Four wretches traveled across a dead forest.

While there was much to be discussed, it wasn't very efficient to flood one's mind with information one wouldn't be able to act on immediately, and Nando was very experienced in this regard.

He was the one who always stopped the meeting when the topic was drifting too far ahead.

They shall take it one wretched step at a time, and the step they currently have to take was to eliminate the first of The Five: Saphoros, The Regal Addict — at least that's the name Daru remembered — and take his relic to offer it to the stone altar near the peak of Altar Mountain.

He led Caleb, Lesha, and Gris through the dead forest near the north of the Ashen Plain.

The three normally wouldn't dare step too close to this area, and so they were quite on edge.

After all, unlike Daru, they didn't know where the stone wraith army dwelled, and they may stumble upon lands they wouldn't be able to leave forever.

The sheer numbers of the wraiths ransacking the ancient settlement south of the plain were just too horrifying.

It would be dumb for a Damnedling, who couldn't even use his sword skills, to dare venture here alone.

Even bringing the entire army of Egress would probably be a futile challenge.

Daru, on the other hand, knew the location like the back of his hand by now, as he had performed numerous tests and hunted numerous Forsaken Legionaries and Condemned Centurions, partly so that he could fill his experience points to level sixty and stock up on some rare and much-needed Demon Essences.

He couldn't use them all right now, but he would gradually infuse his Soulbound Sword with them whenever it was appropriate to do so.

In any case, Daru knew there was nothing in these dead woods, as the wraiths came from the other side.

He had also told Caleb and the others already, but it was still difficult for them to ease up.

Only when they caught sight of the Underworld River and the massive stone castle across it were they able to relax.

Half the reason for this was the definition of Daru's verbal terms.

He had said the exact words "there was nothing there" in the past, and that's when Caleb learned that the younger bladeborn's definition of "nothing" was different from his.

Their vigilance definitely wasn't without reason.

"So this is the Stone Castle…" Caleb murmured.

Nonetheless, the three Damnedlings were in awe of the sheer size of the ancient stone castle and its simplistic beauty, stupefied by it for a few good seconds.

It wasn't too difficult to imagine that there would be a heretical temple beneath such a majestic structure.

Caleb, Lesha, and Gris would be lying if they said they didn't want to check the temple out.

Of course they did.

However, they were so close to success now, and they weren't willing to throw their chance away to appreciate some ancient temple.

Not after drowning in desperation in the past two weeks.

There was nothing the three wanted more than to return to the Surface.

Unfortunately, it was very difficult to get the timings down perfectly in Limbo, especially when there are no clocks and no sun.

At least outside the Reprieve.

The three could only wait, hiding behind a not-so-hidden Stone Slab.

Caleb didn't feel too good about their hiding spot, but Daru was the leader this time. He could only suppress his worries through deep breaths.

Soon enough, the drawbridge fell, and the harrowing warcries of the wraith army reached their ears.

The experience of hiding behind a stone slab just a few meters away from the abominations was nothing short of hair-raising.

But as much as Caleb wanted to reprimand Daru, he really couldn't.

After all, Daru would only say: "It turned out well in the end, didn't it?" And it did.

The small cohort of four wretches soon found themselves crossing the colossal bridge.

Nando said there was no way for the Damned to cross to the other side of the Underworld River.

But as it turned out, there was. They just had to be mad enough to discover it.

Daru walked as though he were at home, and that brought the other three behind him some peace, at least, but not too much.

No.

The three didn't dare trust the younger bladeborn's rather twisted sense of danger.

"Ah, right." Daru stopped, turning to look at his comrades. "There are Forsaken Legionaries and Condemned Centurions in the outer grounds — nothing we can't handle. If you wish to progress your levels a bit, then we can pass through there. Otherwise, we'll take the safer route."

The safer route…of course they'd choose the safer route, especially since the three can't really fight with everything they had in their current forms.

The three hadn't leveled up for quite a while, but their experience points weren't close to being filled either.

So, the safer route was the unanimous choice…though none of them quite imagined that the safer route would be the interior of the Stone Castle.

"The entire first floor would be empty every time the wraith army leaves for the Ashen Plain Settlement, and this would also be our chance to attack. I haven't explored the second floor of the castle, though. I tried, but it's heavily guarded and too much for a lone infiltrator." Daru said casually, his voice echoing through the stone hallways.

Caleb took note of Daru's words.

After all, he would be in command of the Damnedling Army once they attacked the castle. He must make sure to remember its layout as much as he can.

The SS-ranker even asked for a quick tour of the notable areas, to Lesha and Gris' surprise.

They were all for it, though, and Daru, too.

He wasn't really cut out to be a tour guide, given how appalling his sense of direction was, but in the end, they managed to make it out of the castle before the wraith army returned.

Barely.

Although with a bit of trouble, Daru was eventually able to show his comrades the notable hallways they could use to get to the second floor and introduced Toras and his kitchen staff, as if subtly hinting they could also try and take out the field boss right now, if just for the sake of experience points.

Caleb didn't take the obvious bait, of course.

Now, the three of them were journeying through the wilderness, more relaxed than they had been.

It seemed that this side of the river was indeed relatively safer than the other one, just for the reason that no Accursed Soulcatchers were running around to catch wretches.

The latter half of the journey to the Altar Mountain was quite peaceful.

A few hours later, they reached the foot and began the ascent, then another few hours later…they heard it…

Sounds of overenthusiastic sniffing.

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