Chapter 124: Face to Face

By the time everyone crawled out of the cave, the sky outside had already darkened.

Nick was absentmindedly scribbling when he saw the group return and quickly went up to greet them.

...

This routine of exploring the underground during the day and returning before nightfall continued for five days.

Since both Saul and Nick were Second-Level Apprentices, they took turns staying behind at the camp.

As for the Head Monster that had appeared at the entrance of Hanging Valley, it never showed up again. This allowed Byron and Saul, who had been on edge, to relax slightly.

On this particular day, it was Saul’s turn to stay behind.

Seeing that the group had been inside the cave for a while, he immediately put down the materials in his hands and began studying his own eyes instead.

He hadn’t slept for days, replacing rest with deep meditation to avoid accidentally slipping into the dreams of those around him.

Although this ability might allow him to uncover some secrets, recklessly prying into the minds of others before fully understanding the Nightmare Butterfly's effects could spell disaster.

Saul always remembered a saying in the Wizarding World:

"Danger comes from the unknown, and the unknown is infinite."

Facing the Soul Wave Perception Instrument, he carefully observed and recorded the frequency of the silver flashes in his eyes.

He discovered that if he didn’t enter a semi-immersive meditation, the cocoon in his eyes wouldn’t glow at all.

But once he did, a faint silver light would flash through his left eye about once per minute.

However, the glow was so weak that unless someone was staring directly at him face to face, they would hardly notice it.

Just as Saul was planning how to start his experiments after returning, the sky suddenly darkened.

A massive shadow slowly covered the area where he stood.

Saul looked up. The sky was clear, not a single cloud in sight.

He turned around—and there, on the towering cliff face opposite him, a giant ship had appeared!

The vessel resembled an ancient three-masted sailing ship, but its size far surpassed that of an ordinary ship.

Each of the three massive sails bore a depiction of a different eerie creature:

A slender ghostly figure,

A thousand-eyed banshee,

And a giant, beautiful yet disturbingly unnatural flower with ominous petals and a grotesque core.

The sails were slowly being furled as the colossal ship came to a halt.

Below the sails, the hull was wrapped in enormous white bones, giving it a chilling, skeletal appearance.

Even further below, the terrain obscured the ship’s full form, leaving its lower half hidden from view.

As the shadow ceased expanding, the gigantic ship finally came to a stop.

"A massive ship… sailing on land?" Saul stood up, his expression turning grim. "...A Landship?"

He recalled his previous encounter with Bill and Wright—Bill had just killed four members of the Landship crew.

Could these new arrivals be their comrades, coming to exact revenge?

Saul glanced at the sky—it was still early. Byron and the others weren’t expected to return for some time.

Without hesitation, Saul began packing up his belongings.

Fortunately, the group hadn’t set up any tents. As long as he hid a few small instruments, their presence here wouldn’t be easily discovered.

Regardless of whether these people were here for revenge or not, as a mere Second-Level Apprentice, it was too dangerous for Saul to confront them.

He carried several large instruments into a nearby cave and covered the entrance with plants.

Then, with his backpack secured, he prepared to relocate and find a new hiding place.

But at that moment—

His diary suddenly flew out, flipping open at an unbelievable speed, as lines of text appeared as if played on 4x fast-forward mode:

> Lunar Calendar Year 316, April 20

Since leaving the Wizard Tower,

you’ve had a relatively smooth journey.

But now, you will finally understand

what it means when they say—

"The outside world is truly exciting."

You will be captured.

You will be interrogated.

But no matter what you say…

In the end, they will dig out your eyes…

And turn you into a flower~

"I cannot be captured!"

Saul instantly realized—these people were his enemies!

There was no time to carefully choose the best hiding spot. He immediately dove into the nearest cave and sprinted deeper inside.

"Rustle, rustle…"

Some loose sand tumbled down with him. Saul froze, pressing himself flat against the ground, fearing that the noise might alert those above.

Since the diary had given him a warning, it meant that the enemy would have found him soon anyway.

But this brief time gap gave Saul a small chance to hide.

"Thankfully, this area is full of tunnels, and many of them twist and turn unpredictably. Otherwise, my odds of escape would be slim."

Holding his breath, Saul watched the ceiling, straining his ears.

After several sharp turns, he could no longer see the cave entrance.

He could only hope that his earlier movements hadn’t left any obvious traces on the ground.

At the same time, he remained poised to flee at a moment’s notice.

"Thump… Thump… Thump… Thump…"

His heart pounded wildly.

A ship that massive, sailing on land, could only mean one thing—their leader was incredibly powerful.

Saul could only pray that there were no full-fledged wizards among them.

"Thump… Thump… Thump… Thump…"

The agonizing wait was the worst part.

The tunnel grew eerily silent. Saul unconsciously pressed a hand against his chest, his eyes still locked onto the darkness ahead.

Time passed.

No sound came from above.

Perhaps the intruders hadn’t noticed any traces of him and had moved on.

Saul cautiously inched further down, crawling through the tunnel.

After descending a few more meters and taking several more turns, he retrieved a long, thin test tube from his backpack.

It was something Wright had left behind—a contingency plan.

As long as Saul buried half of the insect inside the tube in the soil, Wright would know that Saul was in trouble.

If the entire insect was buried, it meant that Saul was in grave danger and was calling for help.

Saul followed the plan—burying only half of the insect.

This meant: “There is danger above, but I am still safe.”

If Byron and the others returned, this would serve as a warning.

"Whew…"

Having set the warning, Saul finally felt a small sense of relief.

At least now, Byron and the others wouldn’t walk into a trap unknowingly.

He remained lying still in the darkness for two more hours. His stomach had begun to grumble for food when he slowly sat up.

The tunnel was pitch black.

Yet, on his left shoulder, his diary remained clearly visible—defying all logical laws of light.

"Can I go up and check now?" Saul wondered.

The diary flew out again—this time, showing him a particularly gruesome death.

"Alright… Hopefully, they leave before nightfall. I really don’t want to spend the night underground."

"Maybe I could use a dim light spell?"

The diary flipped open once more.

But this time, what it said made Saul’s heart stop cold.

> Lunar Calendar Year 316, April 20

You hide underground,

believing you have escaped the crisis.

You rise and illuminate the surroundings,

and then you see it—

A severed head, directly facing you.

It grins, revealing a row of neat, crimson teeth.

"You found me."

You try to run.

But its neck stretches out faster.

You are grabbed and lifted into the air.

Once it realizes it can’t use you to find the others…

It bites off half your face.

Saul stared unblinkingly at the diary.

But more than anything…

He wanted to know if, right in front of him in the darkness—

A face was silently watching his every move.

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