Chapter 149: Echoes Along the Mountain Path
They crossed the land like fading light.
Void Steps folded distance beneath their feet. Mountains became brief shadows, valleys no more than passing breaths. Sael moved with refined control, each step measured and precise, yet Shen was always ahead—never accelerating, never forcing his pace, as though the road itself shortened in his presence.
The knights followed in disciplined silence.
By nightfall, they halted upon a narrow mountain ridge. Cold wind swept across bare stone. A small campfire was raised, its flames steady but restrained, enough to hold back the dark.
Shen moved a short distance away and sat down.
He entered meditation.
The divine engraving within him pulsed quietly. Power rose and fell in smooth cycles, causing the air to waver faintly around his body.
One knight glanced toward him and spoke under his breath.
"…Is the mountain breathing?"
Another answered calmly.
"No. That's just Shen."
Before the conversation could continue—
The wind rushed down from the peak.
Fast. Sharp.
Shen's eyes opened.
"Take your swords."
The tone was even, but final.
Shadows slipped into the edge of the firelight.
Foxes emerged—too many, their movements coordinated, eyes glowing with unnatural clarity.
Sael stepped forward, his body lifting slightly from the ground.
"Illusion-beasts," he said.
"Well-trained ones."
The foxes lunged.
Steel rang briefly. Sael struck, dispersing several into mist, but more replaced them.
"They don't stop," a knight muttered.
Shen rose.
He raised one hand.
The air folded inward.
The foxes froze mid-leap, their forms trembling—then dissolved into nothingness, leaving only drifting haze.
The ridge fell silent.
One knight lowered his sword slowly.
"…That was efficient."
Before the calm could settle—
Stone scraped.
A deep, rolling sound echoed from beyond the ridge.
Lare's spirit manifested beside Shen.
"Dragon remnants," he said.
"Drawn by the engraving."
Three massive shapes emerged from the darkness. Their scales were cracked, wings torn, but their presence pressed heavily against the air. Heat pushed back the cold wind.
One knight exhaled slowly.
"…I preferred the foxes."
The first dragon charged.
Shen stepped forward and struck once.
The creature collapsed instantly, its body crashing lifelessly into the stone.
The second took flight.
Shen vanished.
He reappeared above it.
The impact shook the mountain.
The third dragon hesitated.
Shen looked at it.
The dragon turned—and fled.
Sael paused.
"…Did it just decide not to die?"
Shen nodded.
"It learned."
The fire steadied.
Weapons were sheathed.
One knight sat down carefully.
"So… do we keep watch," he asked,
"or has he scared the mountain into submission?"
Shen returned to meditation.
"Sleep," he said.
No one argued.
---
Far above—
Beyond clouds and fractured peaks—
Something stirred.
A pulse traveled through the land, subtle yet unmistakable. Not raw power, but authority.
Deep within a cavern layered in ancient scales, a massive silhouette shifted.
"…An engraving," a low voice echoed.
Stone cracked beneath it.
A cloaked figure knelt nearby.
"The remnants were erased," the figure reported.
"Without resistance."
A faint, humorless breath escaped the great being.
"They were never meant to resist."
One vast eye opened, gazing toward the mountain path.
"What interests me," it said slowly,
"is not that they died… but that the world yielded."
The cavern darkened.
"Let him walk."
A pause.
"Death Mountain will answer him."
The eye closed.
Far below, Shen remained in meditation—unaware that something older than kingdoms had taken notice.
The journey had begun to echo.
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