Chapter 638: A Destination Against Their Will

At that moment, one of the communication officers entered the room.

"Commander, the latest recorded locations of the Chosen Ones are ready."

Alaric walked toward the table.

"Show me."

The man opened a small map, with four names marked on it, two of the Chosen Ones were in more distant areas, but their approximate locations were known.

There were no new reports about the other two.

One of them was Roderick.

Lian fixed his gaze on the name.

He still hasn’t returned?

Even under normal conditions, Roderick’s independent activities were strange, he wasn’t like Kain, who went hunting alone, and acted more like a leader who led groups.

And now, the situation was even worse, the exit was closed, the ground was collapsing, and the Hollow Sun was carrying out a Judgment every day.

Continuing to act without sending even a short report didn’t seem very reasonable.

"Where was his last recorded location?" Rindo asked.

The man pointed to a part of the map.

"Here."

Lian and Rindo looked at the spot at almost the same time.

Roderick had last been recorded near one of the routes leading to the center of the Land Of First Dawn, the same area toward which many of the Withered were moving.

What an interesting coincidence.

Of course, this didn’t prove anything yet.

Roderick might have gone there to explore, or his communication device might have stopped working, but the possible connection between his last location and the movement of the Withered was worth investigating.

"When was his last report?" the young Vorhelm asked.

"Before the situation in the area became completely critical."

He nodded, as several different objectives were now pointing in the same direction.

Investigating the movement of the Withered, understanding the underground structure of the land, and finding out what had happened to Roderick.

If he could find a suitable route, he might be able to gather valuable information about all three things in a single operation.

But it was still too early to head straight for the center.

At that moment, the communication device of one of the officers sounded.

"Commander, a new report from the western observation unit."

"Send it through," Alaric replied.

A man’s voice came from the communication device.

"We’ve been watching a group of about twenty Withered, they’ve been moving for several hours."

"Have they been in any fights?"

"No, they didn’t show any special reaction even when they saw our forces."

This report matched the information Rindo had gathered, but the scout continued.

"Some of them are badly injured, one of them even had a broken leg, but it was dragging itself across the ground with its hands and continuing to move."

"Which direction were they heading?" the commander asked.

"The center of the land."

They looked at the map, and the scout continued.

"When they reached a valley, they all stopped at almost the same time."

"What happened next?"

"They all turned their heads toward the center, even those whose necks were bent at unnatural angles."

Lian narrowed his eyes.

At the same time?

"Some of them fell down, but they got back up and continued moving in the same direction."

"Why would they all choose the same route?" Rindo asked with curiosity.

No one answered, because this was the same question everyone had, they knew that whatever these creatures were, they possessed a relatively high level of intelligence.

After a moment, the scout continued.

"There’s something else, they talk while moving."

"What are they saying?" Lian raised his head.

"Most of the sounds are unclear, but one of them repeated the same sentence several times."

"What sentence?"

There was silence for a few seconds before the answer came.

"We have to go back."

The young Vorhelm looked at the center of the map for a moment.

Go back?

That word caught his attention, returning usually meant moving to a place where someone had been before.

Perhaps the Withered was only repeating a phrase from its damaged memories, but it was also possible that their destination was a place they had known in the past.

However, the most logical possibility was that they were looking for a way to escape the Hollow Sun’s Judgment.

"There’s one more thing, Commander, something about their movements," the scout spoke again.

"Go on."

"It seems like they don’t want to go in that direction."

Silence fell over the room for a moment.

"What do you mean?" Rindo frowned.

"Some of them cry while moving, several keep shaking their heads, and one of them even tried to change direction several times."

"What happened next?" Lian asked.

The scout took a short breath.

"Every time it left the route, it stopped for a few seconds, then turned its body toward the center again and continued moving."

He paused.

"One of them even threw itself onto the ground and grabbed the dirt with its hands, as if it was trying to stop itself from moving."

A heavy silence filled the room, and then the scout’s final words came through.

"It looks like they want to escape... but they can’t choose not to go."

Lian remained motionless for several seconds, his gaze fixed on the routes that converged on the map, until now, the Withered had seemed like mutated creatures that had suffered severe damage.

Some had lost their minds, while others couldn’t even control their own bodies.

But now, large numbers of them were moving toward the same point against their own will.

Control over their will? Or perhaps some kind of instinctive reaction to the structure of the land?

He still didn’t know, but he couldn’t ignore this matter.

If there was a way to stop that sun and escape this cursed land, the answer was definitely hidden within the Withered.

He moved closer to the map and traced the converging routes with his finger.

Then his gaze stopped on a small point.

Roderick’s last recorded location was near that same area, and for a few moments, Lian simply stared at the mark.

"Tomorrow, we need to find a route toward the center," he said to Rindo.

"We still don’t know what’s happening there." His friend glanced at him.

Lian nodded.

"I know, that’s why I don’t want to enter the center directly, we’ll investigate the nearby routes first, and if we find enough information, we’ll decide what to do next."

Rindo thought for a moment.

"Then we should compare the reports from the southern and western routes, maybe we can find a path that stays away from the large cracks."

"Good."

"Before you leave, bring me the route plan for approval, I don’t want you entering an unknown area without communication support," Alaric said after hearing their decision.

"No problem, but I’d prefer it if only the two of us went, if something happens, it’ll be easier for me to carry one person and fly away," Lian replied.

He now had several reasons to make this trip.

Understanding the cause of the changes in the ground, finding a Withered that might still have some of its memories, and investigating the area near Roderick’s last recorded location.

But most importantly, he wanted to understand what had happened at the center of the Land Of First Dawn that had caused creatures with shattered minds to move toward it against their own will.

Lian fixed his gaze on the center of the map one last time.

Far away, beyond the golden forests and the plains that were splitting apart more with every passing hour, other groups of Withered were still moving.

Some walked on their long, distorted legs, while others dragged their bodies across the rocks.

And some continued moving with broken limbs, making unclear sounds from their throats.

They were heading toward an area that none of the humans currently present had fully mapped.

But one question still remained in Lian’s mind.

What could force creatures that were even afraid to move to return to a specific place?

He still didn’t know the answer.

But he had decided to find it.

Perhaps this answer would also reveal a way for them to escape this land