Chương 28: In Three Days

After they left the prison, its dry chill was quickly scattered by the breeze in the canyon. Unlike before, Rayne and the others were no longer as tense as they had been when they first entered the canyon. After a hard battle and a rare short stretch of leisure, everyone's mood had relaxed quite a bit. Tyren kept lowering his head along the way to admire the shortbow he had just obtained. The corners of his mouth simply would not stay down. Serin noticed his expression and gave him a helpless look.

"You've already looked at it many times."

"This is a shortbow from a boss chest," Tyren said with perfect confidence.

"Looking at it a few more times is completely reasonable, right?" Barton walked ahead of them and spoke in a muffled voice without turning his head.

"Ordinary shortbow." Tyren's expression collapsed at once.

"Barton, you really know how to ruin the mood sometimes." Asar could not help letting out a laugh. Rayne walked in the middle of the party, listening to their conversation, and a faint smile appeared on his face as well. After the pressure and tension brought by the Whisperer, this easy atmosphere felt reassuring. At least in this moment, they truly seemed like an ordinary adventurer party that had just finished a difficult expedition and was preparing to leave the dungeon with their loot.

But that ease did not last for long. The farther they walked, the more familiar the surrounding scenery became. Broken stone walls. Collapsed pillars. The remains of a camp half-buried by windblown sand. And the road leading toward the end of the canyon. The smile on Rayne's face slowly faded. Almost without thinking, he raised his hand and rested it on the sword hilt at his waist. There were still guards stationed in the camp ahead.

For Rayne and the others now, these Black Iron-level guards should no longer count as true obstacles. Even so, no one relaxed because of that. The moment Rayne stepped into the camp, the burly Garrison Captain immediately turned its head. Barton almost instinctively raised his greatshield. Tyren also reached for the shortbow on his back. However, this time, the Garrison Captain did not charge at them. The red light in its eye sockets flickered violently, as if confirming something.

After a moment, that red light slowly receded, revealing gray-white pupils. Then it raised one withered finger and pointed toward the rear of the camp. At the half-broken stone archway. And beyond that archway, the circular plaza that was so quiet it felt almost dead. Rayne's fingers tightened slightly. This was the reason they had come this way in the first place. Deliver the three tokens to the gatekeeper. The goal was clear. There should have been nothing to hesitate over.

And yet, when that stone archway truly appeared before him, Rayne's steps still inevitably slowed. Not only Rayne. Tyren reached for the dagger at his lower back almost at once. Barton lowered his gaze to his right arm, the fingers gripping his greatshield tightening little by little. The smile on Serin's face slowly faded as well. Asar said nothing. He only let his hand fall naturally beside the hilt of his sword. They all still remembered that circular plaza.

After passing through the stone archway, the windblown sand would vanish in an instant. The entire world would fall silent, leaving only their footsteps echoing through the empty plaza. Then, that tall, ruined knight would stand in the center of the plaza, slowly raise its head, and look at them. Tyren's throat moved.

"And..." His voice had lost its earlier lightness.

"I heard that thing got even stronger now, right?" No one answered him. They had already heard the answer from Cyrus. Rayne's grip around the sword hilt slowly tightened, and a thin layer of sweat seeped into his palm. More troublesome than that was the other thing they all remembered. The moment they stepped into that plaza, gray fog would fall. Their retreat would be sealed. Tyren took half a step forward, only to stop himself stiffly in front of the stone archway. He gave a dry laugh, then blurted out,"Shit.

Those three tokens aren't a trap, are they?" The moment those words left his mouth, everyone's expression changed. No one thought he was talking nonsense. After all, the one they were about to meet was the gatekeeper who had personally killed them once before. And those three tokens were now leading them step by step back to that place. Rayne lowered his head and glanced at the three Prisoner's Tokens in his belt pouch. Greer did not urge him. He only watched him quietly. The two of them exchanged a glance.

After a moment, Rayne slowly exhaled.

"We go in." His voice was not loud, but it steadied the others, whose nerves had gone almost rigid.

"But no one lowers their guard." Greer nodded lightly and tapped his cane against the ground.

"Stay sharp. Until it makes a move, no one attacks first." The old man paused, his voice dropping slightly.

"Do not let a moment of impulse turn this into something we cannot take back." The instant they stepped into the circular plaza, the sound of the wind disappeared. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Only their heavy footsteps remained, echoing through the empty plaza. At last, they saw it. The violent black shadow from the depths of their memories. The tall knight stood in the center of the plaza.

