"Huh?"

Beneath the hopeless gray skies, in one of the ridges of an ashen, windswept mountain, four wretches stood frozen, eyes wide, mouths agape.

"Huh? No…there's just no way that–"

Caleb, Lesha, and Gris would've spoken, too, had they had words to say.

Only Daru, who seemed to be in extreme shock and bewilderment, managed to mutter a few.

He did not want to believe what was happening before him.

Saphoros was gasping for air, torn apart in two uneven parts after the spinning cross-slash of Crescent Dicer passed through him, his dying wails echoing throughout the Altar Mountain.

Only for a moment, though, as, in the next, even his pitiful last breath left him.

The nightmarish ghoul twitched for a few moments, then stopped moving completely.

Daru would never have believed what happened, had it not been for the notification that appeared in front of him:

[You have slain Saphoros, Regal Thrall of the Sinful Blossom Lv. 61]

[You have obtained 115,210 experience points.]

[Congratulations! You've leveled up to 61!]

[You have obtained (1) Leaf of Indulgence.]

[You've obtained the accessory item: [Blossom Bracelet (A)].]

"No…No…"

He had never prepared so thoroughly for a battle, so why?

[-60,000!]

Why was his damage so high?!

Daru had once heard about withdrawal symptoms when he was young, but how could it be so intense as to make Saphoros so vulnerable?

He could think of a few explanations for the ghoul.

However, does it even matter?

Daru shuddered, staying still for a while as sounds of crackling fists and teeth sounded faintly.

Then, with furious steps, he walked towards the fallen horror.

"This, you see? This is the effect of doing drugs! The Ivy? Ha! You should be called The Disappointment instead! Do you know how much I respected you as an adversary, despite your pathetic state? Look, I brought comrades. Three, even!..."

His outburst went on for a while under the even more dumbfounded gazes of the three Damnedlings.

They had never seen Daru so angry…and they couldn't understand why he was angry.

His trembling hands as he pointed while cursing rather politely at Saphoros was solid proof of how furious…disappointed? He was.

In any case, the three were frozen in place. Their instincts told them that it was better not to move at all and just watch the admonishment.

To their startlement, Daru suddenly turned to them. They shuddered for a moment.

"You three…"

The three gulped.

"Don't you three forget this…this is what will happen to you if you do drugs. So don't…just don't."

Caleb, Lesha, and Gris couldn't help but feel that they were being taught a sincere lesson by their grandfather.

But of course, the best thing to do in such a mind-boggling situation was simply nod in acknowledgement.

They did, and it turned out to be the correct thing to do.

Daru sighed in the next moment, shaking his head while exhaling heavily…then scoffing.

The same thing happened a few more times before he began taking deep breaths.

The three didn't move a single step while Daru was having his episode, taking in everything from the moment of his outburst, to his disappointment, then to his acceptance.

It seemed safe to speak again two moments later.

So, as the leader of Egress' Damnedling Army, Caleb asked:

"W-Well, Daru, t-there will be plenty of tougher battles ahead, so let's look to the future, yeah? Ignore this disappointment. Look, there's the demonic jester over there. Why not try your luck with him, hm?"

Daru exhaled one last time.

His mental state isn't quite back to what it usually is, but the older bladeborn's words made sense.

There was no use talking to a dead, letdown of a royal drug addict, anyway.

So, he turned his attention to The Eye the next moment, observing the observer.

The plan was to test whether Harlowe could be killed easily. If not, then at least force him to move, battle him on the ground…and slay him.

Either way would do, though Daru hoped that the demonic jester would give him a fight.

He waited for a dozen seconds.

Then, once he felt the mystical feeling of a Sword Skill coming off cooldown as though a biological feature, he assumed an L-stance again and fired another Crescent Dicer.

The spinning cross-slash tore through the air.

To his disbelief, it couldn't even cut through the seemingly brittle, dead branch that was in the way.

"Huh?"

A genuinely confused expression appeared on his face, and on the faces of his comrades.

How the hell is a dead branch tougher than Saphoros?! What in Limbo was this?!

The four wretches looked at each other before Daru walked closer to the tree.

He had quite an experience against unbreakable wood, so he wanted to test if that was indeed the case again.

Daru stepped forward, masterfully transferring force as he swept his tachi in an attempt to cut down the huge tree.

A dull, heavy thud echoed…but his weapon didn't even scratch the bark of the dead tree.

Daru sighed.

He knew where this was going, and he wasn't about to use his Azure Swordfall this time.

"We won't be able to cut down this tree," he declared firmly. "We'll have to somehow force this demonic jester to jump down…or fight it at the branches…"

Luckily, there were still quite a few tests to do that Daru didn't attempt alone, as it would be an unnecessary overreach.

He wasn't scared of provoking Harlowe into battle, but he had been specifically warned not to by Caleb at the final meeting before he left Egress for his solo mission.

Those tests were done today.

He attempted to change his angle, allowing Crescent Dicer to reach his abominable target without the interference of the impossibly tough branches.

It finally provoked a reaction from the demonic jester…but not a preferable one.

Harlowe drew his blade from thin air — a gray estoc with an eye-shaped pommel — and deflected the blow.

The horror didn't even turn to look, ever gazing at his beloved.

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