Gael walked on all fours across the hot sands of Lahara, the warm heat of the sun beaming down on him as he dragged his heavy blade behind him. Of course, as usual, Gael was not too bothered by the heat thanks to his curse.

However, he had been amongst the accursed for so long that he wondered what it was like to be 'normal, to feel, to be able to truly die.

What was it like to know that one day you would just cease to exist? What was it like to be afraid of death? He could no longer recall himself in all honesty. He wished that he could though. He wished for that more than almost anything else. Was that why he wanted to be at peace? To remember?

He shook himself out of his thoughts, spotting something in the distance with his good eye. A small mountain surrounded by an oasis, and of course as to be expected he could make out a decently sized village with a wall around it.

Gael pulled out the map that he had taken and looked at it. He scanned across the map looking for anything similar to what was ahead of him, eventually, he found something that looked like it. If his guess was correct, he was now in the desert region that was at the very bottom of the map. Also, if his guess was right, he was about in the dead middle of it. Gael's eyes looked upward on the map to see what to expect beyond the desert.

Judging by the map it appeared that if he continued going north, he would eventually a heavily forested region with a city in its center. Just like the other locations though, its language was in a tongue he could not read. Now that he had an idea where he was, there was now the problem of getting info. He would rather not do it like what he did last time to gather info.

Now that Gael looked a bit closer upon the village, it seemed rather deserted. The gates had seemed to have been busted down with no one seemingly inside. Also, now that he thought about it, he could also not sense a single living thing within the village itself.

Believing nothing to be there, he walked up to the village. The closer he got the more obvious it was that the village had been abandoned. Some of the buildings looked as though a giant creature had torn through them. Going past the demolished gate he could see weapons, clothing, and armor strung about the village. Even though there were plenty of signs of battle, there was not a single corpse nearby.

Due to his large size making it impossible for him to just walk in the buildings, so whenever he thought he saw something of interest he would summon himself inside. From what he could guess, this village was well to do despite its environment. Many of the homes even had a room fitted for children, which was a strange thing for Gael.

Of course, he knew he had at least seen a few every once in a while, during his time. However, whenever an age was getting near its end it was as though they never existed. In fact, he could not truly recall the last time he had seen one. Save for his lady of course.

"Strange, no matter how far we go, we have yet to find any signs of life." Came a voice outside, Gael rushed to hide from the view of the windows as quickly and as quietly as possible. He mentally cursed at himself, remembering his ability to sense things would be weaker without the Dark.

"Indeed. Makes you wonder if we are going to be able to find our target " Came another voice. Peering out the window, Gael could see a small group of momano, all of them dressed like assassins.

"You'd think we would be able to sense their mana. That is if it is true that they killed a Pharoah."

mana? Did he interpret that right? In all of the cycles, what in the flames was that? Whatever it was, he most likely lacked that, this was an almost completely different world after all.

"Should we search this place just in case?" Asked one of the momano.

"No, it would be a waste of time. We must keep going." The other momano nodded in agreement and continued on. Gael remained hidden and waited for a while before deciding that the coast was cleared.

Gael reformed outside looked towards where he assumed the momano went but did not see them anywhere. Seems it would be far more difficult to do this without causing too much attention than he thought. More people were now searching for him.

For now, he would have to avoid all forms of conflict and detection if possible. He was not the most experienced in the way of an assassin or thief, but he would have to adapt like he always did.

Gael continued heading north.

This would be a long trip, but he has long since been used to this, for he has wandered everywhere, even to the world's end.

(-)

Hel looked down upon the world with concern. Something strange had happened to Lahara. At first, it was a storm that spreaded across the entire region and then a few days later it cleared.

During the storm, she was able to sense the wave of death taking place and yet not a single soul came to the afterlife. It was as though some being took out their very essence, their very soul before they had a chance to pass on.

There was more thing though. During the storm, she could swear she sensed something within it, something divine yet dark. However, the storm blocked her from pinpointing its exact location, nor did it allow her to descend to see what was taking place. It was as if whatever caused the storm had the power to repel her back.

When the storm cleared, however, it was gone entirely.

How could that be? How can such a powerful being appear and then disappear out of nowhere? The only conclusion is that it is able to hide its presence from her somehow, which means it knew that both her and most likely the other gods would take notice and it had to hide its tracks.

