Chapter 584: [Bonus - ] Confrontation.

Chapter 584: [Bonus Chapter] Confrontation.

Thoren walked along the quiet, deserted road. Tall trees lined both sides, their thick branches stretching overhead and blocking much of the sunlight.

Under normal circumstances, the area would have been calm and serene, the gentle rustle of leaves offering a peaceful atmosphere entirely.

But today, the silence felt different.

It was as though this section of the Muster Ground had been deliberately emptied.

Thoren kept walking without slowing, his four undead servants following closely behind, their footsteps heavy against the paved road.

At the end of the road stood a small, ordinary-looking building, unremarkable in every way.

It wasn’t large and it carried no visible defensive structures and bore none of the military symbols that would draw a second glance.

Anyone passing through would probably walk right past it without a thought.

But Thoren knew better..

When he came within two hundred meters of the building, the atmosphere shifted all at once. The gentle wind seemed to vanish.

The rustling leaves fell silent, leaving behind an unnatural stillness that made every sound feel painfully sharp. The temperature dropped without warning, and the quiet road suddenly felt like a trap tightening around him.

He could hear the faint click of weapons being loaded, followed by the metallic shifting of soldiers repositioning themselves.

His four undead stood motionless, but the pressure surrounding them made the air feel heavier still.

Even the birds hidden among the trees had gone quiet, as though every living thing sensed the danger gathering ahead.

As for Thoren, his expression didn’t change.

Suddenly, dozens of soldiers emerged from their hiding places. Some stepped out from behind the trees, others from concealed positions along the buildings.

A few from underground entrances he had long noticed.

All of them were armed with their thermal rifles raised.

Their fingers resting near the triggers, and their faces tense as they stared at the young man standing less than two hundred meters away.

Then came the sound of engines.

Vroom!

Several military jeeps rolled out from hidden side roads, each mounted with advanced thermal weapons unlike anything used for ordinary soldiers.

Instantly, Thoren recognized them.

These were weapons normally reserved for guarding the Abyss gateway, built to deal with powerful beasts, capable of unleashing enough destructive force to tear apart creatures ordinary guns could never scratch.

And now all of it was aimed at him.

An awakener.

More than that, a Necromancer.

Thoren’s eyes moved slowly across the soldiers and the jeeps. He didn’t need anyone to explain what this meant.

Whoever stood behind the hidden facility was determined to stop him. His willingness to deploy military forces and turn weapons meant for the Abyss against a citizen of their own city.

That alone told him everything about their intentions. They did not want him anywhere near that building.

The road fell completely silent.

The soldiers stood frozen in place, weapons trained on him, and behind him his four undead.

For a couple of seconds, neither side moved.

Neither side spoke.

The tension stretched thin enough that each and everyone of them could feel it on their skin.

The trees around the road seemed to darken, their leaves trembling faintly despite the absence of any wind.

The soldiers’ breathing echoes like war drums in the still tense atmosphere. Some quick and shallow, others carefully controlled as they fought to steady their nerves.

Fingers tightened around triggers.

Boots shifted against the pavement.

The jeeps’ engines growled quietly behind the line of soldiers.

Thoren remained perfectly still, his gaze drifting slowly from one soldier to the next. There were dozens of them, yet not one was a hunter.

They were ordinary people relying entirely on advanced weapons to close the gap between themselves and someone standing far beyond their understanding.

They thought with their advanced thermal weapon, they could breach the gap between awakeners and ordinary people.

Unfortunately, they were wrong.

Terribly wrong.

After what felt like an eternity, a Captain stepped forward, his face tense but composed, forcing himself into the bearing.

"This is a restricted zone," he called out, his voice carrying across the quiet road. "Please turn back, or we will be forced to open fire."

The soldiers tightened their grips.

Several thermal weapons shifted slightly, barrels tracking Thoren’s movement even though he hadn’t moved an inch.

He listened to the threat without any change in expression.

To him, this was nothing but a joke.

He had faced situations far more dangerous than this. He had fought beasts capable of tearing awakeners apart, enemies that regenerated even after death.

He had walked through the Bleeding Desert, where every shadow could hide something capable of killing him.

He had stood before horrors that could make any ordinary human weak to their bone.

Compared to all of that, a group of ordinary humans with thermal weapons gave him nothing to fear.

He simply looked at the Captain.

The Captain’s heart sank the moment he saw that reaction.

No fear.

No hesitation.

Not even a flicker of anger.

It was as though the weapons surrounding him didn’t exist at all.

He swallowed hard.

His orders had been clear. ’Do not let Thoren enter the restricted facility’.

But he hadn’t expected this.

He had expected at least a moment’s hesitation once Thoren saw the number of soldiers and the firepower aimed at him.

Instead, the young man looked at all of it as though it were barely an inconvenience.

The Captain raised his voice again, more forceful this time.

"Young Master Thoren, this is your final warning. You are entering a restricted military zone without authorization. We cannot allow you to proceed any further. Please turn around immediately, or we will be forced to—"

Before he could finish, something appeared in Thoren’s hand. A small bell, unremarkable in appearance, nothing about it suggesting any threat at all.

But in that instant, the Captain narrowed his eyes and many soldiers instinctively adjusted their aim.

"What is that?"

Nobody had time to answer as their eyes were glued to the boy before them.

Before the soldiers could even understand what he was trying to do. Thoren raised the bell, his expression still calm, and shook the bell.

Ting!

The chime rang out, but it didn’t travel through the air. Instead, it echoed directly inside the mind of every soldier blocking his path.

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[AN: This Chapter is sponsored by: Scott_Berry_3382]