Chapter 83: Midnight Mechanism

They had been drifting down the river for nearly an hour now, clinging to the massive log as the current pulled them farther from the ruins. Blood, soot, and exhaustion clung to their bodies like second skin.

The orcs hadn’t followed. They’d fallen back the moment the Midnight Warden appeared.

Luke kept his gaze locked on the distant shoreline, where the remnants of a ruined city gave way to the dark sprawl of forest. Silence hung over them—heavy, loaded, inescapable.

“How did you know the orcs weren’t with the Midnight Warden?” Allison asked, breaking the quiet.

“If they were, they wouldn’t have backed off from the Wild Zone at night. They’d be out there, walking around like it was safe ground, right?”

“You’re insane, Luke.”

They laughed—short, dry. The first laugh since they’d fallen into that hellish part of the forest.

“There were too many Orc Captains,” Luke said, his tone shifting as his thoughts returned to what they’d just survived.

“Yeah… at least twenty. And all those mindless brutes following them… made it feel more like a nightmare than a battle.”

Luke exhaled slowly, the weight of it all catching up. “I get it now. Why some people have been stuck here for eight years.”

Allison was quiet for a beat. Then she said, “Proportionally speaking… it’s not that different.”

“What do you mean?”

“The city and the forest around the Safe Zone are crawling with monsters—beasts, insects, giant freaks. All ruled by the Beast Lord. The difference is, they don’t have structure. No tactics. That’s why seeing the orcs like that, organized, marching… it felt wrong.”

Luke nodded slowly. That actually made a lot of sense.

“How many orcs do you think there are? A thousand, maybe? Same with humans. But we’re stronger. We can reach the level of an Orc Captain—go beyond it, even. Most of them are mindless.”

She stared forward, expression unreadable. “Maybe fifty Captains. A few Generals… or maybe just that one. And at the top, the Orc Lord. It seems impossible when you see their army moving, but when you break it down… it’s not.”

Luke let that sink in. It was a good way to look at it. To keep fear from sinking its claws in too deep.

“I’m not staying in this tutorial,” Allison said, lowering her head. “I need to go back to Earth. I’m still looking for something…”

The cliff ahead was lower now. Scalable. But none of them moved. The river was still carrying them farther away from orc territory—and that was worth more than haste.

Luke glanced over his shoulder, back toward the place they’d barely escaped.

“So… is a Midnight Warden stronger than an Orc General? Or does it just not care about fighting them?”

That second option didn’t sit right. The Warden had butchered the orcs. No way there was some non-aggression pact.

“Midnight Wardens function like machines,” Allison said.

“Yeah. I noticed that too. They’re smart—but bound to a pattern. They have a purpose. Anything that gets in the way, they kill it. Then they return to their point of origin, like nothing happened.”

“And those alarm crystals in the fortress…” she added.

“If we hadn’t activated that thing, we could’ve bumped into the crystals when we really needed stealth. At least now we know that place is rigged.”

Charlie shifted on the log and pointed to the cliffside on the right.

They turned—and froze.

“…Ropes,” Allison whispered.

At the top of the cliff, several ropes hung down the rock face, swaying gently with the wind.

“Someone’s already been through here,” she muttered. “Or… orcs?”

The ropes were anchored at a bend in the river, where the current slowed to a gentle crawl.

Luke dismissed Charlie back into his soul with a thought. Then he and Allison slipped into the water and swam toward the ropes.

They were solid, tightly fastened at the top.

Gripping them, they began the climb up the cliff wall—each pull of muscle dragging them away from the chaos they’d escaped.

When they reached the top, they found themselves back in the ruined city—outside orc territory at last.

Relief hit them like a wave.

But neither lowered their guard.

It was still night.

And they knew what patrolled this place.

Midnight Wardens.

With no other option, they crept through the shadowed streets, sticking to the dark, moving with practiced stealth. Eventually, they ducked into a stone house, slipping through a half-shattered doorway.

And then they heard it.

The echo.

Metal footsteps.

Slow. Deliberate. Measured.

A Warden.

They pressed themselves into the rubble, barely breathing, hearts pounding in sync with each step echoing just beyond the wall. The sound lingered… then faded.

Only after silence returned did they dare move again.

They searched the house, eventually finding a narrow stairway that led to a basement. Down there, through a small, grime-smeared window, they could just barely see the empty street outside the city’s edge. It was a decent vantage point. Safe. Hidden.

“We’ve got no choice,” Allison muttered as she sat down. “We wait for sunrise.”

Her stomach growled softly.

Luke sat beside her, touching the pendant at his chest. With a small shimmer, he pulled a handful of preserved fruits from his inventory.

“Hungry?”

“M-Maybe a little…” she said, trying to sound stronger than she looked.

They ate in silence, slowly, letting the exhaustion settle.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Luke summoned Princess Charlie once more and stationed her near the stairwell, eyes locked on the path that led back to the upper floor.

***

They spoke in hushed tones, trading ideas, unraveling what they’d pieced together. It was the kind of truth that could upend everything inside the Safe Zone. Which was exactly why they agreed to keep it secret.

“Bartholomew has one of the three mechanisms,” Allison whispered. “If he ever finds out someone’s figured that out…”

“He’d probably have them killed,” Luke said without hesitation.

Revealing the existence of a second mechanism was dangerous. But worse than that… was exposing what Bastion truly was—and what Bartholomew had done to it.

A theory was forming between them. Sharper with each piece they added.

“The Safe Zone only exists because Bartholomew took Bastion,” Allison said slowly. “Maybe he activated the mechanism there… and that created the Safe Zone.”

They both recalled what Angelica had told them—how Bartholomew and his team had fought a Midnight Warden near Bastion. When the Warden fell, the patrols stopped. Only then were the survivors able to build something lasting.

“If that’s true…” Luke began.

“It is true,” she cut in. “Remember what I said about risk and reward? This whole place runs like a game.”

Luke nodded.

“Three Lords. Each with a central domain. Their forces spread across the Wild Zone, but the strongest ones gather near their core. Probably close to a mechanism.”

“But not inside a fortress,” he added. “Logically, the Orc Lord should’ve taken that stronghold. It’s the most defensible position. But he didn’t. Probably can’t. Must be a rule.”

Luke didn’t base that on theory alone. He had proof.

A special quest. A contract.

The assassination of the Orc Lord.

And he knew exactly where the target was.

Far from the fortress.

Out near the mountains.

“The quest statue in the plaza said there were three mechanisms,” Allison said. “And that the path to each was filled with danger… because of the Lords.”