As Elzem and Sonsuz dropped themselves onto a rock and sat down, the Female Breakers spread out around the area for security.

  Abbey squeezed herself between the two with a cheerful face and asked sweetly,

  “Now that I am Elzem’s breath, there is no harm in me being here, is there?”

  Sonsuz replied with a smile,

  “Yes, there isn’t!”

  Then he pushed her slightly to the side and added,

  “When I’m not here.”

  Abbey pouted her lips.

  “Fine then, former master,” she said in a suggestive tone.

  Elzem laughed at them when a familiar voice came from afar.

  Cengaver was approaching, grumbling, with Rezalet beside him.

  Elzem asked in surprise,

  “Was Cengaver here?”

  With a tone that was half serious and half teasing, Sonsuz said,

  “I learned he couldn’t stay still in the Unparalleled Castle. So I allowed him to come to my side.”

  He turned to Elzem.

  “It’s better for him to be with us anyway.”

  Elzem nodded in agreement.

  “He is part of the team, and I understand that he wants to be with us.”

  Cengaver came over complaining.

  “A lot just happened, and yet you didn’t include me.”

  As if he had just noticed Elzem had arrived, he added,

  “I don’t know how you got here, but you should have done it sooner,”

  and he hugged her.

  While Elzem hugged him back, Rezalet had already found a rock for himself and sat down on the ground.

  Cengaver released the embrace,z and, noticing Elzem’s eyes, suddenly asked,

  “Oh my God! What happened to your eyes?”

  Elzem laughed.

  “Abbey and I signed a partnership agreement. And this is her document.”

  Abbey leaned against Elzem’s shoulder and stared with bright, beady eyes.

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  Cengaver looked utterly shocked. Fearfully he asked,

  “A Female Breaker agreement?”

  Sonsuz realized he had told everything and blamed himself.

  “The price of having the decree of the Death Hunters within me as well.”

  Elzem immediately took Sonsuz’s hand.

  “This is our path, and every price is shared.”

  Although Cengaver understood the situation, he still looked slightly frightened.

  Rezalet finally spoke.

  “Then the wall’s effect has grown stronger.”

  Cengaver turned to him with a scornful glare.

  “What nonsense are you talking again!”

  Rezalet stood up with an incredibly relaxed manner.

  “Didn’t you notice when we left the castle?” he asked unsteadily.

  Cengaver frowned.

  “Notice what?”

  “Of course, the Wall of Nothingness they destroyed!” he said.

  Kylie, who had been gliding somewhere in the distance, rushed over the moment she heard the name.

  “Is there a problem with the wall?” she asked anxiously.

  Rezalet stared as though locked onto the faces of Elzem and Sonsuz instead of Kylie.

  “The Wall of Nothingness is after them! Its curse seems to have intensified. Even when leaving the castle, its suffocating presence strained even a Hybrid like me.”

  Kylie turned to Sonsuz in panic.

  “It may be what we have been waiting for a long time.”

  With knitted brows, Sonsuz asked,

  “What could it be?”

  Though he could already guess.

  With a worried face she tried to conceal, Kylie said,

  “The wall’s curse is clear, Sonsuz. It wants those who destroyed it. If it takes back the ones who broke it, the curse will stop. Otherwise, it will spread its entire curse throughout Unparalleled. That would cause a complete catastrophe.”

  Cengaver grumbled, overwhelmed.

  “As if we didn’t have enough curses already.”

  Rezalet spoke arrogantly, with a know-it-all tone.

  “But if those who destroyed it defeat it again, this time it will leave what it wants to Elzem and Sonsuz.”

  Sonsuz turned to Kylie.

  “Is what he says true?”

  Kylie answered with discomfort.

  “Partly. If the ones who broke the wall win again, they will be the side without losses — so if there is anything lost, they would gain it.”

  As Elzem and Sonsuz looked at each other, Kylie quickly added,

  “It will not give Zifiri Karanl?k. But it will open the path leading to her.”

  Sonsuz snapped angrily,

  “Why didn’t you say this before!”

  Kylie warned him,

  “This is impossible for you, Sonsuz. You and Elzem are already fighting the Abyss and the hunt beyond the curse of the domains. That would mean if the Abyss and other hunters stand before you, you would not be able to handle them.”

  Elzem thought for a moment.

  “Then we try differently.”

  Sonsuz looked at her.

  “You have a plan.”

  In truth, he was certain.

  Elzem spoke clearly.

  “First we eliminate the hunters and the Abyss. Then the wall and we remain face to face.”

  Understanding perfectly what she meant, Sonsuz said with conviction,

  “So you mean a planned hunt before the wall!”

  Elzem met his eyes with the same faith.

  “Exactly. A hunt under our control, with clear boundaries. Then comes the real matter. We’ve already experienced it. We can handle the second one too.”

  Cengaver suddenly burst with wild joy.

  “This is wonderful! At last, I will go on a hunt with you.”

  Rezalet looked at him with pity.

  “I truly wonder how you arrived at that conclusion.”

  Cengaver replied confidently,

  “Because they and I are a team!”

  Sonsuz said to Kylie and Elzem,

  “Let’s not waste any more time.”

  Although Kylie was reluctant, Elzem had long been ready for the idea.

  At that very moment, on the dark side of Unparalleled, a massive heap of Patternbreakers was moving toward black waters. Their repulsive appearances and terrifying growls made them even more horrifying.

  With their burned faces, bone-hardened hands, and sagging ears soaked in grease, they advanced like representatives of darkness itself.

  They stopped among the charred remains of trees coated in black sludge. When the tall, fat Patternbreaker among them signaled to another, they began diving into the sludge one by one.

  Growing impatient with the slow movement of the crowd, the one who gave the signal ordered them to pass in groups of three and five.

  The foul sight of the sludge, together with its stench, was almost unbearable. Since the Patternbreakers were as rotten as the sludge itself, it was as if a grotesque fusion was taking place.

  Nearly a hundred Patternbreakers passed through the muck, and the last one entered after scanning the surroundings.

  With a nauseating sound, it disappeared inside, leaving behind filthy black bubbles.

  Along with the revolting smell in the air, the preparation of a lurking enemy had now begun.