CHAPTER 94
094 — When You Are in the Dark

The party of Elves, including Jinwoo, cautiously approached the castle.
There was a brief moment of tension as the monsters growled in the middle of their path, but once Galleo took the lead, that ceased. The monsters parted naturally as if Galleo and the Elves had become invisible.
A path to the castle formed in the opening, and the Elves followed it.
The castle had a simple structure. There was a single inner wall and the main keep. There were no other buildings.
Between the wall and the keep, there were no facilities, only rugged terrain, where temporary tents had been pitched here and there.
—They are all people who have lost their homes. They agreed to join us, sympathizing with the idea that we can only escape this prison by defeating the God of War.
Among them were other races like Dwarves and Beastmen, as well as humans who appeared to be Hunters from Earth.
Galleo guided the Elves to a spot quite far from them, likely taking into consideration that Elves did not get along well with other races.
'He doesn't seem to have any intention of guiding us to the main keep. I guess he means for us to pitch our tents around here and live.'
He had no complaints. It just seemed there was no need to follow Galleo any further.
"Rona, I'm going to go meet those people over there. I'll leave this side to you."
"Yes. You can count on me."
Leaving the Elves to settle in with Rona and Ipril, Jinwoo headed towards where the Hunters were staying.
A considerable number of Hunters were resting in tents, their races and nationalities diverse.
—&@#$!#$@
—...Jinwoo $##%@
Some of them recognized Jinwoo's face. It seemed they had seen him coming and going on the 3rd Floor.
The already noisy camp grew louder with murmurs, and the word "Elf" was also being mentioned occasionally.
It seemed some had witnessed Jinwoo arriving with the Elves.
“Kang Jinwoo with Elves? Why, no, how?”
"Kang Jinwoo was number one in the Moonlight Forest, right? Maybe that's why they're working together?"
Fortunately, there were also Hunters from Seoul, so he could understand some of the languages.
A Hunter moving with Elves was a rare sight—no, for most Hunters, it was likely the first time they had ever seen such a thing, so it was understandable they were surprised.
Jinwoo headed towards the source of the voices and was able to meet the Hunters from his home country. They were startled when Jinwoo suddenly approached, then smiled awkwardly and struck up a conversation.
"Ah, hello. You're Hunter Kang Jinwoo, right?"
"Yes. I just arrived today, so may I ask a few questions?"
"Of course. Ah, would you like to sit?"
The man who first made eye contact offered him a seat. It was a simple setup with a camping chair unfolded in front of a tent.
As he sat down as offered, the man poured some lukewarm tea into a tin cup and handed it to him. It had a savory aroma, seemingly a type of barley or buckwheat tea. He wasn't sure which.
"You must have been quite taken aback, coming to a place swarming with monsters like this."
"I heard a rough explanation from the crow, but is it really safe here?"
"It seems so, for now. At least, during my time here, I've never been in danger because of the monsters. If anything, I've gotten into scuffles with other Hunters or had standoffs with other races."
So, was it really not a trap, just as the God of the Moonlight Forest had said?
"Are all the Hunters in the castle gathered in this camp?"
“Yes. There’s no reason to be separate.”
"By any chance, is Mahiri from New Delhi here? Or Kurenai Masato from Tokyo?"
"No, I haven't seen them. By the way, Kurenai Masato came to the 3rd Floor?"
It was a well-known fact that Mahiri was staying on the 3rd Floor, but Kurenai Masato's arrival had never been announced. In his case, no witness accounts could circulate, so there was no way for rumors to spread.
It would be strange if an assassin's whereabouts were widely known, anyway.
"I was away from the city for a while due to a trial, so I'm not sure, but do you know how the 3rd Floor ended up in this state?"
Since he didn't know about the two, Jinwoo moved on and asked about what he was most curious about.
What on earth had happened here while he was gone?
He had heard from Ipril, but he also needed information from a different perspective.
"Ah, yes. I came here for a look after hearing the Sky God's Temple had disappeared, and when I arrived, a fighting tournament was in full swing on the Sky Island."
"The one hosted by the Temple of the God of War, right?"
"You know that much. Then this will be quick."
He said he had enjoyed watching the tournament for a while. He had thought about participating but decided against it after seeing much stronger A-class and even S-class Hunters, thoroughly enjoying it as a spectator.
Watching high-ranking A-class and S-class Hunters fight wasn't a common spectacle, so it was quite entertaining. He even joined the betting and won some money.
"It was fun up to that point, but..."
The man's voice trailed off, and the mood of the story shifted.
It was said that the arena had the blessing of the God of War, so no one would receive fatal injuries. It was probably a blessing that protected vital spots.
That's what made the more aggressive and exciting fights possible, but at some point, it just disappeared.
Moreover, it was dispelled right in the middle of a fight between two S-class Hunters, and one of them abruptly died.
"An S-class died? Just like that?"
"His opponent was also S-class, and he had been fighting a bit too recklessly, trusting in the blessing."
If there had been no blessing, they might have fought more cautiously. But since the God of War's blessing prevented death, everyone fought aggressively, trusting in it.
The S-class duel was no different, but the blessing vanished mid-fight.
"...The timing is quite coincidental."
"I didn't know then, but thinking about it now, it must have been intentional. He's trying to take over the entire 3rd Floor, after all."
The God of War's troublemaking didn't stop there.