The armor in their memories had been so broken it had seemed almost ready to fall apart. Now, it had been replaced by a complete suit of knightly plate armor. Pale-gray patterns stretched along the edges of the plates, spreading across almost the entire armor. Under the dead, muted light, they gave off a cold sheen. Its hands rested on the hilt of an intact, rusted greatsword. The tip of the blade was planted against the stone floor, and its entire figure stood silent and straight.

It looked as if it had been standing there from the very beginning. Waiting for them to walk up to it. Rayne's breath caught slightly. He knew that this was the gatekeeper. Cassandre. But the figure before him was completely different from the one in his memories. More complete. And more dangerous. Rayne reached out and signaled for the others to stop. Then he walked toward Cassandre alone. The others behind him all showed anxious expressions, but no one spoke to stop him. Rayne walked forward step by step.

At first, his steps were still a little unsteady. But with every step, he could feel the gazes coming from behind him. Barton, Serin, Tyren, Asar. And Greer. Those gazes only fell quietly on his back. Yet they made Rayne's steps steady little by little. Just as he was about to reach Cassandre, the tall black-armored knight finally spoke. A hoarse, dry voice came from the depths of the helmet, like two rough sheets of iron scraping against each other.

"Halt." Rayne stopped at once. Within the gaps of Cassandre's helmet, two dark-red lights slowly brightened. It lowered its head and looked at Rayne.

"Present them." Rayne froze for a moment. The next instant, he snapped back to himself. He reached into his belt pouch and took out the three Prisoner's Tokens. Pale-blue light flowed in his palm. Cassandre lowered its head and looked at the three tokens. In the next moment, it took a heavy step forward. Rayne's body almost immediately stiffened in place. Several faint breaths sounded behind him, but no one spoke, and no one recklessly stepped forward. Cassandre stopped less than a step away from Rayne.

The shadow cast by that tall suit of armor almost swallowed Rayne whole. The dark-red light swept over the three tokens. The first. The second. Finally, those two dark-red points of light stopped on the token that belonged to the Whisperer. [Prisoner's Token: Knight's Fragment] At that moment, Rayne faintly felt that the tall suit of armor before him had gone still for an instant. It was very brief.

So brief that if every part of Rayne's attention had not been stretched to its limit, he might have thought it was only his imagination. A moment later, Cassandre slowly raised one hand. Rayne's breathing nearly stopped in that instant. The iron-covered hand did not touch him. It only stopped above the three tokens. The next moment, the three Prisoner's Tokens slowly floated up from Rayne's palm. Pale-blue light flowed through the air.

The first token quickly turned into motes of light and sank into the stone floor beneath Cassandre's feet. The second token did the same. Only the third token remained suspended in midair. [Prisoner's Token: Knight's Fragment] The token floated in front of Cassandre, its pale-blue light trembling slightly. Cassandre lowered its head and looked at it. For a long time. So long that Rayne almost thought that tall suit of armor would never move again. Then, Cassandre finally spoke.

"Trial... passed." The hoarse voice slowly spread through the empty plaza. The next moment, the Knight's Fragment also turned into motes of light and sank into the pale-gray patterns across its chestplate. Just then, Tyren's mutter suddenly came from behind them. His voice was actually very quiet. But in this empty and deathly silent circular plaza, those words seemed to be magnified several times, landing clearly in everyone's ears.

"So... that Val-something-rak guy really had a grudge with you?" The next moment, Tyren seemed to finally realize what he had just said and hurriedly raised a hand to cover his mouth. Unfortunately, it was already too late. Serin's expression changed. The oak staff in her hand almost instinctively came down on the back of his head. Tyren crouched down with his hands over his mouth, forcing even his cry of pain back down his throat. Rayne's heart nearly skipped a beat in that instant.

His fingers tightened by reflex, and he almost drew his sword. Fortunately, Cassandre did not attack because of that. The tall suit of armor only stood quietly in place. The dark-red light within the gaps of its helmet still rested on the pale-gray patterns across its chestplate. After a moment, it slowly turned around and walked back to where it had been standing.

"In three days." The hoarse voice sounded again.

