Chapter 24 - 23. Raven’s Cry
---
A few days had passed since the dungeon incident.
Now, under the blazing noon sun, in the outskirts of the Lexatric Kingdom, the mighty fortress-city of Oldia stood as a silent sentinel of history.
Oldia was never meant to be a city.
It was born as a war fortress, a bastion of steel and stone raised during the early unification wars of the Lexatric Kingdom. As time passed and the frontier pushed forward, Oldia was gradually abandoned by the main military. But nostalgia has a strange pull on those who once bled for a place. Retired soldiers returned, bringing with them discipline, memories, and dreams of a homeland. Slowly, Oldia transformed from a rusting relic into a thriving fortress city.
Here, the ancestral blood bead system—a subdivision of bead magic unique to the beastmen of Lexatric—formed the backbone of culture. This ancient method allowed its citizens to awaken dormant beast genes passed down from their ancestors, leading to fierce warriors and uncanny instincts. The practice shaped every aspect of life—militaristic, beast-aligned, nature-reverent, and deeply xenophobic. Outsiders rarely entered Oldia and left with their pride, or bones, intact.
The city was known for producing the finest officers in the kingdom, men and women honed like weapons. It had withstood numerous sieges in its storied past, and it stood proud with only one massive northern gate, carved into the shape of a lion's maw.
This lone gate was both a weakness and a message.
Oldia never needed more than one way in or out—enemies only came from one direction: the front.
But fate—especially in a world brimming with blade and magic—had no respect for logic or expectations.
And something unexpected had arrived.
From the great forest to the north, a lone figure emerged.