It took a few more days for Leon and the caravan to arrive at their destination after running into Rodius and his men. Balder had been expecting to ride into a wasteland that was dominated by dead vegetation and ruined buildings, so when he saw the white walled town, he was completely taken aback.
‘Did the Demons do this?!’ His first thoughts were those of panic, but he soon calmed his mind. Balder was no fresh blood. He had acquired many useful skills that were particularly relevant to his trade. Although they were pretty much useless in a fight, they were still useful in the right circumstances.
A skill that gave him a calm, rational mind activated, and his hasty thoughts were instantly calmed. He was able to look at things from a much more rational point of view now. And he instantly doused that flame of panic that was trying to bury itself within his heart.
Another skill, a rather quirky one at that, activated. The name of this skill was ‘Merchant’s Intuition’, and it had been raised to the Advanced grade after being used in so many business deals. This skill have him a small amount of insight, and when paired together with his Rational Mind skill, he was able to make critical deductions at lightning speed!
It was under the influence of these skills that Balder noticed that he could not sense anything with a particularly hateful aura. Demons were known for their intense anger and negative emotions, so to someone like him, such things should have stood out like a sore thumb. However, he could not sense anything. Instead, it was like the white walled town was a sterilized area, pure from anything that would paint it in a negative light.
As Balder was thinking of what was going on there, Leon made his way to the top of his carriage. He held up a hand over his eyes and peered into the distance. They were still quite a ways from the town walls, but he wanted to do something when they got close enough.
When Leon reached out with his mind, he could feel the distinct presence of the living millipedes that he had left in the town back then. But he could also tell that they were very much different from what he knew. It was obvious that they had changed somehow. But the question was how.
‘Nedra, can you feel it?’ Leon asked his closest companion. The one who shared a spiritual bond with him.
‘I can feel it clearly. These millipedes went through some kind of change while we were busy for the past two months plus.’ She nodded her head. As the millipede queen, she also shared a bond with the millipedes. Through that bond, she was able to sense the same things that Leon could sense from the living millipedes.
As the caravan made its way closer to the town, Leon kept his eyes trained on the town’s gates. It seemed some work had been done on the town in his absence. The walls had been rebuilt to be much taller than before, and a large gate stood in front of the town.
Much to his surprised, the gates suddenly swung open, revealing some shocking sights.
“People!”
“Who are those?”
The people within the caravan were surprised, but their surprise could not beat that of Leon and Nedra, who knew what exactly those ‘people’ were.
With heads of white hair atop their shoulders, the people stood at the gates of the town. Just ten of them were present, but each of them was a Mid C rank fighter. They wore plain white armor, and their eyes were dark, almost black and devoid of color. But there was a hint of purple in their eyes.
When the carriage that Leon stood on top got close to the gates, Leon called for the caravan to come to a stop. He then hopped down from the top of the carriage with Nedra beside him and walked up to the gates.
Bang!
The white haired guards immediately reacted. They slammed the butts of the white spears in their hands into the ground and lowered themselves to one knee, as if welcoming their king.
“Welcome back, Lord!” At once, the ten soldiers declared their minds and bowed their head before Leon.
“You can talk.” Leon noted with a content smile on his face. This was good. He did not know how, but they had been busy. Aside from manning and protecting the town, they had also grown stronger. It was a good thing for him.
“Lord, we are grateful to have you back. Your wish is out command. Tell us what you want of us, and we shall accomplish it as quickly as possible!” One of the white haired Undead Millipedes declared in a loud voice.
Leon turned to look at the one that had spoke. It was a male with a fairly average body built. In his white hair, a tuft of silky looking black hair ran through, giving him a more sophisticated look. Even the vibe that he gave off was slightly different from the others.
‘Could this be a commander kind? I will need to check this out in more detail later.’ Leon told himself and nodded.
p “Give way for now. Let the caravan come in.” Leon said, and the Undead Millipedes in human form stood up and stepped aside, allowing the caravan to drive into the town.
Leon stepped past the gate as well, and he immediately felt a buzz, like an electric shock, run through his body, causing him to pause for a moment. He recognized this energy very well.
‘Holy energy. But to be more clear… Divinity!’ Leon quickly deducted the origin of that strange energy. He could still remember how painful it was to be infused with Michael’s Divinity in order to gain the Title of God’s Disciple. He had yet to even put that title to use, although he knew how.