Chapter 127: Cha.126 Aray City (3)

The jester said while touching her lips. Then she narrowed her eyes with a smile.

“Take off your clothes. I need to memorize your body shape for the show.”

Qasim’s mouth dropped open as one thought filled his mind.

She is a pervert!

He froze in fear, wondering what this girl was going to do to him. But his senses sharpened again when he saw the hands closing in on them.

“Fuck! C’mon, we don’t have time—”

When Qasim tried to grab her, she slipped away from his grasp as smoothly as soap slipping through wet hands, escaping both Qasim and the approaching hands and leaving him alone in the middle of them.

He looked around and tried to use his power, but a sudden wave of fatigue mixed with pain ran through his body.

My life energy is low!

Qasim realized as he watched the hands rise, preparing to crush him.

“Qasim!”

A voice called out to him as electric attacks struck the hands, pushing them away.

The three warriors came to help him, allowing him to escape the dangerous situation.

“Let’s run faster!” one of the warriors shouted.

The four of them managed to put some distance between themselves and the hands, but then Qasim heard a voice from the side.

“The jester then showed up while skating beside Qasim. They both looked at each other, embarrassed by what had just happened. Are they slowly falling in love? Ah, but the jester is merely the voice telling the story and can’t have such feelings… or can she? What does the audience think?”

Qasim gritted his teeth as he saw the jester beside him, talking to the air. His anger rose as he finally understood why Adlan had told him to ignore her.

“Just ignore her, Qasim. She’s like this with everyone at first. If you ignore her, she’ll just get bored and stop bothering you.”

The boy nodded at the warrior’s advice and decided to focus on meeting up with the others.

“Ignoring me? I just wanted to make some comedy. The audience loves this stuff… I think.”

The jester moved as if the ground were made of ice, sliding effortlessly from one place to another.

“We can switch things up if you like…”

She then moved closer to Qasim and whispered into his ear.

“I can take off my clothes.”

Qasim fought the urge to use his power on her as he tried to conserve as much energy as possible.

The jester then tilted her head while still smiling.

“I see you’re not appreciating my effort to make your character more likable to the audience. Your loss, then.”

She slowly slid away from them.

Qasim watched her holding the lantern as she disappeared into the darkness. He then snorted before looking ahead.

…

“They’re back!”

Kabil pointed toward the back as four people appeared.

Upon hearing this, Adlan felt a sense of relief and let out a deep breath.

I have to buy that boy something once we finish this.

Adlan then turned to face Lisa.

“See? Because of my decision, he managed to save three other warriors!”

Lisa simply shook her head lazily.

“Yes, yes. Next time, go make decisions instead of the commander.”

Adlan paused as he looked ahead.

“Speaking of the commander…”

In front of them stood the commander, destroying ten hands with a single swing.

The mud fell to the ground, and before it could regenerate, he slashed again.

He then raised his lantern, which was much larger than the others.

A wide beam of light filled the area, brighter than ten lanterns combined.

“We are here…” he said calmly.

Adlan whistled, while Lisa nodded.

The lighthouse—the tall, dilapidated tower—was still standing despite all the destruction around it.

“Protect the warriors while I light the tower,” the commander ordered before entering through an open doorway filled with darkness.

But the moment he stepped inside, all the dark runes retreated from the bright light of his lantern.

He looked around.

There was nothing to see besides the pale walls covered in cracks and the old stairs.

Slowly, he made his way up the stairs until he found a crystal ball resting on an obsidian base.

He slowly opened his coat, and a light butterfly escaped from inside and flew directly toward the crystal, merging with it.

For a couple of seconds, nothing happened.

Then, suddenly, the crystal began radiating a faint light.

With each passing second, the light grew stronger and stronger.

Back on the battlefield, the warriors smiled as they saw the light filling the city once again.

Suddenly, the muddy hands began melting away, and the darkness was replaced by light.

“The light…”

The warriors began whispering as the city slowly revealed itself.

The houses.

The roads.

A place that had once been filled with people, but was now completely empty.

After making sure that Yasmin was fine, Qasim went to talk with Adlan while still amazed by the lighthouse.

“So that’s how the expeditions work…”

Adlan nodded with a smile.

“Pretty much. It’s simple. We go in, light the tower, and then everything becomes normal again.”

Lisa then interrupted while hiding her lantern behind her back.

“Well, there’s still another thing to do in this expedition.”

She looked over at Qasim, who became confused by the sudden attention from both her and Adlan.

“We need your help, Qasim and Yasmin.”

A calm voice called from behind as the commander stepped forward and continued explaining.

“You and Yasmin were both hit by that bird monster, yet you didn’t turn into one.”

Qasim opened his mouth as he recalled that detail.

The commander stepped closer.

“Under the city is a dark river that we need to cross. But for us, crossing it means turning into monsters, so please…”

He placed a hand on the boy’s shoulder.

“Because you two aren’t from this cursed place, you are our only hope of fully unlocking this city’s biggest advantage.”

Qasim stared at his own reflection in the commander’s helmet before nodding.

He then turned toward Yasmin, who also agreed.

With a confident voice, he replied,

“Just show us the place. We won’t fail.”