"What is it?"
"There is something important I almost forgot to tell you."
Hearing that, Zad raised an eyebrow and lowered the newspaper slightly, directing his gaze toward Veila again. His expression changed from indifference to mild curiosity as he waited for her to explain.
It was also at that exact moment that Veila continued speaking.
"The 27th expedition army was behaving strangely according to our informants. In fact, Commander Rolgar declared that he would stay and guard the elevation hall alone, forcing everyone else to leave. As for the other commanders of the remaining legions, they are heading back to the surface and were carrying an unconscious person on a stretcher. The informants said that the figure should be a woman, though it was hard to tell who she is because her dark blue hair was covering her face."
After saying all of that, Veila resumed walking toward the exit without waiting for a reply. Her footsteps were calm and steady as she approached the door.
"Why would Rolgar stay behind?"
Zad quietly asked himself as he sat there, his voice low enough that no one else could hear it.
He remained seated, staring at the desk for a moment as he processed the information. By the time he lifted his head again, he realized that Veila was already gone. The only indication of her departure was the faint sound of the door closing earlier.
"Moreover, a person escorted by the other commanders personally? Who was she?" he continued thinking.
"A woman with dark blue hair..."
His eyes widened slightly as a realization began forming in his mind.
"Wait. Don't tell me..!"
...
It was already dawn when the aircraft carrying the people from Valkor arrived back on the surface. The sky had begun to brighten, and the soft glow of the morning sun gradually spread across the horizon. The light slowly illuminated the land surrounding the massive pit, revealing the uneven terrain and the clusters of vegetation that covered the area. The surrounding flora reflected the early sunlight, their leaves faintly glistening as the darkness of the night receded.
Relict, who stood at the top of a nearby mountain, watched the scene from a distance. From his elevated position, he had a clear view of the massive pit that descended several kilometers into the ground. One after another, the aircraft began emerging from the opening of the pit. Their metallic frames slowly rose from the darkness below, climbing steadily until they cleared the edge and entered open air.
"Their aircraft are quite slow," he said while slightly shaking his head in boredom.
He had already been waiting for them for almost an hour, observing the pit and the faint movements below while remaining completely still on the mountain peak.
"It took a quarter of an hour just for them to reach the surface from a vertical climb. It seems even a millennia worth of scavenging inside Valvan's ship still has not improved their technological advancements to a higher standard," he said thoughtfully.
Relict had calculated their flight time based on the familiar aura he could sense originating from Fera's recreated body. That presence served as a reference point, allowing him to track their movement from deep within the pit all the way to the surface.
He had been waiting for them simply to see what direction they were going to take once they departed from the pit. Determining their destination would give him a clearer understanding of where their main settlements were located.
Earlier, he had flown ten kilometers above the surface of the ground to observe the surrounding region from a much higher vantage point. From that altitude, the landscape stretched endlessly in all directions. However, even from that height, he did not see any manmade structures, not even when extending his vision across distances reaching up to a thousand kilometers away.
He also could not sense any villages nor fauna within a radius of a thousand kilometers. The absence was absolute. There were no signs of animals moving through the vegetation, no faint life signatures hidden beneath the ground, and not even the presence of small insects. This undeniable fact made it clear that something strange was going on.
"From what I know, these bestial hybrids who call themselves draconians have cities that are enclosed within a specialized energy dome to protect themselves from the so called curse of the surface," Relict muttered to himself.
At first, he had believed that the fragmented memories he had received were not entirely reliable. However, the current situation forced him to reconsider that assumption.
Sensing no animals, not even insects, across a vast region filled with vegetation and multiple types of terrain was extremely unusual. The land itself appeared alive with plant growth, yet the complete absence of other life forms created a contradiction that could not be easily ignored.
Seeing the aircraft getting farther away from the pit, Relict also started trailing them but only from afar as a precaution, keeping a steady distance while concealing his presence. The wind at high altitude brushed past him in cold, steady currents, yet his figure remained unaffected, as if detached from the physical world. Although the people onboard had no capabilities to sense him, he did not lower his guard. He should be now cautious as the world right now was not the world he had assumed earlier, and the unfamiliar silence surrounding everything only reinforced that thought.
Relict only followed them for several minutes, watching the direction of their movement with attention, until their path is finalized. After determining that they are heading southeast, he used his spatial walk and went ahead since following them is clearly not practical as their aircraft are too slow to fly. The moment he activated that ability, his figure blurred and vanished, reappearing across vast distances in an instant. Using that ability, Relict had traversed the forest region with a span of tens of thousands of kilometers wide, the dense canopy below forming an uninterrupted sea of dark green, allowing him to reach the outer edge within mere seconds. There, he saw a fast current river which separates the forest region from the vast plain on the other side, reflecting faint light as it cut through the land like a natural boundary.
