NOVEL NEXT Chapter 277: Strange Gateway
Azel yawned as he blinked awake.
'That was a nice nap,' he thought, stretching his neck slightly.
The morning sun spilled through the open window, painting his silver hair in warm light.
The curtains flapped lazily from the breeze.
For some reason, the window was wide open, even when he was sure he locked it just in case it was "raining bullets" but that wasn't what mattered.
What mattered was that it was already sunrise.
"Damn it," Azel muttered, rubbing his eyes. "I was supposed to wait up for Erblim."
If it had been up to him, he'd have called Ahrya too, but on second thought, summoning a nine-tailed fox capable of leveling a city wasn't exactly ideal in the human world.
Only then did he notice the weight pressing on his lap.
He looked down.
A small boy with messy black hair was sleeping peacefully, his head resting against Azel's thigh, one hand loosely gripping his shirt.
"So he actually made it back," Azel said softly, a smile touching his lips.
He turned his hand upward and looked at his palm.
The tracking rune was glowing.
When he focused, he sensed the faint trail it left behind.
'Wait… underground?' His eyes narrowed. 'Their base is underground? That makes sense. Why didn't I think of that earlier?'
It looked like today would be all about gang extermination.
'It be a trap though,' he thought.
The rune let him trace the target's position, but unless it was branded directly onto a person, there was always a chance of interference or counter-tracking.
He smirked. 'Meh. I can handle whatever they throw at me.'
He shifted slightly, trying to stand but the weight on his lap didn't budge.
"Hey, Erby," Azel said, tapping the boy's head lightly. "Wakey time."
Erblim mumbled, rubbing his face against Azel's leg. "Huh…? Sister Ahrya… five more minutes. Your breasts are so soft…"
Azel's expression darkened. "Wake. Up."
This time, he flicked the boy's forehead.
Erblim jolted awake, blinking twice before freezing at the sight of Azel's unimpressed stare.
"Yes, Master! Reporting for duty!" he said quickly, sitting straight with a salute.
Azel simply tossed a towel at his face.
"You were drooling on my leg," Azel said flatly. "Wash up, then tell me what you found."
Erblim blinked, glanced down, and nearly screamed when he saw the wet patch on Azel's trousers.
"S-Sorry, Master! I'll be back in a moment!"
He dashed toward the bathroom so fast that his feet nearly slipped on the floor.
Azel sighed and leaned back in his chair. Despite the fact that he was probably older than him, Erblim sure did like behaving like a kid.
…
A few minutes later, the bathroom door creaked open.
Erblim stepped out, his hair was damp and sticking to his forehead.
He had wrapped the towel around his waist however it was far too large, dragging behind him like a royal cape.
"Master," he asked curiously, "what are you doing?"
Azel was standing by the bed, a few cloaks laid neatly across it.
Some were trimmed with silver embroidery, others had deep hoods and subtle protective stitching.
"I'm picking the perfect cloak for the occasion," Azel said without looking up. "You can talk while I decide. You said something about a gang problem?"
"Actually," Erblim said, folding his arms, "I think it's way more serious than just a gang."
That made Azel raise a brow. "Oh? Go on."
Erblim straightened up, speaking more seriously now. "I stayed for a few hours and watched a man pay his debt."
"Hm. It was in ares, right?" Azel asked.
"Yes, gold," Erblim nodded, "but I also saw something else… a syringe of blood."
Azel froze mid-movement, his hand hovering over a black cloak. "…Blood?"
"Yes, Master. My eyes don't lie," Erblim said confidently. "It was a syringe filled with blood. And the gang mentioned something else… a drug that's spreading across the town."
Azel's eyes narrowed. "What's it called?"
"Exotin," Erblim replied. "They said the name clearly."
Azel's expression darkened.
'What the fuck is Exotin doing here so early?! How the hell does it even exist?'
Without another word, he fastened the black cloak around his shoulders.
The wind from the open window stirred, tossing his silver hair lightly. The fabric of the cloak rippled with every movement he took.
Erblim watched in silence.
His master looked completely different now…
'He's so cool,' Erblim thought, eyes sparkling in admiration. He was so over the fact that this mission was boring…
"Alright," Azel said, securing the clasp. "Let's find Ravik and get ready. This might get ugly."
"Yes, Master!"
…
'I had no idea a simple boring mission would turn into this,' Azel thought as he stood atop the cracked stone slab where Erblim had said the man had been seen the night before.
Ravik and Erblim stood beside him, both cloaked in black.
The morning sun barely reached this far into the outskirts… most of the light was swallowed by the surrounding ruins.
"This is the place," Erblim said, his voice echoing a bit.
Azel crouched down, pressing his hand to the ground.
"Yeah. The signal's still here. It's below us."
He stood again and scanned the cracked surface. "You said the ground moved yesterday, right? It's not reacting now."
Erblim shook his head. "Nothing yet."
Ravik stepped forward, his expression serious. "My lord… if I may?"
Azel nodded.
The werewolf crouched near the center of the slab.
The air around him shifted as he released a faint wave of dark mana.
He sniffed the air, then pressed his palm against the stone.
"There's something beneath this," Ravik said slowly. "A layer of magic. It's weak and only reacts to certain energies."
He extended his hand further, dark mana coiling around his fingers.
The ground trembled lightly and the dust began to scatter as faint black mist began to rise from the cracks.
Azel watched silently.
Then the slab rippled.
A shockwave of distorted air spread outward.
The space around them began to twist, colors bending like heat haze.
Erblim gulped nervously. "Uh, Master… that looks like the ground that they stood on yesterday."
The mist thickened, swirling faster until it resembled a vortex.
Ravik glanced up.
"This is a gateway," he said gravely. "It's the kind used in our homeland."
"Lycas?" Azel asked.
"Yes, my lord," Ravik said. "Among the werewolves, these gateways allow us to travel between settlements. They always connect to another receiver gate. I never expected one here…"
Azel raised a brow. "So if we step in, where do we end up?"
"Wherever the other gate is," Ravik replied. "But make no mistake… once we go through, we'll be trespassers. They'll know instantly."
Azel cracked a small grin. "Good. Saves me the trouble of knocking."
The vortex's pull grew stronger, tugging at their cloaks and hair.
Ravik stepped in first, his figure fading as fog climbed up his body.
"It's responding to our mana," he said, his voice suddenly felt distant. "The moment we enter, prepare for combat."
"Got it," Azel said, stepping forward.
The fog crawled up his boots and climbed to his knees. "You coming, Erby?"
Erblim sighed dramatically. "If you die, I die so I need to make sure you live."
"Good." Azel replied calmly as the fog reached his chest.
The three of them stood side by side as the world distorted around them.
The air chilled and the colors began to dim… turning to gray and black.
And darkness swallowed them whole.