Chapter 135: Living Dead

Inside the cave path,

the air soon filled with the rot and pungent smell.

Not because the cave was corrupted with poison, but because of the dead bodies piling up near the damp cave mouth.

The Black Sea Gorge had a reason for being abandoned.

No one could ever take any real treasure out of this cursed place. Even the rare Moon Pearls collected by the sea hawk squads of the packs and the hunters always demanded a heavy price for just one pearl.

The generals who still held the pearls could manage after this long exposure, but the poor group of sentinels and guards that followed them were almost all on their way to the next life.

Not to mention the suffocating pressure of being trapped.

They had lost all hope.

"RRRRRBBBLLLL—"

The rock wall finally gave way after hours of desperate clawing and force, one after another.

A chunk of black stone tumbled outward with a heavy rumble, and the remaining people from the five packs spilled out like the living dead.

The Vaelis Shadow Lord was the first to climb free. His face was dark with rage and poison lines. Black veins still crawled up the side of his neck.

Soon after came the Lyris Shadow Lord, then Ironfang, Blackthorn, and last the Vesper Shadow Lord, whose eyes stayed sharp even though his skin had turned an ugly blue shade from the poison and the cold air.

What followed them was pathetic.

Out of the thirty-something warriors and generals who had entered earlier with each pack, only ten to eleven managed to crawl or stagger into the open tunnel.

The rest had either collapsed from the poison, suffocated inside the trapped paths, or simply stopped moving when their strength ran out.

Some of the weaker sentinels never even reached the exit.

Their ending was already written.

They knew it, and the others knew it too.

They would be left behind.

There was no cure in anyone’s hands, and no one had the leisure or energy to carry those unlucky ones.

Their bodies were left under the rubble, already dead from the Black Sea poison.

The air outside the crack was still poisonous.

The Shadow Lords looked back once and mercilessly took all the storage bags from their generals. Just in case those men died on the way and the storage dropped into the sea.

As they traversed the slope and the cliff they had come from, the poisoned men grew weaker and weaker.

The Vaelis Shadow Lord kicked one of his own men who was too slow. "Get up! You want to die here?!"

The man put his weight on his arms, trying to stand again, but only managed to half-rise before falling once more.

No one was laughing anymore.

The initial joy of getting rare herbs was soon replaced with endless regret.

They had gone in with greed burning in their eyes, but came out looking like corpses that only knew how to breathe for one more minute.

A group of guards was already waiting on the high ridge above the gorge, where the poison had almost faded.

Alpha Vaelis stood among them, arms crossed, red cloak moving slightly in the cold wind.

Beta Owen was beside him, face grim with tension.

Luna Alisa stood a step behind her husband, her long dark hair tied back, eyes calm but cold as she watched the survivors climb up the slope.

The moment the Shadow Lords reached the ridge, their faces turned serious.

They silently handed the remaining people over to the guards’ care and followed Alpha Vaelis without a word.

They did not stop until they reached the closest safe tent that had been temporarily set up for the meet-up.

As soon as the group settled inside, the healers from the packs hurried forward to treat them.

"Fuck this poison! It’s killing me. How come the Moon’s Tears are also corrupted?" the Ironfang Shadow Lord hissed.

"The Moon’s Tear is corrupted the moment you hold it. It hates human touch." Alpha Vaelis slowly reminded them.

"Is there still no improvement from the witches’ and healers’ side to make an elixir for this?"

"They are trying, but the resources are limited. Not enough Moon’s Tears to use. And no herb can withstand the poison." Beta Owen replied.

"How was the search? Is there any entrance?" Alpha Vaelis asked calmly.

This was the main reason he had sent this squad.

"No. Only five caves with some rare herbs and weapons," the Ironfang Shadow Lord said slowly.

"You got weapons and herbs?" The Blackthorn Shadow Lord immediately sat up straight.

He had gotten nothing but some soil!

"What? Don’t tell me you got nothing? Don’t try to fool me, old Fang!" Ironfang scoffed.

"We really got nothing. There was only soil and mud all over the place." Blackthorn felt agitated.

He knew better how unbelievable this sounded when the others had gotten something from their caves.

"What about the others?" Alpha Vaelis said coldly. His alpha pressure and status still stopped the argument.

"I got Starlight Grass and Moondew Flower," the Lyris Pack Shadow Lord said indifferently.

"We got nothing. There was just a strange magnetic field, and we all got caught in it. Six people died there. The others barely made it out with help," the Vaelis Shadow Lord said grumpily.

Blackthorn Shadow Lord finally exhaled in relief.

So he was not alone. ℴ

At least they would not suspect him.

The last one, Vesper, was silent for a moment, then said in a low voice, "Frostbite Grass, Frostbite mushrooms, frost ore, and arctic roots. I got these. It was a frost land."

Hearing this, Alpha Vaelis’s face did not change.

Instead, he smirked slowly.

"What about my sons and the witch? Did you catch them?"

All the Shadow Lords’ faces darkened at those names.

"Those despicable lowly things! I don’t even want to hear about them. There were only three sons and the witch; the other two probably already dead, who knows? And we didn’t find them inside."

He sneered and continued.

"There was another path to exit. They went out and blocked the cave path. That’s why we lost so many of our people." Ironfang grumbled.

He still remembered that little dog-hole they had assumed was another path.