Chapter 33 | Shadow-Robed Figure
The shadow-robed figure moved with the grace of a swan and dodged the attack with a single, effortless step back, as if his punch meant nothing to her.
"I am not the one who made this secret realm," the figure shrugged, her voice calm and unbothered. "You can go ahead and try to hit me though, if it makes you feel better."
"Stay back, Leon, you can’t defeat her," Alicar sighed.
Alicar was more-so interested on how he could potentially recruit that thing, as it seemed impossible to even approach her, let alone form a contract.
The fact that the other three died was indeed kind of sad, a tragedy that would weigh on their consciences, but to be honest, for some strange reason, Alicar felt a flicker of relief.
’That way they won’t be able to say anything about Iris’ weird use of magic or the fact I and Leon gained a new skill,’ he thought, his mind already calculating the implications.
These were his thoughts, and though it sounded morbid and cold, Alicar couldn’t deny that’s how he felt, a pragmatic part of him recognizing the silver lining.
The shadow-robed figure pulled out a dagger from her cloak, the blade gleaming with an ethereal light, then used it to cut open the Sun Beast’s corpse with surgical precision.
She put her hand into the gaping wound and pulled a massive core, burning with fiery aura that radiated intense heat and power.
"I’ll take the corpse, and you take the core," the shadow-robed figure spoke, tossing the core toward Alicar, who grabbed it in midair with surprising ease.
Then she grabbed the corpse’s tail with one hand, and turned her back and disappeared into the void gate she had created, leaving the trio alone in the silent chamber.
"Oh my god," Iris’ eyes widened as she looked at the core in his hand, her face lighting up with excitement. "That’s a Tier-0 S-Rank core! The best ones for the Initial Stage!"
"Will it sell for a good amount of money...?" Alicar asked, his expression hopeful as he examined the glowing object.
"Of course," Iris beamed, her smile bright. "This is an incredible find! People would kill for something like this!"
’Hell yeah,’ Alicar thought internally, a grin spreading across his face before turning toward the portal. "By the way, I’m not too worried about Leon since he’s been gone for a while, but if anyone asks you why you suddenly have magical powers, just say you gained them inside the secret realm."
This was the perfect cover for Iris, as secret realm rewards were mysterious and unpredictable, even for the most experienced awakeners who studied them.
"Alright," Iris nodded, determination gleaming in her gaze, her resolve firm. "And also... Rick."
"That fucker," Leon groaned loudly as he hit the ground with his feet, his anger palpable. "Let’s get out of here and destroy him."
"Yeah," Alicar nodded faintly, his eyes narrowing with cold purpose, and the three exited the secret realm for good, hoping to never see it again.
Alicar’s vision flashed as he passed through the portal, feeling as if he was being pulled and passing through space and time itself, his body weightless and disoriented.
And after a few seconds, he landed on solid ground once more, his feet touching the familiar soil of the Initial Stage.
They were back where they started, the place where their nightmare had begun, but this time, they were much stronger than before.
Alicar turned around, noticing that they were back in the clearing where the Sun Temple had once stood, its ancient structure looming in the distance.
It was still there, though it looked much more broken than before, its crumbling walls and shattered pillars evidence of the battle that had taken place within, and the oppressive aura it had emanated for centuries had completely disappeared.
"Let’s go," Alicar said simply as he took a step forward, his voice calm and resolute. "No need to waste time."
Iris and Leon looked at each other for a split second then nodded, also wanting to leave this place and never look back.
"After being gone for a year, I wonder how different this place is," Leon sighed, a small smile appearing on his face as he thought about the world beyond.
"Two years," Alicar replied, his voice flat.
"What?" Leon’s eyes widened, confusion flashing across his features.
"You were gone for two years," Alicar repeated, his expression unchanged.
"You noticed too, huh?" Iris smiled, her voice carrying a hint of dark amusement. "Leon said he arrived in the secret realm a year ago, while Sera and Darian only six months, but the sacrifices happen yearly."
This meant that inside of the secret realm, time passed twice as fast than in the outside world, a fact that had escaped Leon until now.
And this also meant that Alicar and Iris had spent a little under two weeks trapped in that nightmare realm, though it had felt like an eternity.
Anyone who entered the Initial Stage and took a week was considered average, ten days was stretching it, but two weeks was enough to consider you as missing or dead in the eyes of the association.
For someone like Alicar, no one would care about his disappearance, a nobody who had barely awakened, and even Leon’s death must have already been forgotten by the world.
But for someone like Iris, a member of the prestigious Crowford family, it was surely catastrophic, a scandal that would have sent shockwaves through the noble houses.
The group continued through the dark forest, with Alicar still holding the S-Rank core in his hand, its fiery aura illuminating their path.
"Seriously, the first thing I’m doing is buying a spatial ring," he groaned, his arm aching, "Could have been useful."
They killed several monsters on the way, though none of them even posed any problems to the group, their combined strength making short work of anything that dared to approach.
Iris’ magical power had become incredibly strong now, even surpassing Alicar’s own due to the +10 Spirit reward she had received from the appraisal.
A small fireball was enough to kill a level 10 monster easily, the flames consuming the creature in seconds.
And eventually, after around thirty minutes of steady walking, the group finally found their way back to Human Base #3, its familiar walls rising before them.
...
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