Hunter of the Evernight
Chapter 272: Unbelievable

Chapter 272: Unbelievable

Aragon was a single city built at the periphery of the Wandering Forest, with its walls as high as ten feet.

Occupied by the BeastMen, it was a city that was founded more than 3000 years ago by their progenitor, Viracocha.

Legends say the city wasn’t built and instead was pulled out from the depths of the earth by Viracocha after which he formed it into the imposing structure it was now.

With its main export being coal and timber, the BeastMen had traded with the Empire for years and even now, remained its biggest supplier, allowing them to maintain a certain standard of living with no trace of poverty amongst them.

Currently, Aragon’s gates were opening as carriages filled with coal were about to leave.

The carriages numbered a little over 10 with each one guarded by 5 armored BeastMen.

It was a normal occurrence for the carriages to be attacked by fools wishing to get a hold of Aragon’s coal with very few being lucky enough to survive the encounter.

"Head out!" The leader of the group, a burly man with flowing hair tied in a knot, ordered in Gaia, the national language of Aragon, as he stood at the forefront.

A few BeastMen transformed into their beastly forms before heading out, each one scouting the area ahead.

With them gone, the carriages were slowly driven out.

Just as the convoy leader tried to pass the gate, he paused as he couldn’t help but notice something pass from the periphery of his vision.

He glanced toward the location immediately but found nothing of consequence.

Scanning the area, he questioned one of his subordinates who approached. "Did you see that?"

"See what, Captain?"

"Hmm, never mind. Keep moving!"

Like that, the convoy soon left and the gates closed.

***

"That was close," Alex muttered as he watched the convoy leave while hiding behind a few crates close to the gates.

He’d intended to enter through the sky but after realizing that the city was shrouded in a barrier that prevented people from attacking from above, he opted to enter through the gates.

Unfortunately, the BeastMen hardly opened their gates and it had been a patient wait of over 3 days with barely any progress before they finally opened it for a delivery of coal to Thebes.

Taking the opportunity, Alex utilized NightWatcher to infiltrate but he couldn’t help but shake off the feeling that the captain had seen him enter.

Was it his imagination?

He couldn’t be sure.

Regardless, with the captain gone, he decided to carry on with his mission.

He held out no hope that he would be able to find the proxy today but that wasn’t his aim in the first place.

Intending to scope out the area while testing out Aragon’s security was his top priority so, he immediately got to work doing so.

The city had a style that wasn’t built with much aesthetics with most focusing on more practical and in some cases, militaristic designs.

It was a rather eye-opening sight compared to BoneHaven or Krobridge which were quite pleasing to the eye.

Of course, that didn’t mean the BeastMen didn’t have their own aesthetics.

Its streets were filled with several BeastMen going about their day.

Unlike the empire where women were hardly allowed to work outside of the home, Aragon had no issue with gender as one could see women carrying out predominantly ’male’ tasks and men performing the latter.

Alex ensured he stayed where shadows congregated to ensure he wasn’t quickly found out as he inspected the security on the streets.

Surprisingly, there was no security.

At least, no law enforcement walked around with weapons while trying to keep the peace.

Were the people of Aragon that harmonious?

Just then, he heard a commotion from down the street with a few quickly gathering.

Drawn to it, he noticed that it had to do with a man and a woman.

Staying in a corner that provided a good view and security, he watched the drama unfold.

’What’s going on?’ Alex couldn’t help but wonder as the man and woman argued with each other in Gaia.

Unable to understand their conversation, Alex mentally noted the importance of getting a translator soon, especially since he would be visiting other continents if what was known about the Branches was to be believed.

In any case, his question on what was going on was soon answered as the duo suddenly pulled out weapons causing him to furrow his brows.

He hadn’t noticed the weapons at all!

Wait, did that mean everyone carried weapons or it was just those two?

The next moment, the woman rushed toward the man and swung her sword down in a bid to cleave her opponent.

Her opponent instantly blocked before attempting to strike her down but she seemed quicker, taking a step back before rushing forward again.

Like that, the battle progressed with the crowd watching on with intrigue, almost like they were analyzing the match.

The woman utilized swift movements to try and catch the man off guard with the latter shrugging her off each time with his overwhelming strength.

Finally, the girl was left exhausted while the man stared down at her with contempt.

The man said something as he stretched out his hand and helped the girl to his feet before they left causing the crowd to instantly disperse, almost like the weird fight was a normal occurrence for them.

Alex couldn’t help standing in place, still trying to come to terms with what he just saw.

It was only now he understood what Arthur had meant when he said his people were battle maniacs.

Even the most minor argument could result in a fight and not the bloody kind, but a somewhat noble one albeit quite weird.

Finally, he shrugged off his winding thoughts to focus on the task at hand.

He made his way deeper into the city, passing through the markets, living districts, and even the battlegrounds which served as training grounds for budding youths and youthful adults.

Ignoring them, he finally arrived before the gates of the palace which seemed quite empty compared to what Alex expected.

The lack of buildings around the area made it difficult for Alex to move on considering NightWatcher needed shadows to work properly.

While mentally making a note to further improve the skill to get rid of that flaw, he intended to move on when he realized that something was wrong.

This... it had been too easy.

He knew Arthur could have exaggerated about the security in Aragon but not so much that it would be a walk in the park.

So what was up?

Hardly had he begun to ponder this when he sensed a ripple in the Aether.

The next moment, the entire area, nay, the entire city brimmed with light as the stones on the ground turned white hot in an instant, leaving no place for shadows to remain.

Alex turned wide-eyed at the sight only to be shocked even further as his Ability was dispelled, leaving him out in the open.

The next moment, several projectiles rushed toward his location causing his expression to shift before a self-deprecating smile adorned his lips.

"Unbelievable." He muttered as he snapped and disappeared in a flash of black and white.