Chapter 154: The City Is Ours.

Rex played with his fingers nervously, occasionally fidgeting from the deep growling sounds coming from the miasma surrounding them. Cold sweat was already soaking his back as he looked around frantically, his eyes constantly darting toward the thick darkness as though he expected something to suddenly leap out of it.

"Would you quit that?" Seris said in annoyance.

Rex barely turned his head in her direction. "How are you so calm? Can’t you hear the undead around us? What if they suddenly jump out and swallow our heads whole?"

Seris had the most incredulous expression on her face. "The undead are part of Damien’s soul. They won’t attack us unless he wants them to."

Rex wasn’t the least bit pacified. If anything, Seris’s explanation only seemed to make him more uncomfortable. The fact that the undead were connected directly to Damien’s soul wasn’t exactly reassuring to him. He could hear the occasional growl somewhere within the darkness, followed by the faint sound of something moving, and every time it happened, his body tensed instinctively.

"Easy for you to say, you’re like one of his girlfriends."

"Wait, what?" Seris raised a brow in astonishment, but even more so, she was curious to know. "How many does he have?".

She knew it was probably just rumors, but for some reason she really wanted to know. The question had escaped her mouth before she could even think about why she cared. She glanced at Rex expectantly, suddenly much more interested in the conversation than she had been a few seconds ago.

Rex opened his mouth to speak, but before he could say anything, the thick miasma around them suddenly began to squirm. The darkness rippled around the group, and Damien’s voice echoed loudly in all directions.

"We’ve arrived at the end of the passage."

The announcement immediately caught everyone’s attention. The long march through the darkness had finally come to an end.

Without another word, Damien’s miasma began to disperse. The thick darkness slowly peeled away from the surroundings, revealing light that had been hidden behind it. Sunlight filtered through the opening ahead, forcing everyone to narrow their eyes.

After spending so long inside Damien’s darkness, the sudden brightness was almost painful. Everyone felt the discomfort of being within Damien’s miasma disappear, replaced by the warmth and openness of the outside world.

But when their eyes finally adjusted, they were met with a sight that left most of them in awe.

They were finally outside the passage.

The ruins of humanity stood in the distance.

It was still a long distance away, but the massive walls were already beyond anything most of them had ever seen on Earth. Their sheer size made the people standing before them look insignificant, and even from this distance, the ancient structures carried a sense of age and grandeur that was impossible to ignore.

For many of the survivors, this was their first time seeing the ruins at all.

After everything they had endured inside the Tower, the sight almost felt unreal. They had spent so long surrounded by frozen wastelands, monsters, death and darkness that seeing something built by humanity again felt strangely different.

The statues were made of a strange rock that gave off an oppressive presence. They stood around the distant ruins like silent guardians, their enormous forms weathered by time but still imposing enough to make the survivors instinctively lower their voices.

The sight was truly majestic.

Claire appeared next to Andrea, her gaze fixed on the ruins ahead.

"There might be a few Eidolons inside, but there wouldn’t be more than fifty of them, probably just some left behind by the Chief to hunt while he was leading his army."

Andrea nodded and turned to Damien. Damien seemed to understand without needing an explanation.

He stepped forward and pushed his miasma forward. The black miasma spread beyond the wall, slipping through the ancient structures and disappearing into the ruins.

Then the sound of fighting erupted from within.

The distant growls of Eidolons were followed by the heavy sounds of something tearing through them. The noises echoed across the ruins, disturbing the silence that had surrounded the ancient city.

But it didn’t last for long. In no time at all, every sound vanished. The ruins fell silent once more, and Damien’s miasma returned to him.

"I became a Round Table member to bark orders, not to bloody receive them, but just this once, since you made it easier for me."

"Let’s enter the city." Andrea ordered once more, and the survivors began moving once more.

The humans finally occupied the ruins of humanity after an unknown number of centuries had passed. The ancient city, which had once belonged to humanity, was finally being inhabited by humans again. If the men that built it knew that their glorious city had once more returned to the hands of their fellow men, they would rejoice.

For the survivors, however, there was little time to appreciate the significance of what they had accomplished. They had finally reached a place where they could stop running, at least for now, and that alone was enough.

Without wasting much time, they began to organise themselves. They needed to repair the roofs of many buildings and start preparing to feed the hungry. Even more importantly, they needed to send men to scour the city for any surviving Eidolons and kill them before they hurt anyone else. Nobody wanted to discover that a monster had been hiding inside one of the buildings after everyone had already settled down.

The work quickly spread throughout the ruins as the survivors began turning the ancient city into something they could actually live in. There was still a lot to do, but for the first time in a long while, their work was no longer simply about surviving the next few hours.

Vincent found a secluded place and began to explore his ability. He knew there was still room for growth, and after everything that had happened, he had no intention of remaining at his current level for any longer than necessary.

Elias and Ryan were leading parties in different directions to protect the city, making sure the survivors were spread out properly and that no immediate threat was overlooked.

Andrea, meanwhile, was studying the goat-head statue in the middle of the city.

It was an unusual sight, especially considering the ancient ruins surrounding it.

That was when Damien approached.

"They must have replaced it with the original deity of the ancient humans."

Andrea agreed, but she wasn’t here for the goat head. She casually raised her hand and smacked it away.

"The city is ours."