Chapter 47: Dark Sonata

Inside the stone chamber, the stirring sound of the harp gradually ceased.

What followed were the sharp snaps of strings breaking one after another.

The pitch-black strings shattered successively before Saff’s eyes.

With the last string snapping and scattering, the chamber fell into sudden silence.

At the same time, the dark, swirling spiritual energy above the harp slowly retracted until it vanished without a trace.

Saff—or rather, her true name, Eve.

Her eyes held a deep confusion, as if she couldn’t quite piece together why she was here, yet vaguely recalled a brush with death.

In the silence, she glanced at the harp with all its strings broken, noticing a stained and grimy sheet of music embedded on the pillar, starkly contrasting with the pure white jade-like body of the harp.

“Dark Sonata”—a harp solo score.

The phrase surfaced mysteriously in her mist-shrouded mind.

Eve stared blankly at the music on the pillar, faint memories piercing through the fog like sunlight, suddenly emerging.

“I am still alive.”

A whisper echoed through the stone chamber.

The confusion in Eve’s eyes faded, replaced gradually by calm.

She lifted her hand to gently stroke the harp’s body; a starlike radiance flickered between her fingers—that was the manifestation of her spiritual energy.

Returning to the world by sketching an ephemeral form through music, this third princess from the ancient and enduring kingdom of Gugan Yu naturally awakened her spiritual power.

Memories related to the harp and the music score, which should have been sealed off, also resurfaced in her mind.

Yet before fully returning to the world...

Eve did not actually understand the specific power of the harp and the score, nor had she imagined such a scene.

She held no reverence for death and thus did not fear its arrival.

To her, humanity’s path of resistance must inevitably confront the risk of death.

This was normal and inevitable.

Ironically, among the non-ability users who faced death head-on, those who most resisted it perished like dust.

Meanwhile, Eve, who feared death the least and regarded it with the calmest composure, remained able to breathe.

“This is the power of ‘spiritual energy’...”

Her fingers glided over the harp pillar and then beneath the string mounting board, where the starlike glow from her fingertips traced an invisible string in the air.

Thus, she strung a new string onto the harp.

Perhaps due to the manifestation of her spiritual power, an exceedingly rare spark of excitement flashed within her tranquil, watery eyes.

**********

A dense, flourishing forest.

Situated on the border of the Republic of Mingbo, this land faced the continent of the Gugan Yu Kingdom across the sea.

Moro fell from the sky.

Seeing the dense forest below, the tension he had carried finally eased.

A free fall from thousands of meters...

Though the versatility of spiritual abilities could help preserve life, before landing for certain, many uncontrollable risks remained.

Fortunately, the airship was still over the Mingbo Republic’s border, not over the ocean.

Moro looked down at the ground: an endless forest bathed in bright moonlight.

As he neared the earth, he used a returning flying star to counteract his downward momentum.

Still, he fell directly from a height of a hundred meters.

In an instant, Moro hit the forest like a cannonball, the quiet night shattered by a tremendous crash.

Rustling—

Flocks of birds startled into flight, nocturnal beasts fleeing in all directions.

Thud.

An ancient tree, hundreds of years old, became Moro’s precise landing point, toppling with a mighty crash.

After a moment,

Moro emerged from the thick canopy, eyes scanning his surroundings.

Towering trees stood around him; bright moonlight filtered through the gaps, revealing faint mist.

Within the drifting fog were shrubs and moss-covered stones and fallen wood.

Farther off, a winding stream meandered through a rubble-strewn path.

Moro’s gaze followed the stream to its end, where only darkness remained.

After a brief survey, he withdrew his sight and thought to check on Kang Jae’s situation.

He pulled out his phone, only to find it cracked from the impact and already shut off.

“Kang Jae should be okay,” Moro mused, pocketing the damaged phone.

If he landed safely, Kang Jae would likely be fine too, unless by terrible luck he’d fallen into a swamp or pit.

“This place... should still be within the Mingbo Republic.”

Moro headed toward the nearby stream.

**********

The Republic of Mingbo was one of the five great nations, separated from the Sky Arena by two countries.

Judging from the airship’s route, Moro guessed he had landed somewhere within the vast territory of Mingbo, but the exact location was unclear.

In such unfamiliar forest, escaping would be no easy task.

If only his phone hadn’t been damaged.

He sighed softly and followed the stream.

After some time, Moro emerged from the woods onto a clearing, facing a lake shrouded in thin mist, the starry sky faintly reflected on its surface.

By the lake’s edge, various wild animals gathered.

Moro scanned the area, the most striking among them being several white deer with enormous antlers.

Their antlers spread like intertwining coral, their bodies pure white, shimmering under the moonlight.

Moro had no intention of disturbing the animals drinking by the lake; he surveyed the nearby area for a suitable resting place.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Suddenly, gunshots rang out from the far side of the lake.

Startled by the noise, the animals scattered in a panic.

Following the direction of the shots, Moro saw the white deer with giant antlers lying on the ground, while several armed men emerged from the forest.

Seeing this, Moro retreated behind a large tree, faintly hearing the men’s excited laughter and their talk about the loud noise.

Moro realized the noise must have been caused by his landing.

He also heard them mention making a big profit, no doubt the giant antlered deer were valuable, explaining their excitement.

After a moment’s thought, Moro stepped out, deciding to approach the men and ask a few questions.

**********

Meanwhile,

Several kilometers away on the other side of the forest,

A spherical object tangled with more than a dozen humans crashed heavily into a lake, sending towering waves skyward.

As the waves subsided, human bodies surfaced one after another.

Splash—

Another burst of water erupted.

Rokuhara emerged from the lake, breathing heavily as he looked toward the dense forest on the shore.