Tenebrous Wolf
Chapter 82: Planning Out the Next Move

Chapter 82: Planning Out the Next Move

Klaus’s eyes widened.

That was certainly a strange thing to ask someone else, especially a guy who happened to know her sister. By the way, why was there an awkward pause before she said ’Sister? He wondered silently, staring at her face.

More importantly, how was he supposed to answer that question?

After some thought, Klaus sighed, rubbing the back of his head in mild frustration. His voice took on a somber tone as he tried to put his thoughts into words.

"That’s... a tricky question. How do I explain this without sounding rude?" He hesitated for a moment before deciding to be honest. "Your sister is... strange. Not in a bad way, but her personality, the way she speaks and behaves, it’s all just... off. She talks in this monotone voice, like she’s a spectator in her own body rather than the one in control. And she does anything you ask of her, no matter how weird or inappropriate. Sometimes, it feels like I’m talking to a robot."

Letting out a small chuckle, Klaus shook his head. "But... that’s not all there is to her." His expression softened as he continued.

"She does have her good sides, like anyone else. She just doesn’t show them easily. Even with that ever-present blank expression, she’s actually pretty caring deep down. A while back, she somehow convinced... no, forced... me to adopt a stray black cat with her. Can you believe that?" He let out an amused huff. "She started saying ominous things about stray cat population control, and before I knew it, I was taking care of a cat. She even tried to name the poor thing Schrödinger! Schrödinger! If I hadn’t been there, that would’ve actually been its name!"

Klaus shook his head again, a small, genuine smile playing on his lips as the memory surfaced.

"She has a weird sense of humor, that’s for sure. Ah!"

Realising he had subconsciously said more than needed, he hurriedly turned to Seraphim.

"Sorry, I didn’t mean to say all that. Overall, I think your sister is strange to be around, but that’s what makes her special in a unique way. Yes, she’s unique. Heh."

Once again, his mind absentmindedly wondered and a faint, wry smile appeared on his lips.

Seraphim silently listened to his rather long explanation without interrupting or saying anything. It was as though she was trying to learn more about her sister through another person.

She studied him for a moment, then let out a quiet breath.

"I see."

She didn’t say anything more, but somehow, Klaus felt like that was the end of the conversation.

He let it be.

Instead, they sat together in silence, keeping watch over the restless crimson sea, waiting for whatever tomorrow would bring.

Unbeknownst to him, a faint, almost imperceptible smile touched Seraphim’s lips. It was subtle, but carried the weight of something unspoken, as if a burden had eased, if only slightly. Then, in a voice barely above a whisper, she murmured with quiet sincerity:

"Thank you for recognizing that ’girl.’"

† †

Awakening from his slumber, Klaus thought he heard a strange noise. Following his instincts, he rushed to the hill’s edge and witnessed an unbelievable sight.

Looking down, he blinked, rubbed his eyes, and then knelt to make sure that what he was seeing wasn’t an illusion.

The sea was receding.

The crimson waters churned and pulled away, slow at first, then faster and faster. The blood level was dropping. The darkened sky lightened, shifting back to its initial gray hue. And still, the monstrous ebb tide continued.

Soon, Klaus noticed just how high the blood sea had once reached, climbing nearly to the peak of the cliff itself. But now, it withdrew further and further, exposing the land that had long been submerged beneath its eerie depths.

As the blood tide receded, the distant roar of waves grew faint, replaced by a hollow, gurgling sound as the thick crimson liquid drained away.

The landscape slowly emerged from beneath the retreating blood sea. Jagged black rocks jutted out like the ribs of some long-dead colossus, slick with remnants of the clotted tide. Pools of dark, viscous liquid dotted the exposed terrain, bubbling ominously as if something lurked just beneath the surface. Strangely, skeletal remains lay scattered across the shore, half-buried in the sludge.

Within minutes, the blood sea had completely vanished. It was as if it had never been there in the first place.

Klaus blinked.

"What the hell...?" he muttered under his breath. Looking down, he felt the emergence of a throbbing headache.

A faint rustling behind him signaled movement. Seraphim had joined him at the cliff’s edge. She said nothing, but her posture was tense.

Briar stirred next, groggy from sleep, rubbing her eyes as she stumbled toward them.

"What’s with all the noise—?"

Her words died in her throat as she followed their gaze.

Approaching last, Adrian blinked, his brows furrowing as he took in the surreal sight below.

"What? Am I seeing this, right? The blood sea... disappeared?"

No one answered. They were all equally stunned. Logically speaking, this shouldn’t have surprised them — not in a world where blood rained from the sky — but none of them had anticipated waking up to a barren landscape where a sea of blood had once been.

However, Klaus was concerned about something else. Narrowing his eyes, he scanned the exposed terrain. The carcasses of fallen monsters were strewn across the land, grotesque and bloated. Remembering the events of the previous night, he clicked his tongue.

"Tch. As I thought, something was really in the blood sea."

"What?" Perhaps his voice was more audible than he originally intended because Adrian turned his head to him. "What do you mean by that? You saw something yesterday."

Klaus exhaled through his nose.

"Yeah."

Adrian’s frown deepened.

"Then why didn’t you say anything?"

Klaus shrugged.

