When the sun's heat and light hit Asher face he frowned and finally came out of his daze.

  In his hand the broken crystal-like shard, most likely from the avenger-rank creature of beyond, rested with the small white fog breathing in and out of the broken pieces.

  Asher couldn’t understand what had just happened.

  At one moment he had rested atop the staircase. The next second he was in his village, living a surreal dream that turned into a nightmare.

  A shadow had arrived, a creature that Asher guessed held powers equal to the plague itself.

  And finally destroyed the illusion while he dealt with the Acosador.

  Asher's lips quivered, dry blood coating his lips as a bitter laugh left his lips.

  “Haha… And here I was, ready to die. Almost.”

  Relief hit him so hard his knees gave out beneath him. He collapsed face-first into the sand, its coarse grains scraping against his skin. The sting barely registered—too small, too distant—compared to the tremor that still ran through his body like a current refusing to fade.

  For a moment the peace lasted for long.

  Asher’s mind almost drifted to sleep. But it was not the time for that—He was in a place two beings had fought. Strong enough to disintegrate this place to shreds. The sound had been loud enough; it wouldn’t be a surprise if more monsters came crawling here in this hell.

  Asher forced his body to stand with a loud groan.

  His legs wobbled as his frown deepened.

  “I feel like shit.”

  He mumbled.

  Then turned his head to look at the clear shard. Still pushing faintly with fog.

  ‘What am I supposed to do with this?’

  If he were in a normal city, he could’ve sold this and made millions. But here, in this wasteland, it was nothing more than a shard—something that might hold value in rituals he knew nothing about. In the end, it was useless.

  Why had the shadow left it for him?

  No—why had it spared him at all? And even gone as far as to give him directions?

  Asher didn’t know if he should follow it or not. After all, trusting monsters was something only an idiot would do.

  ‘No, I am already an idiot.’

  Asher rubbed his head.

  ‘Not like I could have done anything else to begin with.’

  With a sigh he placed the origin shard in his bracelet.

  Should I just go west?... Asher thought, looking around the destroyed place. He had just gotten off one monster back and it was just a beast, a hard one to kill at that. But now another calamity had instructed him to do something.

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  While he knew that east was dangerous from the way he had come, there could be other routes. However, he has yet to look at the western part of this desert. Even while on the tower, it was so dark he couldn’t see what lay beyond.

  But now it was daytime. He could surely see something worthwhile.

  ‘I need water as well, a lot of it.’

  Asher shoved the worries at the back of his head for the moment and decided to focus on his current predicament.

  First was to leave this place.

  Asher again glanced at the ruined walls broken to dust and then at the collapsed tower.

  For a moment he felt extremely sad, sorrowful even.

  This tower was a testament to the old world. A place that existed for more than ten millennia. But now it was destroyed.

  He didn’t know when he would get the chance to witness such a thing once again.

  However, there was a much deeper reason for his sadness as well.

  ‘My blanket… Is it still there? Below the debris.’

  Asher was at a loss.

  He pursed his dry lips and started walking toward the fallen tower. The ground was uneven, scattered with broken pieces of marble. Black streaks slithered through the white stone, still faintly warm from the fall. Asher stepped over the debris carefully, the sound of his boots scraping against the rock echoing in the still air.

  Dust hung low, and the scent of crushed stone filled his nose. He climbed higher, using the fallen slabs as steps, until the view opened before him. From there, he could see the ruins stretch far and wide—the broken tower lying like a fallen giant among the remains of an ancient place.

  When he found good footing, Asher raised his head from below and looked ahead at the horizon.

  The sun was shinning brightly and Asher thought he would be able to see what he previously couldn’t.

  ‘Oh, how wrong I was.’

  Asher's face stiffened as he looked with eyes wide open.

  Ahead, even though the light was bright enough to blind, a patch of darkness lingered on the horizon. It wasn’t the kind of dark that came from shadow—it was deeper, heavier, as if someone had carved a hole into the world itself. No matter how much light spilled over it, nothing could be seen beyond that void.

  However, Asher could see the darkness was not empty; rather, it was tall, deep and cold. As if countless eyes watched from afar, their gazes gnawing at his soul.

  Asher shuddered.

  ‘Great! Just great! That place is more ominous than anything. I now understand why the tower was built. To watch that place, but which idiot only wanted to watch it? I would have placed a whole army here!’

  Asher felt his blood run cold the longer he watched. Rather, how can anyone even think of going there anymore? If he meets an Avengers-ranked threat, one in five monsters, in that place, he feels every encounter will be death!

  But it also felt familiar.

  Not the feeling of cold death but rather that darkness.

  It reminded him of the dark forest in the east of Kalista.

  But this one was creepier.

  If that forest was rotten and dry. This one was oddly alive and surrealistically dead. As if a shadow… Ah, that explains it. Asher's eyes narrowed as he realized where that strange creature of shadow might have come from. The large shadow that looked like an ancient warrior dapped in armor and helm hiding its face might as well be ruler of that void or deathly forest if Asher saw it correctly.

  Suddenly a wild thought popped in his mind. Two of them, in fact.

  What if this place is just a deeper part of the dark forest? Or maybe what lies beyond it?

  Will I be able to return if I cross it?

  Asher soon shook his head with a heavy sigh.

  No, that doesn’t look possible. The time here was different—the sun here was different and the night as well. The grey sky was nowhere and death was everywhere.

  Even if Kalista was deadly, this place, this forsaken land of life, was hell.

  And it was not like Asher could cross the shadow forest.

  He couldn’t even stay in the same place for a single day!

  With a tired gaze Asher looked into the shadow forest for a long while; his fingers twitched and face went pale the longer he stared. In the end he looked away, to the east, where the hungry shadow had pointed its slender fingers at.

  ‘I guess my options are slim.’

  Asher grimaced and jumped off the debris, letting the warm wind hit his face and make his cloak flutter with the fall.

  As he landed on the ground after kicking the sky. He winced, as his leg had yet to heal; the previous adrenaline rush had made him forget about the pain.

  ‘Beggars can’t be choosers. I have nowhere else to go anyways.’

  With such thoughts Asher could just click his tongue in disappointment and start walking toward the east.

  But then he froze.

  His face stiffened as something flew his way.

  A dark orb had shot from the sky, coming his way.