Chapter 340: Vera Going Dark?

The scarlet mist flowed slowly across the wasteland, its oppressive weight wrapped in a bloody scent that made it hard to breathe.

Everyone in the party had gone completely mad. The only ones left who could communicate normally were Ansu and Altina.

With no other options, the two of them had to discuss their next steps amongst themselves.

Ansu squatted on the ground, spreading out a yellowed map of the South.

Altina leaned in close beside him, a few strands of her pale gold hair falling forward, bringing with them a faint, refreshing floral scent.

Ansu looked away from the lines on the map, quietly met her gaze, and cleared his throat. “Altina, why don't you... turn back into a bird?”

“Huh?” Altina was taken aback, her eyes filled with confusion.

Ansu gestured for her to look not far away, where Celia was obsessively flipping her divination bones over and over, muttering under her breath.

Lowering his voice, he explained, “She can't afford to go any darker... If she sees the two of us huddled close together, whispering, she might just blow a fuse.”

Altina blinked and pointed to herself. “So if I turn into a bird, she won't be hostile toward me?”

“Mm.” Ansu nodded.

Surely Celia wouldn't get jealous over a bird...

“...Oh.” Though Altina still didn't quite understand, she went along with it, quietly casting her transformation spell.

A faint emerald-green light spread out, and her slender figure instantly shrank, transforming into a large, pitch-black crow.

Altina-Crow flapped her wings and landed gently, settling firmly on Ansu's shoulder.

Ansu continued to discuss their route with her.

“I flew high up to scout for a long time earlier,” Altina-Crow said, her beak opening and closing as her voice came out softer and higher than in her human form. “My sense of direction is completely shot. Flying in any direction feels exactly the same. The problem now is... we can't find the Filthy Heart, nor can we find the way back to the outside world.”

“Do you suspect we're trapped?” Ansu asked. “Like some kind of barrier?”

“Yes.”

Ansu traced his finger along the map, pondering for a moment. “That's easy to verify.”

He pulled out his magitech communicator, tuned the frequency, and contacted the rear.

After a brief silence, Elder Barnes's replies came through clearly, section by section, proving there was no interference.

“We're still in contact with the battle mage regiment.” Relieved, Ansu put away the communicator. “It doesn't seem to be the kind of massive space magic I encountered in the North. Our visibility is just too low, causing us to lose our bearings. This is purely physical disorientation.”

Altina-Crow nodded. “That's good. Now, the only issue left is finding the Filthy Heart.”

“When you were scouting from high up, which direction had the thickest blood mist?” Ansu asked.

“Roughly southwest of our current position,” Altina-Crow said. “But that's too broad. A slight shift southwest or a ten-degree turn... everything looks identical.”

“But at least it narrows down the search area...” Ansu drew a small circle in the southwest corner of the map. This region wasn't detailed at all, lacking any towns or villages—just a generic wasteland.

As the two discussed in hushed tones, Celia's gaze slowly drifted over to them from a distance.

Ansu hadn't left her; he was just squatted on the ground studying the map with a large crow perched on his shoulder...

Celia withdrew her gaze, lowered her head again, and continued to fiddle with her divination bones.

...

Ansu and Altina quickly summarized their current situation.

First, the closer they got to the core area, the thicker the blood mist became, and the deeper its erosion of their sanity.

The hallucinations would become increasingly realistic and terrifying, and no one could completely immune themselves to this level of pollution.

Second, all hallucinations originated from inner demons. Everyone in the party was currently being dominated by what they cared about or feared most deep in their hearts.

Danielle and Sean suspected each other of being possessed by demons, while Elder Matthew was immersed in a grandiose vision of building a golden age of magic and purging inferior races.

As for Vera, it was naturally because of Ansu...

Third, and most bizarrely: the mysterious curse mark on Ansu's wrist. Out of the entire party, only he and Celia had developed such a thing.

Ansu rolled up his sleeve. The blood-red eye pattern on his wrist was several shades darker than yesterday, looking so hideous it seemed ready to burst from beneath his skin.

The deeper they ventured, the heavier and more gruesome the mark became.

This feeling reminded him of when they had gone deep into the ancient demon ruins. The further they went, the stronger the slaughterous desire originating from the evil god became.

From this, he deduced that this curse mark was undoubtedly linked to the source of the Crimson Plague, the Filthy Heart.

Yet, there was one thing he still couldn't wrap his head around...

