Unholy Player - Chapter 523 Approaching Enemies (Part 1)

Chapter 523 Approaching Enemies (Part 1)

Pacthold was the place connecting the Outer Region and the Midlands. It stood like a natural door between the two lands-the only passage anyone could use because, on both sides, the ground broke away into two bottomless abysses that disappeared into darkness.

No one knew who the original founder had been, why the place was built, or what purpose it once served. Even so, those with enough knowledge recognized it for what it was: a place as old as the known Gods. People spoke its name the way they spoke of ancient relics, carefully, as if the wrong tone might invite trouble.

But these days, Pacthold served a simpler role. It had become a gathering point for races and travelers who wanted to pass between the two regions.

In practice, it functioned like a customs gate. People would arrive, wait their turn, get inspected, and then either receive permission to pass or be turned back.

Today, a three-person group was making its way toward Pacthold from the Midlands side with that intention.

They rode in a plain, humble-looking horse carriage, the kind only farmers and low-status people would bother with, its wooden frame worn from long use and its wheels creaking softly as they rolled along the road.

The driver and the two passengers sitting behind him were wearing black robes. Their hoods were dirty and ordinary, pulled low enough to cover part of their faces. The bright sunlight overhead never reached their skin, and from a distance it was hard to tell what expressions they carried beneath the shadow. The horse pulling the carriage was a common breed in the region, blue-coated with star patterns across its hide. But it looked close to death. Its mouth hung open as it struggled for air, and its hooves kept stumbling in an uneven rhythm that made the carriage lurch with every few steps. Anyone watching for more than a moment could tell the group had been traveling like this for a long time without proper rest.

“This mount won’t last.” The voice came from beneath the rider’s dark hood, low and certain, like he was stating a fact rather than a worry.

A moment later, that certainty proved true. The mount collapsed, its legs trembling once before they finally gave out. The body dropped hard onto the dirt.

“Kaelor, you’re pushing them too hard. Of course they can’t keep up for long” The only woman in the group jumped down from the carriage and walked to the horse. It was still trying to breathe, dragging air in through heavy, ragged breaths, its sides heaving as if each rise might be the last.

She bent toward the animal’s head and stroked it with her white, slender hand. The motion was slow, almost affectionate, the kind that would have looked comforting in any other situation.

“Poor thing.” Her voice sounded gentle and caring, but the effect was the opposite.

The horse suddenly began to thrash as unbearable pain tore through it, scraping at the ground as if it could claw its way out of its own suffering.

Blood started to seep from the inside out. Within seconds, its thick blue skin began turning crimson, the color spreading in ugly patches as its life drained away in silence.

Then the body gave in completely. It turned into liquid, with not even bones left behind, every particle becoming blood that pooled where it had fallen.

The woman did not stop there. Without pulling her hand away, she touched the pool, and the blood immediately began draining into an invisible opening on her palm. It was drawn in with relentless neatness, like a broom sweeping a floor clean, until there was not a single trace left behind on the dirt.

When the last drop was absorbed, she rose to her feet, and the softness in her manner vanished. Her tone turned openly displeased. “I hate feeding on low-quality blood. It doesn’t give me anything, and the aftertaste is awful.” Kaelor snorted at her complaint. “Who told you to feed on it?”

Since three of them had set out, it was the sixth horse she had drained. Every time, she complained that the taste and benefits were awful, yet she still kept doing it, like the habit mattered more to her than the result.

Arvyn tried to offer an excuse. “We can’t leave them behind like that. What if someone tracks them to us? We need to stay hidden while traveling, right?” Kaelor ignored her poor excuse. He knew what she was doing, and he wasn’t about to indulge it with an argument.

He raised his hand, and the empty space in front of him rippled for an instant before a new horse appeared. It was the same color, with the same patterns, pulled out from his Sanctuary like it had been stored there as an item.

He picked up the reins from the ground, the ones that had fallen from the previous mount, and started tying them to the carriage without wasting time. His movements were practiced and efficient, the kind that came from doing the same task too many times to count.

When he finished, he turned to the third person in the group, who had been silent the entire time. “Sevrak, you should take the ride from here. We’re very

close to the gate.”

Sevrak rose from his seat without refusing, but the question still came out. “We’re already so close. Could we consider using something faster now?”

It had been 2 months since they left the Blood Cult’s territory for their mission. They were traveling this way for a single reason. They needed to stay low-key, taking the most ordinary route instead of using their Sparks, even though it would have reduced the time greatly and left fewer traces behind.

Kaelor dismissed the thought strictly. “We have too many enemies around, with eyes everywhere. We can’t risk being found out now, especially when our goal

is so close.”

Their mission was to find and bring back the remains of the Heart of the Blood Palace and use it to awaken their God, with no tolerance for failure.

They did not know that, thanks to the Mad Scientist, the Blood Cult had already received another treasure to complete their ritual and finish the body for their Blood God.

But regarding that development, no message or update had reached this group, so they were still on the road to complete their current mission, unaware it had already become unnecessary.

With that heaviness riding in the carriage alongside them, they boarded again and continued forward. The wheels rolled on, and the new mount pulled without complaint, like it had never heard of exhaustion.

Time passed beneath the open sky. Gradually, the bright sun above began to monochrome chill, bathing the earth in white and black.

shift into

As the road straightened, their destination finally came into view, though it immediately felt like something never meant to be approached.

It was a massive structure rising from the ground, built from black stone and

climbing beyond the clouds like a fortress wall. Even from that distance, the enormous and grand structure was clearly visible, its edge forming a harsh line against the sky.