Damian landed the Dreamlight on the first massive stone step of the strange enormous structure near Sam and Grace. He was glad to see they were not in any trouble. He could also sense Sariel and Amy nearby, along with many more foreign mana signatures—two of them belonging to even second-rankers. One was more familiar than the other.
The seating compartnt entrance opened, and Damian asked Elias to get them onboard. Soon, they were inside, and Damian flew up again, ascending as far as the stone pyramid allowed until he reached the very top. Though it appeared to be nestled within the clouds, the top platform barely touched them. He landed atop it.
A familiar massive copper-and-iron bell stood at the center of the 800 x 800-ter-wide square platform. Damian was not 100% sure but he had a feeling that this was the sa place as the dungeon's cold level. The giant bell was sothing he rembered seeing once in a broken and rustic state. The landscape also looked sowhat familiar.
Before Damian could step out of the control room, Sam and Grace barged in after exchanging small talk with the Highswords, Lumi, and Elias. They greeted him like a lost puppy who had been away from ho for a month. Sam hugged him tight and just would not let him go, Grace's eyes held so much emotions Damian wasn't even sure if he had ever seen her noble face showing such vulnerable expressions. Eventually, the gushy feelings died down, and along with the rest, Damian left Dreamlight and descended onto the massive stone platform, taking in the breathtaking view of the snow-covered land.
"Sariel and Amy.." Sam said, but Damian was already two steps ahead. He conjured a waygate for Sariel using the ship's liquid mana. Without hesitation, Sam walked inside and retrieved Sariel, Amy, and the Highsword knight—Every—from the village.
After greeting each other and exchanging small talk, Damian smiled as he listened to Sam recount how he had killed two Highswords and befriended a wild local tribe. That was just like him. If Damian had been in his place, he would have killed all three of them—probably even the village chief—out of sheer caution.
The prince inside his head grunted in agreent.
When the Highswords and Damian told their story, everyone's eyes widened in horror. He didn't reveal what he had done in the trial, but he did ntion that he had ascended. However, when Damian shared what he had overheard between Shadecaster and the demon lord, even the previously unaware Highswords showed visible shock. Their primary duty was to defend the five kingdoms from the devil spawns.
All eyes turned to Bloodedge for answers. Under their scrutiny, he finally broke under the pressure and confessed,
"I—just like many of us—was approached by a group of people. They helped
break past my bottleneck and showed
proof that they could help
surpass transcendence. The Highswords were a broken group. Instead of serving so unworthy king and queen just because they have more soldiers in their army, I decided to take my chances and improve myself. I won't apologize for that. I didn't know they were island demons, but even if I did, it wouldn't have changed much."
"The place where the hero and his party fought the demon lord and killed him? That was real?" Sariel butted in, visibly shaken. "Where is it?"
"Far.. too far from Edgeheaven," Worldscribe gritted her teeth, glaring at Bloodedge. She wasn't alone. Even Mindseer, Silverspell, Lifewarden, and the poison Esper, Sesha, had similar expressions. Well, that explained why that organization hadn't approached them—their sense of duty was far stronger than the others'.
"The purpose of the Highswords died along with Land Breaker," Bloodedge continued despite their glaring anger. "Call
an opportunist, but I don't care about serving soone who can't even put pressure on my shoulders. I had told Land Breaker I would only follow him because of his strength. To , nothing else mattered." His eyes held no guilt.
Well.. if Land Breaker was the one who had recruited him, then it made sense. The guy had no reason to follow the weaklings. Damian understood—but still, that wasn't an excuse to kill people like a maniac.
"That aside.." Amy said with a frown. "Are you saying that there's a demon lord stronger than the fourth-ranker Land Breaker wandering around freely in this world?"
"No, he is not at true fourth-ranker level," Runefather corrected. "If he had our High Commander's skill, we wouldn't last even five minutes."
'He's right..' the prince spoke in Damian's mind. 'The demon lord has no physical body—it does not exist in a tangible form, nor can it be killed by any known ans. Each host it takes over is weaker than the original. At first, anyway. He has his own way of growing stronger over ti.. though that process should not happen in this world.'
"That all cos later," Sam said. "First, we need to gather everyone. Hopefully, we didn't lose anyone.."
Damian nodded. Looking around at the group, he said, "Stay here. Set up a camp or sothing. I'll go get the others—it'll be quicker that way. We'll decide what to do next after that."
Everyone nodded. Even the Highswords obeyed without argunt. None of them would say no to rest. Damian himself wanted to sleep for a month, but first, he had to bring the others here.
Grabbing five liquid mana containers, he used a small invisible box spell to hold them in place beside him. As the five steel containers floated behind him, everyone eyed them but said nothing.
"I'll be back," Damian said to Sam and the others before stepping into a waygate targeting Einar.
Imdiately, a wave of scorching hot air slamd into him. The temperature difference—from snow-covered peaks to this blistering heat—was staggering.
Damian quickly took a few sips of a cooling potion and looked around.
The scene before his eyes made him blink twice.
What the hell happened here?
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