Cursed Immortality

Chapter 1258: Being Watched?

The southwestern skies of the Sagittarius Continent were eerily silent as massive war fleets bearing the insignia of the Mythical Coalition drifted through the gray heavens like floating fortresses.

Their dark hulls cut through layers of lingering death mist while countless scanning arrays swept the barren lands below. However, despite the grand momentum of the vanguard, the one who should have been carrying out reconnaissance was not focused on the wasteland at all.

Inside one of the isolated observation chambers of the lead flagship, the Myth of Black Archer stood silently before a large projection of the continent. His black hood covered most of his face, and his aura remained cold, withdrawn, and sharp like an arrow hidden in the dark.

No one dared disturb or question him, and no one knew that the real Myth of Black Archer had already vanished from existence. Jacob calmly looked at the projection, but his attention was elsewhere.

Deep inside the dreamscape realm of the flagship, countless faint nightmare roots had silently spread under Nyx’s control. They were not bold, nor were they forceful. They were thin, soft, and almost invisible, like strands of mist slipping through cracks that were already there.

The followers of the Order of Everlife had made it too easy, as their faith had opened their dreamscape realms, their prayers had softened their mental defenses, and their so-called blessings had already fused foreign power into their lifespan.

To Nyx, they were not guarded souls; they were ripe fruits hanging from branches.

“Another one,” Nyx’s delighted voice echoed inside Jacob’s mind.

Jacob’s eyes did not move. “Status?”

“Legendary Noble. Direct believer. Not very high quality, but the contaminated lifespan is still far better than ordinary vitality. I took 99%, leaving only 1% of the contamination portion for your research, just as you ordered.”

“Reaction?”

“None.” Nyx sounded almost disappointed. “He only yawned and thought he was tired because of the death mist.”

Jacob remained impassive. This was already the seventeenth believer Nyx had harvested from since they entered the continent.

There had been no obstruction, divine warning, or backlash. Not even the slightest fluctuation from the Order of Everlife’s faith network. It was smoother than Jacob had expected.

But that did not make him relax; on the contrary, it made him more cautious.

‘Either the Blissful Everlife God can’t sense such a small loss, or the stolen lifespan is too insignificant to attract attention. It’s also possible the Blissful Everlife God can’t even sense this lifespan theft because of the incomprehensible distance between plains and the Universal Void!’

Although these possibilities were useful, neither was enough as Jacob wanted to understand the structure behind this contaminated lifespan.

He wanted to know how it grew beyond natural limits, how it was sealed inside the believer, and how the Order converted it into cultivation and breakthroughs. Most importantly, he wanted to know if this power could be stolen in large quantities without drawing the gaze of the God behind it.

If it could, then the Order of Everlife was no longer merely an enemy; it was a treasury with legs.

“Sir…” Nyx suddenly spoke in a tone filled with false innocence.

Jacob coldly replied, “No.”

“I didn’t even ask!”

“You wanted to harvest a Quasi-Myth Rank believer.”

Nyx became silent for a moment before muttering, “You are becoming harder to fool.”

Jacob ignored her as, at that moment, the chamber’s communication array lit up, and a solemn voice rang through the room.

“Lord Myth of Black Archer, by order of Myth of Inferno and Myth of Thunder, all high-command members of the vanguard are to gather in the central command chamber immediately.”

Jacob’s eyes narrowed slightly. “Reason?”

The voice hesitated for a fraction of a second, “New intelligence regarding the survivors of Sagittarius Continent.”

Jacob’s gaze finally moved from the projection as myriad thoughts flashed in his mind, ‘Survivors? Did they already discover them? It shouldn’t be possible this soon since they had just arrived, and the survivors had been hiding under the pressure of the Undead Skyfall Canyons for a long time.

‘Even with the Mythical Coalition’s methods, finding them so quickly should not have been simple. Unless…someone had provided information! But how could it be?’

Jacob’s eyes turned cold as a thought appeared almost instantly, as his eyes flickered faintly, and an image suddenly surfaced in his mind.

‘That day, after I confronted the Undead Lich King and the Undead Skyfall’s divine descent, right before I left with Elia, I felt something like a gaze or perhaps something else. But it was hidden between folds of space like watching silently from beyond normal perception…’

Jacob couldn’t help but think about that fleeting feeling he had that day, and he almost ignored it, but it always remained at the back of his mind.

At that time, Jacob had only glanced at it once and brushed it aside because he had more important matters to handle. The watcher had been too cautious to attack, and he had not sensed immediate hostility, nor could he bother to waste his time.

But now that he thought about it more comprehensively, and with this sudden development of the survivors’ location being discovered so quickly, it made the possibility far stronger.

‘So that thing wasn’t from the Undead Skyfall?’

Right at that moment, Jacob suddenly felt it like an extremely faint sensation of eyes, not physical eyes or a soul probe, but something more concealed, almost like a thread of observation passing through a filtered memory.

‘If that thing didn’t belong to the Undead Skyfall, it’s most likely belonged to the Myth of Reverend or Mythical Coalition. And maybe even right now, someone might be watching the Myth of Black Archer…’

Despite the chances of mongering close to none, Jacob no longer brushed off that possibility, but he did not react, or try to search for it, because right now, he was not Jacob; he was the Myth of Black Archer.

Nyx’s voice became serious. “Someone is observing us?”

“They probably still don’t know I’ve taken care of the Myth of Black Archer and took his place. If they did, I would’ve detected it. So, the chances of something monitoring the Myth of Black Archer are almost zero. Even if they are, let them.” Jacob replied calmly.

“Should I slow down?”

“No. Continue harvesting the marked believers at the same rate, but keep it to a minimum. We will follow the vanguard.”

Nyx immediately understood, and her voice became pleased again, “The two Quasi-Myths?”

Jacob’s eyes turned cold, “I said not yet. First, their people.”

The chamber doors opened silently, and Jacob stepped out, his black cloak swaying behind him.

The command had come suddenly, the survivors had been found too quickly, and someone was watching. But none of this made Jacob uneasy. On the contrary, if someone had gathered prey for him, he had no reason to refuse!