Chapter 1082 - 515: Eye of the Raven

The two streams of black and white mist flowed slowly in his eyes, solemn and dignified.

Gauss shook his head from side to side. The scenery before his eyes had indeed undergone a drastic change. Everything seemed to have been stripped of color, its presence in his vision rapidly diminishing.

Since he had instructed no one to disturb him before he started working, the command room was currently empty. He pushed the door open to find two soldiers standing outside. Seeing Gauss step out, they immediately saluted.

Not far away, four Knights from the Ancestral Province were striding over, running right into Gauss as he came out. Gauss took in everyone present at a glance. Everyone was entwined with black and white auras. The white mist represented vitality, while the black mist represented the aura of death.

The difference in their white mist wasn’t too great, perhaps because everyone present belonged to melee Professions and had relatively similar levels. However, one of the Knights had a rather unique vitality. His inner essence was quite solid, no different from the others, but the relatively illusory white light enveloping that solid core was much weaker.

"Is it because he’s injured?" Gauss silently noted this conclusion. Minor physical injuries would temporarily affect the external manifestation of vitality, but they wouldn’t affect the inner life force.

As for the black mist, which represented death and misfortune, the degrees varied greatly among them. The black mist on the two guards was very faint, merely draping over them like a thin veil, completely insignificant. But the four-man group walking over had significantly more black mist compared to the soldiers, looking as if they were wearing black cloaks.

One man in particular had an exceptionally heavy aura of death. The black mist wrapped around his body, constantly churning and occasionally condensing into a hideous human face that bared its teeth in Gauss’s direction. Seeing this, Gauss frowned slightly but said nothing.

He turned to look at the crowd further down the city wall, instantly taking in the auras of life and death entwined around them. The auras on the vast majority of people were normal. This indicated that the thick aura of death he had just seen was an anomaly. He shifted his gaze back to his target, his brows furrowing even tighter without him realizing it.

The poor four-man group who had just arrived caught sight of Gauss’s solemn, displeased expression. They gulped instantly, unable to fathom how they had offended him. The man being stared down by Gauss, in particular, subconsciously took half a step back. To them, Gauss’s ruthless gaze was truly terrifying, radiating an indescribable coldness.

Noticing that Gauss was angry, the two elite guards at the door quickly stepped forward to shield him, despite not knowing what had happened.

"Who are you?" one of the guards demanded. Not everyone knew their identities. The style of the iron armor and equipment they wore was quite different from the local soldiers, Adventurers, and members of the Red Dragon Team.

"We mean no harm, we are..." The four became very flustered and hurriedly tried to explain.

"It’s fine. Come inside and talk." Gauss happened to want a closer look at the man entangled in the heavy aura of death, so he reached out to signal the two soldiers to stand down, then turned and waved the four inside.

Filled with apprehension, the four followed closely behind Gauss.

"Have a seat. Relax," Gauss said as he arrived at the reception area of the command room. He sat down on a sofa and gestured for the four to find a place to sit as well.

The four didn’t dare to look Gauss in the eye. They quickly found other sofas and sat down stiffly, sitting bolt upright. They really wanted to complain—how could anyone relax in this situation? The pressure from those eyes, which seemed able to see through life and death, was too much. It felt as if they were being seen through inside and out.

Gauss stared at the target wrapped in black mist, searching his mind for the man’s name. Last night, this man and two other conscious Knights had reported the intelligence from the Ancestral Province to him, so he still had an impression of him. Indeed, this poor guy wasn’t the Knight who had been injured and fallen unconscious, but one of the remaining trio.

"Lord Gauss, is there something you wish to say to me?" the Knight Malcolm finally couldn’t help but ask, feeling extremely uneasy under the stare. He couldn’t figure out how he had offended the gentleman in front of him, but even if he had done something wrong, there had to be a specific reason. Aside from their brief interaction last night, he had had no contact with this commander of Warren Castle.

Gauss withdrew his gaze, his expression completely impassive. Just now, while staring at the man, he had been trying to see if he could directly strip away the dense black mist by manipulating the aura of death. But just as his Perception had indicated, he failed. He couldn’t draw out the aura of death on the man’s body.

However, he managed to gather the thin aura of death naturally permeating the air due to the war, slowly condensing it into a small, black-and-red raven invisible to everyone else. At this moment, it circled the unlucky guy named Malcolm a few times. This provoked the black mist on his body to continuously form into faces to intimidate the raven, after which the raven returned to Gauss in satisfaction.

Having completed this operation, Gauss deactivated the Eye of the Raven. The black and white energy flowing in his ethereal eyes slowly faded, eventually reverting to those beautiful, jewel-like emerald pupils. His aura returned to its tranquil and gentle state. The invisible pressure enveloping the others dissipated instantly.

"Thank you for your cooperation. Don’t worry, I was just practicing a special visual Magic. Pay it no mind; it won’t harm you," Gauss explained.

Since they didn’t know the specific effects of the Eye of the Raven anyway, using Magic as an excuse made it easier for them to understand. After all, Magic was inherently a wondrous ability that encompassed everything. Sure enough, after Gauss’s explanation, the four looked at each other and breathed a sigh of relief. They had been worried that they or their companions had unknowingly displeased the local commander. Since he could save them from the beast tide, he naturally had the power to make them disappear without a trace.

"When do you plan to return to the Ancestral Province?" Gauss asked.

"Well..." The four-man squad exchanged glances.

If possible, they naturally wanted to leave as soon as possible. They weren’t locals; having delivered the intelligence, they had already completed the Guild’s mission, so there was no point in staying. Their family and friends were all in the Ancestral Province. But they were also well aware that with the increasingly volatile and complex situation in the wilderness, it would be extremely difficult for them to safely return to the Ancestral Province with their own strength. Perhaps they could only rely on this mighty Extraordinary Strong Person before them.

"We hope to return as soon as possible."

"How about this: I might not be able to spare anyone for the next few days. I’ll evaluate the situation around Warren Castle in a few days and arrange for someone to escort you back," Gauss said calmly, taking a sip of black tea.

He definitely didn’t have the time himself, nor could he leave Warren Castle to escort them home. And for anyone else, the danger of such an escort was extremely high right now. The number of monsters gathering on the wasteland was increasing. Out of concern for his subordinates’ lives, he simply delayed their departure.

Furthermore, he was certain that if he let them leave now, this unlucky man named Malcolm would most likely end up dead. The misfortune clinging to him was too heavy, and the others would probably be dragged down by him later on. It was better to keep them right under his nose. The auras of life and death seen by the Eye of the Raven weren’t some unalterable fate. It might be a desperate situation for Malcolm himself, but with the intervention of an individual far stronger than him, it should be possible to reverse it.

Gauss kept him here not only to save him from his fate, but also to use him as a guinea pig to field-test the effects of his new Talent Ability.

"Just stay in the city for a few days. It’s dangerous outside right now, so don’t leave Warren Castle casually," Gauss specifically advised.