At the twelfth hour of the journey, Kain stopped wide-eyed, staring at a familiar place.
They had arrived at the Dormant Worm Mountain.
"Why are we here...?" he stammered, turning to Viron.
"Hmm? You want to get to the Forgotten Tomb, and you don't even know it's a shortcut? Just be quiet. The Swirl Worm woke up recently, but it's already back in its lair. I don't know what made it awake during the day, so it's best not to make any noise."
'Hah, but I do know...' Kain smiled bitterly, raising his gaze to the gray peaks. 'Valkyra was talking about this too. It turns out that all the places I've been to are connected in some way. So I'm in a region of some sort?'
Following Viron, walking along the steep trails, Kain stopped. On the opposite side, across the chasm, a wide hole was visible as if from an explosion.
The Swirl Worm burst out from there as Kain provoked the effects of his Trait through deliberate suicide.
Their route continued until they reached a cliff near the top. Here, they had a view and paths to everything in front of the mountain.
The Hollow Patch was prominent to the right, quite small due to the distance.
To the left, to the west, was the Forgotten Tomb, their goal. Ruined crypts, abandoned caves, and rows of tombs hidden in thick fog sat on a sharp ravine.
Kain nodded deeply. 'I see. So there's a river on the other side, a scarlet lake, and... that strange place where I appeared.'
The stone throne was carved into his mind like a memory, an unstable one, born then everything else.
"This..." Kain stammered, pointing forward. "Why is it so huge?"
Across the mountain, between the city and the tomb, kilometers ahead, something great awaited.
A ruined column, half submerged in the ground, shards chipped off the edges was on the earth, each the size of a hill. The dark, carved column was large enough to shatter the Hollow Patch in its fall, split the mountain in two, and touch the clouds with its top.
"The Sunder Pillar? I was informed that you came from far away, but how can you not know the name of our region?" Viron was genuinely stumped.
'The Sunder Pillar is a region as well?' Kain thought for a moment. 'Yeah... It's definitely not one of the places Kserx mentioned.'
"How did the Sunder Pillar appear here? It... couldn't even be moved by a giant."
Viron shook his head.
"No one dragged it, the Sunder Pillar crashed here when the deity got rid of its shackles. At least that's the story everyone believes," he trailed off down the slope.
Once they were over the mountain, they entered the Forgotten Tomb area, the fog growing thicker with each step.
Soon, Kain could see nothing but Viron's back, who didn't stop for a moment.
'Looks like we're getting close...' he thought, watching ghostly green lights in the distance.
Suddenly, Kain's eyes went wide, and a bright pain reverberated in his chest as if a hundred phantom blades were piercing his heart.
Viron immediately tore toward him. "Kid, what's wrong with you?"
Light escaped from beneath his clothes as Viron revealed Kain's chest.
Under a shivering swirl pattern, a black needle slowly emerged in thick, dark blood.
Then... it shattered into tiny fragments, days earlier than expected.
...
The next dawn after Old Eye's feast day, Valkyra sat in a lonely alley.
She'd followed every guest who'd left after the feast, checked every street near the Fang Tower, and threatened informants.
Yet, only now did she realize one simple thing.
"He escaped... How did he know I was here?"
In anger, she punched back, blasting a hole in the brick wall.
"FUCKING Kain Linch!"
Suddenly, a slight tremor rattled in her pocket. Baffled, she pulled out the red shards - what was left of the broken amulet.
"Agh...?"
The shards trembled in her palm, bouncing slightly toward the east.
"That's where lies the Forgotten Tomb..."
A myriad of thoughts filled Valkyra's mind.
Did someone get ahead of her and steal Kain? He went there himself, but why? Had someone replaced her?
Either option was horrible. Valkyra had to do the job.
"I must bring the Highest Sacrifice to my master..." her voice trembled.
Then, she snapped out of her seat, running to the Forgotten Tomb as fast as she could. She didn't know what Kain was planning, but she couldn't tolerate any more failures.
...
Slowly, Kain opened his eyes. Viron's blurry silhouette was the first thing he saw.
"Woke up? Pretty fast," he said nonchalantly, a handful of black shards in his hand. "I'd hurry up if I were you."
'No...'
The realization hit Kain.
'Seven days. It's only been more than half of that! Shit!' he slammed on the ground, gritting his teeth. 'My blood... It's had an effect, somehow. Valkyra is coming for me. There's not a second to lose!'
Despite the still lingering pain, Kain stood up on his trembling legs. The ruined tombstones were ten meters ahead, the green mist forming the dividing line.
Tap.
Viron touched his shoulder, looking in the opposite direction. His work here was done.
"You can only rely on yourself from here on. The crate on your belt has everything you need, but don't open what's inside. Consider it a gift from Old Eye in hopes of a future partnership, and... there's more."
Kain looked at him over his shoulder.
"Someone's been following us, all the way. It doesn't want to harm you, the runes are calm. It's not Valkyra, for sure. However, you should be careful."
A few steps later, Viron disappeared into the mist.
"Good luck, Tainted."
In a rush, Kain opened the crate. Inside was a tiny bottle sealed with a note and a scrap of paper.
Kain didn't touch the bottle but quickly opened the note.
A drawing of a black butterfly with a torn wing faced him. In the corner was a sketchy map, a road ahead and a few turns to the right in the depths.
"Hah..." he chuckled with sparkling eyes. "I don't know what that butterfly means, but it's already more than I bargained for. It's going to save me a lot of time!"
Without a second thought, Kain tore into the fog, vanishing within it.
True, right now, he needed time even more than luck.