Chapter 105: A Tenacious Bond**
The night passed, and the morning sun rose. Jinwoo finished his preparations to leave. Though "preparations" only meant packing a few things and saying goodbye to those who remained.

"You said you had something to do, but you're leaving already?" Rona said with a hint of disappointment upon hearing that Jinwoo was leaving. When he said he had business, she thought he would stay for at least a few more days, but now he was saying he would leave after just one night.

"It ended sooner than I thought."

He had expected it would take some time to retrieve Rondar's sword, but somehow it was over in a single night. The actual time he spent crossing swords with the Lord had been long. But all the events of that night, in that space, had been as short as a single night's dream in reality.

"Tch."

Rona smacked her lips in disappointment and then began to prepare for her own departure. If Jinwoo was gone, she had no reason to stay on the 3rd Floor either.

"You'll come to my world again next time, right?"

"Yeah. When I have the time."

"When you come, you have to find me. This time, I'll be sure to guide you properly."

"Didn't you say you live in the royal palace? How do I find you?"

"You still have the spirit I gave you, right?"

When Jinwoo raised his finger, a white light gathered at its tip. It was the spirit Rona had given him for communication.

"If you contact me through that spirit, I'll come pick you up. As for inside the royal palace… hmm, that might be difficult, but I can guide you anywhere outside."

"Alright. I'll look forward to it."

So far, his time in that world had been fraught with incidents. The only time he had been able to relax was when he was hiding in the mountains, spending his days with Marie. It might be nice to spend some time relaxing like that again. This time, he hoped he could spend it in a healing sort of way, without any incidents.

After finishing his conversation with Rona, Kalesian was left.

"Oh, are you returning?"

When Jinwoo said he was going back, he too paused his research for a moment to make time for him.

"Are you going to stay longer, Kalesian?"

"It's the same for me no matter where I am. I can do research anywhere."

"You're not staying behind because you don't want to give me my treasure, are you?"

"Haha."

When Jinwoo mentioned the promise they had made before, Kalesian laughed and trailed off. It was a joke, of course. The real reason was likely that it was hard for him to stop his ongoing research and leave. Probably…

"More importantly, if I want to research the Spirit Realm, I have to be in a Gate, don't I?"

"That's true."

Kalesian had not yet found a clue about the Spirit Realm. For research done out of pure curiosity, his passion and thirst for knowledge were incredible. Seeing him work so hard made Jinwoo want to tell him about his trip to the Spirit Realm.

Perhaps it would be good to go to the Spirit Realm again with him. It was dangerous alone, but with a dragon, wouldn't it be better?

‘The World Tree asked me to find her, and Rondar is there too.’

He recalled the previous night, when he had lost track of time crossing swords with him. Compared to the him in his memory, his speech was a bit rougher, but his sword was still polite. He was no different from the image in his memory, who had introduced himself as a pillager but, far from plundering, had even made various things for him.

If he found him, might he be able to hear stories about his past life? He hadn't answered when asked while they crossed swords last night, but it might be different if he went to meet him in person.

‘What do you think? About leaving with Kalesian.’

Jinwoo asked the God of the Moonlight Forest. She was the one who opened the door, and she was the one who had asked him to find her in the first place, so he wanted to ask her opinion.

[That seems like… a good idea. It looks dangerous for you to go alone.]

The response was quite positive.

Although the current Jinwoo was strong, the Spirit Realm was still dangerous. The difference between having a strong companion and not having one was like heaven and earth. The God of the Moonlight Forest still wanted him to come to the Spirit Realm and find her. But she did not want Jinwoo to be in danger. No matter how much of her blessing he had, there was a limit to what he could do alone. The difference between one person and two was much greater than the difference between two and three.

‘In the first place, the standard for dangerous Gates is to go with two or more people.’

Jinwoo might come and go alone, but in fact, for dangerous Gates of the 3rd Floor or higher, the standard was to use a Feather of Bond to enter with a companion. The difference between being alone and being with two or more was so great that having even one companion greatly reduced the risk.

The Spirit Realm was, in the end, a Gate, so it was better to give up the idea of entering alone.

"Kalesian. Do you have a moment?"

"Hm? What is it?"

There was no reason to hide it anymore, so Jinwoo brought it up now.

Considering how he had charged into the Sky God's temple alone before, he might say "let's go right now" if he brought up the Spirit Realm. That would be burdensome for Jinwoo, but it was fine. Unlike then, Kalesian couldn't act alone now. Jinwoo had all the Divine Objects, and the God of the Moonlight Forest, who would open the door, only listened to Jinwoo.

"About the Spirit Realm…"

"Hmm?"

Jinwoo told the puzzled Kalesian about what had happened before. About how he had obtained the Sky God's scabbard and left for the Spirit Realm. About how he had been flustered because it was so sudden, but had somehow managed to survive and return.

When the story was finished, Kalesian's eyes widened, and he stared intensely at Jinwoo.

"D-Does that mean you can go there now!?"

He could have asked why he was only telling him this now, but Kalesian was already uninterested in past events. He only asked whether they could go to the Spirit Realm now or not.

