"Any sign of her?" Jade asked Raeden, having just returned from scoping the area around the camp.

"No" Raeden answered in a single syllable.

After subduing the ogre ambush at the camp, both the Tullus and Nero mercenaries were searching for the two members of their entourage who had disappeared since the attack.

"Her scent seems to have vanished from this point. Where could she have gone to?" Jade pondered.

The pack of ogres that were headed towards the camp seemed to have vanished along with the Ann and Kalan.

What was more worrisome was that they had discovered the said pack of ogres as corpses a few meters away from the camp.

'I get the feeling that he is always around her when something happens'

For some reason, ever since the start of the journey, Jade had noticed that wherever Ann went, Kalan was found lingering around as if he was keeping an eye. It was not like the typical behavior of men who were after her as they would scatter with the slightest threat.

Rather Kalan has always had a legitimate reason for being present. Thus it was hard to dismiss.

Even a few days before when Ann went for a stroll and returned with Raeden, Kalan was right behind them.

'Something is fishy about him...'

Jade was concerned. But the concern has to wait for another time, as the matter at hand was far more relevant.

"She must be somewhere around here..."

Jade tried to console Raeden when the latter suddenly took off into the woods without a word.

Worried the rest of the Nero mercenaries followed him in close proximity so as to not lose sight of him.

'He's moving too fast'

Eugene was the first to catch up to Raeden kneeling down on the ground. There was a familiar object in his hands.

"Isn't that..."

Oliver trailed off what he was about to say when he saw Raeden's face darken. There were pieces of what used to be Ann's sword in Raeden's hands.

"There are two sets of tracks on the ground. Both are alphas"

In addition to the broken sword, there were tracks of two alpha ogres leading further into the trees.

From the looks of it, Ann intercepted the ogres that were en route and led them in the forest. A battle ensued and Ann was able to get the upper hand until she was attacked by alpha ogres. She evaded the alpha ogres and escaped, during which her sword was split into pieces.

'That idiot!' Eugene facepalmed.

'What was she thinking to take matters into her own hand? Does she have a death wish?'

Eugene looked over at Raeden. The faint trace of Killium spice they had followed was lost at the site the sword was found.

"We need to find them" Raeden clenched his hands.

"We have to find them now"









Meanwhile, inside the tomb.

"Where is this voice coming from?" Ann looked around searching for the source of the voice.

But there was no one in the tomb aside from her and the two people inside the graves.

Certainly, it couldn't be them, since they have been there for centuries. Nevertheless, anything could be possible in a world filled with magic.

Before she lost consciousness, Ann was beside the graves rather than the pond. There were sprinkles of water from the fountain on her face and neck indicating that she had been there for quite a long time.

Someone must have moved her near the pond while she was blacked out.

"Who is talking?" Ann asked cautiously.

"..."

The voice remained silent.

"I already know you are there. Reveal yourself..."

Her eyes scanned across the tomb. She couldn't feel any ill intentions from the hidden voice.

"..."

Still, there was no reply.

"Haah... Have I gone crazy at last?" Ann muttered, getting on her feet.

She seemed to have been hearing voices and encountering weird instances since stepping inside Eldom.

"You're not crazy. Well... you are crazy. Just not full yet" The voice scoffed, mockingly.

"Then where are you?"

Ann snapped. She was getting tired of the mind games.

"Look here" The voice sighed as if given up.

"Where?" Ann searched left and right. There wasn't anyone present as far as her eyes reached.

"Down here. You spider webhead!" The voice mocked by mimicking her tone.

"Who the hell are you calling a spider webhead?!" Ann roared and looked down.

"Hi" The voice greeted in a polite tone.

Ann froze like a statue.

'Am I seeing things or did the sword just talk?'

On the ground next to her feet lay the black longsword she had pulled from the stone platform. The sword had a miraculous transformation from a brittle stick to its now awe-worthy appearance.

It was hard to believe it was the same sword unless witnessing the change in person.

"Stared enough" Ann could imagine the sword smirking at her.

"Whoa!" She flinched back, climbing half on top of the grave.

"Did you just talk?"

"Yeah. And no need to be so surprised. I'm not the weirdest person you've met so far"

The sword empathized,

"Now, be respectful and get down will you"

"Oh!"

Ann realized she was sitting on top of one of the graves and jumped down immediately.

"I'm sorry"

She bowed and apologized to the person in the grave before turning her attention back to the talking sword.

Although it felt ghostly being reprimanded by an inanimate object that sprung to life, the sword was right.

It was not the weirdest being she had encountered so far. That honor went to the Howard twins.

"Did you bring me here?"

Ann picked up the sword in her hands and examined it. She was sure that the ruby at the center of the crescent moon was responsible for her to lose consciousness.

"No. I don't even have hands" The sword objected.

"That makes sense"

She frowned her brows while admiring the workmanship on the blade. It was worthy of being a relic.

"Then who?"

"It was the man" The sword answered her question.

"What man?"

Angelica narrowed her eyes, pointing the sword at the entrance of the tomb. The light from the golden dragon reflected on the blade revealing the intricate inscriptions engraved on it.

"The muscular handsome man. Oh! There he is!"

Over the blade, Ann could see the silhouette of someone walking into the tomb.

"Kalan?" She called out, lowering the sword.

"You're awake" Kalan casually strode towards her without any reserve and placed his hand on her forehead.

"Your temperature is back to normal" He muttered and proceeded to cup her cheeks.

"..." Ann stiffened, her eyes as wide as a saucer.

