Reincarnated as the favorite of an obsessive goddess: gave me a system-Chapter 49: Terminus.

The border crossing was not announced by trumpets nor by the command of a guard which, in that desolate stretch of the plain, simply did not exist. It was, rather, a profound and disturbing change in the air. At the instant the wheels of the first wagon left behind the last grey stone markers of Athelgard’s administrative limit, the world seemed to lose its color.

Kai, mounted on Valira, felt the change before anyone else. With his senses sharpened by recent combat, he caught an immediate heaviness in the air. In Athelgard, energy was like a constant, life giving breeze; here, it felt like a stagnant swamp. He looked back over his shoulder, watching the group of twenty-two refugees cross that invisible line. Their faces, marked by the fatigue of the Silver Crows’ final siege, turned even paler under the sky of Terminus, a firmament no longer blue, but a leaden and oppressive hue, as if the clouds were heavy with volcanic ash cooled eons ago.

They advanced for hours in a deathly silence that chilled them to the bone. In this realm, even sound seemed to be absorbed by the thirsty earth. There were no birds flying over the moors, no insects buzzing among the rocks, nor the comforting whisper of wind through the trees. Only the rhythmic rattling of wooden axles and the heavy panting of the oxen could be heard; the beasts seemed instinctively anxious to leave that place until, finally, a small and humble village appeared in the distance.

Upon entering the village, the sense of isolation grew deeper. The few inhabitants walking the streets wore heavy clothes of coarse wool. Seeing the caravan enter, they stopped dead, observing the newcomers with sunken, distrustful eyes. However, Kai was not seeking warm hospitality; he was looking for a place where those families could finally stop running.

"This is the place," Kai said, bringing Valira to a halt in the central plaza. "Keram, gather everyone. It’s time to talk."

The refugees climbed down from the wagons with slow, heavy movements, stretching muscles stiff from cold and tension. The relief of reaching a place where no swords sought their throats was evident, but so was the sadness beginning to cloud their eyes at the looming separation. During the journey, under Kai’s tutelage and the protection of his team, that group of strangers had ceased to be a mass of victims and had become something like a community.

Kai dismounted, and Lyla took her place at his right. Thorne, Mira, and Allice formed a protective semicircle behind him.

"You have arrived at a village in the kingdom of Terminus," Kai began, his voice projected with absolute calm. "This village is a place of passage, but it is under the jurisdiction of the Laws of Silence. There are no mercenaries here. There is work in route maintenance. You can start over, build a new roof, and live in peace, apparently, there is enough salt and resources here."

Keram stepped forward. "Kai... we don’t know how to thank you. You gave us a spear when we only had trembling fingers. You gave us hope when we had already accepted death."

Kai smiled slightly at his words before interrupting.

"Listen to me, everyone. This is a goodbye, but it doesn’t have to be the end of our story. We must move on, the capital awaits us, and there are mysteries in the sea that demand answers. But I make you a promise, when our mission ends and we return, if you wish to come back with us, we would be delighted."

Kai paused, looking at Tomas and little Leo, who now held a small piece of carved wood that Mira had given him.

"We have a village in Athelgard," Kai continued with a firm voice. "A home for those who believe in a better world. If, when we return, you decide you want to be part of our family permanently, the doors will be wide open. We are not abandoning you; we are simply leaving you here to recover your strength."

A murmur of deep emotion rippled through the group. There were silent tears tracing paths through the dust on their faces, quick hugs, and whispered promises of reunion. Tomas knelt before Kai, not out of the humiliation of the punishment he had already served, but out of a loyalty born only from true justice.

"We will wait for you," Keram said with a cracking voice.

With a final nod and a look full of determination, Kai gave the order to march. They separated from the refugees, leaving behind the ramshackle civilian wagons and keeping only Lint’s large salt wagon, loaded to the brim. The sudden absence of children’s voices, the bustle of families, and the screeching of old axles made the silence of Terminus feel like a physical weight upon their shoulders.