She had to find out as much as she could about this anomaly.

(-)

Within the war camp near Lescatie hidden deep within the forest, Druella was back at the war table and making plans. Excluding the current problems in conquering the city, she still knew very little of its actual defenses. They needed someone from within as it was already difficult enough, even for her kunoichi to gather even the most basic of info without risking detection. Hopefully, that would soon change when the kunoichi return from their latest mission to gather information.

The sound of cloth moving accompanied by footsteps snapped Druella out of her thinking. Looking up she could see the kunoichi Yami at the entrance of the tent, still not bowing or making any notion of respect as if honor was no longer a thing for her. "I do not recall having sent for you," Spoke Druella coldly

Yami responded sharply, "I did so anyway, besides I have made contact with a potential ally."

Druella raised an eyebrow at that, "and who might this potential ally be?"

"The hero Sasha Fullmoon," Yami walked over and placed a letter on the table, "It appears she is sympathetic to your cause."

A faint smile spread across Druella's face. Finally, did she have some good news. The fact that such a renowned hero of The Order was sympathetic to their cause was a clear sign of how they truly were in the right. "Very good Yami, I might just be able to deal with your rudeness," Druella picked up the letter, "You may go now." Without a word Yami left, leaving Druella currently alone in the war tent.

Druella opened the letter and was pleased with what she read. Sasha had just warmed them on The Order's plans to attack a few monster villages. This information would both save lives and make new ones.

(-)

The sun had gone down in Lahara, the desert itself going from one extreme to another in terms of temperature as it became increasingly colder. The winds as well started to become increasingly stronger to the point of it becoming a sandstorm.

Gael cursed under his breath. Though Gael could handle this storm just fine, he could also get easily lost in the storm. He needed to find someplace to wait for the storm out.

Slowly he moved against the current of the wind, trying hard to find anything that could be used for cover. The massive wave of sand in the air making it impossible to see anything from afar.

Eventually, he spotted something in the distance. It was a familiar-looking set of ruins Gael recognized, then it hit him why it seemed familiar. This was where he had saved that first caravan since he had first awakened. Remembering there was a building that he had hid in, he headed straight for it.

Quickly he created a summon sign within the almost entirely destroyed building and reformed within it. With a deep breath, Gael sat down. For now, he would sit here and rest. For now, he would wait for the storm to end. Slowly his eyes closed shut as he listened to the sound of the strong wind blowing past him.

(-)

It was another late night for Etail as he worked tirelessly at translating. "Man, just how long I've been at this?" Etail pulled out his watch and realized it was already early in the morning, "What already? No wonder I feel tired maybe I should get some rest," Etail looked at what was beside his table where the pile of texts was placed. "Strange, I thought there was more than this left," Muttered Etail as he picked up an extravagant looking scroll, "Hmm. maybe I can translate one more thing before calling it a day."

Carefully he opened the scroll as slowly as he could, making sure not to accidentally damage it. Despite its age, it seems it was very well-preserved royal decree of some kind. Strange crow looking symbol above the text. Thanks to his experience translating the old language, he was able to translate it much faster.

"So says the Goddes Velka,

From this day forth shall the undead Gael, the Slave Knight also known as The Red Hood, is hereby declared as a sinful wretch for his most grievous sins. His endless slaughter of the innocent on such a scale cannot go unpunished.

None are safe from him, not even women nor children. His once noble quest has become tainted and twisted by dark forces. He shall not siece until none but him remain.

Therefor Her Holiness Velka has decreed a holy and just crusade to end his cruel reign of death. May the other Gods hear her plea for assistance, for we shall not rest until justice hath been served.

Such are the words of the Goddess.

-For each sin is a punishment and it is up to our Goddess Velka to define both it and its judgment,

And it is our duty as her blades of judgement to enact her will.

Amen."

"Once again more stuff about a slave knight," Muttered Etail, "At least now we have a name."

Yes, they had a name, but now he had more questions. Who was Velka? Who was this Gael, and what was his 'noble' quest? Etail groaned, at first he thought he finally found some answers but now things just got more complicated. Etail could only wonder if these questions would ever be answered, or would they remain unknown to him?