Book 1 Chapter 940
940.
‘He’s a bit late. Nothing could have happened, could it?’
Karl felt anxious when Ferrena didn't arrive by the promised time.
‘Should I have gone with her?’
No matter how good the public security was, it was now the era of calamity.
It was an era where the common sense of Karl and Ferrena's time did not apply.
Though worried, Karl tried hard to shake off his unease.
‘She’s a smart kid, she’ll be fine.’
If she had been caught up in something big, there would have been a commotion within Gardsron.
Having experienced the Dwenno world strategy last time, Karl knew well how much effort Gardsron put into maintaining public security.
Even if the situation was chaotic due to the recent invasion, the system wouldn't be so shoddy as to leave such a void in security.
‘It’s quiet, so it seems there’s no problem for now, but…’
Assuming she was just a little late, Karl looked up at the sky.
A gloomy, ash-grey sky met his eyes.
‘Can I escape this world?’
Karl’s hands trembled slightly.
An unknown target, but a mission to ensure someone’s survival.
‘There are great heroes in Gardsron right now.’
As Arion’s world, he would be able to borrow their strength.
‘But this world was a trial even for great heroes… Can I conquer it with my own strength alone?’
Until now, there had been countless trials, and he had overcome them.
The gods bestowing the title of hero upon him was for that very reason.
In fact, Karl had made a tremendous contribution to achieving those great feats.
To the extent that it would have been impossible without Karl.
‘But strictly speaking, I was always just support.’
While it was true that Karl possessed remarkable abilities, there were limitations to what he could do alone.
‘First, I need to make contact with the great heroes.’
The moment Karl lowered his head, calming his trembling body.
“…?”
Karl froze, discovering an elf girl squatting in front of him, staring up at him.
The elf girl didn’t know who Karl was, but Karl knew her well.
‘Lady Belkia?’
As Karl showed a bewildered expression.
“Why are you trembling so much? Did you catch a cold?”
“No. I mean…”
“Are you crying?”
“No, I’m not crying…”
“What are you doing, suddenly trembling and crying?”
“I’m not trembling and crying, I’m just waiting for a colleague…”
“Is your colleague a woman?”
“Ye…s?”
“You’ve been through a trial.”
“No.”
He couldn't follow the flow of the conversation.
Having experienced it during the Dwenno world last time, Karl knew well that Belkia was very eccentric.
Of course, back then Leo was there to control her, but now Karl was alone.
As a result, he couldn't do anything about Belkia, who continued the conversation in an incomprehensible flow.
“Master! This guy was dumped by a woman and is crying on the street!”
Belkia stood up abruptly and shouted.
Of course, Karl didn't panic, but simply gave a sorrowful smile.
He had been tormented by all sorts of strange people while traveling Lumerne, so this was not enough to make him panic.
‘If it’s Lady Belkia’s master… it must be Lady Luna, or Lord Arion, or Leo, right?’
Karl thought it was rather fortunate.
If he could make contact like this, he would be one step closer to clearing the Hero Dungeon.
Someone came running at Belkia's words.
“Hmm? Crying because he was dumped by a woman?”
Just then, Luna approached Karl.
Seeing Luna, Karl wore a tense expression.
From Karl’s perspective, it was Luna he hadn’t seen in a long time.
Of course, Luna wouldn’t remember Karl.
“Hmm?”
Luna, who was staring at Karl, briefly glanced down.
“Belkia.”
“Yes.”
“Catch him.”
*Whoosh!*
At Luna’s command, Belkia swiftly pulled out a rope from who knows where and bound Karl.
“Huh?”
Karl, suddenly tied up with a rope, made a blank sound.
Watching Karl, Luna reached for Karl’s waist and picked up a potion bottle.
“This is Dwenno’s potion, isn’t it? He doesn’t give it to just anyone. Where did you get this?”
Luna, a great sorceress, easily discerned the identity of the potion Karl possessed.
Karl realized he had made a mistake.
“I made it.”
Karl decided to tell the truth.
At his words, Luna stared intently into Karl’s eyes.
After gazing at Karl for a moment, Luna tilted her head.
“He doesn’t seem to be lying… suspicious.”
Luna, narrowing her eyes, used telekinesis to lift Karl into the air.
“Shall we take him to Dwenno first? That perverted old man might know something.”
“Lady Luna, I have companions.”
“Should I care about that? You’re a thief who might have raided Dwenno’s vault.”
Luna smiled faintly.
Her expression resembled the kind smile of Luna he had seen in reality before, but her eyes were cold.
Karl flinched at her gaze.
‘If I resist or try to persuade her recklessly, I’ll be in big trouble.’
“Belkia.”
“Yes, Master.”
“Stay here and if you see anyone who looks like this kid’s companion, bring them in.”
“Understood.”
Belkia nodded her head.
‘It’s getting tangled right from the start.’
While Karl felt helpless, Luna used spatial teleportation magic to move to Dwenno’s workshop.
***
‘Shadow.’
Ferrena swallowed dryly as she watched the girl who had bound her and was dragging her away.
It was unknown when shadows began to be called shadows.
But a recently revealed fact was that the primordial shadow was none other than Kyle, the Hero of Genesis.
‘And I heard that Vihar, Shan’s ancestor who inherited Kyle’s will, became the progenitor of the current shadows.’
Vihar.
The first Shadow King and the ancestor of Shan, the land of shadows.
‘This person… This is Lady Vihar.’
Ferrena easily recognized that the girl who had subdued her was Vihar.
‘What should I do now?’
In this era, shadows did not exist.
