CHAPTER 252: CHAPTER 251 - THE PLOT SHIFTS.

The panther’s paws struck the forest floor in rhythmic thuds, sleek muscles flexing with each bound.

On his back, Cluckles stood with feathers puffed in determination, while Nibbles crouched at his feet like a general on a warpath.

A trio of Clawtail Recon Squirrels darted ahead as scouts, each twitching with frantic urgency.

The panther was following the scent of Raven, as it could find someone from miles away.

Soon, they reached Raven, who was slapping the group of assassins he had caught.

Pah!

A sharp sound echoed through the woods as the head of an assassin was tilted to the side. One could see his teeth, along with the poison, now lying on the forest ground.

The others were in a similar situation, with all of their teeth slapped out of their mouths and their hands bound.

"Hm, with this, you won’t be able to do your suicide routine," Raven muttered as Lia, still in her Leafy disguise, waved her hand.

Whoosh!

A vine came out of the ground and bound the assassin to the tree like others.

He had been doing this with every assassin he met.

Even if others were to die, the ones he caught won’t.

"Raven," Lia then called out, noticing Cluckles, Nibbles, and the panther.

"I know," Raven nodded, wiping his bloodied hand on the assassin’s clothes before turning to the trio.

"I don’t suppose you guys came here without anything important."

He knew how diligent Nibbles was with his job, so he was sure that they had probably found something.

The panther lunged at Raven as Cluckles and Nibbles jumped down.

It licked his face, wanting to play, but Raven rubbed its belly, making it roll on the ground while purring contentedly.

It was then that Cluckles spoke.

"Cluckles returns," the sage-like chicken announced, unfurling its wings with dramatic flair. "And he brings grave tidings!"

Nibbles, in contrast, waddled toward Raven, planted his little paws, and raised a sign overhead:

"Ruin Found. Danger Level: Oh No."

Raven’s eyes sharpened. "Go on."

Lia also tensed as she looked around, checking the soldiers, but they seemed to be too far away to hear anything.

Their expressions, however, made it clear that Raven and Lia had become crazier in their eyes.

After all, only crazy people would talk to beasts.

Cluckles, on the other hand, nodded solemnly, pacing with all the gravity of a retired philosopher. "Nibbles’s scouts scouted, as scouts are supposed to do, and they saw what should not be seen. A temple... or rather, the bones of one, hidden beneath thick root and stone, far in the eastern pocket of the forest."

Nibbles raised another sign: "Assassins are camping there. Many. Big ones."

"Bigger than the ones we’ve seen?" Raven asked, his tone serious now.

Big from Nibbles meant strong. So, Raven needed to know if there was someone stronger than them there.

Nibbles nodded, and Cluckles tilted his head. "The squirrels smelled someone powerful. Not a normal assassin stench. Magic... old magic."

Nibbles flipped his sign: "Sensed presence. Strong. Unknown."

That made Raven freeze. A shiver slid down his spine.

He finally recalled a piece of the plot he had missed.

For a while, he had stopped thinking about the novel’s plot, as things were already far from what they were supposed to be.

However, he made a grave mistake, as there were things in the plot that could never be changed.

One of them was the unspoken mystery about the Great Forest of Hector: the Ruins of Obscura.

In the plot, the original protagonist and Lia had run there to escape from the assassins, but once they entered, they realized that they shouldn’t have done that.

Because that ruin wasn’t a shelter or a place to hide.

It was a prison.

It was a place that held someone with no name or identity.

This ruin was never explored, but everyone knew one thing: that once you entered, you would never return alive.

Even in the plot, Raven and Lia had only survived because they had stepped on a trap inside the ruin.

It was a trap—one that threw them close to the entrance of the ruin.

One could say that they were lucky, and they escaped.

The worst thing about the entity inside was that he didn’t know how strong that being was.

In the plot, the protagonist was a plate six magic swordsman, and his soul power was at phase two.

With those powers, he couldn’t do anything to the entity.

Now, Raven had power that equaled that of ten magic swordsmen, and even his soul power was at phase five, but he still didn’t know if they could win against whatever was inside the ruins.

Now, the assassins were using that place as their base.

’Is that entity letting them live? Or is it not awake right now?’

Raven couldn’t understand, but if the squirrels were right, then the young princess of Hector, Lia’s sister, was being held inside.

Raven’s pulse quickened.

He raised his hand, conjuring a black flame that flickered like a snake. With a snap of his fingers, it shot into the sky like a flare, slicing through the treetops.

