Heart of Darkness (1)
Althea’s sun had disappeared over the horizon, causing the darkness to take over.
Kybriel’s moon and stars rose in the night sky.
The night was coming.
In a rural village in southern Latna, the residents were stuck in their rooms, trembling in fear.
When did it start?
Whenever the night came, the monsters of the world began to appear.
The terrible monsters that had appeared only in Dungeons came out of the darkness, murdering everyone they came across, then disappearing as the sun began to rise.
Sounds were reverberating in the deepening darkness.
A large group was marching together.
Grrrr…
Grrrr…
Orc, Troll, Ogre, Goblin, and Cobolt.
Alien monsters, which had only appeared in the dungeons, attacked the human village with rage in their eyes.
The roars of the monsters echoed throughout the fields.
Grrrr…
Argh!
Noises and screams echoed across the night sky as the village was brutally torn apart.
“Ahhhhh!”
In the growls of death, the powerless residents covered their ears.
They could only hope to escape such a terrible night.
“My dear Kybriel…”
“Please protect us.”
Their prayers were useless.
The monsters soon broke down their doors, barged into their rooms, smashed the heads of the people praying, and feasted on their bodies.
“Ahhhhhhh!”
* * *
Unexpected events were taking place throughout the Latna Continent.
New dungeons had stopped appearing.
Monsters no longer escaped out of the dungeons.
Nevertheless, when the night came, beasts appeared seemingly out of nowhere, their only goal to feast on people.
They would then disappear like a fleeting dream in the morning.
It couldn’t have happened.
The night was Kybriel’s territory, and the darkness was her grace to protect Latna.
Why did the night begin to produce the Alien monsters?
The world had been turned upside down.
The Six Churches continued to pray for the Goddess’s response.
The Mages searched for a logical explanation behind the phenomenon.
Continental countries tried to reduce the casualties by sending troops.
The Continental Top Three weren’t exempted from the chaotic political situation.
In Medis Lata, the capital of Kaldris, the Ancient Kingdom, a group of deputies gathered at the Regent Palace.
The present King of the Kingdom of Kaldris was still a young boy, and all practice was practically done there.
The deputies shouted in chorus.
“The damage is getting worse, sir!”
“What the hell is going on here…”
Garhan sat on the table and nodded.
After reviewing the situation, he immediately gave quick instructions.
“All countermeasures are allowed. Do your best to prevent the damage.”
“Yes, sir.”
Instead of bowing his head, one of the deputies looked at the throne with suspicious eyes.
The Garhan in that seat wasn’t real.
It was just an illusion.
It had already been several months since he started taking care of state affairs in that way.
‘What the hell is Dear Regent doing?’
Nevertheless, he didn’t dare question the Thunder King.
Garhan’s power was too strong.
Garhan gave the deputies a light gesture.
“Today’s political meeting will end here.”
* * *
At the sanctuary of Kybriel, the Goddess of Darkness, Garhan bitterly smiled as he opened his eyes.
“I’m getting tired of it.”
Genovia, who was standing nearby, replied with a shrug.
“The same goes for me.”
She was doing the Queen’s work a little while ago.
The Monster Incident was no exception to the Mado Kingdom, Lune.
Unlike the confused deputies, the two didn’t look that surprised.
They already knew why it was happening.
Garhan’s voice was indifferent to the situation.
“It’s probably because we stole Kybriel’s divinity.”
With the Goddess of Darkness gone, the remaining five Goddesses filled the hole she left with all their might.
But there was still a shortage of manpower.
Light, fire, water, land, and wind tried to replace darkness, but the world didn’t go back to what it once was.
It was out of place from the beginning, and it was getting worse over time.
It was a big enough gap for the Demon Omphalos to dig in.
If that were the case, the Monster Incident would only grow bigger and bigger.
“I need to get Kybriel’s incarnation quickly…”
Genovia became nervous.
“What the hell is Hollien doing? She’s the only one who can move now.”
She and Garhan were unable to leave the sanctuary of the Darkness.
It was because of their remaining life expectancy.
With only a few years left in their lives, the Top Three tried to avoid death even if it meant letting the situation worsen.
And but their initial plan was only half successful.
He succeeded in robbing the divinity of Darkness, but they didn’t gain the wisdom to utilize it properly.
Due to that, the Top Three’s mortal bodies remained as they held on to the divinity.
Even so, they were undoubtedly divine beings.
In the sanctuary of darkness, he who had the divinity of Darkness could remain immortal, though it came with limitations.
Staying there would prevent their life from shortening.
So Garhan and Genovia decided to remain in the Darkness Sanctuary. Only Hollien returned to the secular world to take charge of the search for the Goddess.
Unlike Hollien, who still had more than 100 years to live, only a few years were left for the two humans.
“We can’t waste a day in vain.”
“Hang in there a bit more. Hollien’s got her trace.”
