Ke-style law enforcement officers

Chapter 400 The Source of Fear
……

Marshall suddenly had a feeling.

It wasn't clear whether that was an illusion or not.

It discovered that after peering into James Sheffield's memories, Milo became somewhat more estranged than before.

Of course, it wasn't very familiar with Milo to begin with. In the past year, it had spent most of its time with Rebecca and hadn't had much interaction with Milo. Its affection for Milo was simply because of Rebecca.

Milo has always given it a sense of distance. Aside from his identity as a visionary, that sense of distance is something Marshall has never been able to figure out. Even though this person's speech and behavior are quite cheerful and enthusiastic, that sense of distance has always been there.

Now, with Milo standing up from the gravestone in Sheffield, the sense of distance between them seems to have been stretched once again for Marshall.

It's as if this person took a few more steps in the direction that's far away.

……

Marshall sat crouched at the edge of the cemetery, watching Milo the entire time.

It watched as Milo pierced into the demon formation like lightning.

What followed was a series of high-speed images that were difficult for the naked eye to capture.

Ultimately, the image froze on Milo's back.

He had his back to Marshall, holding a still-beating heart in his bare hand.

Beneath my feet lay the scattered remains of demons and monsters.

The background depicts a fierce battle between the Gorgon giants and an army of demons.

When this scene fell into Marshall's eyes, the sense of distance rose to a sense of unfamiliarity, even an unfathomable unknown, followed by a profound fear tinged with a sense of sudden realization.

……

The leader of the demons is dead.

The mutated demon that Pickman called an individual that had gained sentience, and which might even have touched the barrier of the Visionary, had its heart ripped out by Milo without anyone noticing.

When the rest of the demon army on the battlefield discovered this, their bloodthirsty nature was extinguished, and the entire battle line began to collapse. Driven by the instinct for survival, they retreated to the depths of the Xin Tomb and fled frantically. Only a few greedy demons attempted to drag away their "spoils of war," but were crushed to death by the pursuing Ancient Giants.

At this moment, Milo became the epicenter of fear across the entire battlefield.

His every move seemed to be tugging at the most vulnerable strings in the hearts of the ancient giants.

An indescribable atmosphere, like the dead of winter, brought the atmosphere on the battlefield to a freezing point.

Not a single giant in that massive army of Kug giants took even half a step forward after crossing Milo's position. All the giants, like Marshall, felt a profound fear.

This was not simply because Milo had crushed the leader of the demon race. In fact, the Gorgons were not afraid of the demon leader, so killing the demon leader was not enough to intimidate them collectively.

What truly prevents them from taking even a single step beyond this is another mysterious and profound substance or force.

The source of that power was Milo, who stood at the edge of the cemetery.

……

The Kug Titans are a languageless race; they can only communicate with each other through exaggerated facial expressions and body language. At this moment, none of the Titans present dared to make any large movements, and even their breathing was suppressed as much as possible.

……

Marshall inexplicably had a feeling.

It felt that the Milo in front of it might not be the same Milo as before.

For a fleeting moment, it also felt an urge to flee, simply because of Milo's action of crushing its heart.

Fortunately, Milo's words when he turned around put Marshall at ease.

"Ugh, this is disgusting. Even the blood smells awful. I can't stand it. I need to get out of this awful place."

His tone and manner of speaking, with a touch of nonchalance amidst his humor, proved that he was still the same Milo as before.

"I originally wanted to go for a cool look, but I wish I hadn't done it this way."

Milo crouched down, grabbed a handful of rough gravel from the ground, rubbed it vigorously in his palm to remove some of the foul-smelling blood from the demon, then sniffed his palm and immediately let out a "Ugh~" sound.

He then squatted down again and rubbed both hands repeatedly on the ground.

The way he wiped the floor looked quite ungraceful and disheveled, completely different from his demeanor when he swiftly killed the demon leader.

The sense of oppression and unfamiliar fear that Marshall had previously felt was completely destroyed by these few actions.

……

In the end, Marshall jumped onto Milo's shoulder as before.

Milo walked straight into the city of the Kug Titans with such nonchalance. The battle lines established by the Kug Titans immediately parted to make way for him, and almost no one dared to come within ten meters of Milo.

Without any hindrance, Milo easily broke through the city of the giants, Gorg.