Vertus took a few strong Orcs and invaded the Temple of the Iron Gorge (鐵峽), completely bringing it down. And similar to what Jinwoo had done to the Sky God's Temple, the Temple of the Iron Gorge was also kicked out of the Gate.
'He stole the divine object.'
The man didn't know about the divine objects, so he probably just said the temple was destroyed.
For the God of the Iron Gorge to lose its means of interfering with the Gate, in other words, the lower world, meant its divine object had been stolen.
Aside from the details, Jinwoo was surprised for a different reason.
'I didn't know Vertus was that strong.'
That temple must have had beings, traps, or magic circles to protect its divine object. Even with his subordinate Orcs, it was surprising that Vertus was powerful enough to break through them.
[The Temple of the God of War has a divine object too.]
I see. Vertus took the divine object from the Temple of the God of War and used its power to attack the Temple of the Iron Gorge.
Thus, Vertus obtained the divine objects of two spirits: the God of War and the God of the Iron Gorge.
This meant he could now open a Gate that connected to the Spirit Realm. Just like the God of the Moonlight Forest had done.
"After that, the scene unfolded just as you see it. Not long after the Temple of the Iron Gorge fell, a barrier-like thing started to spread across the entire 3rd Floor. No one could stop it, and it was impossible to resist.”
Thus, they were trapped on the 3rd Floor, and not only that, but the city was also shattered into pieces and scattered everywhere. It was said to be beyond recovery.
"So after that..."
"Well, it's obvious. We wandered aimlessly, focusing on survival."
It was a familiar situation for Hunters. The Gate was a place where you were dropped into an unknown location and had to survive.
While they were surviving on their own as best they could, a single crow sought them out and told them about this castle.
"We were suspicious, but wandering around was also dangerous. At first, we just thought we'd check it out."
The Hunters who followed the crow were a minority of the total. The majority remained distrustful to the end, refusing and choosing to survive on their own.
However, some wanted a safe place to hide, and the Temple of Light was just such a place.
"It was scary with all the monsters, but after spending a few days here, it's better than I thought. It's not as comfortable as home, of course, but it's better than camping in the desert."
The desert days were scorching hot, and conversely, the nights were freezing cold.
Continuing to camp in such a place was not easy even for Hunters with their robust bodies.
Therefore, those who desired a safe and comfortable base followed the crow and arrived at this castle. And so, they were resting here in their tents.
"I understand the situation. In that case, are there any clues on how to get back...?"
At Jinwoo's question, the man shook his head.
"We've found several blue portals, but none of them work. The same goes for the red portals. We've shared information with other Hunters, and everyone says it's the same."
It seemed they were hopelessly trapped until the barrier was broken.
In other words, there was no way out until the Temple of the God of War was brought down. Since the God of War was the one who cast this barrier.
'Does that mean I have to fight that arm...?'
Jinwoo sighed, recalling the giant arm that had split the forest with a single swing of its sword.
He couldn't dispel the barrier until he dealt with that. Not only that, but he would also have to fight Vertus and other powerful Orcs.
"Do you know where the Temple of the God of War is?"
"We're looking for it. The Temple of Light is also searching by releasing monsters, and our Hunters with search abilities are gathering information on their own."
To defeat the enemy, one must first find their location. He didn't know what the Temple of the God of War looked like, but there was a way to find it.
If he found Vertus, he would also find the location of the temple.
'I'll have to look for the Black Flame.'
No matter where it was hiding, he could find it. Of course, he would have to get reasonably close.

Jinwoo pitched his tent not where the Hunters were, but where the Elves had settled.
Not all Hunters could be trusted just because they were from the same country. It might be safer to be with the Elves he had journeyed with so far.
Having established a base, Jinwoo actively went out on reconnaissance missions outside the castle.
Leaving the safe base was a risky move, but to catch a tiger, one must eventually enter the tiger's den.
Leaving the castle behind, Jinwoo was climbing a sand dune alone.
Rona had wanted to come with him, but she ultimately stayed at the castle. She couldn't leave her post, needing to protect her kinsmen just in case.
In contrast, Jinwoo was relatively free. He had a request from the World Tree to protect the Elves of the Moonlight Forest, but he had more or less fulfilled that.
Alone for the first time in a while, Jinwoo felt a sense of freedom as he walked up the sand dune.
That night, unable to cross the dune, he set up camp on its slope. As the temperature dropped rapidly, he lit a fire to warm himself and pitched a tent to block the night dew.
From the camp he set up, Jinwoo sipped warm cocoa and gazed at the old, decrepit castle visible in the distance.
In the dark night, a single streak of moonlight descended upon the castle.
The strange thing was that no matter how much time passed and the moon's position changed, the light continued to shine only on the castle.
Outside the castle, not a single speck of light reached the area by the walls, let alone the place where the monsters were clustered outside.
The monsters moved toward the light with shambling, zombie-like movements. However, a massive wall stood between them and the light, making it impossible for them to cross.
"What's the meaning of that?"
Jinwoo asked. Then, an answer came from the darkness.
[I am bestowing my grace.]
Suddenly, there was light beside Jinwoo. The very light they so desperately craved.
The voice was completely different from the somewhat faint voice of the God of the Moonlight Forest, filled with confidence. Or perhaps, it was more like self-love than confidence.
[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 the dark. I am bestowing upon them the most brilliant light.]
A rather twisted entity had appeared.