"This planet is quite huge, but lacks life."
Relict silently commented after traversing the forest region and seeing no end of the vast plain at the other side. He scanned his immediate surroundings within tens of kilometers in radius while he traversed the region, but still had not sense any fauna living in the region, not even the faintest trace of presence.
Being intrigued by this, Relict went down along the river to further investigate. The surface of the water flowed steadily beneath him, clear yet eerily lifeless, reflecting the pale light of the sky above without even the slightest disturbance. He floated just above the moving water, maintaining a precise distance where his feet could lightly touch the surface, creating faint ripples that quickly disappeared as if the river refused to acknowledge his presence. Then, he extended his perception below, letting it spread outward and sink into the depths, scanning the entirety of the river within a kilometer long. His senses moved through the water in silence, encountering nothing but the slow current and the empty riverbed beneath.
"There's also no aquatic animals in this river. What a strange phenomenon."
Relict lightly mumbled after scanning the river, yet carrying a trace of confusion that he did not bother to hide. Now, he was intrigued by this so called curse of the surface that the draconians had believed in. The absence of life, both on land and within the water, was too consistent to be dismissed as coincidence. However, his curiosity could only be answered once he had managed to reach a draconian settlement. Knowing that, Relict pulled his perception back and did not linger any longer. He lifted himself from the river and flew again to the sky, the air growing colder as he ascended, before continuing travelling southeast with steady speed.
Meanwhile, back at the national headquarters of the empire.
Several aircraft meant for huge transports had already been prepared and were now ready to deploy, their massive frames lined up in orderly rows across the wide landing grounds. The low hum of their engines filled the air, as if waiting for permission to be unleashed. Personnel moved around below in a constant flow, some carrying equipment, others issuing commands, their movements quick and efficient, yet carrying an underlying tension that was difficult to ignore. They were all just awaiting for the signal from the command center.
Zad, who stood at his office balcony, rested both of his hands against the railing as he stared at the personnel moving around on the ground while deep in thought. From his elevated position, everything below looked organized, yet he could clearly feel the weight behind every movement. The emergency meeting had just finished, and the reports that they got from the 27th expedition army were totally unbelievable. The words still lingered in his mind, repeating themselves as if trying to force him to accept them.
"The princess is really alive."
Zad lowly said as he lightly shook his head, his brows slightly furrowed, his gaze unfocused as he looked into the distance beyond the base. Though he was quite glad that the princess was alive, he still could not help but question how she managed to survive in Valkor for 7 years. The thought lingered heavily in his mind, as doubt and curiosity mixed together in silence.
"Moreover, Rolgar was the one who found the princess, yet he stayed behind in Valkor to guard the first floor without even reporting. What the hell is he doing?"
Zad lowly said, more confusion written across his face as his brows tightened.
As the lead commander of their expedition, his report should have been the first to be accounted for, not delayed without explanation. The lack of communication was not just unusual, it was unacceptable. He could not help but shake his head once more, his gaze lowering for a brief moment as frustration settled in.
"I may have to visit Valkor perso-!"
Before Zad could even finish what he would say, his expression abruptly changed, and he immediately cut off his own words.
In the same instant, his body reacted without hesitation. His figure distorted as he transformed into his draconic form, his frame expanding and hardening, scales forming across his body in a rapid, seamless motion. He turned around sharply and took a defensive stance, his muscles tensing as his presence surged outward. It all happened so fast that the balcony floor beneath his feet cracked a moment after he settled into position, thin fractures spreading from where he stood due to the sudden force he exerted.
'An intruder!?'
Zad first thought, his mind sharpening in an instant as all previous concerns were pushed aside. He had suddenly felt an unknown presence pass through him, something so subtle that it was almost nonexistent, yet he was certain it was there. The presence was too faint, barely leaving a trace, yet he still managed to sense it for a brief moment. Without wasting time, he tried to project his aura outward, letting it spread forcefully as it scanned the entire floor where his office was located. His senses swept through every corner, every wall, every empty space, searching for even the slightest anomaly, but he did not find anything unusual.
"Whoever you are, come out now!"
Zad loudly shouted, his strong voice echoing high above the building and reverberating back into his office in front him. His tone was cold, as he kept his gaze fixed toward his office with a hardened expression, ready to react at any moment.