I was completely in the dark about what had happened. All around me, more than twenty General Bones—skeletal commanders clad in tattered armor—closed in, encircling me with hollow eyes and rattling weapons. Black Crow was among them, weapon drawn and aimed straight at my heart.
“I only just got here today. How could I suddenly be labeled a traitor? Besides, you saw it yourself—if I hadn’t held off General Crimson Plume, your western front would’ve lost even more soldiers.”
No one said another word after that. They locked me up, clamping bone handcuffs on my wrists. Because I was a ghost, they used a special cage—not made of bone, but something even sturdier. I tried to phase through, but the bars blocked my Ghost Aura, trapping me inside.
Two General Bones stood guard outside my cage. Then Black Crow approached, his gaze cold and unwavering as he stared me down.
“Don’t push it. Is this how you repay someone who helped you?” I snapped, my voice echoing in the cold, oppressive air.
“I won’t jump to conclusions before there’s proof,” Black Crow said. “These days, I’ve been out contacting the other fronts, so I don’t know what happened in the central region. All I know is the losses were severe—over thirty thousand troops gone.”
I let out a faint sigh and looked at him, then glanced at the General Bones around me. Each was monstrous in form, but General Bones himself looked especially fierce. The others didn’t seem any easier to deal with. If I fought, I’d be crushed—I had no choice but to surrender.
But Black Crow didn’t explain anything. He just said that once the next battle started in a few days, everything would become clear.
All I could do was pace inside the cage. If I knew this place better, why would I be following Black Crow around? Even if someone attacked me from the sky, as long as I broke through the lines, I could escape. But things were getting more tangled and dangerous by the minute.
I stared up at the gray, oppressive sky, chin in hand. All I wanted was to get back, push the meeting forward, and finally put an end to the Immortality Society’s schemes.