Ice-Flame Forest (4)
The three Earthlings began to clean up the murder scene the moment their excitement subsided.
The bodies of Latnains didn’t disappear as Aliens’ corpses did.
However, it wasn’t as difficult to dispose of bodies as it was on Earth.
The world they were living in had magic.
“Let’s just hide it secretly and then throw it out of the city.”
Maxwell grinned as he stuffed Hunters’ bodies into his pouch.
The bodies of four people all fit well in it.
It wasn’t idiotic to hide the bodies in it since it was made for storing items, and people rarely checked such private instruments.
Of course, only inanimate objects could be put in it.
Living things were impossible to store inside it.
In other words, they could put in human heads, human arms, human bodies, and human legs, but they couldn’t put in breathing human beings.
Grace looked back at her colleagues after erasing the bloodstains through Spiritualism.
“I’m hungry. Let’s eat now.”
“Yes, it’s been a long time since I had a proper meal.”
Consented, Ruslan tapped his pocket.
The flickering sound of gold coins rang beautifully into their ears.
“We’ve got a lot of money thanks to the damn Thunder King, don’t we?”
To find the incarnation of Kybriel, Garhan provided the Aliens with sufficient support.
For fast mobility, expensive portable Golem steeds were given to them one by one. He also gave them sufficient armor, high-quality items such as space storage pouches, and a generous budget.
Their quality of life had improved tremendously compared to their miserable days of wandering around Akhtarun with a rusty sword and rags.
“There’s no reason to appreciate it.”
“It’s all money he earned from the Spirit Stones we dug out of the monster corpses.”
With their long-starved desire for murder quenched, it was time to meet their other cravings.
All kinds of dark desires were present in places where money and people gathered.
The three Earthlings went to the amusement street of Serhithran.
They ordered expensive drinks, dishes, prostitutes, all for the sake of satiating their pleasures.
It would’ve been a rather unbecoming place for Grace, but she looked unbothered.
“It’s not uncommon in Akhtarun, anyway.”
They released their pent-up anger for being trapped in that prison.
They fell asleep after that.
The next day, the Earthlings once again killed a group of Hunters.
Then, they went back and forth to the amusement street and lived their lives to the fullest.
The next few days were the same.
They continuously gratified their appetites and sexual desires, as well as their thirst for murder.
Few people could receive such luxuries in Akhtarun.
They couldn’t get out.
There was no means of escape.
They’ve spent their days like that until the third day came.
Ruslan, after killing Hunters, suddenly sighed as he returned to his lodgings.
“Is it okay to play around like this? We must look for the Goddess…”
They were getting worried.
For the Earthlings of Akhtarun, the Thunder King was the epitome of their hatred, but at the same time, he was also their overwhelming fear.
The other members of their party were stunned for a moment.
But soon, Maxwell snorted.
“She can’t be found. No, in this vast continent, of all things, there’s no way the Goddess will ever appear in front of us.”
“Yeah, I’d have a better chance of getting a jackpot at a casino…”
Grace lost her train of thought.
Her eyes widened in disbelief.
“… What?”
A group of Hunters passed by before their eyes.
The party was composed of a handsome red-haired man, a silver-haired cute girl, a huge muscular warrior, and a tall black-haired beauty.
The trio didn’t look different from the numerous Hunters in Serhithran.
Hence they just casually passed by them.
But the Earthlings couldn’t just let them pass by.
Ruslan rubbed his eyes.
“Wait, what’s wrong with me?”
Maxwell answered blankly.
“… I think it looks the same to me.”
Among the team of four mixed Hunters who just passed them, the status of the black-haired beauty popped up in the eyes of the three Earthlings.
[Race: Goddess Lv. Unknown]
Grace let out a bewildered voice.
“… Did we just hit the jackpot?”
* * *
After returning to the inn, Ryu Han-bin checked the statuses of Artis and Effir with the Guideline.
[Race: Human. Wizard Lv. 67.]
[Race: Human. Mana Swordsman Lv. 68.]
“You’ll reach your target level in about three days.”
They sighed deeply at Han-bin’s words.
“It’s not all about leveling up…”
“I can’t digest the energy at all.”
It had been five days since they arrived in the Ice-Flame Forest.
Thanks to Kibie’s addition to the team, Artis and Effir managed to raise their levels at an alarming rate.
But that was all.
It was all just energy stuck in a core. While their levels had risen in figures, their skills had barely changed.
Before digesting the energy and turning it into their own, the two were still just a Mage and a Magic Swordsman in the level of early 60s.
Still, Kibie insisted on following her original plan.
“That’s not enough to burst their cores yet. Just fill it up regularly and digest it on the way to Serkaltan.”
She seemed eager to find Baotolt, the Sword King.
Well, it was Baotolt, not the party of Han-bin she had been initially looking for.
“But.”
Han-bin became curious.
“If your goal is to find the Sword King, why didn’t you just go straight to Serkaltan instead of coming to us?”
