CHAPTER 64
Chapter 64: Orc

As tooth daggers rained down from all directions, Kurenai and Ipril immediately dodged out of the way. Jinwoo also shoved the last remaining bite of his eel rice bowl into his mouth and moved to safety.
"You, you can still eat in a situation like this?"
"Everything we do is for the sake of eating and living, isn't it?"
Kurenai made a dumbfounded expression before catching one of the flying daggers and throwing it back. Of course, Jinwoo couldn't see his expression. He only saw a Shadow collapsing with a dagger embedded in its head.
Not stopping there, Kurenai actively dove among the Shadows. The Shadows were all hidden in stealth, but he somehow detected their locations and plunged into the heart of their formation.
He threw daggers as before, grabbed them by the scruff of the neck to slit their throats, and at one point, he even thrust his bare, unarmed hand through one's heart. To a bystander, it looked as if an invisible force had struck it, leaving a gaping hole in its chest.
"I will join you!"
Ipril didn't stand by idly either. She took the opposite side from where Kurenai was carrying out his slaughter.
She couldn't sense the Shadows' locations as clearly as Kurenai could. However, a swarm of white lights hovering near her relayed their approximate positions, and she fired three arrows at a time in those directions.
Even without knowing their precise locations, her barrage of attacks managed to take down a few of them. That alone significantly reduced the burden on Kurenai.
As for Jinwoo.
'This is what I learned it for.'
Sensing the Blue Flames rushing at him from all sides, he drew the Sky Sword. Kwarreung! A bolt of lightning struck down, and a radial pattern of scorched earth spread out from him as the center. The ones directly cut by his sword were a given, but even those nearby were engulfed in lightning, collapsing while spewing black smoke.
"What was that sound?"
"Master?"
Kurenai and Ipril, forgetting they were in the middle of a battle, turned to look at the massive explosion that had sounded so close. It was fine, because even the Shadows they were fighting had turned to look in shock.
The brutal traces of destruction and the corpses of the fallen Shadows. The dead could no longer maintain their stealth and were laid bare under the sunlight.
Jinwoo stood among them. In one hand, he held a sword with a blade that gave off a faint blue light, and in the other, a scabbard that emanated an invisible, ominous aura.
Kieeeek!
Kyaaaah!
The few remaining Shadows all lost their will to fight.
An invisible old man. A single human whose stealth was far superior to their own was already too much to handle, but now there was an Elf firing a powerful bow and a swordsman who summoned lightning.
Sheathing the Sky Sword, Jinwoo asked.
"Is this enough for the Trial?"
"No. I was told to find and defeat the leader."
At those words, Jinwoo looked at the backs of the fleeing Shadows. It seemed that if he followed them, he would find their leader.