They continued to talk to each other as they grew impatient.
Suddenly, a gentle voice was heard by the duo.
A transcendent voice was echoed through their souls rather than through sound.
– Garhan, Genovia…
– If your hearts are still human…
– It’s not too late. Before it becomes irreversible…
– Return the darkness.
– For the future of Latna…
It was a message from the five Divine Goddesses.
Garhan dug his ears.
“They’re like a mosquito. They keep whining in my ear.”
He had nothing but extreme disrespect for them.
Neither he nor Genovia cared.
They had already come so far. There was no point in being polite anymore.
“That’s funny, Goddesses.”
“I can’t believe you said that knowing what it means to return the Darkness.”
There was only one way to return the divinity of darkness they already seized to Kybriel.
It was the death of the Top Three.
The Goddesses were essentially forcing them to commit suicide.
Garhan and Genovia laughed openly.
“I’m spending my days in the sanctuary…”
“You think that’s going to work? You’re so naive.”
Garhan gave them a counteroffer.
“I’ll make you a proposal! Tell Kybriel’s incarnation to give up her wisdom! When we become the new Deity of Darkness, we will return Latna to normal!
The voices of the five Goddesses began to die down.
– It’s impossible. We can’t contact her right now.
– Only through the Sanctuaries can we communicate with her…
– Think again, Garhan and Genovia.
– Darkness is her, and she is Darkness.
– Even if you get the wisdom, you won’t be able to use her divinity.
Garhan didn’t give up.
Even if the Goddesses’ words were right, he had nothing to lose anyway.
Only when ‘he’ existed was there ever a ‘world’ that he recognized.
If ‘he’ didn’t exist, how could he say that the ‘world’ lived in a way that he approved of?
“We’re not going to be able to utilize the divinity?”
He gave the world beyond the darkness a declaration.
“Then we shall all disappear together.”
* * *
They were at an inn in the forbidden city of Serkaltan.
Kibie was in the backyard with Ryu Han-bin.
She was transferring the Sword King’s swordsmanship she learned through shadow-reading to Han-bin.
“This swordsmanship is of little use to Effir or me. But it should prove useful to you, Han-bin.”
The Sword King’s swordsmanship consisted of simple-looking movements.
His swordsmanship was focused on simplicity rather than glamour and power rather than elegance.
But if he looked deeper into it, it became mysterious.
Only when sophistication was inherent in simplicity and could one exert his power.
The expression of Ryu Han-bin gradually became distorted as he listened.
“It’s too hard, isn’t it?”
Kibie scolded him.
“Did you think the world’s strongest swordsmanship could be mastered overnight?”
“You have a point.”
Martial arts were not taught by mouth.
It was taught through actions.
As Kibie explained, Ryu Han-bin swung Gigant.
He had a surprised look on his face.
“It would take a year for me to learn how to execute it the right way, but I still think I can do the basics right now.”
Coincidentally, Baotolt’s combat style didn’t differ much from his style.
The Sword King’s swordsmanship was a way to exert real power ‘only when humans themselves were strong.’
It consisted of a method that made the best use of what people with superior physique and formidable physical abilities had.
Ryu Han-bin’s swordsmanship was similar.
It had been 22 years since he started believing in his physical ability that went up endlessly.
Throughout his days at the Rocky Mountain, he trained his foundations and the basics nonstop.
He didn’t want to die from the strange changes in his surroundings.
After falling into Latna, he learned Maxbrid with Effir and changed his interpersonal skills, but it wasn’t enough to forget his existing style.
Kibie giggled.
“Like I told you, Han-bin. You can do it.”
It wasn’t a coincidence.
Their gigantic, powerful, and excellent physical abilities fought against monsters more than the human race ever could, gaining combat experience as they pursued the peak of strength.
“Of course, the results are similar.”
In other words, it could be called convergent evolution.
Fish and whales were entirely different creatures, but they had evolved similarly due to the underwater life’s commonalities.
“Of course, unless taught directly, the details would be quite different from the real Sword King’s swordsmanship, but…”
That wasn’t a big problem, either.
Even if the details were different, they didn’t deviate from the big trend. He would gain good results if he steadily carried them.
Kibie felt relieved.
More than she had expected, Ryu Han-bin was in great harmony with the Sword King’s swordsmanship.
“The problem is that…”
By learning Baotolt’s swordsmanship, Ryu Han-bin’s skills would noticeably improve.
He had enough physical strength and capability to accomplish that.
“But to kill the Top Three and restore my divinity, it’s not enough to be better than who you are currently.”
Han-bin had to gain the real power of the Sword King.
Baotolt’s unique Aura skill was praised as the strongest in all of Latna.
“Valtara’s Fighting Spirit, and the Heavenly Sword Diastima.”
Kibie spoke quietly but sternly.
“You can never defeat them without learning those.”
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