"Bang!"
A dull thud echoed through the shop, followed immediately by sharp gasps from the surrounding customers.
Leon withdrew his smoking fist, grabbed Maru by the hand, and left the shop without hesitation. Before exiting, he casually tossed a few silver coins onto Belto's prone body—both to pay for the lemon cupcakes and as compensation for the punch.
Only after Leon had gone some distance did the onlookers dare approach Belto to check on him.
His nose was slightly crooked, one side of his face badly swollen. He looked miserable—but in truth, his injuries weren't serious. Leon had controlled his strength perfectly.
"Are you okay?" someone asked cautiously.
"…"
Belto remained silent for a moment. He paid little attention to his injuries and instead asked, almost thoughtfully,
"Did I… not seem friendly enough just now?"
The onlookers exchanged glances and sized him up. To be fair, his earlier words had been a standard formal challenge. Among adventurers, that already counted as decent manners.
But…
This guy was absolutely terrible at reading the room.
And his looks didn't help.
Dead fish eyes. A high nose bridge. A crooked grin. A pointy head. Add in his slightly sharp voice, and no matter what he said, he just felt unbearably punchable.
Belto had been born with a face that attracted hostility. Ever since childhood, he'd been beaten up plenty of times because of it.
"…Sigh. Forget it," he muttered as he slowly got to his feet.
"I'll just wear a mask when I go out from now on. Anyway, the message is delivered. The rest is up to the captain."
Hands stuffed into his pockets, Belto swaggered out of the dessert shop, wandered through the city for a while, and eventually arrived at the city's largest clock tower.
After climbing the ladder all the way to the top, he emerged into a vast open space overlooking the entire city. This was where their new group gathered every day.
"I still don't get why the captain insists on choosing this place," he muttered to himself.
"Climbing all the way up here is exhausting, and it's pitch black too."
"Because it's the most elegant place."
A teasing voice answered him from the darkness.
"Did you forget what the captain said? No matter what we do, we must do it with elegance."
A small figure stepped into view.
It was a petite girl, similar in stature to Maru. But where Maru radiated innocence, this girl exuded charm—both in her gaze and her makeup.
"Mira? Why is it just you?" Belto asked.
"Where's the captain?"
"Look up."
"…You've got to be kidding. Again?"
Belto sighed helplessly and raised his head.
High above, in the darkness, a figure crouched atop a massive brass chandelier—completely wrapped in a black robe, like a humanoid bat.
Moonlight streamed in through a narrow window, barely piercing the darkness and illuminating a corner of the captain's robe.
The moment her gaze met Belto's, a low, magnetic voice rang out:
"I am the darkness. I am judgment. I am—"
"Clatter, clatter."
The chandelier swayed ominously, as if it might fall at any second.
The bootleg Batman hastily jumped down—but still made sure to declare upon landing:
"I am Black Bat!"
Clap. Clap. Clap.
Sparse applause echoed through the space.
She bowed gracefully in response, elegant as a noble.
There was clearly something wrong with her head.
Black Bat Luluwo—Silver-ranked adventurer.
It was said she possessed bat beastman blood, which explained her obsession with darkness. She was currently applying for promotion to Gold rank but lacked any standout "major achievements," so she had set her sights on raid groups instead.
"Captain, the task you assigned me is complete!" Belto hurriedly cut in before Luluwo could continue—he knew from experience that once she got going, it felt like being tortured by nonstop divine chanting.
"Oh?" Luluwo asked, tilting her head.
"And how did Sir Leon respond?"
Belto silently pointed at his swollen face.
No further explanation was necessary.
"Hahaha! Just as expected of him," Luluwo laughed brightly as she leapt onto a nearby pillar.
"I really like his personality. The stronger the personality, the more delightful it is to conquer. I'll savor this delicacy bit by bit."
"Don't worry, Belto. I'll avenge that punch for you. Tomorrow."
Belto hesitated before speaking cautiously,
"Captain… are we really going to do this?"
"You should address it as we," Luluwo corrected, wagging her slender finger with an elegant smile.
"Belto, my companion—you have already sworn the covenant of the Darkwraith. And now you wish to turn back?"
"That's not it. I just think… we might not be able to beat Leon and his group."
"No matter," Luluwo replied calmly.
"I have already made the acquaintance of many like-minded allies. They shall become our greatest support."
She clapped her hands.
Figures emerged from the surrounding darkness—each one radiating power.
The moment Belto saw them, a red, round object within his chest began to tremble.
It was an item he had obtained after forming a covenant at the Darkwraith altar hidden in Farron Keep.
Its name was—
[Red Eye Orb]
[Use it to invade another's world and plunder their souls!]
[This is a common act of Darkwraith who have been led astray by the Primordial Serpent. The more they pursue souls and humanity, the deeper they fall into the abyss of darkness]
[Perhaps… this is what humans are truly meant to do?]