In the forest known to those from Earth as the Tomb, the base of the Shadows, the Shadow Mage made a quick decision in its deepest part.
Run.
That was the only thought dominating his mind.
At first, he had thought they were insignificant intruders. He figured he could just send his clan's warriors to take their heads, and that would be the end of it.
But the battle he witnessed through his crystal ball was beyond his imagination. Not a single one of them was an easy opponent.
If he had to face one, it would be the arrow-shooting Elf, but even then, victory was not assured. That muscular Elf was also a formidable warrior, and if she had invaded alone, he would have had to accept heavy losses.
But there were two beings even more powerful than that Elf. This was already a matter beyond his control.
Kyaargh! Kyaak!
Kiyaaaah!
As he was packing his staff and some meat to abandon his home, the clueless defeated soldiers returned. They clung to the legs of the fleeing mage, begging him to crush their enemies.
Kyak!
That's absurd. I'm about to run for my life!
He was willing to give up his position as chieftain, but he did not want to give up his life. He coldly shook off his subordinate warriors and threw himself into the forest.
His entire body blended into the surroundings like a chameleon. It wasn't just a change in color; his breathing and even his heartbeat quieted.
The mana and accumulated knowledge he had gained over his long life were naturally mobilized. The wooden staff he held turned green, concealing his presence and aura.
This is it. No one will be able to find me.
Reassured, he stepped on a blade of grass and leaped. Miraculously, despite stepping on the thin leaf, it neither bent nor broke. No trace of his passage through the forest was left behind.
Relieved that his spell was a success, he took a second step. And then.
"Where do you think you're going?"
He was grabbed by the scruff of his neck and roughly slammed to the ground.
Thud! A heavy sound echoed as all the colors and presence he had hidden returned. The blades of grass crushed beneath his back now bent and mashed, spitting out moist pulp.
The last thing he saw was the bright sun high in the sky, and the figure of a human stabbing down with a sword, silhouetted against that sun.
Gurgle. With only a short death rattle, the Shadow Mage died. Jinwoo pulled out the tooth dagger he had stabbed it with and retrieved it. It was the same tooth dagger he had taken from the Shadow he killed at the CGV theater.
"My, my. It took me some time to find him, yet how did you locate him so instantly?"
Kurenai clicked his tongue as he watched Jinwoo wipe the dagger with a handkerchief. Ipril had a similar impression. In fact, she was even more surprised, as she hadn't detected the Shadow Mage's presence at all.
"I did it with a similar trick to how I see you."
"You make me more and more curious about your past life."
Jinwoo silently agreed with Kurenai's words. He, too, wanted to know for sure about his own past life...
"Is the Trial over with this?"
"Yes. That was really easy. Compared to the 5th Floor, this is like a children's playground."
"Well, I'm sure it looks that way to you."
The Trial seemed to be over. Now all they had to do was call Poldre, return to the city, and report to the temple. Since Jinwoo had contributed a fair amount, he should be able to get some Contribution Points as well.
'Contribution Points from the God of Light... I don't particularly need the points themselves, but...'
Having already secured nearly 200 million Contribution Points with the Moonlight Forest, he didn't need any more. Still, it wouldn't hurt to have them, so he decided to stop by the Temple of Light once.
"As expected of you, Master. You seem even stronger than you were at the ruins."
Ipril seemed genuinely impressed by Jinwoo's martial prowess. She had witnessed his swordsmanship at Brielldra's ruins, but he was a level stronger now than he was then.
It was amazing that he could become so much stronger in such a short period. That was the very strength she had been searching for so desperately.
"There was the golden apple I ate back then, and a lot has happened in the past two weeks."
"Come to think of it, you said you were undergoing a Trial for two weeks. May I ask what kind of Trial it was?"
"Sorry, it's a secret."
At the word 'secret,' Ipril's face fell. But he couldn't tell her. How could he explain that he had been dragged to the 6th Floor and put through hell because of the God of the Moonlight Forest, the World Tree?
"I've called Poldre. He should be here soon."
"Kurenai Masato. I've called for our ride back."
"A ride? You mean that wyvern from before? Then shall we rest for a bit until it arrives?"
With no reason to wander around, they settled down in a sunny spot to rest. The time was filled mostly with idle chatter, with Kurenai teasing Ipril and Jinwoo mediating.
During this, Jinwoo asked the chuckling Kurenai a question that had suddenly occurred to him.
"But why did you choose the God of Light? It's not like you."
"Ahem. How would you know what's 'like me'?"
"At the very least, it doesn't seem like a god an assassin would choose."
"That's true."
Kurenai laughed heartily, agreeing that he had a point. Then, with a lingering smile, he spoke.
"The truth is... my dream is to retire."
"Retire? Why don't you just do it?"
Jinwoo was puzzled by the sudden talk of dreams. Retirement was a personal choice, so couldn't he just do it whenever he wanted?
If he was worried about the guild or matters in Tokyo, he could just secure a successor and step down. Being a Hunter was a dangerous profession, so retirement was entirely at one's own discretion.
"Do you know why I don't drop my stealth even in front of you?"
"Isn't it because you're wary of me?"
"While it's true I'm wary of you to an extent, that's not the reason. The truth is, I don't know how to turn this stealth off."
"What?"
Jinwoo asked again, caught off guard by the unexpected words. Kurenai continued, his tone tinged with resignation.
"When I first awakened to my past life, I began to see thin black lines in my vision. At first, I didn't know what they were, but I soon found out. If I stepped into those lines, no one could perceive me."
"That's an incredible ability."
It wasn't sarcasm; he meant it. What if he had been the one to awaken such an ability first? He didn't know for sure, but it would have been incredibly advantageous for survival.
The first time he awakened an ability was when he met Rona by the river. At the time, he wasn't acquainted with her, so he had run for his life, and in the process, he had awakened the ability to run faster.
If what he had awakened then was not faster feet but an ability to hide his presence like Kurenai, he might have been able to escape from Rona.
Well, if that had happened, his connection with Rona would have ended there, and they probably wouldn't have continued their friendship.
"It was certainly an outstanding ability. From the moment I awakened it, I was the best assassin. No other assassin could find me once I stepped into the black lines. It took me less than ten years to take control of Tokyo."
While Jinwoo was thinking about using Kurenai's ability to roam the Gates, the real Kurenai had been focused on swallowing up Tokyo.
Should he call this typical of a Tokyo native? How one used their abilities was a matter of personal freedom, after all.
"And the ability grew stronger by the day. The lines became more numerous and even thicker. At first, it looked like the world had a few small cracks, but at some point, it began to look like shattered glass. I started stepping on broken fragments more often than on intact glass."
Eventually, the entire world became covered in black lines. Since then, he had been unable to step out of the lines, forced to live a life unseen by others.
"So..."
"That's why I went to the God of Light, and why I specifically took on a Trial related to Shadows. I was hoping she might give me a clue on how to escape these lines."
"Did you find that clue?"
"Not at all! But it's fine. If it were something I could find out this easily, I would have found it long ago."
Even as he said he hadn't found any clues, Kurenai's voice held no trace of discouragement. It seemed this kind of thing was a common occurrence for him.
"Is it okay if I tell Ipril this story?"
"Go ahead. Who knows? You might get a clue from her."
His voice held little expectation. And indeed, Ipril could not provide an answer that would satisfy Kurenai.
"So that's the situation... What a pity. An ability that forces you to be forgotten by everyone."
Jinwoo thought similarly. He had been surprised that Kurenai, who was well past retirement age, was still so active, but he never imagined there was such a story behind it.
Anyone would want to retire at a suitable time and enjoy a second life. But Kurenai could never rest until he solved this problem.
It wouldn't matter if he was okay with dying alone and lonely, but who in the world was like that? Everyone wants to be surrounded by their loved ones in their final moments.
"Ah, I think he's here."
Just then, a wyvern could be seen flying in the distance. Gorong and Poldre had arrived.
And so, the short Trial—more memorable for spreading a mat and eating an eel bento than for the battle—came to an end.