"Finally alone," Thorne sighed, adjusting the giant axe on his shoulder as he walked with long strides beside the wagon. "I’m starting to miss the noise, Boss. This place gives me the creeps. I feel like even my own thoughts sound too loud in this void."

"It is the domain of Syon, Thorne," Lyla explained, moving closer to Kai.

As they moved north, the landscape became increasingly different. To their right, the ocean was finally revealed behind a line of abrupt cliffs.

"Kai, look there," Mira pointed toward the marine horizon, where a gigantic column of water rose toward the clouds, twisting unnaturally. "That’s no tornado. It moves with purpose."

"That must be what Lint said was happening at sea," he replied while continuing to ride.

The journey toward the capital lasted another two grueling days, each step took them further from the warmth of Athelgard and submerged them in a nightmarish atmosphere. Kai kept his team on high alert just in case. Finally, at sunset on the third day, the towers of the city of Terminus appeared on the horizon. It was a city built in a Gothic architectural style.

"There it is," Lint said, his voice trembling with relief at finally reaching his destination. "The capital. Nick, make sure the entire cargo is perfectly sealed and organized, after what it cost us to get here, I don’t want any last minute problems."

As they approached the great main gates, the stench of the city hit them, a heavy smell of incense permeating the entire area. The gates were not made of wood or common iron, but of a dark, shimmering chitin that seemed to slightly dilate and contract. The guards stationed there were not normal men, they wore armor that seemed to have grown directly from their skin, with plates that moved to the rhythm of their breathing and smoked glass visors that hid eyes with vertical pupils, glowing with an inhuman amber light.

"Identification and cargo manifest," one of the guards said.

Lint, sweating buckets despite the biting cold, handed over the trade parchments signed by Athelgard’s bureaucrats. The guard reviewed them with an insulting slowness before thrusting a metal probe into one of the sacks on the wagon. Upon withdrawing it, he observed the white crystals with almost religious intensity, tasting them with a bifid tongue that briefly emerged from his mask.

"Pay the entry tithe and head directly to the Customs Warehouse in the Port District. Do not stop on the way. Remember always, silence is health."

They entered the city, and the change in pressure was immediate. The streets were narrow and dismal, lit by streetlamps containing bioluminescent jellyfish trapped in thick glass jars. People walked in single file along the sides.

They advanced slowly through the Merchant District, dodging organic transport wagons that looked like giant insects loaded with bundles of unknown matter. The sound of the city was a low, constant hum, a buzz that crawled into the ears and prevented clear thought. Finally, after traversing a labyrinth of alleys that smelled intensely of iodine, they reached the Customs Warehouse, a massive building constructed of basalt blocks that dominated the pier.

"We made it," Lint sighed, climbing down from the driver’s seat with legs as shaky as jelly. "Nick, supervise the Church workers for the unloading. I’ll go to the central offices to settle the taxes and collect the rest of the silver. Kai... thank you. I don’t think we would have seen these gates without you."

While Nick and the porters finished the bureaucratic work, Kai approached one of the warehouse windows that looked directly out over the commercial port. From there, he observed the ships of Terminus. They were giant and very imposing. But none were leaving the port; they were all completely still, not daring to head out and risk themselves against those strange aquatic creatures.

"The salt was only our key to get in," Kai whispered to himself. "Now that we’re inside, we’ll have to investigate what those things are."

Lyla walked up to stand beside him and wrapped her arm around his, resting her head on his shoulder.

"We made it, Kai. We are inside Terminus."

Kai nodded slightly. "You know? I can’t deny I’m curious about what’s happening here. I’m almost certain this is something orchestrated by the rest of the gods to keep terrifying these people. But they aren’t aware of the disaster it has brought, or maybe they are, and it’s part of the fun, watching people starve or gamble their lives just to survive one more day."

Lyla sighed heavily, her tone more serious than usual. "It’s likely that, they are despicable." She kissed Kai’s cheek. "But we will put an end to this. Will they be angry? Of course, but we’ll try to make sure they don’t know it was us."

Kai let out a small laugh, feeling the warmth on his cheek from her kiss. "We’ll certainly try."