When Dragun heard that Rowan wasn't planning on going to the demon lair alone, a sigh of relief appeared on his face before he asked him who he was going with. After receiving his answer, his eyes widened in surprise.

On the other hand, Rowan stood up and prepared to leave the meeting hall. As he strolled towards the door, he could hear the chattering of the people who had gathered outside the meeting hall, awaiting the details of Dragun's finding.

Questioning expressions were plastered on their faces. Would their dream be shattered? Or would it be fulfilled? Dragun's finding would decide it.

"I have to convince the people and stop them from worrying too much." Rowan decided.

As he opened the door, his eyes landed on the large crowd outside. The noisy crowd died down the moment they spotted him. He could see the captains and some of his soldiers, standing at the front of the crowd, gazing at him with gazes laced with admiration, curiosity and respect.

Rowan flashed the crowd a reassuring smile as he strolled down the meeting hall, walking closer and halting with a good amount of distance between him and the crowd.

"His findings were great," Rowan announced. "The land is indeed magical and fertile as I have described. The houses over there are several times bigger and more comfortable than our huts. The place is already secured by big sturdy walls!"

As his voice announced, the expression of the once worried crowd lit up with smiles, their eyes shining with dreams.

"Nevertheless," Rowan's voice emphasized, "I would be venturing to this place alone in a few days to make the final preparation. Once it is done, our grand relocation would begin."

"Yess!"

"Finally! We would leave this place!"

"Lord Rowan has indeed kept his promise! He has uplifted the name of Winterseed far more than we could even dream of."

"A place surrounded by strong walls!"

"The gods bless you, Lord Rowan!"

"May your seed never run dry."

Rowan listened to the praises of the crowd with a smile. He spoke to the crowd for a few more seconds before strolling back to his place.

As the crowd at the village square dispersed, some of the captains strolled beside Rowan.

"Do you need us to come with you, Lord Rowan?" Captain Roland asked in a calm tone.

The other captains chirped in and inquired the same thing. They were prepared to go on the journey with Rowan.

"Unfortunately no," Rowan responded. He told them how he would be traveling by teleportation, hence why he couldn't take them with him.

While it was a lie to cover up for the dangerous truth, it was also partly genuine. The captains easily believed him. They could not doubt the words of their beloved Lord.

While they strolled, they asked plenty of other questions about the place and Rowan discussed with them, filling their heads with dreams and their hearts with a new longing.

"Where is Winston?" Rowan suddenly asked amidst the discussion.

Since the situation of the village died down, Rowan hadn't set his eyes on Winston, not even once. Even when the people were on the streets celebrating, he could not recall seeing Winston anywhere.

"Oh, Winston has been training really hard since our last battle," Roland responded. "Every morning, you could either see him jogging around the village, exercising or swinging his sword. He rarely interacts with others nowadays."

"That kiddo is very determined," Bruce added with a laugh. "If I was that determined in my youth, only heaven knows what I would've achieved by now."

Rowan nodded his head at their response. He understood few of the reasons Winston was training himself so hard. It wasn't for the simple reason of growing stronger, it was just a coping mechanism for his brother's death.

'I need to pay him a visit before I leave for the demon lair,' Rowan decided.

As he strolled closer to his place, his mind wandered to the friend he had chosen to raid the demon lair together with. 'I hope that greedy bastard responds to my message on time.'

It was a mysterious hall, spreading across a large distance, capable of fitting at least three hundred people with adequate spacing.

The walls of this large hall were embedded with glowing crystals of different colors, providing adequate and somewhat solemn illumination over its dark interior.

A mysterious energy hung in the air, a dark and fearsome one, capable of corrupting the heart and body of anyone that steps within it. The faint humming sound of the energy drifting about could be heard.

At the middle of this hall, two beds carved out of sturdy rocks could be seen.

Atop these beds were the unconscious bodies of the dark blood brothers, Xandros and Alister.

The wounds inflicted on them by the intense battle more than a week back had disappeared.

At the moment, their bodies adorned neat black clothing with the insignia of the cult of ember justice. Seeing them, one wouldn't even believe they had both been involved in an intense battle.

"COUGH!"

With a soft cough, the eyes of Alister fluttered open, slowly. The dark ceilings which were also embedded by numerous glowing crystals appeared in his line of sight. A confused look slowly appearing on his face.

"Where am I?" He muttered softly as his gaze danced around the unfamiliar, mysterious hall.

As he scanned his surroundings, his gaze landed on the unconscious body of his little brother laid on the wooden bed a few meters away from his position.

"Xandros." He muttered as his expression slowly contorted into a deep frown.

At that moment, memories about the battlefield began to enter his head. He recalled the intense fight between his brother and the white-haired archmage. The battle between light and darkness, his brother being the darkness. And in this battle, light won and darkness was slain.

Alister recalled seeing his brother's mangled up face.

As the memory became clearer in his head, his heart panicked

and he rushed up from his bed and dashed towards the unconscious body of his brother.