94
094 ― When in Darkness
The Elf party, including Jin-woo, carefully headed toward the castle.
There was a brief moment of tension as monsters growled in the middle, but once Galeo took the lead, such incidents ceased. They naturally dispersed as if Galeo and the Elves had become invisible.
A path to the castle formed in the split space, and the Elves followed that path.
The castle had a simple structure. There was one layer of inner walls and a main castle. There were no other buildings.
Between the castle walls and the main castle, there were no facilities, only rough terrain, and temporary tents could be seen set up here and there.
―They are all people who have lost their place to go. They agreed to join together, sympathizing with the saying that they can only escape this prison by defeating the God of War.
Among them were different races like Dwarves and Beastmen, and there were also humans who appeared to be Hunters from Earth.
Galeo guided the Elves to a place quite far from them, apparently considering that the Elves did not get along well with other races.
'It doesn't seem like he intends to guide us to the main castle. I guess he wants us to set up tents and live around here.'
It wasn't that he had complaints. It just didn't seem necessary to follow Galeo any further.
"Rona, I'm going to meet those people over there. Please take care of things here."
"Yes. Please leave it to me."
Leaving the Elves' settlement to Rona and April, Jin-woo headed toward where the Hunters were staying.
A considerable number of Hunters were resting with their tents pitched, and their races and nationalities were diverse.
―&@#$Jin-woo#$@
―Jin-woo$##%@
Some of them recognized Jin-woo's face. Apparently, they had seen him while coming and going in the 3rd floor.
The already noisy camp, due to the large number of people, became even more bustling, and the word ‘elf’ was frequently mentioned.
It seemed there were those who had witnessed the scene of Jin-woo coming together with the Elves.
"Kang Jin-woo with Elves? Why, no, how?"
"Kang Jin-woo was in first place in Moonlit Forest. Maybe they're acting together because of that?"
Fortunately, there were Hunters from Seoul as well, so there were languages he could understand.
A Hunter moving with Elves was a rare sight—no, it would be the first time most Hunters had ever seen such a scene, so it was worth being surprised about.
Jin-woo headed toward where those voices came from and was able to meet Hunters from his homeland. They were startled when they saw Jin-woo suddenly approaching, then smiled awkwardly and spoke to him.
"Ah, hello. You are Hunter Kang Jin-woo, correct?"
"Yes. I arrived today, so may I ask a few things?"
"Of course. Ah, would you like to sit?"
The man who made eye contact first offered him a seat. It was a simple spot with camping chairs spread out in front of the tent.
When he sat as offered, the man poured lukewarm tea into a tin cup and handed it to him. The fragrant aroma seemed to be barley tea or buckwheat tea of some kind. He wasn't sure exactly which.
"You must have been quite shocked. To come to a place crawling with monsters like this."
"I heard the general story from the crow, but is it really safe?"
"It seems to be for now. At least while staying here, we've never been in danger because of monsters. Rather, we've had disputes with other Hunters or tensions with other races."
Was it really not a trap, as the God of Moonlit Forest had said?
"Are all the Hunters in the castle gathered in this camp?"
"Yes. There's no particular reason to be elsewhere."
"By any chance, is Mahiri from New Delhi here? Or Kurenai Masato from Tokyo?"
"No, I haven't seen them. By the way, did Kurenai Masato also enter the 3rd floor?"
It was a fairly well-known fact that Mahiri was staying in the 3rd floor, but Kurenai Masato's entry had never been known. Since there could be no witness accounts about him, there was no way for rumors to spread.
It would be strange if an assassin's whereabouts were widely known.
"I was away from the city for a while due to trials, so I don't know—do you know how the 3rd floor ended up in this state?"
Since he said he didn't know about those two, Jin-woo moved on and asked about what he was most curious about first.
What on earth had happened here while he was absent?
He had heard from April, but he needed information from a different perspective as well.
"Ah, yes. I'm someone who came to take a look after hearing that the Temple of Sky had disappeared, and when I arrived, there was a duel tournament in full swing on Sky Island."
"It was hosted by the God of War."
"You know that much. Then this will be quick."
He said he had enjoyed watching the duel tournament for a while. He had thought about participating, but there were many stronger A-ranks and even S-ranks, so he gave up on that idea and thoroughly enjoyed it as a spectator.
Watching A-ranks and S-ranks, the high-ranking Hunters' fight wasn't something you could easily see, so it was quite a spectacle. He even made some money by getting involved in the betting.
"It was enjoyable up to that point..."
The man's words trailed off, and the atmosphere of the story changed.
The arena was said to have the blessing of the God of War, so participants wouldn't suffer fatal wounds. It was probably a blessing that protected vital points.
That's what made such violent and entertaining duels possible, but that blessing disappeared at some point.
Moreover, it was lifted right in the middle of two S-rank fighters, causing one person to suddenly die.
"An S-rank died? That easily?"
"The opponent was also S-rank, and trusting in the blessing, they had been fighting somewhat excessively."
If there had been no blessing, they might have fought more cautiously. But since the God of War's blessing prevented death, everyone had been engaging in violent duels, trusting in that.
The S-ranks’ duel at that time was the same, but the blessing disappeared in the middle of it.
"...The timing is quite coincidental."
"We didn't know then, but thinking about it now, it must have been intentional. Since he's someone trying to take control of the entire 3rd floor."
The God of War's disruption didn't end there.
Bertus brought several strong Orcs and attacked the Temple of Iron Gorge, completely destroying the temple. And similar to what Jin-woo had done to the Temple of Sky, the Temple of Iron Gorge was also expelled from the Gate.
