Chapter 153: Cracking the First Outpost
The ruins sprawled like a broken corpse beneath the storm-choked sky, jagged spires of stone reaching for the heavens like skeletal fingers.
The air was thick with latent magic, old curses crawling along the ground like restless ghosts.
Nero moved silently, steps light, wand ready.
His Imperiused Talon walked ahead, guiding him through the twisted labyrinth of the Shatterveil.
The silence stretched between them, but Nero welcomed it.
Silence made him sharper.
"How far is the outpost?" he asked quietly.
The Talon didn’t turn around. "Three more kilometers east," he said, voice flat. "It’s a guard post. It reinforces the outer defensive barrier around the fortress."
Nero’s eyes narrowed as he studied the terrain.
His Raven Eyes traced faint veins of magic stretching across the land like decayed roots.
This outpost appeared as one strand in a web binding everything to Malrik’s ritual.