Chapter 667: A Fate Worse Than Slavery

Sometimes it seemed that the music was coming from the right, a few minutes later, from behind him, and then from the front again.

Lian changed his direction several times, but the result was no different.

Strange.

Even though the music had become much clearer, he still could not find its source.

He activated [ True Sequence ] again.

The mana flows in the surroundings became visible; white roots, buried structures, and energy paths that led into the depths.

But none of them were clearly the source of the music.

He finally let out a short sigh.

’I’d better stop wasting time for now.’

Of course, finding the musician was not the only reason he had moved away from the group, to be more exact, that had not been his goal at all, he had been planning to have a private conversation for quite some time.

He changed his direction and landed on a tall rock.

In front of him, a huge part of the central land could be seen; broken platforms, white roots, buried structures, and cracks from which red steam rose from the depths.

The Hollow Sun was still shining in the sky.

But this time, Lian did not look at the sky, he raised his right hand.

[ Hive Dominion ]

Streams of light formed in front of him, and a moment later, the huge figure of the Nine-Venom Castellan appeared.

Four.

The Castellan lowered his head slightly and waited.

Lian looked at him for a moment and then gave a faint smile.

"Well, Four... I think it’s time for us to talk."

The monster raised his head, and then, a deep and measured voice came from behind his bone mask.

"As you command, my lord."

Lian raised an eyebrow.

The creature’s way of speaking was very different from what he had expected from an Unholy monster.

His words were spoken carefully and with an old sense of dignity; as if the Castellan had once lived in an ancient royal court and had never forgotten the manners of speaking from that time.

The other Unholy monster he had ... well, besides having no manners at all, he spoke to everyone however he wanted.

"Well, that makes this conversation easier."

The Castellan waited, and young Vorhelm took a few steps closer.

"I have a question, why did you agree to become a member of my Colony?"

"I believed that such was your wish." The creature remained still for several seconds.

Lian shook his head.

"I know I made the offer, what I mean is, don’t you think you accepted a little too easily?"

He looked at the Castellan’s nine-pointed crown.

"You’re an Unholy monster, you’re intelligent, powerful, in the hierarchy of monsters, you’re a king, but when you received my offer to form a bond, you didn’t resist much, unlike what I expected."

He paused for a moment.

"Actually, I felt like you wanted to join my Colony yourself."

The creature did not answer, and Lian continued.

"How did you know what would happen to you if you accepted my bond?"

"I did not know, my lord." This time, Four answered.

"You didn’t know?"

"Indeed, I did not."

The Castellan raised his head slightly.

"Yet when your bond was offered unto me, I sensed the existence of another place at its far end, a place that belonged not to this land."

Lian thought for a moment.

The Colony House?

Special Colony members could remain in a separate space and only enter the outside world when summoned.

He had used this ability many times, but apparently, for the Nine-Venom Castellan, the existence of such a place had a different meaning.

"So you accepted just because of the Colony House?"

"In hope of reaching it, yes." The Castellan remained silent for a few moments.

Lian frowned slightly.

"Hope?"

"A faint hope of freedom, my lord."

Something different could be heard in the creature’s voice, there was neither anger nor pride, but rather the weight of an old memory that had returned to him.

The Castellan looked at the ground beneath his feet.

"I remember much of what has befallen this land, and of what still awaits it, I know more than I would ever wish to know."

Lian was no longer smiling.

"So you really know what kind of place this is?"

The Castellan did not answer, but his silence was different from that of a creature who knew nothing, as if he were deciding how much of the truth he should reveal.

Finally, his deep voice was heard again.

"All I desired was to leave this place."

"At any cost?" Young Vorhelm narrowed his eyes.

"Indeed, my lord."

The Castellan lowered his head slightly.

"Even if the price of such freedom were eternal servitude under your command."

Lian remained motionless for several seconds.

He knew that the bond of special Colony members was permanent, but the fact that a creature with such power and pride had willingly accepted such a fate was no small matter.

He looked at the Hollow Sun for a moment.

"So you were that afraid of that sun?"

The Castellan also raised his head, but contrary to Lian’s expectations, he shook it.

"Nay, my lord."

"No?"

Several seconds of silence passed, and then the monster raised his right hand, and his armored claw moved past the sun.

But he did not point toward the sky, instead, he changed the direction of his hand and pointed toward the distance.

Toward the center of the land.

The place where broken platforms, buried structures, and huge cracks met around a darker region.

"Of that."

"That place?" Lian looked in the direction the creature was pointing.

"Indeed, my lord." The Castellan lowered his head, and his voice became quieter.

"I wished to escape its grasp, even if, to gain such freedom, I must remain bound in your service until the very end of my existence."

Lian said nothing for several seconds.

So it’s not about the sun...

He thought about everything he had seen over the past few days.

The Withered who moved toward the center against their own will, the white roots that carried mana flows into the depths.

The ancient structures buried underground, and the energy from the judgments that moved beneath the ground after the sentences were carried out.

Now, a creature stood before him who, simply by pointing toward the center, had shown that he would rather accept permanent servitude than return to that place.

Lian looked at the Castellan again.

"What is there?"

Four remained motionless for a moment and then slowly raised his head, behind the bone mask, his two glowing eyes stared directly at Lian.

"My lord..."

But before he could continue, another wind passed between the rocks.

And in the distance, the sound of the guitar was heard again, this time, clearer than before, and a few soft notes echoed from the direction of the center, after which the sad melody continued.

Lian looked toward the music for a moment, then turned his attention back to the Unholy creature.

He narrowed his eyes.

Interesting.

He was no longer simply facing a powerful monster and a new member of his Colony.

This creature was afraid of something at the center of the land, and more importantly, he apparently knew the reason for his fear.

Young Vorhelm looked toward the center for a moment, and then a faint smile appeared on his face.

It seemed that he had finally found someone who knew the real truth about this land.