'He stole the divine artifact.'
Since the man didn't know about the existence of divine artifacts, he was simply saying the temple was destroyed.
The fact that the God of Iron Gorge lost the means to interfere with the Gate—in other words, the lower realm—meant that the divine artifact had been stolen.
The circumstances aside, Jin-woo was surprised in a different way.
'I didn't know Bertus was that strong.'
That temple would have had beings protecting the divine artifact, or traps and magic circles. Even if he was with his subordinate Orcs, for Bertus to be powerful enough to break through that...
[ There's also a divine artifact in the Temple of War. ]
I see. Bertus took the divine artifact from the Temple of War and used that power to attack the Temple of Iron Gorge.
That way, Bertus obtained the divine artifacts of two divine spirits: the God of War and the God of Iron Gorge.
It meant he could open the Gates connecting to the Spirit Realm, just as the God of Moonlit Forest had done.
"After that, the scene unfolded as you can see. Not long after the Temple of Iron Gorge collapsed, something like a barrier began to spread throughout the entire 3rd floor. No one could stop it, and it was impossible to resist."
That's how they became trapped in the 3rd floor, and not only that, but the cities were also torn apart and scattered everywhere. They were already beyond recovery to their original form.
"Then after that..."
"Well, it's obvious. We wandered aimlessly and focused on survival."
For Hunters, it was familiar work anyway. Gates were originally places where you had to fall into unknown locations and survive.
While they were surviving on their own abilities like that, a crow came looking for them and told them about this castle.
"At first, we were suspicious, but wandering around like that was also dangerous. We thought we'd just check it out once and came here."
The Hunters who followed the crow were a minority of the total. The majority didn't trust it to the end and refused, saying they would survive on their own.
However, some wanted a safe place to hide and stay, and the Temple of Light was exactly such a place.
"It was scary because there were so many monsters, but after staying for a few days, it's better than expected. Of course, it's not as comfortable as home, but it's better than sleeping rough in the desert."
The desert days were scorchingly hot as if they would burn you, and conversely, the nights were freezingly cold.
Continuing to sleep rough in such a place was not easy even for Hunters with strong bodies.
Therefore, those who wanted a safe and comfortable base followed the crow and arrived at this castle. And they were resting with their tents pitched like this.
"I understand the circumstances. Then, by any chance, is there any clue to return..."
When Jin-woo asked, the man shook his head.
"We found several blue portals, but none of them worked. Red portals were the same. We shared information with other Hunters, and they all said the same thing."
It seemed they would have to remain helplessly trapped until the barrier was broken.
In other words, there was no way until the Temple of War was brought down. Since it was the God of War who had spread this barrier.
'Do I have to fight that arm...'
Jin-woo sighed, recalling the giant arm that had split the forest with a single sword stroke.
The barrier couldn't be lifted until that was dealt with. Not only that, but he would also have to fight Bertus and other powerful Orcs.
"Do you know where the Temple of War is?"
"We're searching for it. The Temple of Light side is also releasing monsters to search, and Hunters on our side with exploration abilities are independently gathering information."
To defeat the enemy, they first had to find its location. Even if they didn't know what the Temple of War looked like, there was a way to find it.
If they found Bertus, they would also learn the temple's location.
'I should look for the black flames.'
No matter where that guy was hiding, he could find him. Of course, he would have to get somewhat close.
***
Jin-woo pitched his tent not where the Hunters were, but where the Elves had settled.
Just because Hunters were from his homeland didn't mean they were all trustworthy. Rather, staying with the Elves who had traveled together this far might be safer.
Having established his base like that, Jin-woo actively went out of the castle for reconnaissance.
Leaving a safe base was a risky action, but to catch a tiger, you eventually have to enter the tiger's den.
With the castle behind him, Jin-woo was climbing a sand dune alone.
Rona had also wanted to come along, but she ultimately remained at the castle. To protect her compatriots in case of emergency, she couldn't leave her post.
In contrast, Jin-woo was relatively free. There was the World Tree's request to protect the Elves of Moonlit Forest, but that was almost accomplished.
Jin-woo, alone for the first time in a while, was walking up the sand dune feeling a bit of freedom.
That night, unable to cross the entire hill, he made a place to sleep on the slope. Due to the rapidly dropping temperature, he lit a fire to warm his body and also set up a tent to block the night dew.
In the camp he had set up, Jin-woo sipped warm cocoa while looking at the old castle visible in the distance.
In the dark night, an old castle with only a single beam of Moonlit falling upon it.
What was strange was that no matter how much time passed and the moon's position changed, the light continued to shine only on the castle.
Places outside the castle. Of course, the castle walls and the outer areas where monsters formed clusters received not a single point of light.
The monsters moved toward the light with sluggish movements like zombies. However, there was a massive castle wall blocking between the light and them, making it impossible for them to cross over.
"What meaning does that have?"
Jin-woo asked. Then an answer came from the darkness.
[ They are bestowing grace. ]
Before he knew it, there was light beside Jin-woo. The very thing they so desperately craved.
It was a voice completely different from the somewhat faint voice of the God of Moonlit Forest—a voice full of confidence. Rather than confidence, it should be called self-love.
[ Do you know when light shines the brightest? ]
Well, he had never thought about it. He wasn't a scientist.
[ It shines brightest when it is in darkness. I am giving them the brightest light. ]
A somewhat twisted fellow had appeared.