Hunter of the Evernight
Chapter 430: At World’s End

Chapter 430: At World’s End

"Are you certain of this?" Sierra inquired while seated on a throne made of human bones, her expression a tapestry of complex emotions.

Lucia, kneeling before her with her head down, replied. "Yes, Mistress, there’s no way I would misread the potent aura of the Night, after all, I am blessed with your keen eye for such things."

Ignoring the praise shoved into her statement, Sierra found herself pondering the implications of her Sired’s words.

If her words were to be believed, it meant the Dark Lord had some sort of goal to have his Envoy moving around so casually which then begged the question.

Were his actions for their sake or against them?

Sierra wasn’t one of those vampires that wholeheartedly believed the Dark Lord was the savior of the Night Kindred, a sentiment she was sure her fellow Monarchs held, save for say one or two out of the bunch.

She had reigned for too long to consider bowing her head to someone else and so for that reason, a desire to claim the mantle held by the Dark Lord as her own slowly festered in her heart.

However, she wasn’t foolish enough to rush headfirst into anything.

No, that was Moldark’s way, not hers.

She pondered reaching out to a Monarch with similar interests but quickly decided against it as it meant she would have to compete with them for the prize.

Taking a deep breath, she inquired of Lucia. "Where did you say you met with the Dark Lord’s Envoy?"

"The imperial city the humans refer to as Ashhollow."

"I see. Gather a few men and head back over there."

"But then..."

"Avoid the evil god if you can. All I need is for you to locate the Envoy once again. If you can do that, I would be more than happy to make you a lieutenant to stand beside me."

Lucia’s eyes went wide with desire at the words spoken by the vampire she held in the highest esteem.

"I will do as the Mistress wishes."

"Good. Now leave."

Nodding, Lucia arose and quickly departed to begin making preparations for the search while Sierra leaned back into her throne.

Perhaps remaining in the Eastern Highlands to watch the movements of the Hyenas was not such a bad thing after all.

She looked forward to how the situation would develop, already picturing herself atop the highest pedestal in the world of the Night Kindred, worshiped as the lover of the almighty Dark Lord.

***

The familiar sound of boots crushing snow echoed in the crimson-colored forest as Ulysses and his family members followed Deegon who moved at a moderate pace ahead.

"I can never get used to this continent’s weather." Agnes, Ulysses’ aunt, and Anthony’s second sister, cursed aloud as she rubbed her shoulders aggressively.

Timon chuckled as he walked beside her. "I warned you the winters in Ra’as could be brutal."

"Just shut up and give me your jacket, isn’t that what a gentleman is meant to do?"

Timon snorted. "I’m Henosian, not Razan, you want a gentleman, go find the latter."

"Hmmph."

"You two stop bickering, you are distracting the leader." Anthony spat back in feigned annoyance before tapping Ulysses’s shoulder. "How’s the mapping?"

Ulysses managed an embarrassed smile as he replied. "Going well, thank you for asking."

"No problem at all. Don’t worry, I’ll be your disciplinary officer and make sure those noisemakers at the back don’t disrupt your work."

Ulysses couldn’t even offer a proper response as he was the youngest in the group and couldn’t afford to be seen as disrespectful by his elders.

Shifting his attention back to the path Deegon cleared for them, he continued his task, utilizing his eyes to scan the area while drawing caricatures on his notepad.

It was a necessary aspect of their exploration as the desire of the Nester family was to map the world.

Hailing from the Eastern Continent (Henos), they had already mapped out a shocking 25% of the world, a feat that no one else had been able to accomplish despite humanity’s history spanning almost ten thousand years.

Though tempted to ponder how his extended family members were faring in other parts of the world, Ulysses focused on the task at hand and performed it diligently, not daring to make a single mistake as his irises turned to slits, enabling him to see farther than humans could perceive.

Of course, the others were not completely idle as two members utilized their avian familiars to scan their surroundings for notable landmarks, albeit with a lot more caution due to the unfriendly weather that persisted.

Soon, after almost four hours of walking punctuated by the occasional rest to prevent exhaustion among the party members, they arrived at their destination.

At first, it seemed as though they’d arrived at a natural cliff, one born out of the constant battering of rocks by the waves of the ocean but it soon became clear that the scenery they were looking at was anything but that.

The land they walked on terminated at that juncture almost like some massive sword had been used to sever Eventide from a larger whole.

Instead of the raging waters of the Azure Sea, The area ahead was filled with darkness punctuated by floating debris, ranging from landmasses the size of islands to ruined ships and severed portions of architecture, with even gigantic corpses of beasts and monstrosities said to have once walked Eventide also present.

The awe-inspiring sight was enough to cause all those present to gasp in admiration, their eyes glued to the scenery as they sought to etch it in their mind for eternity.

"Incredible," Ulysses muttered softly as his eyes glittered.

The World End located at Henos had already been mapped out by his Nester ancestors and so held nothing new to gaze upon, which caused subsequent generations to be gripped with a faint sense of regret.

Of course, for Ulysses and co, as of this moment, that regret was gone and replacing it, a deep sense of accomplishment.