Why were only he and Celia cursed? Was everyone else in the party... insignificant?

Ansu lowered his sleeve and turned his gaze toward the horizon in the southwest, where the thick, bloody mist surged.

Regardless of whether this thing was a curse or some other magical effect, they would only uncover the truth by finding its source.

“Should we keep moving?” Altina-Crow asked softly.

“We keep going,” Ansu said, his tone calm yet resolute. “Trust me.”

Altina fell silent for a moment.

Honestly, she didn't approve of such a risk, and she was even somewhat confused.

Ansu wasn't usually such an obsessive person, and he would never gamble with Vera's safety. Why was he being so absolute now?

But she still nodded gently.

“Alright, I trust you.”

The party continued southwest.

Though they were called a “party,” they had completely fallen apart. Elder Matthew and the demon hunter couple would break into violent fights over nothing, each blow aimed to kill. Since all three of them were highly capable experts, they caused a massive ruckus every single time.

At first, Ansu tried to intervene, but eventually, he simply stopped bothering.

But even that wasn't his biggest headache.

While Ansu was trying to get his bearings, someone gently tugged at his sleeve.

He turned his head and met Vera's upturned face. Her once clear eyes were now bloodshot, and she was staring straight at him with a stiff, eerie smile.

“Brother... You've ignored me this entire way. Are you planning to abandon me?”

Ansu rolled his eyes at her.

But Vera wouldn't let it go, her voice dripping with resentment. “Brother! Tell me the truth! I saw you huddled together with that elf just now. Are you two... planning to secretly ditch us? To ditch me?”

“How could I ever abandon you?” Ansu interrupted, his expression turning serious. “We had an agreement. If you lose your mind again, I'm teleporting you back. Now, hand over the Homing Compass!”

Vera clutched her pocket, her voice suddenly rising. “No! I won't leave you even if I die!”

She looked up, the depths of her bloodshot eyes swirling with a dark obsession Ansu had never seen before. “Brother... Can't you just stay home and be with me forever? Don't go anywhere!”

“Doesn't your brother spend time with you whenever he's free?” Ansu softened his tone.

Of course, most of the time he wasn't free at all...

Vera shook her head. Suddenly, her lips curled into a bizarre smile.

“Brother is too popular... Vera is so scared... scared that they'll steal you away and you won't want me anymore. That's why Vera doesn't like them, not even Sister Freya...”

A hint of helplessness crept into Ansu's voice. “If Freya heard that, she would be heartbroken.”

A fleeting moment of hesitation crossed Vera's face, as if she were choosing her words carefully, or perhaps battling the extreme thoughts inside her head.

“I...”

“It's not like that, I...”

But very quickly, all her softness was buried under a cold shadow, and her eyes returned to that obsessive state.

“No! I won't be fooled by them! All that kindness is fake! She's only nice to me so she can steal my brother away!”

“Vera doesn't want things to go on like this... Vera wants to go back to the way things were...” she muttered repeatedly, her voice growing increasingly hoarse. “I've been thinking... I've been thinking about this the whole way... How can we go back to the past? Back to those beautiful days?”

She gripped Ansu's arm tightly, her nails digging deep into the fabric.

“So I've decided! I'll use this crisis to wait for the people around you... the people you trust, to die off one by one! That way, you'll have no one but me, and you'll be truly alone...”

“Brother, in the end... as long as the two of us make it to the very end, that's all that matters!”

The more Vera spoke, the happier she became. As if she had thought of something wonderful, she grinned and giggled.

“So don't worry! Hehehe~ I'll definitely protect myself. After all... I still have to wait for the grand harvest at the very, very end!”

“Alright, alright!” Ansu patted Darkened Vera's head, completely unwilling to listen to any more of this.

With an expressionless face, he reached into her coat, preparing to take her compass by force.

But before his hand could even touch her pocket, a figure suddenly squeezed in between them.

“Ansu!”

Celia appeared out of nowhere. Without even sparing Vera a glance, she waved her hand impatiently. An invisible Mage's Hand lifted Vera off her feet and tossed her lightly to the side.

She rushed up to Ansu and said in a panic, “Ansu... something terrible has happened!!”

“W-What's wrong?” Ansu glanced at Vera, who was rubbing her bottom and glaring at them with deep resentment.

Celia lowered her voice and looked around warily, as if afraid of being overheard.

“Just now... I saw Samantha.”

...