Looking up from here, you can see countless enormous round towers rising from the ground, extending towards the black cave ceiling. At the base of each tower is a deep, dark entrance about ten meters high.

The city was covered with rough, broken rocks, and there were also many temporary dwellings built of stones around it.

The arrival of Milo put the underground city on high alert, and all the Gorgons held their breath.

These creatures, each six meters tall, possessed an appearance that resembled demons to humans, along with terrifying destructive power and a bloodthirsty nature. Yet, at this moment, the small, frail figure in their eyes became the source of their oppression and fear. Wherever Milo went, the city's inhabitants frantically hid their enormous bodies in the shadows, fearing that Milo would see them.

They dared not look directly at Milo, and could only pray silently to the gods in their hearts.

This sense of fear is deeply buried in the memories of the ancient giants.

Even long afterward, the legend of an Great Old One who once strolled through the city streets still circulated among the descendants of the giant race.

……

Milo was unaware of the psychological trauma he had inflicted on these mute, big, dumb men, but he did know that after reading the memories of the translator of the Nash Chronicles, fear—which should have been merely an emotional expression of living beings—gained a deeper understanding and control over him.

This power is very subtle, and Milo has not yet fully comprehended it, but he has already touched upon its existence.

……

“You’ve already read the chronicle, haven’t you?” Marshall asked, perching on Milo’s shoulder.

“Mm.” Milo nodded.

"So... have you found any records related to Imnar? Have you found the so-called breakthrough opportunity?" Marshall continued to ask.

"I guess I've found it." Milo nodded again.

"That's good, that's good." Marshall seemed relieved as well.

It's clear that it still misses Rebecca.

After that, both of them remained silent for a while.

Milo wandered through the city's dilapidated streets, searching among the many colossal round towers that stretched to their tops for the so-called highest tower—the Spire of the Mark of Cass.

He would have been happy to ask a kind passerby for directions, but the giants within a fifty-meter radius all fled as if they had seen a ghost.

Milo knew this was because he wasn't yet proficient enough at controlling that power of fear.

With no other option, he had to bite the bullet and head towards the very center of the city.

Because the map provided by Pickman shows a small circle drawn around the center of the Kug giant city, which is most likely the location of the highest spire, the Sigil of Cass.

……

Marshall, who had been holding back all the way, finally asked the question that had been nagging at him, with a hint of trepidation, as Milo arrived at the foot of the largest spire in the city center:

"What was the ultimate fate of Ussa, the man from Sheffield's memory?"

It had actually guessed the answer long ago, but before it returned to the surface world and before it witnessed the city of Usa 170 years later, it still held a sliver of hope, or rather, a bit of wishful thinking.

What if?

If Usa hadn't completely fallen, its people would still be alive...

……

Milo climbed the giant staircase in front of the spire, a staircase only the giants of the Goggle could use, with great "seriousness." The nearly eighty-centimeter-high steps were actually easy for him to leap over.

But when faced with questions they can't answer or want to avoid, people subconsciously pretend to be very focused on what they're doing, no matter how ordinary that thing is...

After climbing more than ten steps, Milo dusted himself off and said to Marshall in a very normal tone:

Sheffield died relatively young, and he had no memory of the final scenes of Usher.

This was the most irresponsible, but also the easiest, answer Milo could think of.

It means—I'm not there yet, you'll have to go up and check it out yourself in a bit.
……

Marshall lowered his head.

Silence returned.

...

After entering the deep spire, the interior is still filled with that long, seemingly endless spiral staircase, with each step about eighty centimeters high.

Milo had promised to take Marshall to the Enchanted Forest above ground before leaving, so he began his long journey up the stairs.

Since the time at the Church Bridge, Marshall has suffered quite a few injuries along the way. Although the little guy's black fur covers most of his bloody wounds and makes him look like he's fine, it would still be quite difficult for him to return to Usain alone.

As for why it was sent to the Enchanted Forest instead of being sent directly back to Usa...

I guess only Milo himself knows the truth.

……

If he could, after getting a glimpse of Sheffield's undead perspective, Milo would have preferred to head straight home.

But for some reason, he decided to waste a little more time.

After all, there's a difference in the flow of time between the dream world and the waking world...

Perhaps it was the lingering emotions from Sheffield's memories as a cat lover that were bothering Milo, or perhaps he himself became aware of the indifference deep within his soul, and thus decided to prove something.

...

(End of this chapter)