Kibie was not an ordinary human being.
Not only was her level immeasurable, but she was an Aura user of over level 80.
“It wouldn’t have been hard to find the Sword King by yourself, right?”
She shook her head.
“I didn’t think of that back then. I couldn’t find Baotolt, so I thought I’d find my next assistant.”
So she had chosen Han-bin and his group.
The measurement stone didn’t show their race even though it showed the user’s level and occupation.
The only ones who could see that she was Goddess were Aliens through the Guideline.
However, ordinary Aliens were hostile to the Goddess.
She needed to find someone free from Omphalos’s bondage.
She then needed to ensure that they would help her.
“Artis and Effir were just around, but all I chose was Ryu Han-bin.”
Their current situation was the result of that.
“No matter how powerful I am in my incarnation, I can’t enter the Grand Maze alone. I need a reliable colleague.”
Kibie grabbed Effir, asking her to become her reliable colleague.
It was to go back to her room.
“Let’s go to bed early, Effir. We need to go to the Dungeon again tomorrow morning!”
A silver-haired girl had a sad face as if she had given up on protesting.
“Yes, Kibie. I’m going to devour energy regularly tomorrow as well. Yes, yes…”
* * *
They found their target, the incarnation of Darkness.
Initially, they would have had to attack the Goddess immediately after discovering her.
It was an order from the Thunder King.
However, the three Earthlings left her alone instead.
There were too many eyes around.
And…
“The guy next to her, he was level five, wasn’t he?”
Maxwell and Grace nodded at Ruslan’s question.
“I had the same result in my Guideline.”
“So did I.”
They didn’t discover the Goddess of Darkness first.
Their eyes were initially caught by the prominent swordsman standing next to her before finding her.
They inadvertently turned on the Guideline because he seemed to be a good fighter.
[Race: Human. Swordsman lv. 5.]
Although Serhithran was one of the Four Prohibited Areas, most local citizens were ordinary people who were only level one or two.
So there was nothing strange about a person of level 5 passing through the streets.
But the prominent swordsman was dressed as a Hunter.
They looked around to see who was carrying that bluffer, and they happened to find the Goddess of Darkness.
Aliens did not have any abilities to manipulate their levels.
They initially thought that they were just crooks.
But there was a level unknown standing right next to him.
That changed the entire story.
“He can’t be level five, can he?”
“That can’t be true. I’m sure he can kill ordinary warriors easily.”
“I could have believed it if he’s around level 30, but level 5… Damn, he overdid his disguise.”
The Earthlings were sure.
That prominent swordsman was disguising his level with the power of the Goddess.
“I don’t know what he’d gain by doing that, though.”
“But wasn’t the Goddess’s incarnation human?”
“She’s supposed to have a unique ability. To what extent is it all about collecting information and non-combat capabilities?”
The three kept talking as they walked along the streets at night.
They were on their way to the accommodation where the Goddess’s group was staying.
Grace secretly cast a follow-up spell when she passed by earlier.
The Guideline’s tracking function was inefficient. A proper senior Spiritist could track their opponent much quicker.
It didn’t take long for the three Earthlings to reach the entrance of an inn covered with Darkness.
The night was deep.
It still ruled over the skies.
The City Guards and Hunters of Serhithran had all gone to sleep.
“Now we can move with confidence.”
Maxwell conjured Mana, glaring at the second floor of the inn.
“Let’s start, shall we?”
* * *
Ryu Han-bin opened his eyes.
“…!”
He fell asleep.
Suddenly, a strange sensation passed through his whole body.
It was as sharp as a needle.
His body moved faster than his mind could think.
Han-bin immediately grabbed his greatsword and flew away.
“Artis!”
He rushed out of the door, dragging out the man who was sleeping next to him.
At the same time, an explosion occurred.
Boom!
As the flames soared, the entire second floor was smashed, causing debris to fly all over the place.
Artis, who had just woken up, asked in fright.
“What? What’s going on?”
“It’s an ambush!”
Han-bin headed straight into the hallway.
The explosion wasn’t aimed only at them.
The room where Kibie and Effir were sleeping was also within the scope of destruction.
When they came out in a hurry, they saw the beautiful woman with black hair and the girl with silver hair.
Fortunately, they also seemed to have detected the surprise on time.
Kibie addressed the party, urgency filling her voice.
“Is everyone okay?”
With a nod, Artis answered.
“Yes, but I don’t know whom the attack was for.”
Alien, Dragon, Goddess, and Wyvern who had killed a royal family.
Somehow, only those who couldn’t reveal their true identities had gathered together.
There were too many clues.
“Anyway, we’ve been attacked…”
Ryu Han-bin smiled coldly.
As a Valtara warrior, it was a virtue to strike back without excuses if he was attacked!
“Ask questions later. Retaliation comes first!”
With a powerful charge, Han-bin burst out of the inn’s broken room.
“Ahhhhhhh!”
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