Chapter 57: The Broken Valley

A thick, heavy mist, like a curtain of smoke and ash, had swallowed the path ahead of them.

Daniel and Eva were riding on the back of the Vorak. The sound of the beast’s heavy breathing was audible.

Each breath they took pressed oddly on their chests, as if the air itself was weighted. They had set out about an hour ago, after eating lunch in the village.

Daniel glanced around. The massive walls of the valley were covered with carvings and markings eroded over time.

They reminded him vaguely of the stone engravings from his previous life, but he could tell these weren’t decorative—they looked more like symbols and explanations.

"What happened here?" he asked after a bit of thought.

"Honestly... I’m not exactly sure. Most of what I know is from my father’s stories. About a hundred and twenty years ago, this was a main road. The most important route connecting the continent of Arontir to the three others. The safest path, at least back then," Eva explained after taking a breath.

"Later, a lot of the trade guilds agreed to extend it and connect it to the ’Golden Road.’ That was the road merchants used for intercontinental trade. But... before they could finish, a massive attack by corruption beasts turned this place into hell." Her eyes fixed on the mist as she continued.

She sighed as she finished explaining. Before her family was wiped out, she had seen many drawings of this valley in their home library.

In the old days, it had been magnificent and beautiful.

"Here?" Daniel asked, somewhat confused. This place looked more like an abandoned graveyard.

He could barely imagine this ever being a trade route.

"Yeah... it wasn’t just a road. There were lots of small villages built along it too."

"My father said it used to be one of the most beautiful places in the world. One reason it was picked as a trade route, aside from its location, was its beauty. But that attack... killed nearly half a million people."

"Half a million? Seriously?" Daniel exhaled. That number was massive.

"Yeah. The Broken Valley is huge. There were tons of villages along the route. Back then, even the emperor of Elthanor himself came here to fight the corruption beasts. Despite his strength... he lost. They said he returned with a thousand wounds and had to retreat."

"The Emperor of Elthanor? That’s surprising. I didn’t expect an emperor to come help personally," Daniel said with a hint of sarcasm.

"He was one of the best emperors in history. He reduced class disparity among humans, decreased discrimination against other races, even drastically lowered poverty. That’s why he was so loved by the people," Eva said with a spark of admiration in her eyes.

"So, he was a famous man."

"More than famous. In his time, he was a legend," Eva replied with a faint smile.

In silence, Daniel turned his gaze back to the valley walls.

The carvings, bent under the weight of time...

It reminded him of the Silk Road from his previous life. This place gave him the same feeling—that trade route between East and West.

Time passed slowly. An hour and a half had gone by since they entered, and still, they hadn’t encountered any creatures.

"By the way, how long have you been in the Celestial Domain?" Eva suddenly turned her head toward Daniel.

"Just one day. Today," Daniel replied with a short glance.

"Your first day? But you’re really strong..." Eva held her breath in surprise. She knew a bit about Otherworldly Climbers, and from what she understood, people as strong as Daniel usually spent at least a month here.

Daniel gave a crooked smile and said nothing. But then, he slowly shook his head, a faint frown forming as he scanned the thick mist.

"Don’t you feel something weird?"

"What do you mean?" Eva flinched slightly.

"I feel like we’re being followed. Like someone’s watching us," Daniel said, frowning.

Eva also looked around carefully. The massive valley walls surrounded them on both sides. But she shook her head. She didn’t sense anything.

"I don’t see anything."

At first, Daniel thought it was just his imagination. Maybe just mist-induced paranoia?

But then—

Whoosh! An arrow tore through the air toward them.

With quick reflexes, he pulled Eva’s head down and ducked. The arrow narrowly missed them and lodged into a rock behind.

"Well, I guess my instincts were right." But before he could finish—

"Damn it."

GROOOM! A massive boulder came crashing down from above.

The Vorak roared and threw itself to the side. Daniel and Eva were thrown off and hit the ground. A cloud of dust rose around them.

"You okay?" Daniel got up quickly and brushed off his clothes.

"I’m fine... but what was that?" Eva pulled herself together and cleared her throat.

Daniel narrowed his eyes and looked up.

"Someone shot at us... but I can’t tell from where.

This mist is messing with my senses."

He glanced at the Vorak. The beast let out a deep, furious growl, its voice so heavy it made the valley walls tremble.

And then—from within the mist, green shadows slithered out.

Short, with wrinkled skin and glowing yellow eyes.

A few more jumped out from holes in the valley walls, lining up above them.

"Goblins?" Daniel muttered.

"They really are goblins. But why would they be in a place like this? This isn’t their habitat," Eva said, shaking her head in shock.

Daniel stared at them, saying nothing. He could feel a faint corruption aura leaking from them.

"Looks like they’ve been affected by the corruption. The aura’s weak, though. I wouldn’t count them as full corruption beasts, but... they’re at least four times stronger than regular goblins."

"They still look ridiculous. At most, they’re E to low D-rank," Daniel said flatly.

"The problem is, there’s enough of them to make even that rank dangerous," Eva said seriously.

"It hasn’t even been a full day since our last fight... and we’re already in another one. Damn it, why do they keep coming?" Daniel looked up and sighed.

At that moment, one of the goblins stepped forward.

"give your Gold and silversand We let you go," its voice was grating and childlike.

"What did you say?" Daniel thought he misheard.

"Gold. Silver. Put. Go." the goblin repeated.

Suddenly, laughter erupted from Daniel. Without warning, he burst out laughing, his voice echoing through the mist.

"What’s so funny?" Eva looked at him, confused.

"Just think about it... A bunch of goblins trying to rob us like highway bandits. With those squeaky little voices asking for gold! How can I not laugh?" Daniel said between laughs.

"You’re right... but unfortunately, they’ve got the strength to back it up," Eva gave a bitter smile. Goblins always attacked in groups, and these ones definitely had the power of a fresh D-rank.

"Alright... I’m done playing around." Daniel wiped the smile off his face.

With a brief signal, four shadows appeared before him and kneeled—Greed, Fool, and two other Fallens

"Those ones up high—go with Greed and Fool. The rest, take the others. Just bring them here. Don’t kill them," Daniel ordered.

The Fallen bowed respectfully.

"You stupid humans! How dare you look down on us?!" the goblins roared.