Chapter 74: Confrontation

By the time Kael and the others returned to the safe zone, several minutes had passed since their encounter with the undead.

The journey back had been tense but uneventful. Seraphina had focused on keeping the rescued students together, while Lilith and the two scouts watched for signs of pursuit. Kael stayed near the rear with Quinn on his shoulder, occasionally checking the surrounding trees.

They had managed to rescue the students without leading the horde directly to the sanctuary. However, that did not mean the danger had passed.

The moment they arrived, Seraphina instructed the rescued students to report to the healers. Several were exhausted, and one could barely walk without assistance. The sight of them returning alive brought visible relief to the students guarding the sanctuary.

Mira hurried over to help treat the wounded, but Kael noticed how pale she looked.

"You should sit down for a while," he told her quietly.

Mira shook her head as she knelt beside an injured student. "I’m fine. There are still people who need help."

"You’ve been treating people for hours. If you collapse, you’ll become another patient for someone else to look after."

She hesitated, glancing at the injured students around her.

Kael crouched beside her and helped support the wounded boy’s leg.

"Finish treating the people who need immediate attention. After that, let someone else take over for a while."

As the leader of Team 37, he wanted to prioritize the conditions of his teammates.

Mira looked as though she wanted to argue, but she eventually nodded.

"All right. Just until the others are stable."

That was enough for now.

Nearby, Seraphina gathered some of the rescued students to hear their report. Leon stood beside her with his arms crossed, his expression still stern from the earlier disagreement.

One of the rescued students stepped forward.

"We saw someone near the abandoned building," he explained. "They were wearing dark red robes. We didn’t get a good look at their faces, but there was something strange about one of their eyes."

"What do you mean by strange?" Seraphina asked.

The student swallowed.

"He had three pupils in one eye. Three different colors. I’ve never seen anything like it."

The surrounding students exchanged uneasy looks.

Kael, who had been helping Mira, slowly raised his head.

Three pupils?

His hands paused for a moment.

He searched his memory, trying to connect the description to anything he had encountered in the original game.

Nothing came to mind.

He remembered the forest, the locations of several dungeons, and the events that were supposed to unfold in the future. But he had no recollection of a character with three pupils, let alone someone who might be involved in the current crisis.

The current situation had already deviated too far from the original story, but this was different. The man did not even resemble anyone Kael could remember from the game’s main cast or its known antagonists.

That bothered him more than he wanted to admit.

He could work around an unexpected event if he understood its general direction. An unknown enemy, however, meant he had no reliable information about the man’s strength, abilities, or intentions.

And the three pupils were particularly unsettling.

Why would someone possess such an unusual feature?

Was it a natural trait, a curse, or the result of forbidden magic?

Kael had no answers.

"Did they approach you?" Seraphina asked.

"No. We saw them from a distance. They seemed to be heading toward the abandoned structure, but we didn’t dare get any closer." The student glanced at his companions. "We were already trying to avoid the undead, so we left as soon as we could."

"Did they notice you?"

"We’re not sure."

Seraphina nodded and let the students return to the healers.

Lilith folded her arms thoughtfully. "Someone wearing unusual robes near an abandoned structure isn’t necessarily suspicious. However, given what’s happening in the forest, we should investigate."

Leon frowned.

"Then we should send a team to find them before they cause more trouble."

"With what information?" Seraphina asked. "We don’t know how strong they are or whether they are even involved."

"We can’t simply wait for something else to happen."

"We aren’t waiting. We’re strengthening our defenses and gathering information."

Leon looked dissatisfied, but he did not continue the argument.

Kael remained silent, studying the surrounding forest.

The safe zone was their only safe shelter. If an enemy discovered its location, they would eventually test that protection.

And if they found a way around it, everyone gathered here would be in danger. Kael glanced at the stone formations surrounding the clearing.

He had not yet found a reason to examine them closely. Their arrangement was unusual. He wondered whether they were responsible for the sanctuary’s protection. Before he could investigate further, Quinn suddenly stiffened on his shoulder.

Its bluish markings began to glow.

"Qiu!"

Kael turned toward the forest.

A low groan drifted between the trees.

Then another followed.

Within seconds, dozens of undead emerged from the woodland.

The students guarding the perimeter immediately raised their weapons. Those who had been resting scrambled to their feet, while the injured were hurried farther into the clearing.

"Undead! They are coming!" A frantic shout reverberated from someone in the defensive structures.

Seraphina drew her weapon.

"Everyone, hold your positions! Don’t break the formation!"

Leon moved toward the front line, his expression hardening as he saw the approaching horde.

Kael’s heart sank.

They had been followed after all.

The undead advanced in a loose formation, their decaying bodies swaying with each step. Some dragged broken limbs behind them, while others moved with enough speed to threaten anyone who stood in their way.