"Your complexion is better too"

"..."

"Ah! I apologize for making you uncomfortable"

Kalan took a step back, noticing Ann staring at him dumbfounded. He had crossed over the line in a moment of urgency.

"Care to explain what just happened?"

The sword questioned, levitating up with Ann still holding it, putting some distance between the two.

Kalan glanced at the sword for a second, then disregarded it and spoke to Ann instead.

"I saw you being chased by ogres. But so was I. While you were fighting the ones after you, I cleared the rest before they could get to you. If you could put down the sword now..."

Just as Ann was about to speak, the sword interrupted her.

"Although this human seems sketchy. I think he deserves a thankyou..."

"You. Shut up" Ann lowered the sword and prompted Kalan to continue his story.

"You. Continue"

According to Kalan, while Ann was dealing with the ogres. He killed off the remaining that were on the way and followed after her trail. Soon after they entered the cave, he followed the tracks of the alpha ogres that were following her.

When Kalan got near the tomb, he saw a blinding light come from the inside and when he rushed in, found Ann collapsed on the ground, her hand tightly clenching on the sword.

Moments later, she started burning up and sweating as if she was having a nightmare.

Kalan carried Ann near the pond and cleaned the sweat on her face. After she calmed a bit, he left her to scope the place for exits and possible threats.

By the time he returned Ann had already regained consciousness.

"..." Ann raised her eyebrow.

Though Kalan's words were sincere, there were a lot of suspicious holes in his story. Why would he run towards danger when people usually run away from it?

If he was skilled enough to tackle a number of ogres by himself, then he could be hiding more than what meets the eye.

However, Ann decided to forgo everything since she was exhausted.

And most of all, hungry.

"How long was I out?"

"Approximately forty-five minutes..."

Kalan followed Ann as she walked past him towards the murals on the walls.

"Are you sure you are alright, miss?"

"I'm fine. But..." Ann fell into thought.

Below the murals were inscriptions written in ancient Oric language that was out of practice for years. The inscriptions were filled with phrases and wordings that even experts would find hard to decipher.

On the other hand, even if she were to understand it, half of the inscriptions were hidden by dust and insect nests.

"Kal... " Ann was able to decrypt, one half of what seems to be a name.

"Ah... the rest is covered with an ant tunnel"

'No wonder ants are the king of insects'

An army of black ants moved in and out of the intricate tunnels system they had formed over the murals.

"Kal? Kal... Kal..." Ann repeated, trying to jog her memory.

'Kal as in Kal-El? Superman? Will a ghost pop out if I call out Martha three times?' Ann stifled a laugh.

Surely it couldn't be that. But the word 'Kal' was one she had read multiple times in the book.

"Maybe it has something to do with the Saintess of Kal? Tsk tsk... Then it's no longer my jurisdiction" Ann mumbled to herself, forgetting that she was not alone.

"Can you read it, miss?" Kalan smiled, admiring the ever-changing expressions on Ann's face.

"I can..." Ann dragged, biting her lips.

"But I won't"

"Why not?" Kalan seemed confused.

If she knew how to read them, it might help find a safe way out of the tomb without running into more trouble.

"Why would you think that?"

"Think what?"

"Not to read the inscriptions?"

"Duh! Literally every horror movie"

'I am too young to die again'

"I know better than to carelessly read out stuff from an ancient tomb that's in the middle of nowhere" Ann rolled her eyes.

"However, I did skim it. It's basically a pledge of eternal love. A little something about footprints and waves I guess? It doesn't make sense"

She shrugged and made her final statement.

"In conclusion. Somebody loved somebody. And they built this place after the said person passed away"

Ann was feeling extremely proud of herself for accomplishing the impossible of decoding ancient inscriptions. She made a mental note to brag about it to Axel Gilbert the next time she sees him.

Ancient Orion was one of the subjects Gilbert tutored the Ashford siblings since alchemy prevailed during ancient times. Most of the basic foundations of alchemy were decrypted from ancient texts.

Thus Gilbert made sure that all of his students had knowledge of ancient Orion. Though not everyone was happy about it.

'How dare he call me useless, that old man! I'm so gonna rub this on his face' Ann grinned wickedly, looking forward to meeting Gilbert again.

"So it's a tomb of love"

Kalan's eyes were fixed on the central mural, which had an armor-clad warrior holding a dark longsword. It was identical to the one Ann was holding.

"Well.. that one way to put it"

Ann followed his line of sight and peered at the mural. There was something peculiar about it that was familiar yet foreign.

'It's on the tip of my tongue. I just can't put my finger on it'

She contemplated when Kalan turned towards her and asked,

"What's a movie?"

Kalan tilted his head.

"Forget that. The point is this is a place made of love. And I for one don't want to wake up anything that shouldn't be disturbed and get myself turned into mummies!"

Ann was worked up. Turning into an undead mummy was the last thing she wanted.

"Calm down"

"I am calm. We just don't know who this... wait a second"

Then it struck Ann. It might be entirely speculation, but she might be right. The pieces of the puzzle were in front of her the whole time. It just took the right eye to put them back.

"The symbol of the golden dragon belongs to the imperial family of Orion. Put that together with the sword on the stone platform and two graves"

"Oh my god! Kalan!" Ann exclaimed, excitedly pulling on Kalan's arm.

Her emerald eyes shined bright, exhilarated, and full of fire.

"If this really is who I think it is. We're gonna go down in history" She smiled widely pointing back and forth between the graves and the murals.

"We found them!"

"We found Arthum and Helo!"