Who hid My Corpse!

Polluted Land, the frontier observation point.

Two fully armored Devil Knights trekked through the muddy soil.

Each of them held a wand in their hands that did not match the style of their gear. At the top of the "wand" was a grey-white crystal, which darkened as they moved deeper.

When the color of the crystal turned to dark gray, they stopped and looked around.

The surrounding fog was thick, with white mist floating particles of unknown substance.

"This is the limit," one of the Devil Knights said to the other, "Captain, if we go any deeper, our protective gear won't be able to handle the pollution levels; we need a purifier, or..."

Yuri, the captain of the Devil's Army, raised his hand to his subordinate Knight, signaling him to stop talking. He then tapped his neck and a muffled voice came from under the mask: "Check if the emergency device is intact."

The Knight nodded and began to check the emergency device under the mask.

Yuri took two steps forward while extending the wand further out. The crystal on the wand darkened once again, gradually turning black.

As his subordinate had said, they indeed had reached the limit.

Any deeper and their protective gear would be of little use.

"Can't we just make another Purification Source Crystal?" the subordinate's voice came from behind Yuri. "With that, we wouldn't be stuck in this place for so long, ten years without reaching the point where Night Star was a decade ago, makes us seem so much worse than them."

Yuri turned around, looking at his complaining subordinate, mainly at his neck.

The subordinate lifted his head to let Yuri see the device on his neck. It had a timer that was ticking "ticking" away.

This device, which resembled a bear trap, functioned similarly—at the moment of activation, it would sever the wearer's head in an instant.

It would activate when the timer reached the end.

Of course, the timer could be manually adjusted by winding it up.

So as long as it was wound up on time, the device would never activate.

Yuri only spoke after noticing his subordinate's spring was wound to the limit.

"It's not that easy, whether it's the Purification Source Crystal or this detector..." he pointed to the top of the "wand," "none of these are Lyra's technology, but Holy Sound's. We haven't traded with Holy Sound for these ten years, that Purification Source Crystal was the last, and even these detectors we have, if we lose them, they can't be replaced, so we need to be extra careful."

Hearing this, the subordinate said with some indignation, "It was Night Star who lost the Purification Source Crystal, but we are the ones who have to pay the price."

Facing his irritated subordinate, Yuri coldly remarked, "They left their lives here, isn't that a price paid?"

The subordinate was taken aback.

He lifted his head, gazing into the distant fog-shrouded beyond, and whispered after a long while, "We are paying no less a price than they did, we are sacrificing as well."

"So you wouldn't want to be blamed for a useless effort after making a sacrifice."

Now the subordinate had truly run out of words.

Yuri was also looking into the distance.

According to records, they were about to reach the point where Night Star last recorded.

A decade ago, that team of heroes led by their legendary captain ventured into previously uncharted territories, and all but the captain didn't return, and the captain lost his memory.

What drove them there and what they encountered, remains unknown to this day.

But their departure changed the fate of many.

Most directly affected were they—the second generation Pioneer Force of the Devil. They received none of the heroic treatment that the former Night Star had; to prevent them from turning traitor after contamination like Night Star, they were seen as more dangerous and were placed under more "locks," such as the device on their necks, which the former Night Star Knights did not have.

And also because they lost the only Purification Source Crystal, it meant the current Devil's Army had to pay a higher price and make greater sacrifices when entering the Pollution Zone.

All of this made the Devils harbor some very negative feelings towards their predecessors.

Especially towards that team's captain.

With this thought, Yuri suddenly remembered Ina.

She joined the Devil's Army seeking something as well, right?

Hmm... those thoughts had strayed too far.

Yuri shook his head, then wound the spring of the emergency device again while listening to his subordinate alongside him: "So the Purification Source Crystal must have been lost inside, right? I wonder if it's been damaged over the years; if it's still intact, could we possibly recover it? After all, the Polluted Land can only contaminate living beings; something like the Purification Source Crystal wouldn't be affected."

"That's just theoretical. Who knows what's really at the deepest part of the Polluted Land?" Yuri had also considered this question and said, "If the Purification Source Crystal were truly effective, more than one person from Night Star would have returned. And..."

He paused.

"Even if the Purification Source Crystal isn't susceptible to pollution, it would be surrounded by a swarm of medium to large Pollutants. These Pollutants might not be interested in the Purification Source Crystal, but even an accidental passing by could cause it catastrophic damage."