*Three days before Alaqon was summoned to Astria.*
“What’s happening in Abrigel’s domain? It’s so noisy.”
Once he had seen the horrifying monster, the one he presumed to be the Fire Lord, Leiu immediately attacked. He did not want to give it time to fully manifest or attack first. Alas, even [Dark Dominance] barely did any damage
“Is there anything else you want, my lord?”Even after putting out the fire, Alaqon still wanted to serve the Night Adjudicator, the one he revered so feverishly.Leiu felt a bit stressed and awkward to be put in such a situation. Nevertheless, he did not foolishly sun the Demon Lord, but instead decided to make good use of him.“You said this is not your complete form. Does that mean you can’t stay here permanently?”“That is right, my lord.” While still kneeling, his head bowed, Alaqon explained, “Until all the absorbed energy is expanded, I will remain here. If it doesn’t trouble you, I wish to accompany you and serve you the best I can.”A helpless sigh escaped the Dark Knight’s lips as he looked at Seo Ae-Ri and Fairti.“I don’t think it’s a bad thing. Having a Demon Lord as a lackey could prove beneficial. Then again, we are probably heading to the home of the Elves and, frankly, I don’t think they’ll welcome us with open arms were we accompanied by the Demon who burned their sac
“That fucking hurts! You bitch!” Hye Nari was blown ten meters to the back, a fresh bloody wound on her right arm. Unlike Estelle and Elena, she was slightly low-leveled. Fortunately, however, her ridiculously expensive gear provided thanks to her new companions’ money allowed her to deal damage to the World Boss known as ‘Grieving Woods Lady’. Amongst the three women, Estelle was undoubtedly the best fighter. Not only was she a capable tank, but she also dealt an outrageous amount of damage using Light-aspected magical attacks as well as blinding diagonal sword attacks. Although there were only three of them, they managed to fight the World Boss. However, their aim was not to kill it but to ‘purify’ it using a certain quest item obtained by Elena(Ayeon).<
“May you ever walk in the Light.”The woman prayed one last time before ascending into the heavens, basked in a resplendent white light that shone brighter than the sun.“Basically, we’re still stuck with the same problem. Redressing the balance? How are we to do that?”Hye Nari cursed and angrily stomped the ground. Elena too, was frustrated, she clutched her staff and worriedly looked at the sky.“I know… where do we even begin?”Their meeting with the messenger of the Light Mother provided them with a little bit of information, but it wasn’t enough to formulate an answer or a solution.
“A commotion?” North-East of the Ya’jna Elven Forest, amidst the lush grass and tall trees, the party of four set up a temporary camp. They were sitting around a campfire; Seo Ae-Ri was munching on some food and dazedly looking at the fire whereas Leiu and Fairti were listening to Alaqon. The Demon, instead of sitting, was kneeling on the ground and looking at the Dark Knight with extreme fervor, enthusiastically answering anything he asked, no matter how trivial. “Yes! My domain is right next to Hell Turner Abrigel, the 17th Demon. Apparently, he was attacked by another Demon Lord. Since the Alchemist was preparing a sacrifice, I paid attention to strengthening my link to this world rather than investigating the matter.” Alaqon apologetically bowed his head then, without even needing Leiu to ask, continued talking, “Hell Abrigel is the one behind the Blight in this world. He’s one of the Demon Lords actively seeking to spread his influence and find a way to summon himself.” “A
“Estelle, what’s wrong?”Hye Nari, Ayeon, and Estelle Sigreen were still traveling together. Their objective unchanged and the pursuit for the truth of the Genesis Knight and the Dark Knight was plaguing them. Although the messenger of the Light Mother did provide a brief clarification, she offered them no solutions. They were meant to seek everything by themselves and the handful of clues they possessed were simply not enough.Therefore, the three were heading to the capital of the Noules Empire, both to figure out what Leiu had done and try to get into contact with him.Estelle insisted that she should meet the Dark Knight herself and confront him as he might know more than them. Ayeon, of course, objected, fully knowing how he would react. Hye Nari, his ex-employer, however, took Estelle&r
“Remember that you will be standing before the Guardian of our sacred land. No disrespect will be tolerated.”As he warned the travelers, Zazmyr looked specifically at Fairti, who was clearly the troublesome one out of the three.Due to how big the ‘village’ was, it took them twenty minutes of walking to reach their destination. They got to enjoy mesmerizing sights of the ancient elven city, dominated by tall and viny trees as well as a unique architecture.There was a calming and warm breeze and a fragrant scent in every corner of the elven village. While they did get many strange gazes from the elves, neither Leiu nor the other two paid those any heed.Through a staircase made of large yet sturdy leaves, they climbed
“Leiu!”“Leiu.”Echoes of those distant voices were the only thing that could be heard in this world of darkness. It was bitterly cold, but more than that, the all-consuming darkness made him feel an overwhelming solitude… as if he was left alone.Whether it was Lethra, his little sister and only family member, or Carla Skelgan, the noble lady who was killed, or Mira, the unfortunate soul who accompanied and helped him through thick and thin yet he failed to protect.His life had become a tapestry of tragedies and problems, a never-ending battle. Yes, it was tiring to be driven to one corner after the other, pushed to the limits in every sense of the world. However, Leiu was never a person to give up so easily, e