CHAPTER 97: The Mark of the Cut
A beam of light shot from Kalesian’s mouth and struck the cliff. It was a blow with such overwhelming destructive power that the aftershock could be felt even from this distance.

However, the cliff was undamaged. It didn't break, it didn't crumble; it stood firm. Not a single crack appeared.

Having apparently tried this many times before, Kalesian showed no sign of surprise. He simply scrunched up his face in annoyance.

He continued to pound the cliff, firing breath after breath. BOOM! BOOM!

[Oh my, a dragon? How curious, to find a dragon on the 3rd Floor.]

The Lord of Light spoke in a surprised tone.

Monsters belonging to the dragonkin category existed on the 3rd Floor. There were Shadow Wyrms and other dragon-type monsters.

But for a Dragon itself—the symbol and apex of the dragon race—to be on the 3rd Floor was certainly surprising. While not as high as the Spirit Realm, the 5th Floor Dragon Star Realm was still a place far removed from the Lower Worlds below.

[I see... It appears to be an adult, but its body is that of a hatchling. Was it able to descend to the 3rd Floor because it failed to molt?]

“He said he willingly stopped his own molting because he wanted to see other worlds.”

[Is that what the dragon told you?]

Jinwoo nodded. That’s certainly what it had said when they first met in New York.

[That’s a lie.]

But the Lord of Light flatly denied it.

“A lie?”

[A dragon’s molting isn’t a simple natural phenomenon; it’s an event tied to providence and destiny. For one to willfully stop it... a Great Wyrm that has lived for seven or eight thousand years might be able to, but it’s not something a hatchling can do.]

Only a Great Wyrm could stop its own molting?

If that was true, then Kalesian’s claim that he chose not to molt was indeed a lie. He had clearly stated that he hadn't undergone even his first molting since he was a newly-born hatchling.

[It seems it was unable to molt due to some other factor. Perhaps it was cursed by a being greater than a Great Wyrm, or maybe it was born with a deformity.]

According to her explanation, a dragon's molting was like its innate destiny. Therefore, being unable to molt meant one of two things.

Either it was cursed by a being powerful enough to twist a dragon's destiny, or it was born with such a destiny from the start.

‘So when he said he chose not to, he was just making an excuse. Either way, it’s not something you’d tell a stranger...’

He didn't feel betrayed by the lie.

Whichever reason was behind Kalesian's inability to molt, neither was something one would easily broadcast to others. The relationship they had built since then was more important than such a trivial lie. They had maintained a good collaborative relationship.

‘He was the first to attack the Sky God’s temple, and now he’s the first one here hitting the Lord of War’s temple. He’s quick on his feet.’

Was his information-gathering ability superior because he was a dragon, or was the Lord of War’s temple a target from the beginning? Considering he had been investigating the 3rd Floor temples for a long time to steal their divine objects, it wouldn't be strange if the Temple of War was one of his targets.

KRAKOOOOM!

By then, more than three breath attacks had slammed into the red cliff. In addition, several powerful spells cast by Kalesian had also crashed against it, but it remained unscathed.

Finally exhausted, Kalesian panted and descended to the ground. Mahiri landed gently and held him in her arms, where Kalesian stuck out his tongue, looking tired.

“Kalesian.”

As Jinwoo approached, Kalesian glanced at him. He didn't seem very surprised, likely having noticed Jinwoo's arrival some time ago.

“You’ve come. Hm? And that thing next to you is...”

“The Lord of Light. I came from its temple.”

“The Lord of Light?”

It seemed he hadn't noticed his companion, however. Kalesian’s eyes widened in surprise at the unexpected company.

[Is your name Kalesian? A pleasure to meet you.]

“...What brings a high-and-mighty being from the Spirit Realm here?”

[The Lower World was in danger, so I came to save it.]

It was just a mass of light, so no expression was visible, but its tone was so cheerful it sounded like it was about to burst into song.

Kalesian’s eyes narrowed. It was a look of 100% suspicion that it had an ulterior motive.

A few more words were exchanged, but nothing improved. Kalesian’s suspicion remained, and the Lord of Light made no effort to dispel it.

Feeling that they might continue this pointless conversation indefinitely, Jinwoo intervened.

“Kalesian. Is the Temple of War inside that canyon?”

“As far as I know, yes.”

Only then did Kalesian tear his gaze away from the light and answer.

“Then why are you firing your breath from outside instead of going in? There’s a path right there in the middle.”

“Can’t get in.”

Can’t get in?

“It’s better to experience it yourself than for me to explain. Come here.”

Mahiri, holding Kalesian, began to walk ahead, and Jinwoo and the ball of light followed. Jinwoo asked the light.

“He said he can’t get in. Does the Temple of War have some kind of mechanism?”

[How would I know? I’ve never been to another god’s temple.]

That was true. Although thirteen temples were gathered in the city of Pandemonium, they weren't connected to each other.

Following Kalesian, Jinwoo arrived at the path between the canyon walls. A path between two towering cliffs. Even this close, the path ahead was shrouded in darkness, and nothing was visible.

“Go on in. It’s not dangerous, but don’t let your guard down just in case.”

“Understood.”

Heeding Kalesian’s warning, he stepped inside with him. But, when he came to his senses, he was alone.

“Kalesian?”

Kalesian, who had been right beside him, was gone. Mahiri, who was holding him, was also gone.

