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Chapter 207

“That’s almost the level of advertisement on a digital billboard.”

“This is the first time I’ve seen a gate like this in my life.”

As they observed the writhing, expanding, and contracting dimensional fissure before them, Yeon-woo and Amir each expressed their thoughts.

Even Shar and Tae-oh were peering in with fascination; the gate was truly in a relentless state of flux.

“It’s reminiscent of a slime squashed in Shar’s hands….”

“Huh? Why’s that?”

“I’m totally vibing with that. It was such a horrifying sight.”

It really was chilling. The image of that creature helplessly flailing in Shar’s grip, ultimately meeting a gruesome end!

Shar waved her arms around, asking them not to tease her. Tae-oh and Yeon-woo were startled and retreated. Getting hit by that could easily lead to three weeks of recovery…!!

In that light-hearted…or maybe not so light-hearted atmosphere, Amir was watching with wide eyes. It was quite fascinating, indeed.

“Aren’t you nervous about entering a gate related to the Demon King? Normally, this kind of thing is done with a party….”

“But it’s a party, right? One frontliner, one mage/mediator, one scout, one priest.”

“…While that’s technically true.”

It was said in a joking manner, but it wasn’t completely wrong. Yeon-woo was so versatile that he could practically cover all the roles in a party by himself.

Splitting the burdens of Shar and the frontliner, Tae-oh was focused on damage dealing. Even if injured, he could use Down’s divine power for regeneration.

Though he didn’t have enough divine power to use Divine Arts yet, reaching that point would truly turn him into a one-man army. It’s terrifying, my talent…

– Don’t you have any pure power of your own?

Shh, originally humans ruled the world through cooperation with tools. It’s perfectly normal. If it were any different, I wouldn’t have been at the bottom of the rankings before regression.

“Then let’s go in, Amir.”

The party slowly moved forward. At the foot of Mount Etna, the once noisy cave was now deserted.

Crossing the gate, Yeon-woo began surveying the surroundings. Before taking in the scenery, he had developed a habit of checking for ambushes first.

“What a splendid environment.”

Following after Yeon-woo, Amir remarked after crossing the gate.

It truly was a magnificent sight. A desolate plain stretching endlessly as if to film a war movie would be the spot for it. The sky bore a darkened sun, while shadows moved across the ground like the undead.

“It feels like I’m watching a zombie movie.”

“That certainly seems to be the case.”

Amir nodded in agreement with Yeon-woo’s short commentary. The difference between this and a zombie movie would likely be that the latter belongs to the post-apocalyptic or dystopian genre, while this world had genuinely fallen into ruin.

“Since it’s not a closed gate, let’s be cautious while investigating.”

With Yeon-woo’s words, thick gauntlets settled on Shar’s arms. Snorting, she cracked her knuckles.

As if responding to the metallic sound, the heads of the shadow creatures staggeringly turned to look at them. Auditory response confirmed.

“Tae-oh, please enter and search the area. Shar, prioritize protecting Amir.”

“Got it!”

“Understood.”

With Tae-oh’s new form smoothly entering, Yeon-woo stepped forward. Although he needed to engage lightly to understand the characteristics of the creatures…

At first glance, those creatures seemed closely related to shadowmen, so he intended to check the most critical aspects first.

Aiming his sword at two charging shadows, Yeon-woo took a deep breath.

Immediately, a reaction occurred. The speed of their assault suddenly increased, resembling an eel yanked from water.

“Whoa, that’s fast.”

Compared to regular shadowmen, they were much faster, but Yeon-woo remained unperturbed. He gently swung his sword horizontally, dissipating his mana, creating a sheet of ice before him.

Even if they were monsters, it was rare for them to suddenly stop while moving at high speed, and they weren’t the type to think about stopping when there was ice in front of them.

Locking onto the necks of the creatures tumbling over the ice, Yeon-woo executed two clean slashes.

Swoosh, swoosh.

It was a sensation that was hard to even describe as satisfying; it felt as if he was stirring a sword in water.

Thanks to his progress since his training days, it felt so easy that there was barely any sense of having cut through.

“There really isn’t much difference from shadowmen at the core.”

“Oh, if that’s the case, I might be able to handle them too.”

Amir’s spirits rose at Yeon-woo’s remark. Like other healer-class hunters, Amir had some basic combat skills. He had taken down ordinary skeletons before.

“Have you fought anything besides skeletons?”

“Nope.”

“Then I wouldn’t recommend starting with shadowmen.”

As previously mentioned, shadowmen are known to be newbie hunters’ killers despite being weak. If he could, he hoped Amir would gather experience fighting regular gray wolves or goblins instead.

Amir, dejected by Yeon-woo’s cold comment, stared at the corpse of the fallen shadow.

It seemed like a smaller subspecies compared to regular shadowmen. He felt he could take on up to five of them at once with no issue. However, more than that would be risky.