Therefore, Vihar regarded Ferrena, who was accustomed to darkness, as a traitor.
Shadows were originally those who ventured into the darkness to hunt those who hunted heroes within the darkness.
Thus, to an unfamiliar observer, there wasn’t much difference.
‘Escaping from Lady Vihar is next to impossible.’
Even if she were to escape, she would undoubtedly be caught immediately if pursued.
If that happened, she might be summarily executed rather than merely bound like this.
‘Senior Karl must be worried.’
Vihar blamed her own carelessness for recklessly using her shadow abilities, wearing an anxious expression.
At that moment.
*Whoosh!*
Vihar took a leather pouch from her bosom and placed it over Ferrena’s head.
Ferrena did not resist.
A moment later.
Ferrena realized she had been seated somewhere.
Soon, Vihar removed the leather pouch from Ferrena’s head.
“Ah…”
A frightened voice escaped Ferrena’s lips.
Before her eyes lay a torture chamber.
All sorts of objects that looked like torture implements were visible.
Ferrena’s body trembled.
“Wait.”
Vihar, leaving behind a cold remark, exited the room.
*Creak—Thud!*
The heavy sound of the door closing echoed in her ears.
‘What should I do? Am I going to be tortured like this?’
Ferrena’s face turned pale.
Even as a shadow candidate, she was a direct descendant of the Hergin family.
Though she followed the path of the shadow in accordance with her family’s tradition, she had grown up gently since childhood.
As she was still a candidate, she hadn't yet engaged in any bloody work.
That was why she was so scared of this situation now.
Shadow torture was horrific.
The thought of herself being the subject made her body tremble uncontrollably.
A moment later.
*Creak—Thud—!*
The sound of a door opening and closing came from behind her.
*Step—Step—*
Someone walked from behind.
Soon, their figure became visible by the faint magical light.
‘The Hero of Genesis… Lord Kyle.’
The man with grey hair stood before her.
If it weren’t for such a situation, Ferrena would have felt immense joy.
To meet one of the great heroes who saved the world in person.
And the Hero of Genesis, who was called the primordial shadow.
But now was not a situation to rejoice.
She was suspected of being a traitor and had been dragged into a torture chamber.
Watching Kyle look down at her with indifferent eyes, Ferrena trembled in fear.
After gazing at Ferrena for a moment, Leo spoke.
“Vihar.”
“Yes, Master.”
“Take this child to Lisinas.”
“Yes?”
Vihar, who had been composed in front of Ferrena, showed a slightly bewildered expression at Kyle’s words.
“She’s not a traitor.”
“Ah.”
“Though she is suspicious.”
Kyle also immediately recognized that Ferrena was someone preparing to live in the darkness.
“Lisinas will be able to figure out this kid’s identity more easily than I can.”
“Yes.”
Nodding, Vihar took Ferrena and exited the torture chamber.
Until then, Ferrena gazed blankly at Kyle’s face.
Having left the room, Ferrena was led away by Vihar.
‘At least… I seem to have avoided the worst situation.’
Ferrena let out a sigh of relief.
Then, her eyes met with Vihar’s intense stare, and she flinched, trembling, and averted her gaze.
Vihar stared intently at the fidgeting Ferrena, muttering to herself.
‘This child… she reminds me of myself somehow.’
***
*Creak—Rattle.*
“Get in.”
Azonya entered the prison with an annoyed expression.
The beast-man warriors who had imprisoned Azonya silently looked her up and down as she sat in a corner of the cell.
“I’ve been thinking… that woman. She has a pretty face and a good figure, doesn’t she?”
“Hoho? I might have to investigate later, eh?”
Azonya ignored them, who giggled with vulgar laughter, and fell into thought.
‘How did Raysar’s destruction proceed again?’
Azonya recalled the records from the great heroes’ Hero Records.
‘It was corrupted from within Raysar… and Erebus was summoned, I think.’
The Age of Calamity was the era when Erebus was destroying the world.
But Erebus, who had defeated even the gods, was supposed to be trapped at the eastern end of the world.
This was due to the final curse cast by the gods as they were driven from the mortal realm by Erebus.
Therefore, Erebus could not freely roam the world.
Thus, the Legion Commanders burned the land, turned it to ashes, and created a summoning circle for Erebus on the completely blackened land.
‘But it was recorded that summoning was impossible in Raysar at that time.’
At that time, Raysar, though struggling, was clearly holding back Tartaros, so the land had not been sufficiently defiled for Erebus to be summoned.
Despite this, Erebus had been summoned in Raysar at the time.
‘The record of Raysar’s destruction was unusually not very detailed.’
Azonya scratched her head.
‘Whatever it was, Lord Arion was said to have headed to Raysar before the great heroes, right?’
Recalling the records, Azonya chuckled.
“That coward actually thought of rushing out alone. Is it because it’s his hometown, after all?”
With a curious expression, Azonya sat on a pile of straw in a corner of the prison.
“Eek?!”
“Kyaaah?!”
Azonya involuntarily screamed at the sensation of a human presence within the straw.
As a great warrior with keen senses, Azonya couldn't help but be surprised by the presence of someone in the straw who had evaded her detection.
And the other party seemed just as surprised, emerging from the straw and pressing themselves tightly into the corner of the cell.
Azonya’s mouth dropped open as she saw the face of the beast-man youth huddled in fear in the corner.
He was someone she knew all too well.
“Ar…ion?”
“Huh? Do you know me?”
Arion, who had been frightened, widened his eyes.
Then he smiled brightly and approached Azonya.
And he grabbed Azonya’s hand.
“Ah! Did Lisinas send you to save me?”