"For one, it was pitch black. And two, I saw it during that bloody storm. It was a creature of massive size, slithering through the crimson waves. From its sheer size alone, I’d say it was a Great Calamity! But I wasn’t exactly in a position to get a good look at it, you know... considering I was trying not to be blown away by the bloody storm!"

Sighing, he ran a hand through his hair.

"At the very least, by some miracle, it ignored us and went somewhere else. Apparently, we weren’t its target." His gaze flickered back to the gruesome remains littering the land. "Looks like it found a different feast."

A heavy silence fell over the group as they took in the unsettling sight below. The exposed land, once hidden beneath the sea of blood, stretched far into the horizon. A landscape of twisted ruins, rock formations, and monstrous carcasses lay in eerie solace.

While they were busy trying to survive the storm, something else had been slithering across the sea without their notice.

Briar swallowed hard.

"So... what does this mean? Did the blood sea just decide to up and leave? Just like that?"

Klaus almost laughed due to how absurd it was.

"That’s a funny way to put it, but I guess that’s correct."

Seraphim remained quiet and swept her gaze across the land as if searching for something. Eventually, she spoke:

"What’s done is done. Thinking about it now will be useless. We would have to plan thoroughly before we consider our next course of action."

Adrian nodded in agreement.

"I second that. Let’s start up the fire and eat breakfast."

A few seconds later, everyone moved towards the campsite where the firepit was located. Fortunately, they had some leftover meat along with Klaus’s and Briar’s own supply.

As they settled around the firepit, Klaus and Adrian busied themselves with rekindling the flames while Briar began preparing the leftover meat. The tension from witnessing the surreal disappearance of the blood sea still hung in the air, but none of them had the energy to dwell on it for long. Hunger had a way of grounding people, even in the face of the impossible.

Seated nearby, Seraphim’s gaze was still locked on the barren landscape. She hadn’t spoken much after her initial statement, but Klaus could tell she was deep in thought. He wasn’t sure what she was looking for, it was clear she hadn’t dismissed the event as just another unexplainable phenomenon of this strange, sunless world.

Adrian stretched, and cracked his neck.

"Well, at the very least, this might make traveling easier. Without that sea blocking our way, we can cover more ground."

Briar snorted.

"You say that like there isn’t an entire wasteland of monster corpses down there. Ugh. Just imagine the stench."

"Better than being trapped by an ocean of blood," Adrian shot back, tearing off a piece of dried meat. "I’d take rotting corpses over drowning in that stuff any day."

While those two were arguing, Klaus absentmindedly flipped the sizzling meat over the fire. Then, he inadvertently muttered:

"Still, it makes you wonder, huh? If there really was a Great Calamity in that sea, what made it leave? Or... what was it chasing?"

That thought earned a long silence. No one had an answer.

Briar stretched her head.

"You know what? I don’t care. Let’s just eat and not talk about possible world-ending disasters before breakfast!"

A rare chuckle escaped Klaus.

"Fair point."

As they ate, the atmosphere slowly eased, the warmth of the fire and the simple act of sharing a meal momentarily distracting them from their growing list of concerns. However, this only lasted temporarily.

Moments later, the atmosphere grew more tense as the time soon arrived for the serious aspect of the discussion. Seraphim started first.

"Before the storm, the scavengers were swarming in the east, feeding on the giant carcass. In such a situation, we would have moved west. But now, the area looks empty. There’s a strong possibility that the scavengers were completely wiped out during the flood."

Klaus shook his head and immediately countered her words.

"That’s unlikely. As creatures native to this world, they should have already adapted to the flood long ago. I think the scavengers have a hidden refuge somewhere. Also, given their resemblance to crabs, it’s possible their physiology allows them to survive both on land and in liquid environments. Well, in this case, land and blood."

She looked at him.

"Then do you have any suggestions for our next course of action?"

Klaus held his chin, his expression serious.

"Hmm. The most logical choice would be to explore the west. I managed to scout a little yesterday before I ran into you two, but I didn’t reach any high ground. We could spend today mapping a path and set up camp for tomorrow. Then again, at this point, any direction is better than standing still."

He sighed, then glanced between the two Striders sitting across from him.

"Do either of you have any ideas on where we should go next? I’ve got nothing on my end. Is it possible that you might know the location of a Fortress?"

Seraphim shook her head.

"No."

This was understandable. He would have been genuinely shocked if she did know the location of a Fortress. If he recalled correctly, this was a newly formed Fracture. That meant it was still uncharted by humans. Constructing a Fortress would require venturing deep into the Shadow World, an endeavor that aligned with the core mission of their departure.

Was it possible that some Striders lucky enough to dropped off close to a Sub Gateway?

’If they conquered the Gateway, then they would probably send out some kind of signal. The problem is... if we’re too far away, we might not be able to hear, see or receive the signal.’

He grew anxious. In their current situation, they were completely blind. Forget locating the conquering the Fracture, finding a Fortress would be impossible unless they somehow stumbled upon some kind of miracle.

Just like that, their mission to conquer the First Fracture had grown even more complicated before they could even make some progress.

However, Adrian remained silent and thought about the matter with a somber expression. His eyes surprisingly looked hopeful. Finally, he said:

"I think I know where a Fortress might be located."