There were far more than the group they had encountered earlier. And this time, the horde was heading directly toward the sanctuary.

"How did they find us?" Elias muttered, raising his bow.

"Later," Darius replied, tightening his grip on his greatsword. "Get ready."

Kael drew his sword and positioned himself beside Darius.

He did not know whether they could hold the perimeter against such numbers.

The other students immediately looked tense. They knew the strength of these undead. Their previous encounters had already shown how difficult these creatures were to kill. Even a direct strike from a capable fighter was not enough to put one down.

The approaching horde was large enough to overwhelm them through sheer numbers.

Then a figure appeared between the trees behind the undead.

He wore dark red robes that stood out against the gloomy forest. His face was partially obscured, but the unnatural eye beneath his brow was clearly visible.

Three pupils of different colors shifted within it.

"That’s him!" The rescued student shouted.

Seraphina and the others looked in disbelief.

The mysterious man surveyed the sanctuary and its assembled defenders.

"So this is where you’ve been hiding."

His voice carried easily across the clearing.

Several students stared at him, recognizing the description given by the rescued group. Others looked toward the horde, uncertain whether the man had anything to do with the approaching undead.

The man raised one hand.

Dark energy gathered around his fingers, twisting into thin strands that spread through the air like black roots. The strands extended toward the undead, wrapping around their heads and torsos before sinking into their bodies.

The creatures immediately changed direction. Their movements became more coordinated as the dark spell tightened its hold over them.

Kael watched the display carefully.

So the man could control them.

He had no idea what kind of magic it was, but it did not look like ordinary necromancy. The dark strands seemed to impose the man’s will directly upon the undead rather than simply animating their bodies.

That could explain why they had pursued the students so relentlessly.

"Destroy everyone inside," the man commanded.

The undead surged forward.

Students shouted as the horde rushed toward the perimeter. Several raised their weapons, while others instinctively retreated a few steps.

Kael tightened his grip on his sword. Then the leading undead reached the edge of the clearing.

Its body abruptly stopped.

An invisible force struck it from the front, throwing it backward as though it had collided with a solid wall. The creature tumbled into the undead behind it, causing several others to stumble.

A second undead tried to cross the same boundary.

It suffered the same fate.

One after another, the creatures were repelled by an unseen barrier. Some were thrown several meters backward, while others collapsed into a tangled heap before they could reach the sanctuary.

The entire front of the horde faltered.

For several seconds, the students could only stare.

No one had attacked the undead. No spell had been cast. Yet every creature attempting to enter the clearing was being forced back by something they could not see.

Elias slowly lowered his bow.

"Did the sanctuary just save us?"

"Keep your weapon raised," Darius warned, though even he looked astonished.

The students had expected the worst. They had seen how difficult the undead were to fight, and the sheer number approaching the sanctuary had left many convinced that their defenses would collapse.

Instead, the creatures could not even cross the boundary.

Seraphina stared at the edge of the clearing, her eyes widening with cautious relief.

"The sanctuary’s protection is repelling them."

Lilith quickly examined the area.

"It isn’t a conventional barrier. I can’t see a visible mana wall, but something is enforcing a restriction on anything trying to enter."

Kael glanced toward the stone formations.

His suspicion grew stronger.

The protection was not simply blocking the undead. It was rejecting them as though the clearing itself had rules they were forbidden to violate.

Across the forest, the mysterious man’s expression had changed. His confident smile stiffened as the undead were thrown backward again.

"What?"

He lowered his hand slightly, watching the creatures struggle against the invisible boundary.

"Impossible."

He had directed the undead toward the settlement with complete confidence. Their numbers were sufficient to overwhelm a group of inexperienced students, and their unnatural durability made ordinary weapons frustratingly ineffective.

Yet the entire horde had been stopped without a single student needing to fight. The man narrowed his three-pupiled eye.

"What sort of protection is this?"

He studied the clearing, searching for the source of the interference. For a moment, uncertainty crossed his face.

Then his expression hardened.

He would not accept failure so easily.

The dark strands around his fingers multiplied, spreading farther into the forest. More undead emerged between the trees, drawn toward the clearing by his command.

This time, he directed them toward different sections of the perimeter.

"Try again."

The second wave charged.

The result was identical.

Every undead that attempted to cross the boundary was repelled. Some were thrown backward with enough force to knock down those behind them, while others struggled uselessly against the invisible restriction.

The students watched the spectacle unfold.

Then someone laughed.

It was a short, disbelieving sound, but it quickly spread among those who had spent the last several hours fearing that the undead would eventually reach them.

"That’s it?" A student called from behind the defensive line. "You brought all those things here, and they can’t even approach?"

Another student raised his weapon toward the mysterious man.

"Maybe you should try coming over here yourself!"

Several people laughed.