Instead, what he saw was an endless wasteland covered in so many white bones that they tripped his feet. The red earth was covered in white bones, creating a scene that was both eerie and bizarre. He had seen bones scattered in the desert, but this place was far worse.

[This is the temple.]

“This is?”

Kalesian was gone, but the ball of light remained. The Lord of Light moved around, surveying the area.

[We’re inside the temple. It has layered space using its divine object. The desert outside seems to be an aftereffect of this place.]

“So this barrier is the real thing, and the outside is just a byproduct.”

[Exactly.]

To think that the desert that had isolated the entire 3rd Floor was merely a byproduct. He couldn’t even begin to guess how powerful the domain it had created was.

‘...The auras are so tangled, I can’t see the path clearly.’

Similar to the Sky God’s temple, he could see the aura of Erosion, but he couldn't see the path. To be precise, there were too many paths, so he couldn't tell which one was the real one.

Tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of strands of aura were tangled like a complex skein of yarn, making it impossible to figure out where each one led.

[Should we leave for now? Kalesian has probably left already.]

“Is the way out this way?”

Still, among the hundreds of thousands of strands, he could identify one path: the entrance that connected to the outside world he had just come from.

When he followed that path back out, Kalesian was already there, just as the Lord of Light had predicted.

“How was it?”

“I saw a wasteland covered in white bones. It looked difficult to find a path with just a glance.”

“Same for me. I tried to find a path at first, but it wasn’t easy.”

“So you were firing your breath at the cliff to try and collapse the entire barrier?”

“Why bother with the hassle of finding a path when you can just destroy everything? It’s much easier.”

Kalesian said, snorting. He had seemed so meticulous when he was experimenting with the Sky God’s scabbard, but at times like this, he was quite crude.

[Well done. As expected of a dragon, your instincts are sharp.]

“Are they?”

[That place inside is merely the interior of the divine object. You can’t accomplish anything in there.]

“Divine object?”

Kalesian’s eyes sparkled. As always, the dragon got excited at the mere mention of treasure.

[From inside a forest, all you can find are leaves and roots. To find the forest itself, you have to step outside.]

“So you’re saying I have to destroy that cliff to find the divine object?”

Kalesian lifted his head, his face full of newfound motivation. His goal had become even clearer.

‘That’s good, but.’

Jinwoo also looked up at the cliff. The red cliff that hadn’t even sustained a single crack despite being hit by countless spells and breath attacks.

He had no idea how they were supposed to destroy it.

Kalesian flew up again and began pounding on the cliff. Jinwoo couldn't just stand by and watch, so he stood before the cliff as well.

Jinwoo also attacked the cliff with his sword qi, but it was no use. As sharp as his sword qi was, it didn't have the same destructive power as Kalesian’s breath.

‘What if I attack a single point.’

Couldn't he break through, even just a little?

With that thought, he swung his sword for quite a long time, but the cliff remained as solid as ever. The palm of Jinwoo's sword hand was starting to ache.

Jinwoo looked back and forth between the unyielding cliff and his own sword before asking the Lord of Light.

"Wouldn't it be better to look for a way from the inside?"

[That would be like trying to find a fish from inside a fish's stomach.]

The Lord of Light shook her head, advising against it. The barrier inside the cliff might be a comfortable space for a follower of the Lord of War, but for an outside enemy, it was a merciless place.

If he got stuck wandering aimlessly inside, he might end up just like the white skeletons that covered the ground.

‘It didn't seem to have a separate core, either.’

Until now, he had been able to escape from Erosion or the Sky God’s temple barrier by destroying their cores, but the inside of the red cliff was different.

There was no specific core; rather, the vast space itself felt like the core.

It was on the same massive scale as the eight-armed giant that had briefly appeared when the Moonlight Forest was split, and the barrier was just as immense.

‘Unless my arm gets that big, it’ll be hard to cut it down in a single strike.’

It wasn't just the size; the durability was also a problem. He was struggling just to cut a single rock on the cliff, so how could he possibly slice through the entire barrier at once?

‘Hm?’

Just then, as Jinwoo stared at the cliff, he furrowed his brow in confusion.

A small realization had just flashed through his mind, but he didn't know what it was. It had passed too quickly, too fleetingly for him to recall.

But it was probably something incredibly important. After all, no realization was ever unimportant.

‘What was it?’

Jinwoo wracked his brain trying to remember it. Like a minor lapse in daily memory, dredging up a thought that had already flowed into the river of oblivion was no easy task.

But he was certain he had understood something while looking at the cliff.

Did he figure out the cliff's weakness? Did he find a trace he hadn't noticed before? Perhaps there was a secret door, and he had spotted the crack.

All sorts of thoughts came to mind, but none of them were right. No matter how closely he looked, the cliff didn't have so much as a scratch on it, let alone a trace. It had withstood Kalesian’s breath attack; it was unlikely a few sword swings would leave a mark.

There was nothing on the cliff. If that was the case, then…

‘The path, maybe.’

Could he have discovered something in the path between the cliffs?

With that thought, he peered into the dark path nestled between the two cliffs, and something came to mind.

He wasn't sure if this was the same realization that had just passed him by, but it was definitely a new discovery. And that discovery brought him a great deal of understanding.

"This path…"

A narrow canyon between two cliffs. That’s all he had thought it was, but he was wrong.

‘It’s a sword mark (劍痕).’

It wasn't a path at all, but the scar left behind by a colossal sword.