She wasn’t wrong.

Kal was a frightening man.

But to , he was nothing more than,

“A filthy villain who deserves to die.”

I glanced briefly at Blyer’s spire, the place where I had first encountered Kal, before steering us toward the southern path out of the territory.

“Looks like it’s going to rain,” Nella remarked.

“Rain?”

I turned back to see dark clouds gathering ominously over the city.

Monts later, the sky darkened, and with a rumble of thunder, raindrops began to fall.

For so reason, it felt as if the sky itself was mourning.

Such was the grim atmosphere of Blyer, a place so drenched in despair that I could finally understand why Kal’s father had once tried to assassinate him.

I realized how much a single ruler could change the entire mood of a region.

As I brushed off the rain-soaked robe, I asked Nella if she had overheard anything useful from the knights.

She gave a brief summary of their conversations, but one particular word made freeze in place.

“Witch?”