Back to the time when Amon entered the unknown portal with the enemy.

Amon shot through the air.

Wind roared in his ears. His body blurred between the trees. His sword was gripped with both hands, the blade pointed straight ahead.

The masked man turned, still trying to force the portal to open somewhere else.

He couldn't react in time.

Amon's silhouette came straight from behind him.

His dark eyes glowed.

"Got you."

SHHHK!!!

Amon's sword plunged straight into the assassin's back. Deep and brutal, driving through skin, muscle, and bone.

The masked man let out a choked scream.

But Amon didn't stop.

Momentum carried him forward.

Both of them were shoved straight into the unstable portal.

"NO— No— NOT AGAIN—!"

The light swallowed them whole.

FWOOOM.

The portal snapped shut.

.

.

.

Somewhere far away, in a dark, unknown chamber.

There was no light.

Only darkness.

Space twisted as a shimmering glow appeared. A blue-colored teleportation gate tore into existence.

From it, something fell with a heavy thud, breaking the silence of the dark room.

THUD!

Just like that, the portal closed immediately.

"Aaargh!" someone groaned in pain.

"Damn… I got myself into an unknown teleportation gate again. And I don't even know where it leads."

His eyes surveyed his surroundings. All he could see was darkness.

He pushed himself up onto his feet.

'Where is that masked man?'

He cautiously stepped forward. Just then, something hit his leg.

'What's this?'

Amon didn't have the fire element to conjure flames and light up the space.

Though, as a darkness and shadow element user, he could see better in dim places. But this was pure darkness. Even he couldn't see anything.

This situation reminded him of the time when he was pulled into an unknown gate in the palace. Back then, he had found himself in a chamber too, but at least there had been light, coming from the teleportation gate's shimmering surface.

But here, there was nothing.

'Wait! I have that thing.'

Suddenly, he remembered.

After the survival exam, when they stayed in Lunaris Haven, he had bought some very important items. Things necessary and useful for survival.

He pulled something out from his storage ring.

A lighter appeared in his palm.

Yep. He had bought a lighter so that next time he found himself in a survival situation, he could easily start a fire.

'Hehehe~ I am so smart.'

He lit the lighter. A small flame formed at the top.

It wasn't big enough to brighten the entire room.

But at least his immediate surroundings were dimly lit.

First, he looked down at what his foot had hit.

There lay the same masked man in front of him, wearing a dark hood.

Amon's sword was thrust into his back.

'Is he dead?' he thought.

He knelt beside him and checked his pulse.

"Fuck! He's dead… does that mean I'm alone here? But where am I? Is this their base?"

He wouldn't get answers by standing there.

'Let's check his body. Maybe I'll get something useful.'

He pulled his sword out of the dead body and stored it inside his storage ring.

Then he began searching the corpse for anything of value.

There wasn't much.

But he did find a dagger at the man's waist and a storage ring on his finger.

"Oh, this will be useful."

Sitting cross-legged on the floor, he put the ring on his other middle finger, right beside his own ring.

He rummaged through the storage ring.

After a while.

"Hah… well, this will be useful, I guess."

Inside were two swords, some high-grade healing potions, several daggers, dark clothes, cloaks, and bandages.

'There's nothing else. What kind of assassin was this guy?'

He put everything back into storage and stood up.

That was when he saw it.

A bronze-colored cube lay on the floor, complex runes carved across its surface.

His eyes widened.

'Th-that's a teleportation artifact. Maybe I can go back.'

He immediately picked it up—but he didn't know how to use it.

How was he supposed to activate it? And how could he set the destination?

"This looks similar to the artifact I saw in Hector's hand."

First, he tried sending his mana into it.

Warm energy flowed through his body, running down his arm, into his palm, and out of his body.

He directed it into the artifact.

Nothing happened.

"Come on! Just activate!"

He tried multiple times, pouring mana into it again and again.

But it was useless.

"Yeah. Nice. This thing isn't working at all… anyway, let's get out of this chamber. I should check where I am."

He kept the artifact with him. Now it belonged to him. If it was broken or unusable, he could always repair it later.

He strode deeper into the dark room.

The floor was made of stone. The walls were gray stone as well. It looked ancient. Far too old. As if this place had been abandoned for a very long time.

Just then, he noticed a staircase leading upward.

'Oh… it's leading up.'

He walked toward it.

Click! Click!

His shoes made clicking sounds against the stone floor as he moved.

He began climbing.

One step at a time.

The staircase was narrow and uneven, carved directly into stone.

Each step felt worn down by time, the edges smooth as if countless feet had passed here long ago. The darkness thinned with every step he climbed.

Then.

A faint glow.

A dim, pale light seeped down from above.

Amon's eyes narrowed, then widened slightly.

'Light…'

His expression brightened for just a moment. But the instincts drilled into him through battle and survival kicked in immediately.

Caution.

He slowed his breathing. His heartbeat increased.

Shadow flowed silently around his feet, coating his boots like liquid darkness. The clicking sound vanished entirely as he continued upward, every movement controlled, silent, predatory.

He climbed faster now. But without haste.

Closer.

Closer.

The light grew stronger.

Then.

He reached the top.

Amon stopped just short of the final step and peeked forward.

What greeted him wasn't freedom.

It was another room.

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