"I will let you witness how I destroy the miracle that you longed for so much!"
She emphasized each and every word at the elder.
Then, orders were sent out one after another from the palace.
All the nobles in the imperial city made preparations based on the orders they received.
At the dark corners that one couldn't usually see, gangs and mobs also received corresponding orders.
Everyone who received the order gathered at the imperial city gate.
...
As much as Kieran thought he understood the Night Owl's speed, explosive power and stamina, when he saw the huge exteriors of the city, he knew that he had underestimated the Night Owl's speed.
It was less than an hour!
The Night Owl had carried Kieran and tonnes of his equipment and sprinted through the journey that would cost any excellent warhorse at least five hours to reach.
"Such a pity! If this didn't have a limit counter…"
Kieran looked at [Night Owl Token]; it was displaying [Remaining: 3 Times]. His heart gave out a sigh. After experiencing the benefits of the Night Owl, his heart unconsciously bloomed up other thoughts regarding the token.
Maybe he could acquire more [Night Owl Token]?
The thought was not out of the realm of possibilities.
All he needed was to return to [The Shaman's Partner III] and plan accordingly. Of course, that was a matter for another time.
As for now, Kieran set his sight at the city in front of him.
Under the night sky, the city lights were shining brightly. The bright lights could almost shine through the dark sky, proving its prosperous and flourishing state.
The imperial city of Warren, Riverdale, housed over a hundred thousand people within its walls alone. Plus, the towns and villages that densely surrounded the city boosted its population to over a hundred fifty thousand.
Although the number was the tip of the iceberg compared to the city where Kieran lived, within the medieval dungeon world, it was quite astonishing.
At that moment, the astonishing city was overwhelmed with people.
That straight, tall city gate gathered around ten thousand men in squads.
Some of them were the city guards, donning leather armor and long spears.
Some of them were private militias of the nobles, donning fancy armor and wielding long swords.
There were also some other suspicious-looking men with mantles from gangs and mobs.
They were quite distinctive from each other but were mixed together at that moment.
The men were stuffing the wide city walls, sending out mocking, disdainful gazes together with killer intents.
"Military, nobles, gangsters… An order sent out and everyone gathered before me! This really is taking the whole Warren Kingdom in her hands!"
Kieran unconsciously thought of Bosco's description of Jeanne, "she could cloud the sky with one hand in the imperial city."
Based on the situation before his eyes, it really was as such.
After knowing he would be facing Jeanne James and getting the information about her forces and influence from Bosco, Kieran never underestimated her power.
However, when he saw the dense crowd before him, he realized Jeanne's forces were much more powerful than he had expected. But it was not enough for him to stop.
Kieran was looking at the team jumbled up good and bad, feeling the imposing manner that was far inferior than the soldiers at Lightning Fortress. He raised his right hand.
On his index finger, the black metallic ring with the ruby embedded on it gave out a dazzling shine under the night sky that blinded the crowd's eyes.
The shine was white like snow and frost, turning into a monotone rainbow shedding its light over Riverdale.
The crowd with the imposing manner was stunned for a bit, then they saw Kieran and his Night Owl morphing into giants. Kieran's black mantle turned into black flames, scorching even the sky; the bright moon and milky way turned gloomy in an instant. The night was disappearing as the darkness beyond description shrouded the earth itself.
Similar to the great drought ten years ago, the darkness turned the land into a state of thousand holes and scars, like countless deep cracks that could form a web. The dead that was suppose to be long gone in the crowd's heart rose from the cracked seams, opening their zombified jaws, howling with grudge and charging towards them.
"Kill! Hatred! Grudge! Regrets!"
Kieran who had morphed into a giant became the judge and jury; he opened his mouth and shouted the words like a thunderclap, frightening the crowd from afar, causing their courage to collapse from the inside.
"It is not me who killed you!"
"I didn't mean it!"
"Let me go! Let go of me! Please!"
...
Sharp screams rose one after another; the crowd that was seemingly intimidating was messed up and crumbled within seconds. Men stepped on each other just to run a little faster. However, no matter how fast they ran, they couldn't escape from [Deadman's Gaze]'s range.
Their fate was sealed the moment they laid eyes on Kieran; [Fear Illusions] brought up their deepest and darkest fear.
The messy crowd started to fall. From the first one throwing up blood on the floor to the hundreds and thousands who followed, all it took was less than a second. Almost half of the men had fallen right in front of the city gate.
Facing the unknown, fear was like a plague, enshrouding every direction. Though who were still standing saw Kieran approaching, riding his horse. They retreated with shivering bodies, but most of them were limping on the ground in a blank state.
Their mouths were unconsciously singing the rhyme lightly, singing the words that were branded in their heart.
"The mystical is the unknown, unknown will breed fear and death will always follow after fear. Oh, people of Riverdale, if you can leave this place, better flee in haste! Flee! Flee!"
Their voices were loud and dim, presenting the rhyme faintly under the night sky.
Those who could move ran even faster because not only did they hear the rhyme from the fallen, but also the clear gallops of their enemy.
Dak Dak! Dak Dak! Dak Dak!
The pitch black horse and the person riding it, as if it was death, was the grim reaper approaching hastily.
One of them fell down while being chased down. His face looked twisted, eyes were rounded and twitching uncontrollably, to the extent he pissed and shitted his pants.
Then, there were no more signs of life on him. He was scared to death!
The scene made the fear spread even faster; those who were running hoped they could have two more pairs of legs.
They ran into every possible path, every possible direction; instinctively, they went through their most familiar path, and coincidentally, none of them were overlapping with the route to the palace.
When they saw Kieran sprinting towards the palace, those that had survived death were relieved, but when they turned around and saw the fallen bodies, all of them shivered hard.
"Grim...Grim Reaper!"
One of the mantled gangster muttered out the thought with his trembling lips and stuttering tone. The one beside him, a noble private militia who was frightened by the unknown followed after the gangster.
"Grim Reaper! Grim Reaper!!"
After a while, those who survived started to mutter the word, forming a sound of union that echoed throughout the corners of the imperial city.
The citizens who were already frightened felt even more anxious by the term. None of the citizens knew what had happened.
As for those who managed to escape death, they tried to find an answer to explain their fear.
They met death, the grim reaper.
Other than death himself, who could reap lives and devour souls with their gaze?
On top of that, all of them knew, the grim reaper was not satisfied yet. The scythe that reeked of death, tainted with life and souls, was still out on the run. In fact, it was wielding hard towards the palace.
The true fight would break out within the palace soon!