章節 48: The Vanished

The air was thick with tension as Ash stood by the bedside of the Guildmaster.

"I'm glad to see you, Guildmaster," Ash said, his voice low and steady.

"Thank you, Ash," the Guildmaster rasped, his voice little more than a whisper. "Your presence is a comfort."

Ash waited, his face betraying no emotion as he listened.

The Guildmaster's words came slowly, as if he were pulling them from a deep well of memory.

"That battle, the creature was unlike any I've encountered before. It nearly killed me...but someone saved me. A figure in the shadows, cloaked in darkness. I couldn't really tell who it was due to my hazy vision."

Ash pondered the Guildmaster's words, the wheels of his mind turning like the gears of a mechanical clock.

The Guildmaster's gaze shifted, his eyes meeting Ash's.

"You haven't happened to see anything like this…right Ash?" the Guildmaster asked, his voice laced with skepticism.