A moment later, it burst high above the forest with a boom, the fire twisting into a black phoenix silhouette before fading. The signal was clear: Regroup immediately.

Raven didn’t wait.

"We need to speak to everyone," he said, already moving. "I need to explain what they’re walking into."

Cluckles flapped and nodded. "Cluckles agrees. Cluckles has a feeling. A bad one."

Nibbles raised one final sign: "If we’re going, pack extra pants."

Lia, still disguised as Leafy, didn’t know what was going on, but looking at Raven’s expression, she felt that something bad was about to happen.

"Raven..." She called out hesitantly. "W-What’s going on?"

Raven turned to her, his expression tight. "I think we are going to walk into something absurd, Lia."

He didn’t explain much, but Lia knew that he would once everyone gathered.

So, she tried to be patient, but the news Nibbles had brought didn’t let her.

For some reason, every time she thought about this ruin, she would feel a gripping sensation in her stomach.

.................................

Meanwhile, deep within the forest, where the roots grew like serpents through cracked stone and time itself hung heavy in the air, the Ruins of Obscura pulsed with ancient, quiet dread.

A narrow hallway twisted into a chamber bathed in flickering green torchlight. Mold clung to the walls like diseased skin, and the air smelled of damp rot and unspoken warnings.

Two assassins stood outside a rusted iron door, their black robes stained with the grime of long shifts and quiet irritation.

"I’m tellin’ you, if she cries one more time, I’m gonna shove bark in her mouth," one hissed, rolling his neck with a scowl. "Can’t even focus on guarding with that constant sniffling."

"Shut it. If the boss hears you say that, it’ll be your mouth stuffed instead," the other replied, rubbing his temples. "She’s just a kid. Let her cry."

They both fell silent as the sobbing began again—thin, reedy sobs that clawed through the stone like something trying to escape.

Inside the dimly lit cell, the young princess of the Hector Kingdom—twelve years old, with tangled pink hair and eyes that shimmered like sorrowed rubies—sat curled in a corner.

Her once-beautiful dress was torn and dirt-stained, knees hugged to her chest, face buried in her arms.

"...Sister..." She whispered. "Where are you...? Please..."

She had stopped hoping after the first two days.

No one came. No light, no sounds of rescue. Just whispers and the footfalls of masked men outside her cell.

The only one she wished to see right now was her dear sister, who had gone missing for some time.

Her father and mother told her that everything was fine, but she had heard it from the soldiers.

Some even said that her sister, Lia, was dead.

But, of course, she never believed in those people.

Her sister wouldn’t die. She had made a promise.

"I would come back with someone who would help us solve our kingdom’s problem. I promise."

Those were her words, and the young princess knew that her sister never broke her promises.

She was sure that her sister would return.

But what she wanted wasn’t an eventual return of her sister.

She wanted to see her sister right now.

The young princess wanted Lia to save her from this mess.

Just then...

A soundless voice drifted into her mind.

’Are you alone, little one...?’

The girl lifted her head with a start.

"W-What...?" She whispered aloud, trembling. Her wide eyes darted around the empty room.

No one.

She thought she imagined it—maybe the loneliness had finally cracked her.

’You’re waiting for her... aren’t you? The sister who will never come?’

The princess thought that it was her mind doubting her resolve, so she replied.

"No," she whispered, choking on her tears. "She will come. Lia will come..."

’But what if she doesn’t?’ The voice cooed, soft as feathers and as cold as a grave. ’You could come with me instead. Wouldn’t that be nice?’

The girl shook her head violently. "No! I’m not going anywhere with you!"

But then she paused, realizing that this wasn’t her mind but someone else’s. "W-Who are you?!"

A pause. Silence. Then the voice smiled through the air.

"Finally... you heard me."

The iron door creaked as the torches flickered and dimmed. A gust of cold wind slipped through the sealed chamber—though there was no door open, no path in.

Then, the next instant, the girl was gone.

Not in a flash of light, nor with fanfare—she just vanished, as if reality blinked and forgot she existed.

Outside, the assassins turned toward the door as they heard the sound of a child’s voice vanish mid-cry.

Silence followed.

Then, a soft chuckle slithered out from behind the iron door. It was quiet—delicate even—but impossibly wrong.

"Huhuhu."

The torches went out.

One of the assassins stepped back. "W-What was that?"

The other didn’t answer. He was already running.