Eileen received a transmission from Atiste on her way to the Dwarf Berserker Settlement.
[What are your thoughts on that barrier?]
Eileen replied, “It is the only thing I have encountered so far that can interfere with my actions, Master. I am afraid it is some kind of Spacetime Ritual.”
Atiste thought for a moment and agreed.
[I think so too. This also shows that, even after 500 years, there are still domains in this world that we have yet to discover.]
“Master, you are already the most powerful existence in this world. Why is it necessary to continue exploring the unknown?”
[Art is the unknown, Art is the future, and Art is the integration of everything in the world. Therefore, I will not stop my footsteps.]
Eileen said with some concern, “I feel like you are saying something very dangerous, Master. I hope I won’t see you lying in a pool of blood in the next second.”
[What are you talking about? Never mind. Hurry and check the current location of that dwarf boy. If I have guessed correctly, he should be the key to breaking this situation.]
Eileen nodded and quickened her pace.
When she reached the settlement — which previously had only six households — she saw Prushka’s son, Roershka, standing in front of one of the houses.
He was carrying six fish on his back, each as large as he was.
He proactively laid down one fish at the door before turning toward the next house.
As soon as he turned to leave, a hand reached out from inside the door and took the fish away.
After walking only a few steps, a string of fish bones — with not even the head remaining — was thrown out from inside.
Roershka did not even look back as he continued to the next household.
As Eileen observed all of this, she could not help but wonder, ‘How long has Roershka been like this?’
‘How did he survive in a snowfield like this?’
‘He could not have lived in a carriage the whole time since he left Thor Village, right?’
Looking at his current state, he seemed about the same as the day she first met him.
He was not sick, nor was he exhausted.
He even seemed to be ‘walking as if on wings.’
Eileen examined the mana flow on Roershka and found six different mana links attached to him.
Following the links, she found that their ends were located in six different houses.
Further investigation revealed six different mana reactions in the six houses, and all of these reactions were exceptionally violent.
It was as if they were ‘sealed’ inside those houses.
Aside from that, there was some elderly, calm mana.
Looking at it this way, those six mana sources were undoubtedly the Dwarf Berserkers.
But what about the elderly ones?
Eileen passed through the ice huts and went inside.
The moment she entered the first house, she saw a red-haired Dwarf Berserker bound by chains.
Those chains were not simple; they were forged from materials capable of sealing mana.
Whether it was an illusion or a coincidence, the Dwarf Berserker ‘glanced’ at Eileen.
In reality, he had simply turned toward Eileen and stopped moving.
Eileen discovered that his eyes were blind, with obvious blade wounds across both his left and right eyes.
An old dwarf was in the same room as the red-haired Berserker.
He was gray-haired and held a heavy axe.
He said to the Berserker, “Solk, what do you see?”
Solk replied, “No, it is nothing. I sensed some kind of summons.”
The old dwarf picked up the heavy axe, handed it to Solk, and asked, “Then do you need me to break the seal for you now?”
The red-haired Solk replied, “No rush. First, let me taste the deboned fish. I need to build up my strength for now.”
The old dwarf smiled and immediately threw the grilled fish to Solk.
The blind Solk accurately bit the fish relying only on its scent and swallowed it in one gulp.
“Hahaha, it is rare to see you so calm and able to communicate normally. It seems something big is really about to happen.”
Eileen continued to the location of the next link.
Another Dwarf Berserker was sealed here.
This was a female dwarf with red hair, and her entire body was wrapped in Mana-sealing Chains.
Even so, it was difficult to hide the violent mana inside her.
As soon as Eileen approached her, she began to struggle, as if trying to pounce toward Eileen.
Eileen was puzzled.
‘Could these Berserkers really sense me?’
‘It must just be a coincidence.’
An old dwarf woman was also here, guarding this female Dwarf Berserker.
She said to the Berserker, “Soraka, what happened on your brother’s side? If you are rational, tell me directly, and I will break the seal for you.”
“Kill… judge… protect the village!”
Soraka’s voice was sharp and piercing, causing the old woman to take a few steps back in fright.
The old woman judged that it was not yet time to break the seal, so she minded her own business and ate the fish she had just picked up from the door.
Eileen continued to investigate the next ice hut.
She could now be certain that this settlement was a place used to imprison Dwarf Berserkers.
It would not be an exaggeration to call it a prison.
Since the ice huts were built to look no different from ordinary villagers’ houses, someone looking only from the outside would indeed think this was just a remote village.
She had not expected such a hidden secret inside.
When she reached the third house, there was no guard.
There was only a thin, small dwarf with long green hair.
Judging by appearance alone, Eileen did not think this was a Berserker.
He was sallow and thin, small in stature, and looked like he might starve to death at any moment.
But he was not dead yet.
However, there was indeed violent mana in his body.
Several worn-out short-handled axes lay beside him.
He also glanced toward Eileen.
This time, Eileen confirmed that she had made eye contact with this Berserker.
Thus, she reached a conclusion in her heart: ‘These guys can see me.’
Just as she was about to ask for information, the thin, small dwarf simply picked up the nearby fish and swallowed it whole without even spitting out the bones.
Then, he lay down to rest.
He merely wrote a sentence on the ground: Sigma cannot speak.
Eileen recorded the information and went to the fourth house.
A young dwarf was imprisoned in this house.
She had pink hair, was female, and looked quite youthful.
She was huddled in the corner, shivering, with chains fastened to her body.
The person guarding her was also an old woman, who looked exactly like the old woman in the second room.
“Selim, what do you see?” the old dwarf woman asked the little dwarf while grilling fish.
Selim did not answer, but she was clearly hiding from Eileen.
The closer Eileen got, the more she shrank back.
The old woman looked toward Eileen’s direction and said, “Do you see a ‘ghost’ again? Are you going to say someone is going to harm you again? If you have the time for that, you might as well eat something first.”
The old woman handed the grilled fish to Selim, but she swiped it to the ground.
The old woman shook her head and sighed.
She picked up the fish, blew on it twice, and ate it herself.
“What a waste of food. In my opinion, you need to be locked up for a while longer!”
Selim remained silent, only shivering as she huddled in the corner.
When Eileen reached the fifth house, it was completely empty.
However, the fish delivered by Roershka lay quietly inside the door.
Eileen checked but could not find any mana reaction.
Yet, she had definitely detected one while outside earlier.
Because time was short, Eileen had to proceed to the next house first.
The scene in the last cell surprised Eileen.
Roershka, holding a sword and shield, had stabbed a black-haired dwarf bound by chains to death.
He muttered, “I have been reborn.”