NOVEL NEXT Chapter 511: The Forgotten Echoes
The night had fallen. The moon floated in the sky, and its pale light barely pierced through the thick layers of fog. The faint sound of wind brushing against the rocks echoed like the whispers of the dead, and from time to time, a subtle tremor rose from deep within the earth.
The air had become freezing cold, colder even than when they were inside the mountain range. One glance at their skin, which looked almost frozen, was enough to tell how unbearably cold it was.
Slowly, they even began to doubt whether the farther they went, the colder it would become.
Daniel's cold gaze was fixed on the Canyon ahead. The shadows of the rocks stretched across the ground, making everything look even darker. Even the air carried the faint smell of decay.
"This place feels strange…" Drael muttered, looking around. His breath vanished into the mist.
Daniel didn't respond. Instead, the ground beneath his feet suddenly turned red, bloody. In moments, that blood shaped itself into a Fallen Beast with the body of a tiger.
Though, it was at least five times the size of a real one.
"Vorak, clear the path. We're going through the Canyon," he said calmly.
Vorak growled deeply and knelt down so Daniel and Drael could mount him. They both got on, though Drael couldn't help but look at the creature with curiosity.
He was still amazed by what this man summoned. He had never seen anything like it before.
Vorak began to move and quickly ran forward, entering the Canyon.
When they reached its depths, the fog became thicker. Daniel closed his eyes to sense the surroundings using his spiritual awareness, but in just a split second, everything changed.
"You saw that too? The path changed…!" Drael said in shock as he looked around. The road behind them had disappeared.
Daniel remained silent, scanning the surroundings. The space itself was twisting. Everything around them, from the cliffs to the dead trees, shifted slowly, as if the Canyon was alive and deliberately changing the path.
Drael pointed toward one of the rocks.
"Look at that…!" he said. A massive boulder cracked apart before their eyes, crumbled into dust, and then reformed again from the ground up.
Both of their faces tensed. Their eyes met, and at that very moment, they both felt it, the power of time. Not an ordinary one, but something extremely high-level.
But neither of them truly understood time, nor did they know what had just happened.
Had that rock suddenly aged and died? The uneasy feeling in their hearts grew stronger. But for now, they could only push those thoughts aside.
Vorak let out a low growl and stopped. The fog ahead of them thickened, forming a wall of smoke.
"Left or right?" Drael whispered.
Daniel hadn't answered yet. He was about to use his spiritual senses again when sudden noises rose from within the fog. At first, they sounded like the wind… but then they turned into distinct murmurs.
Breathing. Footsteps. The dragging of chains against the ground. Drael suddenly felt danger crawl up his spine.
From within the fog, figures began to appear, half-transparent, with grayish skin and empty eyes. They wore old military uniforms and held broken weapons in their hands.
There was no blood, no scent of life, no trace of vitality at all. Which, by itself, was both incredible and terrifying.
"Spirits?" Drael whispered. At this point, it was the only reasonable guess.
Daniel quietly unsheathed his sword, The Heaven's Honor. The light of death swirled along its blade, and the mist around them began to retreat.
The spirits screamed and rushed forward. Rusted spears, cracked swords, and a sound like metal screeching against the soul filled the air.
Vorak roared and leaped, tearing several of them apart with one swing of his claws. The mist scattered like dust.
Daniel swung his sword sharply, slicing through the air, a black line of light split through space, cutting three spirits in half at once.
But when they died, there was no blood, no body. Only fragments of memories scattered into the fog.
"They don't have bodies… they're just memories. Memories that stayed alive," Drael said, narrowing his eyes as he finally realized what these creatures were.
They were Forgotten Echoes, a very rare type of monsters born from obsession and hatred.
When someone dies with overwhelming hatred or obsession toward their killer, their lingering emotions can turn into a Forgotten Echo.
And these were the very kind that had attacked them.
Daniel raised his sword again, and the aura of death coiled around him. A dark wave spread outward, consuming everything nearby. The fog swallowed them whole, leaving behind nothing but silence.
Vorak snorted, the ground trembled, and the mist drew back once more. Silence returned.
"I didn't expect to see Forgotten Echoes in a place like this. How did they even die to become echoes?" Daniel muttered to himself.
"They were probably sacrificed. Maybe it's connected to the Red Temple," Drael said, making Daniel nod slightly.
Now both of them felt that the Red Temple might be a very dangerous place, but they had no other choice but to go there.
Then their attention turned forward again. They still didn't know which direction to take.
"I sense less danger on the right," Vorak said after sniffing the air.
"Very well. Move," Daniel ordered with a nod, and Vorak started walking.
Time passed slowly. It was impossible to tell how long it had been, but both of them felt as though years had passed.
For some reason, time itself couldn't be felt here.
Daniel glanced at Drael. He was still thinking about the boy's past, still a bit shocked that he had killed the woman he loved with his own hands.
But why had he done it? Daniel suspected it had something to do with the class he obtained, that it made him arrogant, prideful, obsessed with control.
That could be dangerous. He wasn't sure anymore whether hiring him was a good idea.
The only sound left was the soft clatter of Vorak's claws against the damp stones. Both of them were lost in their own thoughts when suddenly, a black mist appeared out of nowhere.
A new sound emerged, a faint whisper, like someone speaking from beyond the fog.
"You heard that? Someone called my name," Drael said, lifting his head with a frown.
Daniel immediately raised his sword. The aura of death surged, consuming the whispering sound. His expression darkened as realization struck him.
This mist was alive. Only living things feared the aura of death.
"Don't listen to any voices. This mist is alive," he said.