Poldre landed, and the party climbed onto Gorong's back and departed.
But in the place they had just left, something began to creep in. A black, dark energy. It was the energy of Erosion.
The Erosion, which had risen up unnoticed, devoured all the corpses of the fallen Shadows. The ones Kurenai had stabbed, the ones Ipril had shot, and all the ones Jinwoo had killed.
Then, as it was swallowing a corpse killed by Jinwoo, something creaked.
The energy, as if puzzled, fumbled with the corpse before recoiling and spitting it out with a ptui.
[The God of Dawnlight is angry. She asks where the soul of this corpse has gone.]
The Erosion, as if disgusted, spat out all the corpses Jinwoo had made. It swallowed only the ones created by Kurenai and Ipril before vanishing as if nothing had happened.

Even though the city was bustling with the Lord of War's arena, the other gods were issuing Trials as usual.
However, rumors began to circulate that one god in particular, the God of Dawnlight, had been giving out an unusual number of Trials lately.
"Looks like that god wants to get one of her own followers into the rankings."
"First place is fixed with the Moonlight Forest, and second place will be held by the Lord of War because of the arena. Is she trying to fight for third place?"
"Wouldn't it be quite possible to overtake the God of the Furnace?"
The people of Pandemonium didn't think much of it.
They just figured a god who hadn't cared much until now had become fickle and obsessed with the rankings.
It was a rational explanation and a reason many could accept.
But Bertus was different.
"Kang Jinwoo. The reason I've come to find you is because of the recent increase in the God of Dawnlight's Trials."
"The God of Dawnlight's Trials? Why is that?"

One day, Vertus suddenly appeared at his apartment. Jinwoo watched him with a wary eye.
Ever since their first meeting, Vertus’s behavior hadn't changed much. Unlike a typical servant of a Monarch, he still spent his days healing the injured.
But now, at a time when he should have been busy with his healing, he had abruptly shown up at the high-rise apartment where Jinwoo was staying.
A tent and camping gear were set up in the broken-down apartment unit. In front of it, an Orc Shaman in priest robes sat slumped down. It was a bizarre combination that lacked any sense of unity.
"Do you know why the God of Fading Light has suddenly started issuing trials so explosively?"
"Isn't it the same as your God of War? Trying to have some fun by using his influence. It's a good thing for us, since he’s clearing out the nearby monsters in the process."
"No, it is not a good thing."
Vertus spoke with unwavering seriousness, as if this was by no means a light matter.
"I believe the God of Fading Light is gathering soldiers."
At those words, Jinwoo's eyes narrowed. It was certainly plausible.
However, setting aside the truth of the matter, he had a question.
"But why are you telling me this?"
"Because you know my true identity."
"You mean that you're the servant of a Monarch."
Vertus grinned. In that moment, he no longer looked like the eccentric Orc who went around healing others, but like a truly fierce, battle-loving Orc overflowing with fighting spirit.
"And because you are the brightest star in this city."
Fascinated by the strong, wanting to see the strong fight, and desiring to fight the strong.
Even if he was an eccentric healer, he was still an Orc.