“By the way, unlike regular shadowmen, they sure look quite human.”

At Amir’s innocent question, Yeon-woo flinched. At this point, he was starting to form some hypotheses about the origins of the shadowmen.

Considering the relation between dopplegangers and tar dolls, and overlaying that with Moryo’s Demon King and doppleganger connections, a natural conclusion emerged.

[That might… be right.]

‘Of course it is, right?’

In short, shadowmen could all have been humans at one time. Thinking of the shadows wandering this wasteland as the spirits of a destroyed world sent shivers down his spine.

It wasn’t merely the distant past, nor was it a thought having concluded long ago that they had killed humans, but the enormity of the power wielded by the presence known as the Demon King.

The possibility that he might swallow people to enhance that power, like a doppleganger, gave him chills.

“…Well, even regular shadowmen aren’t hugely different from humans, right? It’s understandable that there would be variants.”

“Um… is that so?”

To provide a serious answer to Amir’s question required far too much background information, so he made a vague comment when Tae-oh’s voice rang out.

“[Hmm, it seems there’s just too much to absorb at once. It might be better to look around a bit more.]”

“You heard that? Let’s explore more.”

“Even if you say so, I ain’t got much to do anyway.”

With Amir grinning broadly, they walked out into the wasteland.

*

While meandering around the gate, he realized that what appeared to be small hills protruding in the wasteland were actually ruins buried in dust.

It was around this time that Amir’s eyes began to spin. He desperately needed money, and these otherworldly ruins were practically piles of gold.

“The ownership of this gate is with Golden Desire Corporation, but let’s see if there’s anything we can take later. For now, focus, please.”

“Sure, got it.”

Fortunately, thanks to Yeon-woo’s comment, Amir seemed to regain enough composure to wipe off the saliva drooling from his mouth.

Anyway, Amir and Yeon-woo wandered through the wasteland like Jews who had lost their kingdom.

After dispatching the shadows that caught wind of their presence, they continued to wander aimlessly until they received good news from Tae-oh.

[Oh. There appear to be ruins buried beneath the ground. As of now, I can’t find anything special beyond that!]

“What? I thought it was an open field, but it’s leading into a dungeon?”

“Um, dungeons are a bit scary. I’ve never been inside one before.”

“But we can’t avoid it just because we’re scared. It was you, Amir, who wanted to come along, right?”

Amidst Yeon-woo’s words, Amir followed calmly behind Yeon-woo, stepping into the ruins, as if to say he hadn’t had a frown at all. Seeing him, Yeon-woo chuckled and used Spirit Magic, Stella, to conjure a glowing orb.

The inside of the ruins felt reminiscent of a dark cave. Yet, the unmistakable evidence of human craftsmanship was palpable. On the recesses of the walls were candles that showed evidence of having been used.

Though they were covered in dust and hard to see, brushing a palm over them revealed the intricately engraved patterns.

“What kind of building could this be?”

Despite Amir doing his best to lower his voice, it echoed loudly, which was ominous if there were a mob inside.

They paused to wait for a moment, but fortunately, no tide of creatures emerged from the passage beyond. The three exhaled a collective sigh of relief and quickened their steps.

“I’ve seen a building similar to this before.”

“Huh? A building this grand and elaborate?”

Yeon-woo nodded slightly. Though he mentioned something similar, it was practically the same building. The way it was recessed, the patterns and the ceiling’s height were too familiar to be mistaken.

“Yes. It was a royal palace. I suspect this ruin might have been part of a palace as well, especially in design.”

The structure of this passage and the usage of the candle in the recess seemed to support that. Reflecting on it, the entrance they had come through was somewhat baffling in structure since it featured an escape route that was more complex than mere entry.

Perhaps if it were a ruin intended to conceal something, the structure would make sense, but no one builds a structure with the intention of turning it into a ruin from the get-go.

“It could have been an emergency exit for the royal palace.”

Considering those candles, and the bas-reliefs along the wall, if they were meant for escape in emergencies…

“You’re quite clever.”

At that moment, a familiar voice echoed through the ruins. Yeon-woo couldn’t forget that voice. It was low, chilling.

“I see you’ve managed to find your way here.”

As he saw the shadowy form of the shadow warrior slowly emerging from the darkness, Yeon-woo gripped his sword tightly. It was Kai Hros, a pawn of the Demon King. Whether he captured that guy or thoroughly searched this gate, some lead would surely come forth.

“That look in your eyes remains the same. But I’d prefer it if you followed me this time.”

“Why should I do that?”

Naturally, Yeon-woo wasn’t about to accept that suggestion blindly. Kai smiled at his sharp retort.

“Are you laughing?”

“Don’t you want to kill the Demon King? I can help with that. You don’t think you’re the only one who hates that bastard, do you?”

(Continued in the next part)

 

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