Chapter 190: Red balls?
The journey to the location was worse than expected. Thanks to the freezing cold and the murmurs spreading, more than one guild member had picked up on Robert’s insinuations and did not like what Sylvara had been up to. Everyone accused her of being selfish and secretive.
Nevin gritted his teeth and continued moving. He did not care about this right this second. All of this could be dealt with later on. It looked like they couldn’t leave Robert’s dealings unattended for long. The influence he had built over the past few days, quietly, subtly, was beginning to rot the guild from the inside out.
And now, Sylvara, who had poured everything into this guild, was being dragged through the dirt for doing exactly what the others were too afraid to try.
The path ahead narrowed into an icy gorge flanked by jagged cliffs. Frost crackled beneath their boots, the biting wind cutting into skin like tiny blades.
Robert stayed near the rear, exchanging whispers with Mendoza and a few others. Every so often, Nevin caught a glance thrown his way, but he didn’t react. Let them look. Let them whisper. As long as they kept walking, that was enough.
Finally, after another grueling twenty minutes of trudging through snow and silence, the big crater came into view. "It’s right here." Nevin opened and closed his mouth when his eyes widened in shock. There was absolutely nothing at all in the vicinity. Everywhere he looked, there were only frozen lands and screaming winds.
For a terrifying second, Nevin’s heart nearly stopped. The metallic fortress was gone? "No... no no no..." he muttered under his breath, stumbling forward into the center of the empty crater. He spun in a slow circle, scanning the area. What happened? Where did Sylvara do? Damon? Something couldn’t have possibly happened to that monster?
Behind him, tongues started wagging once again.
"Is this a joke? Where is the dungeon entrance?"
"Why do you look like this, Nevin? Is something wrong?"
"Just like I said," Robert’s voice cut through the wind, smug and sharp. "Our dear Sylvara must’ve stumbled into some random trouble and now wants us all to bail her out. Heh? Did she die already? Maybe we should be looking in a graveyard right now."