The reason it trembled was simple.
It sensed a large number of its own kind.
Everyone present was a bearer of the Darkwraith covenant.
Thirteen in total.
Nearly every Darkwraith in the city had gathered here.
"Everyone!"
Luluwo declared proudly.
"From this moment on, you are to intercept Leon. This commission will persist until—"
"We successfully take Sein!"
(***)
After leaving the dessert shop, Leon returned home, where Drew and the others were already waiting.
Drew glanced at Maru, noticed her mood had improved, and quietly gave Leon a thumbs-up.
"Where's the master?" Leon asked, looking around. He didn't see Gapar, nor was Darrick anywhere nearby.
"The Sword Saint went to see Count Charon," Drew replied.
"Not sure why. Darrick said he went back to feed the wolves."
Drew yawned. After a full day of exploration, he was utterly exhausted—even talking felt tiring.
"So what did you run into down that path afterward?" Leon asked.
Drew shook his head.
"The deeper it went, the more complicated it became—branching paths everywhere, and no light at all. I saw a prompt called 'Maintain the Flame,' so I kept a Fireball spell ready the entire time. Unfortunately, before long, time ran out and I got teleported out."
"What happens if you extinguish the flame?" Leon asked with interest. When a dungeon offered explicit prompts, there was always a corresponding mechanic.
"Maybe the monsters go berserk. Maybe our mental state gets suppressed. Either way, I didn't test it."
Leon felt a bit of regret. If he had been there, he definitely would have tried.
After wrapping up dungeon matters, Leon told Drew and Terl about Belto and the challenge issued by the new strategy group.
"They're completely unnecessary," Drew commented flatly.
The new group didn't even need to issue a challenge. As long as they cleared the mutated dungeon first, the title of raid group would naturally be theirs.
No wonder Leon had felt Belto's actions were a blatant provocation.
After discussion, the group reached a unanimous decision regarding the upstart team—
Accept the challenge.
And crush them utterly.
This group was Leon's life's work—his original obsession. Especially after his revenge was complete, it had become his last remaining anchor.
Without the group, Leon would be like a ship without a mooring.
Whether it was this new group or any other opportunists riding on a name, he would suppress them all with absolute strength.
Of course, his plan wasn't to storm their base—but to leave them hopelessly behind in dungeon progress.
Dungeon exploration needed to accelerate.
"By the way," Drew added, "I ran into Stella earlier. You remember her, right?"
"Of course. The first Warrior of Sunlight," Leon nodded.
"What about her?"
"She said that recently, people calling themselves Darkwraith have been appearing around Farron Keep—invading others."
Darkwraith. Invaders.
Leon knew both terms individually, but together they felt unfamiliar.
"Are they avatar-type invaders?"
"No. They're real people—actual, living humans," Drew said, gesturing toward the street outside.
"Some of the people walking past your door right now could be Darkwraith."
Seeing Leon's confusion, he continued.
"So far, we know three confirmed facts. First: invaders can be real people, not dungeon-controlled entities like we assumed."
"Second: invaders sign a covenant to gain the power to invade others. Where that covenant is signed and how the ability is triggered—we don't know."
"Third: covenant bearers can steal the souls others have accumulated. And likewise, their own souls can be plundered."
"So all those Darkwraith appearing in the dungeon lately are there to steal other people's souls?" Leon frowned.
That could absolutely be classified as malicious behavior. Not only did they steal hard-earned souls, they also ruined the exploration experience—despicable.
"Stella and the other Warriors of Sunlight have been run ragged," Drew sighed.
"When I saw her, she'd noticeably lost weight. Apparently, whenever someone gets invaded in her area, she's forcibly summoned to deal with it."
Leon couldn't help but sympathize.
"The city lord will probably issue an invasion ban soon," Leon said.
"Unfortunately, it won't stop them completely."
Stealing the fruits of others' labor was etched into the genes of villains—it could never be fully eradicated.
He yawned, removed his gear, and said calmly,
"If I get invaded, I'll make them pay."
.
..
...
The next day, the group didn't enter the dungeon until noon.
They planned to revisit yesterday's areas to refine their guide.
And—to help untangle the knot still lingering in Maru's heart—they intended to search for the warrior jar again.
Maru hadn't slept well. She'd woken in the middle of the night, looked at the flower wreath the little jars had given her, and burst into tears.
There was still a third unexplored path in the tomb area, and another route beyond the Death Knight's chamber. If time allowed, they planned to check both.
But just as Leon and the others smoothly dealt with the giants and archers—
An anomaly descended.
[You are being invaded by Darkwraith "Black Hound"!]
[You are being invaded by Darkwraith "Slug"!]
[You are being invaded by Darkwraith "Great Mountain Goat"!]