[Whenever you wish.]

"She says it's possible whenever we want."

"Then let's go right now!"

"Wait, just a moment."

As expected, his reaction was passionate. Jinwoo had to put in quite an effort to calm him down.

He said it was curiosity to see a new world, but could simple curiosity be this intense? Of course, it wasn't impossible, but Kalesian's reaction seemed closer to obsession than curiosity. It might be natural for a researcher to show obsession toward their subject of study, but…

‘Is this related to what the Lord of Light said about him being a dragon who failed to molt?’

When they first met, he had said he was a dragon who came to Earth without molting. But the Lord of Light had asserted that this was a lie. She had said that preventing one's own molting was something only an ancient dragon of about 8,000 years could do. That it was impossible for a newly hatched hatchling to defy the mighty destiny of the dragon species.

Perhaps his obsession with the Spirit Realm stemmed from that.

"As I said, it's a dangerous place. Right now is a bit…"

"What's the problem? I'm here, and you're here."

"Think about the Red Cliffs. It's a place full of things like that, I'm telling you."

"..."

"..."

At the mention of the Red Cliffs, Kalesian calmed down a little. Those cliffs were monstrous things that had remained intact even when Kalesian had blasted them with his breath. They were cliffs that existed in the barrier cast by the Lord of War, Rondar. The Spirit Realm was full of gods like that, so it was a place where even Kalesian could not guarantee his life.

"It certainly is dangerous. We will need a great deal of preparation."

Kalesian lowered his intensity and became docile. His will to leave for the Spirit Realm as soon as possible had not disappeared. He had simply agreed that preparation was necessary for the expedition.

"Alright. I must return as well."

"To New Delhi?"

"All the necessary items are at home, so I must go back."

With the new information from Jinwoo, Kalesian no longer had a reason to stay on the 3rd Floor. He swept up all the research materials he had been working on and put them into his subspace.

"You should come to New Delhi as well. As promised, I will let you into my treasury. After that, let's plan the expedition together."

"Sounds good."

It was what Jinwoo had been hoping for. The two promised to meet in New Delhi and decided to leave the 3rd Floor together.

The area in front of the blue portal was now quiet. It seemed all those people had returned. The entire city had so few people that it gave off the air of a dead city. There were still some people left like Jinwoo's party, but they were very few compared to the size of the city.

‘Kurenai Masato is…’

Remembering him, Jinwoo briefly headed toward the Temple of Light. The old castle, where only a single ray of light had existed, was still quietly tucked away in a corner of the city.

However, the light from that time was now gone, and there were no monsters. It had been eerie back then when it was teeming with monsters, but the atmosphere now, with nothing there, was not much better.

Above all, even though the morning sun was blazing, this old castle alone was as dark as night, as if veiled by a curtain. It felt like a ghost might pop out even in broad daylight.

‘Is no one here?’

He went inside the castle, but Kurenai Masato was nowhere to be seen. Not only that, but the Lord of Light, who used to approach and speak to him uninvited, was also gone. It wasn't just that she was not visible; her energy itself could not be felt. There was no presence at all, and the energy of Erosion had also disappeared.

...Could it be?

Just in case, Jinwoo decided to search the castle’s interior.

The Lord of Light was one of the few gods who hadn't had their divine object stolen by Rondar. Therefore, the object and its guardian should have still been in this castle.

But there was nothing. He couldn't find them.

Were they hidden so well that even Jinwoo couldn't find them, or were they truly gone?

[The God of the Moonlight Forest points to the top of the bell tower.]

'It's there?'

Jinwoo climbed to the top of the castle and headed for the bell tower. This was originally the only place in the castle where a single ray of light descended, but now it was silent.

And the bell that should have been hanging at the top was now gone.

However…

"...Is that a corpse?"

The remains of what appeared to be a dead being were left there. Not just one or two, but several.

At a glance, they looked human, but their skin color was dull. It was an ashen color, close to gray, and they had all died with expressions of utter confusion.

Could these have been the guardians of the divine object?

If he had seen them alive, he might have known, but as corpses, he couldn't be sure. The Blue Flame of their souls no longer existed within their bodies.

What stood out most was the bewildered look on their faces, as if they hadn't realized their own death even in its final moment. All five or six corpses had died without knowing a thing.

'Kurenai…'

The thought occurred to him that it was probably his doing.

In the chaos right after Rondar's barrier shattered, he would have infiltrated the castle and taken the divine object, assassinating all of its guardians.

He had said he wanted the power of the Lord of Light to reveal himself to the world. It wouldn't be strange if the divine object was the ultimate goal of that desire.

However, even after all that, he had failed to show himself. If the power of the divine object could have revealed him, the dead here wouldn't have been assassinated without even knowing what happened.

It seemed he had taken the divine object, but he hadn't achieved his wish.

Of course, this was all assuming Kurenai Masato was indeed the culprit here.

'I'll have to ask him when we meet again.'

Their connection was a tenacious one. There would surely be a day they met again.

With all his business concluded, Jinwoo returned to Seoul through a blue portal.