Their relief had turned into defiance. For the first time since the crimson barrier appeared, they could see a reason to believe they might survive.

Kael did not join them.

He was relieved that the sanctuary’s protection held, but he was not foolish enough to assume their enemy had run out of options.

The man had already demonstrated that he could control large numbers of undead. If he understood the sanctuary’s restrictions, he might find another way to attack them.

And judging by his expression, he had no intention of leaving.

The mysterious man’s face twisted with fury.

The dark energy around his hand surged, and the undead began clawing violently at the invisible boundary.

"Silence!" He roared.

His voice echoed through the forest, but the students continued exchanging mocking remarks.

For a moment, it seemed as though the man might lose control of his temper entirely.

Then his gaze shifted.

He had stopped looking at the students. Instead, he was studying the stones surrounding the clearing.

The formation was almost perfect. At first glance, the stones appeared to be little more than old markers left behind by whoever had once inhabited the forest. Some were weathered, their surfaces covered in moss, while others were half buried beneath layers of soil and fallen leaves. But their positions were not random.

The mysterious man slowly turned his head, examining the arrangement from one stone to the next.

His anger began to recede.

He had spent years studying curses, ancient markings, and the remnants of forgotten magical traditions. He knew that certain ancient formations did not rely on the continuous flow of mana that sustained ordinary barriers. Instead, they established conditions within a defined area, enforcing specific rules on anything that entered or attempted to cross its boundaries.

The sanctuary’s protection behaved in precisely that manner.

The undead were not being blocked by a wall of energy. They were being rejected by a rule imposed upon the clearing.

The stones provided another clue.

Their arrangement followed a pattern he recognized from ancient curse formations. Several stones marked the outer boundary, while others occupied positions that appeared to correspond to invisible lines running beneath the ground. The faint markings on their surfaces were worn, but the portions still visible were enough to confirm his suspicion.

These were not decorative monuments.

They were components of an active formation.

The invisible protection was likely maintained by the stones, which served as anchors for the rule governing the sanctuary. Their precise function remained uncertain, but their placement revealed that the protection was deliberate rather than a natural property of the clearing.

The man had not needed to see the formation activate to identify it. The failed attacks had shown him its behavior, while the stones provided the structural evidence he needed to connect that behavior to an ancient magical system.

His eyes moved from one stone to another.

A slow grin returned to his face.

"So that’s how it works."

He had not yet determined the precise nature of the restriction, but he no longer believed the sanctuary’s protection was an inexplicable phenomenon. If the stones maintained an ancient rule, then that rule had conditions and limitations.

And anything with limitations could potentially be exploited.

Meanwhile, Kael had been watching the man’s expression rather than celebrating with the others.

The sudden change in the enemy’s demeanor bothered him.

"Seraphina," he said quietly, "I don’t think he’s giving up."

Seraphina looked toward the mysterious man. "What makes you say that?"

"He stopped looking at us."

Her gaze followed Kael’s.

The man was examining the stone formations.

For a moment, Seraphina remained silent. Then her expression changed as she recalled the rescued students’ report.

"He saw them earlier," she murmured.

Kael nodded slowly.

The realization came together in his mind.

The mysterious man had encountered the rescued students near the abandoned structure. Yet he had apparently allowed them to leave rather than killing them immediately. At the time, Kael had assumed the man might simply have ignored them, or that the students had escaped before he could react.

Now, watching him command the undead toward their refuge, Kael understood the more troubling possibility.

"He didn’t need to kill them," Kael said under his breath. "He needed them to lead him to the others."

Seraphina’s face paled.

The rescued students had been fleeing through the forest, desperate to find safety. If the man had noticed them and chosen not to stop them, he could have followed their trail or used their movements to discover where the survivors were gathering.

Their successful rescue might have done exactly what the enemy wanted.

Seraphina’s fingers tightened around her weapon.

"It was my decision to go after them," she whispered. "If I hadn’t proposed the rescue, we might still be hidden."

Kael looked at her.

He understood why she felt responsible. She had chosen to save people who were in danger, and that decision had brought them back to the sanctuary. If the enemy had used the opportunity to discover their location, it was natural for her to question whether she had made the wrong choice.

But blaming herself would not help anyone now.

"We don’t know whether the sanctuary could remain hidden for long seeing how capable that person was."

Seraphina lowered her eyes.

"But now everyone here is in danger."

"We’re already in danger. We just know it for certain now."

His words were blunt, but he did not say them to dismiss her concerns.

Kael glanced at the students behind them. They needed to prepare for the possibility that the sanctuary’s protection would fail. The mysterious man raised his hand again, but this time he did not direct the undead toward the students.

Instead, dark energy coiled around his fingers and extended toward the nearest stone formation.

His grin widened.

"Let’s see how long your little sanctuary can protect you once I change the rules."

Kael immediately drew his sword.