Secrets of the Universe

The Teglyca hunters gathered around the table, each donning serious looks on their faces.

"What is it?" asked blue-haired Archer.

"Don't you find it strange that we haven't seen any hunter from the moment we arrived here?" tasked Eden.

"Yes, however, I thought it wasn't an issue for us, maybe they have died," blurted Renee as he cleaned her battle-ax.

"No, they haven't. They are doing the same thing as us, hiding in one of the buildings," explained Eden.

The hunters were experienced and knew how to cope in this kind of situation. He was definitely sure that some of them were in the other buildings beside him.

"So, when do we move? It is getting dark," queried River.

Ruffling his beards, River gave an answer, "We don't move…..not today. I'm sure the others know that. They will make the first move, and when they do, we will act!"

The metal piercings on his left eyebrow shined under the reflection of light.

"But we still need a plan, right," silently muttered Sea.

She had been observing their location and realized she underestimated the town a lot. She couldn't help but feel scared at the many possibilities that can happen to them.

Eden smiled at the young woman. He couldn't understand what she was thinking, "Yes, look at this."

The leader pointed at the map he had already laid on the table.

Drawn on the paper was a physical map of the Weeping Town.

Eden traced his finger along the edges of the map. He only stopped when he had found the right place, "We should right here."

The location he marked was a street very close to the town's border. This made sense to all of them as they hadn't walked far enough to leave the area.

Eden then removed his finger and traced it upwards. 

His rough finger eventually found its place on a large building marked by a big circle, "This should be our destination. The previous town lord's manor."

"Is it there?" ambiguous asked Sea.

This question brought memories to Eden as he muttered with an unfocused gazed, "I don't know….it should be our best bet."

The last time he was in this forsaken town, his team had also suspected the manor as being the big boss' dungeon.

Sadly, they had no way to test their guess as they were quickly surrounded by incorporeal netherans. 

They could only spot the shadow of the manor laughing at them, mocking them for their failures.

'I shouldn't do this,' silently thought Eden as he shook his head.

Matters of the past belonged to the past. If he kept dwelling on it, he would lose all hope of success.

Eden focused on the map as he whispered, "The incorporeal netherans are more organized than their counterparts. They have a strict hierarchy, which would arrange them in unique ways. The manor represents the home of the ruler of the town. Now that the ruler is the Banshee Queen, she would claim it as her prize. It would serve as their headquarters, her palace!"

Eden showed proof of the efforts he had put in before embarking on a second journey to the town. Using the pieces of knowledge he had gathered, he easily deciphered the mentality of a banshee queen.

At the same time, as Eden continued talking, Jake was not feeling it.

Since he had time to recalibrate, he noticed he was unusually groggy, almost to the point of feeling sick.

He wasn't even in control of when he would space out or not. Sometimes he would be wholeheartedly listening to the plans, and in the next second, he would find himself not being able to listen to the group's voices.

'What is happening to me? Rethink. Rethink!' analyzed Jake.

He started backtracing their every move since they arrived in this town.

Looking back, he realized that it had been simple….too simple.

It was in contrast to the ghost street-filled version of the town he had heard from other experienced hunters.

It was empty, smooth. No disturbance, no mistakes. Everything, perfect!

As a follower of perfection, Jake knew nothing was ever perfect!

......…

Meanwhile, at the other end of the town, the manor Eden pointed out, something interesting was going on.

In a large room in the manor, a warm fire lit in a chimney that dispersed the chilling cold air in the surrounding.

Seated on a chair was a pale woman with exceedingly long black hair. Her face appeared to be that of a beautiful woman that had just wept, with the dark corners below her eye.

However, it didn't stop her beauty from overflowing. Instead, it could invoke the feeling of protecting her in heart of any mortal.

If one looked closer, one would find that her body was almost invisible, particularly her lower half.

When she dangled her legs in the air, her wispy white ragged gown flowed with it.

Humming a song, her chalk gray tiara amplified the song as it traveled wide, not being limited by distance.

She was a queen. The Banshee Queen!

After she was done humming, another creature materialized beside her.

Conversing in [Netherspark], the creature commented, "Brilliant. Beautiful, my Queen. It carried the sweet warmth of the abyss with it."

The creature whispered to the queen, "It is yet another honor for us to hear your song. W--"

Its incomprehensible body made of pure sinister darkness tremble as the queen quietly told him, "Enough."

It knew not to offend his queen.

When the queen stood up, the creature moved around with its almost shapeless body. The only visual feature of it being the red glowing eyes that brightened the room along with the light from the chimney.

The banshee queen hummed again as she recited an ambiguous verse, "Light knows not to hide in darkness. Yet, it tries to. Does it not know that they are not the same? Does it not know the veil of darkness can't protect it?

The emblem of fire blazes in the cold night. It hides in plain sight so the dark beasts doesn't catch it. Yet, it is the one that brings the beasts to itself. It is the one that makes the path for the eventual horrendous beasts to snuff it out..." 

[A/N: If you don't understand her verse, it is alright. The next chapter will explain. If you do understand, good job!]