Extra's POV: My Obsessive Villainous Fiancee Is The Game's Final Boss-Chapter 327: Course Of Action

Ren returned to the campfire, his jaw tight and his steps slow.

The fire crackled softly, bringing much needed warmth after the cold conversation he’d just had.

Lilith was still seated, sharpening her knife, the sound of the slow strokes of her whetstone ringing faintly in the air.

Thorn lounged opposite her on the other side of the fire, poking at it with a stick.

The warmth didn’t quite reach Ren’s bones. Nero’s questions had unsettled him more than he wanted to admit.

"So?" Thorn asked, not looking up. "How full was your bladder that you took too long and look like you lost blood from your face?"

Lilith looked up at Ren’s face with a frown, before looking down at her knives.

Ren didn’t sit immediately. He stood beside the fire, hands in his pockets, eyes on the dancing flames. "Nero found me. Asked if I killed the Chained Man."

Lilith paused. Her knife stopped mid-stroke. Her red eyes snapped toward Ren.

"What did you tell him?" She asked.

"Nothing definitive." Ren replied. "He said he sensed something on you. Called it energy that doesn’t belong in this world. He mentioned Yggdrasil."

Lilith’s lips curled. Her gaze darkened. "I knew it. He’s not just some ex-Chosen. We should kill them. Tonight."

Thorn looked up, blinking. "Woah. Maybe don’t start with murder? I mean, if he sensed something, maybe he knows more than we do. We need information."

"Information we can get after he’s dead." Lilith countered. "What if he’s already reporting back to something or someone worse?"

"Or information we can’t get at all if we kill him." Thorn replied. "Think about it. He knew about Yggdrasil. That’s not common knowledge. What if he knows how to remove whatever Yggdrasil placed on you?"

Lilith opened her mouth, before pausing as she considered Thorn’s words.

"Thorn has a point." Ren raised a hand, silencing them both. "We’re not killing anyone. Not yet."

Lilith narrowed her eyes but said nothing, though the tension in her shoulders didn’t ease.

Ren continued, his voice low. "They know something. That much is clear. We need to figure out what it is. If they’re here for us, we deal with it. If not, we still need to understand what they’re doing here."

"So we play nice?" Thorn asked, raising an eyebrow.

"We observe. We talk. We learn. Based on what we find, we decide."

Lilith leaned back, the throwing knives in her hands glinting from the light of the campfire. "But if they move even a little suspicious..."

"Then we kill them." Ren finished.

Thorn nodded. "Fair."

Ren looked to the fire, then to the dome of darkness where Nero and Contessa had disappeared, which was quiet as a grave.

"We’re setting up watches. We split the night into three. Me first, then Thorn, then Lilith. Keep eyes open."

"Got it." Thorn said, already pulling a blanket around himself. "Wake me when it’s time."

Lilith gave a curt nod and vanished into her tent without a word.

Ren sat beside the fire, resting his arms on his knees. His gaze drifted to the unnatural blackness Nero had conjured.

He couldn’t hear anything from inside. No whispers. No breathing. It was like the darkness consumed even sound, like it was a world apart.

His watch passed without incident, though he remained on edge the entire time.

Eventually, he nudged Thorn awake.

Thorn grumbled, half asleep, but rolled out of his blanket and took position by the fire, blinking blearily at the darkness.

Ren slipped into his tent, exhausted. But sleep didn’t come easily.

Questions swirled in his head.

Who were Nero and Contessa really? Why had they been watching Lilith? And what was that strange sadness in Nero’s voice?

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The next morning, the cold was even more biting, and the wind, harsher.

Snow had fallen during the night, dusting their campsite in a fresh layer of white. The fire had gone out. Ren rubbed his gloved hands together as he emerged from his tent.

Dario was already up, cooking something over the rekindled fire, humming off-key. A small pot of what smelled like spiced oatmeal bubbled nearby.

Thorn munched on a chunk of dried fruit, and Lilith sat alone, with her back to the group, chewing slowly on a strip of meat.

A few feet away, Nero and Contessa sat on a flat rock, eating separately. Nero tore pieces of flatbread while Contessa sipped something from a silver cup. Neither of them made any attempt at conversation. They didn’t speak. They rarely did.

Ren finished his sandwich in silence. The food settled heavy in his stomach, but not in a satisfying way. The feeling of unease he’d gotten after the conversation with Nero last night hadn’t left.

Dario clapped his hands. "Time to move!"

They packed up their tents. Thorn helped fold the canvas, while Ren shook snow from the stakes.

Nero waved a hand, and his dome of darkness dissolved like smoke vanishing in the wind.

Without ceremony, they began their trek.

The mountain trails were narrower now, and the ledges steeper. Ice clung to the rocks like jagged teeth, and the wind howled through the peaks with a mournful cry. freēwēbnovel.com

Every step required attention. Even Dario’s usual commentary had slowed, his lazy smile replaced with a furrowed brow.

Ren, however, wasn’t watching the path.

He was watching Nero and Contessa.

They walked slightly ahead of him, always in sync. Their boots never slipped. Their pace never wavered. They moved with a silent, predatory grace, like wolves on patrol.

And they never spoke.

But they communicated.

Small gestures. Imperceptible movements.

A tap of the wrist. A brush of the shoulder. A glance. Fingers twitching briefly.

At first, Ren thought it was a coincidence. But after an hour of observation, he realized it was deliberate. Hidden. Language without words. A code refined by long use.

And he was slowly learning it.

[Level Up: Non-Verbal Communication Lvl. 35]

Nero flicked two fingers.

Contessa nodded imperceptibly.

She brushed her left hand down her arm.

Nero slowed his pace slightly.

They were saying something. Planning something.

Ren studied them carefully, matching gesture to reaction. He didn’t get full sentences, but he caught patterns. Enough to understand fragments of their exchange.

They were talking about time.

About when.

About when to do something.

Ren’s heart rate increased. He tried to look casual, letting his eyes drift to the sky, to the cliff walls, to the horizon. Anything but them. But it was too late.

Nero turned his head slightly.

Their eyes met.

For a second, neither moved.

Then Nero offered a faint smile. One that didn’t reach his eyes.

He turned away.

Ren said nothing. But inside, his thoughts raced.

They were planning something.

And they thought he wasn’t watching.

They were wrong.

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