"In that case, bring it to the Medical Tent. Derick and you, Galina are our brightest minds here, I'm certain that together you two can find some use for this.. sweet-smelling herb!" The elderly captain advised after a moment of thought.

"As for you, Lilly.." He then turned to the blonde-haired girl. A tired-looking smile stretched the old man's weary expression. "..You should take a rest, you all had a long day. We can discuss the details and add your findings to our map then!"

He advised, giving a light head pat to the girl. Before Lilly could protest, the old man, stepped away, as once again, rugged footsteps reached his ears.

Looking up from the fair maiden, the captain turned his attention towards the entrance, only to frown for the umpteenth time this evening.

The third group that was sent out together with the rest to explore the neighboring plateau to the west of them have finally returned. However, as the old man glanced at them, he couldn't help but grow anxious, as the originally ten-man party that was sent out, only 8 -only his own mercenaries-, have come back. The sibling adventurers, the Silver-haired boy, and his fiery red-haired sister were missing.

"What happened to you guys? Where's ehrm.. Drake and.. Scarlet?" The captain asked as he walked over to greet his guys and gals.

"They.." The mercenaries visibly shook, shuddered at the seemingly innocent question. They shared a similar, slightly awkward-looking expression that was an unholy mixture of guilt, sadness, and even some confusion. The man with the short light brown hair and a thin, well-groomed pencil mustache, the de-facto leader of the returning group took a step forward and whilst huffing a breath of air, gathered the courage and willpower to speak up.

"Boss, they.." Still, as he was about to speak he found the knot in his stomach growing into an even bigger hurdle than he expected, he chuckled before he could continue. He took an extra gasp of the hot dry air and resumed only after a long exhale. "..sir, they have vanished!"

"What?!" The captain roared in shock. The exhaustion of his already aged nerves was showing its results.. Listening through two groups' reports that were filled with way too much adventure for a seemingly barren and scorched desert has already spent his energy for the evening. Still, he manned up as from the looks of it, the last of the three groups that were sent out, also couldn't avoid their fair share of excitement..

The old man reached for his wrinkled forehead and began to rub it as if hoping he could massage all the problems away, he asked whilst heaving a sigh.

"..Come to the bonfire and join the rest. You can explain and report what happened there. I'm sure the youngsters would also want to hear your story." He sighed again, ignoring the troubled, almost frightened looks of the group, and started walking back and leading the way to the campfire.

'This f**king realm.. God's forsaken, a real living world of nightmares.. Why am I punished with this..' He lamented, regretting his decision when he accepted the offer.

..

"So.. let me get this straight.." Sara sighed, forcing a cold insipid outlook on her face, trying her best to calm her agitated, chaotically beating worrisome heart. "The 8 of you, trained.. EXPERIENCED veteran warriors, trained fighters with keenly honed senses have lost sight of the siblings?" She asked, the sarcasm and ridiculing tone was oozing from each of her words, despite the emotionless look.

"You of all people, are saying that they were standing there in one moment, and then just.. how did you say.." She looked at the shield-bearing warrior with the pencil mustache. "Just up and vanished from one second to another? First the girl, Scarlet by the way.. and then her brother, Drake got teleported away in the next second?"

"Y-yes, ma'am." The man in question meekly nodded, not daring to argue back at all. With the aura of a natural leader she radiated, the team has already begun to treat her similarly to Captain Don. With the absence of this group of adventurers' captain, the long black-haired, exotic boy they looked at this purple-haired girl as the leader of their group.

"You know.. There's just one thing I don't understand Sara.." An angelic, sounding melody, Lilly's voice rang up, joining the abrupt interrogation session. She too, had an uncanny, uncharacteristic seriousness both in her tone and in her expression as she gazed at the party of Silver Howl mercenaries, treating them as a bunch of children that should apologize and atone for their mischief.

"What could it be, my dear Lilly?" Sara asked with a faked shock and surprise, casting a wondrous playful gaze at the girl standing to her right.

"If what they say is true.. and let's assume for the moment it is.. then, why are you all here? Why aren't you all missing, being stuck at the same place where those two supposedly were jerked away?!"

"Well.." The usually brave and arrogant, haughty officer gulped under the frightful gaze of these two angry lionesses. Whilst usually he and his men could withstand anything, they somehow found themselves be unable to refute or even look at the eyes of these seemingly weak little maidens. As if a mysterious force was casting a cloud of confusion on them, forcing them to not act up to their nature but instead be subservient and meek in front of these Mistresses.

"W-we.. when we saw them both suddenly vanishing from both our eyes and even from our senses, we didn't dare to follow them." The man hurriedly gulped a globe of saliva, gathering his courage a bit more.

A bald, clean-shaven man spoke up to give his comrade a bit of relief.

"In situations like t-these, it is b-best not to act rashly! W-we decided to come back and report back to the Captain. We didn't abandon them, we just need a p-proper plan.. you have to understand t-this!" He exclaimed, stuttering along the way.

Looking at the cold, contempt-filled gazes of the two girls even he himself, the usually fearless wolf, known as a real womanizer by his brethren couldn't muster up the necessary courage to fight back..

—

Low, animalistic noises, whims, and growls filled the seemingly empty, dark tunnel. A single small cave, blocked by a large, thick slab of stone blocked the escape for a fearsome, terrifying monster.

Not that the large blockage was that necessary, even if the door was left empty, devoid of such a hurdle, its sole resident wouldn't have been able to use the chance and venture out.

The one proud and justly feared mighty warrior, the monstrous general of the High Priest and the Ancient One was now shackled in thick chains forced to kneel on the ground at the center of his new 'room'..

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>>>Check out my latest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<<

It's an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated ('Banished') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova!

Planned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at some later point)

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Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods!

Links:

/shaele