Free Web NovelChapter 31: Chapter 31: Abandoned City (2)
The eagle flew into the abandoned city with Eleanor on its back. However, the moment it flew past the massive walls — they disappeared like they didn’t exist in the first place.
Riven blinked a couple of times. He rubbed his eyes and looked at the place where they were in confusion.
"Where are they?"
There was no doubt about the presence of Eleanor and her pet eagle but where did they go? There was no sign of them anymore.
His gaze lingered on Ayala, and then he asked, just to confirm.
"Did you see Eleanor?"
Ayala nodded her head and said.
"I did but I don’t see her anymore. After they flew past the towering walls, they just disappeared from my view."
Riven didn’t respond, staying silent as they pondered where they were going. Since even Ayala had seen them... there was no way that he was mistaken.
But where did Eleanor go?
She just vanished from his view. Was it her power or something? He wasn’t sure.
That is when he saw something that made his eyes narrow in shock. The towering walls of the abandoned city glowed briefly and then turned back to normal.
Something was strange about the towering walls... very strange.
That is when Ayala’s voice resounded through his ear.
"Mister! Look there."
Riven glanced at Ayala and saw her pointing in a certain direction. He stared at the direction Ayala was pointing at and his expression changed.
Riven didn’t smile instead he stared at the direction where she was pointing towards warily.
There was a massive open gate surrounded by two broken statues. The statue’s entire upper section was gone — only the lower half of the statue remained.
If it was a few minutes earlier then he would be very happy to see the entrance. But now after the disappearance of Eleanor... he wasn’t.
Who knew if the walls had something to do with the sudden disappearance of Eleanor? Thinking about this, he was getting second thoughts about entering the city.
But the benefits the city offered were undeniable so Riven whispered to Devil Slayer.
"Take us to the gates of the abandoned city."
With a roar, the Devil Slayer charged towards the entrance of the abandoned city.
A few minutes later, they were just a few inches away from entering the abandoned city. He whispered to Devil Slayer.
"Halt."
Devil Slayer halted its steps under his command and froze. It didn’t move even an inch.
Riven tilted his head and his gaze swept beyond the entrance of the abandoned city. Inside, he could only see ruins, partially damaged structures, and broken debris covered in a thin layer of sand.
Unlike what he had expected... the city didn’t look lively, instead it looked like a complete wasteland.
In this wasteland, Riven saw several flags in the distance of various patterns and he froze. He recognized every single one of them... not only he but every single human knew about them due to the countless invasions of the Earth.
There were two different kinds of flags — each belonging to one of the three Great races. One belonged to the Elves and another one belonged to the Vrekhars.
The presence of the flags of two great races could mean only one thing... that this city belonged to whatever race was attacked by them.
From the looks of the city... the defenders were utterly destroyed. Not even a single trace of them remained.
All of a sudden Riven remembered about the elf army that they had met earlier.
A thought crossed his mind.
"Did the elf army I faced earlier do this?"
Riven stared at the ruins covered in a thick layer of sand and he shook his head. It was extremely unlikely. From the looks of it, it seemed like the city was destroyed a long time ago.
He kept scanning the inside for danger but he didn’t find any. So Riven commanded his subject once again.
"Take us inside."
This time, the devil slayer didn’t blindly charge inside. Instead, he slowly took one step at a time forward. The moment they stepped inside the abandoned city — he felt like they were passing through a very dense and packed medium.
Riven had no idea why he was feeling like that but after he passed through it. He turned his head around and the gate was no longer open.
A massive blue barrier had blocked the gate, leaving no gap for them to leave. His expression darkened. He touched the surface of the transparent blue barrier and pressed it harder.
"It’s solid."
It was probably the reason for the feeling that he had experienced when stepping inside the abandoned city. But now he couldn’t even walk an inch, let alone walk through it.
Was it a one-way gate that could only be used to enter and not leave?
Didn’t that mean that he was trapped inside? No no... he couldn’t let that happen.
He couldn’t be satisfied knowing that there was no way for them to leave this place. What if they encountered danger that couldn’t be overcome and the only way to survive was to escape this city?
Riven commanded his subject.
"Destroy this blue barrier."
Just a second later, Devil Slayer lunged towards the barrier and launched a barrage of strikes using its claws and fangs. But not even a single dent formed on its surface.
Riven gritted his teeth as he stared outside and realization dawned upon him.
"We are trapped inside this city."
Ayala replied, her voice full of despair.
"We must make a base near the water source... quickly."
Riven didn’t respond immediately. He stared at the blue barrier then he stared back at his injured subject and he clenched his fists harder.
But Riven didn’t issue a command to his subject instead he just nodded his head in approval knowing that they couldn’t exit right now. He turned to Ayala and said.
"Firstly... we need to locate the water source."
Riven turned towards his subject and said.
"Move towards it in a straight line slowly."
Devil Slayer started to walk through the abandoned city in a straight line. As they walked through the abandoned city, Riven’s eyes darted around.
He only saw debris and ruins covered in a thick layer of sand. He found no suitable place for them to set up a base.
As they were walking across the abandoned city, he saw something that made his heart sink.
A massive army of undead was just a few meters away from them. Unlike the horde
that he faced a few days ago, they walked around in complete unison and their coordination was excellent.
Riven cursed them.
"These bastards are even inside this abandoned city... damn it!"
