Chapter 805: Reapers (I)
The forest where over five hundred thousand Zanis soldiers had been butchered did not remain quiet for long. Before the shattered ground could even settle, a second group arrived—this time composed of elite Sages accompanied by a powerful Legend.
Every member of the scouting force was on high alert, their spiritual senses expanded to the maximum, weapons at the ready. These were no ordinary soldiers; they were trained veterans with combat instincts honed over decades.
Word of the massacre had spread quickly, and while the scale of the slaughter was harrowing, no one was truly surprised by the casualties as they were facing enemies capable of taking down the three most powerful strongholds of the world at the same time.
What did shock them, however, were the accounts of the few surviving soldiers. According to their frantic, fragmented testimony, the enemy was not human—nor demon, beast, or anything they had faced before. The attackers were described as creatures from nightmares, more terrifying than anything conjured by hell or the Abyss.
Yet despite this horror, not a single survivor could clearly describe the enemy’s form. The only consistent details were flashes of black fire, glimpses of jagged claws, and a sudden, searing pain before everything went dark. Some had heard whispers in their minds. Others described being paralyzed by fear before being thrown into unconsciousness. The reports were incoherent and terrifyingly vague.
If they wanted to continue the investigation, they would need firsthand evidence. That meant returning to the site of the slaughter.
As the team of Sages and their commanding Legend descended into the ruins of the battlefield, a heaviness settled over them. It wasn’t just the pressure of combat readiness—it was a spiritual weight, as if the very air carried the cries of the dead.
And then came the true horror.
There were no corpses.
No scattered armor. No limbs. No dried blood. Not even the metallic scent of decay. The only signs of the battle were collapsed trees, scorched earth, and fractured terrain. Not a single trace of the half-million soldiers who had marched here remained. It was as if they had been erased from existence.
This was unnatural. Even demons and abyssal beasts that devoured flesh still left bones, armor, or blood. These attackers had consumed everything—flesh, weapons, clothing, even the bones. All gone. It was as if they had never existed at all.
The Legend crouched low, examining the dirt beneath his feet. He activated several scouting artifacts, attempting to detect any magical residue, any trace of movement. His frown deepened as he reviewed the data.