The Northern Region, Ashton Kingdom, The Forest.

"And I say you have to go first!"

"I opened that crap, why should I go first? I say one of you shall go first."

"I can simply leave, you know."

"Sir, you can't leave after all this!"

"I absolutely can!"

Jin, Ruby, and Dante argued about who had to go first. None of them were willing to be the first to enter that place. They used many excuses to make each other the most logical choice, and none of these excuses were nonsense.

Jin was the one who opened the entrance, so he had to be the first in case there were traps.

Dante was also part of this opportunity, so he had to be the first in case he was needed this time.

Ruby was the one who led them here, so she had to be the first in case her ability showed her something.

All of them were good choices, which caused choosing only one to be a bit difficult.

"Should we make it random?" Ruby suddenly suggested, pulling out her dagger: "Let's spin the dagger. The one that the dagger aims at will be the first to go. It will depend on luck that way."

Hearing this, Dante almost cursed inwardly.

'Why make it about luck?!'

Before he could complain, Jin raised a hand: "I agree, let's do it. Even if he rejects it, it'll be two against one."

"..."

They spun the dagger three times on a flat surface. As expected, it pointed at Dante every time.

'Every. Single. Time!'

He was standing far from them, yet the dagger pointed at him perfectly. Maybe if he was close to them, the result would have been different.

Rubbing his head in frustration, Dante walked toward the tree.

"Remember to keep the same distance."

Jin and Ruby nodded in anticipation, waiting for Dante to take the first step.

Dante stood before the tree and looked at the stairs. They had a spiral structure and led underground. He couldn't see what was down there, as the intense darkness blocked his vision.

He wanted to send his wolf, but its size was too big to fit in this tight area. He could only do it by himself.

He brought out his lantern and ignited it with flint and steel. Feeling himself ready, he gripped the handle of his sword firmly and walked downward.

'I swear if something happens I won't hesitate to use Shadowstep.'

He covered his legs and boots with shadows, ensuring that he wouldn't make loud sounds as he walked deeper into the darkness.

"Bury, do you think this would be enough distance?" Jin asked Ruby while looking at the opened path on the tree.

Ruby rubbed her chin, ignoring the fact that Jim said her name wrong again, and said: "I think that's enough. Do you think he truly has a misfortune curse?"

Jin raised an eyebrow and carried Ruby over his shoulder: "Do you think he doesn't? I might be a bit drunk, but I know that he doesn't have any reason to lie. So it's either he's truly cursed or he believes that he's cursed."

"Oh…"

Jin jumped with her over the hole that the wolf dug and put her down.

"Now, as your future lord and the one who opened the path, I order you to go first!" Jin smirked before pushing Ruby gently.

Ruby clicked her tongue and walked forward. She didn't have any excuses after Dante went first.

"Hmm?"

But the moment she tried to step into the darkness inside the tree, she felt she hit a hidden wall.

"Jin, I think you have to come here!" Ruby shouted nervously, trying to step into the darkness but made no progress.

Jin frowned as he brought his hand to the darkness. Surprisingly, the same hidden barrier blocked him.

"I think that's why he was needed…" Ruby sighed helplessly—and in relief—before sitting behind the entrance.

"Or maybe only one can enter, who knows?" Jin sat beside her and closed his eyes.

Now, they could only wait.

¢¢¢

Thump! Thump!

In the darkness, the only sound Dante could hear was his own heartbeats. He was a bit afraid of the darkness, but his trait and experience helped him endure it.

As he walked for minutes, he couldn't help but frown: 'How deep is this place? Who the fuck made this? And what is the purpose of making it?'

It was obvious that this place was made by an intelligent being. After all, a natural dungeon wouldn't need lightning for the entrance to open.

Dante looked upward, a frown forming on his face.

'Why can't I still see a light. Don't they have anything to illuminate their way?'

A few minutes had already passed. He was supposed to be seeing a light above him now. Instead, he saw only darkness both up and down.

'Hopefully, this isn't another type of living darkness—I've had enough of them.'

Sighing helplessly, Dante threw the matter to the back of his mind and continued walking downward. There was a chance that the darkness was just thick enough to stop the light.

The logic in this world was something that Dante couldn't understand anyway. For example, the shadows were supposed to be made due to an object blocking the light from a certain area. But since Dante got Fafnir as his shadow, his body stopped creating shadows, as though he couldn't block the light anymore.

If he stood before a lantern, the area behind him would still be illuminated, as though the light were passing through him. At the same time, he'd still feel the warmth of the light on his body and the reflection on his eyes.

It was just a paradox that didn't make any sense.

'No, it doesn't make sense to Earth's common sense. Maybe this has an explanation in this world. Unfortunately, the people here aren't so interested in physics.'

After a few more minutes of walking, Dante finally noticed a change.

He looked down and saw that the darkness seemed a bit lighter than above.

'I'm close!'

Dante started walking faster and faster. After another minute, he finally reached the floor.

The floor was made of a material that looked like black wood, but it felt harder than steel. He wanted to use Appraisal on it, but he dismissed that thought immediately.

'I should save my Ether, and I don't want anyone to see me using it. Maybe after we explore this place.'

There was only one path forward, the back and sides were blocked by black wood. Fortunately, the path forward was wide enough for a wolf.

Shadow Spell — Shadow Wolf!

A giant inky-black wolf appeared silently behind Dante, a connection between it and Dante forming.

Dante was now seeing through three different bodies—his own body, Fafnir's body, and the wolf's body.

Feeling his mana draining slowly, he manipulated the shadow wolf to move forward, holding the lantern with its fangs.

It took only slow steps, moving its head awkwardly in all directions to allow Dante to see everything. He didn't want to miss a single detail.

Unfortunately, he couldn't see anything noticeable. The corridor was empty, and when he looked upward, he couldn't see a glimpse of the ceiling.

After a few seconds, the wolf was met by a wooden gate with a mark similar to the one on the tree with only one difference.

The one above had a lightning mark, while this one had an inky-black human-shaped figure.

'Wait, if that was lightning, then is this a shadow?'

It finally made sense. Whoever made this place wanted to see both the Shadow Aspect and the Lightning Aspect, but Dante didn't know the reason.

Was this a kind of selection? Was there a test next? Was there a hidden trap waiting for them?

'Wait, they still didn't arrive.'

Dante shifted his gaze to the stairs. Even after all this time, they still didn't arrive.

'Either something happened up there or they're unable to come here.'

The latter theory seemed more likely to be true. If something happened, they likely would have gone to the stairs to run.

Dismissing these thoughts, Dante walked forward, moving toward the mark. Once he found himself there, he dismissed his wolf and sat on the ground.

'Just to be safe, it's better to recover my mana first.'

He was a bit cautious in this unnatural situation. Just because he wasn't under attack now didn't mean the next place would be safe. He needed all his mana in case he had to run using Shadowstep.

Upon recovering his mana, he stood up and placed his hand on the mark. Feeling the cold surface, he channeled his mana and spiritual energy.

'Yeah, it worked.'

As expected, inky-black lines spread across the wall. He was able to see them only by bringing the lantern behind them, as even his demonic eye was struggling against that darkness.

"...!"

All of a sudden, the darkness became thinner, allowing Dante to see better ahead of him.

'This darkness truly wasn't normal. Will they be able to come here now?'

The wall behind him suddenly moved upward like a mechanical door, revealing a door with some runes engraved on it.

Dante's brows furrowed as he read the runes.

{HERE LIES STORM OF SHADOWS}

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