"Only then may you pass." Rayne froze. Three days later? That answer was clearly not what he had expected. What surprised him even more was that Cassandre had not shown any intent to attack them from beginning to end. Even Tyren's words just now could almost be called running his mouth at death's door, yet it had only stood there in silence. Rayne hesitated for a while. In the end, he could not help asking,"Why do we have to wait three days?" The circular plaza fell silent. Cassandre did not answer immediately.

◆ ◆ ◆ At the same time, inside the Core Chamber, a certain shabby blue rock quietly trembled.

"Why would you ask that?!" Owen almost dimmed completely.

"You already defeated the Whisperer! You got the reward! I gave you the new hint too! Hurry up and go back!" On the screen, Rayne was still standing in front of Cassandre, his expression so serious that Owen felt a wave of guilt. Owen fell silent for two seconds. Then he silently shifted his attention toward the new area that was still empty and only half-built. An awkward silence filled the Core Chamber.

"... Because the area behind it isn't finished yet." How was he supposed to say that out loud?! ◆ ◆ ◆ Cassandre only watched Rayne standing there and remained silent. The longer that silence lasted, the heavier the unease in Rayne's heart grew. Out of the corner of his eye, he subconsciously glanced behind him. The broken stone archway still stood there quietly. There was no gray fog. Their retreat was still open. And precisely because of that, he finally realized something.

This time, Cassandre was not trying to keep them here. The moment that thought appeared, the dark-red light within Cassandre's helmet suddenly flared. The towering suit of armor leaned forward slightly. Its iron-covered hands had once again closed around the hilt of the rusted heavy sword. Rayne's mouth twitched instantly. He hurriedly raised both hands, showing that he had absolutely no hostile intent. The next moment, he turned and left. No. He did not leave.

He retreated toward his party at the fastest speed he could manage while still looking polite.

"Back." Rayne lowered his voice, speaking so quickly the words almost blurred together.

"Back. Now." Tyren was still crouching on the ground. Hearing this, he suddenly raised his head.

"We're leaving?"

"Ask one more question, and we might not be able to." Rayne grabbed him by the back of his collar and hauled him up from the ground. No one hesitated again. Under the gaze of Cassandre's dark-red lights, they retreated through the stone archway almost as fast as they could. Only when the dry, cold wind of the canyon brushed against his face again did Rayne realize that he had truly left the circular plaza. His hand was still resting on his sword hilt. Barton had not lowered his greatshield either.

Serin gripped her oak staff, and Asar's fingers still hovered beside his sword hilt. Even Tyren, who had just been hauled up by Rayne, did not immediately start complaining for once. Everyone subconsciously looked back beyond the stone archway. The circular plaza remained quiet. Cassandre did not follow them out. There was no sign of gray fog either. Only after a long while did Tyren finally seem to let out the breath he had been holding.

"So... what do we do next?" Serin silently looked at him. Before she could even make a move, Tyren had already instinctively shut his mouth. Greer stood to the side, his gaze still fixed on the depths of the plaza. His expression had become even more solemn than before.

"We wait," he said in a low voice.

"Aside from that, we have no better choice. Do not forget, forcing our way through is not one of our options." Rayne paused slightly. Greer did not explain further. He only withdrew his gaze and tapped his cane lightly against the ground.

"Leave this place first." He pondered for a moment, then continued.

"As it said, we come back three days from now." ◆ ◆ ◆ Inside the Core Chamber, Owen finally let out a breath of relief as he watched Rayne and the others slowly walk toward the starting chamber. If he still had a body right now, he would probably have already collapsed into a chair. Unfortunately, he had neither a chair nor a body.

"Good." Owen spoke with deliberate calm.

"Next comes construction time." His voice dropped all at once.

"Please, I'm begging you lot, do not come back in again for the next three days." The Core Chamber was quiet for a few seconds. Then a wail rang through the entire chamber.

"Give me a little time to save up some energy! I already gave you the rewards! Hurry up and leave! Let someone else come in instead!" Owen glanced at his current energy balance. A little over five thousand. Looking at the number alone, it was actually not that little. At the very least, compared to the pitiful savings he had when he first woke up, he was already many times better off. The problem was that there were simply too many places he needed to spend energy next. A new area. New monsters.

New things for challengers to interact with. And a stage guardian and rewards for the next area that had to look impressive enough. Not to mention the huge sum required to repair his core. Owen only listed them briefly in his mind, and the light of his blue core dimmed as if it was about to lose power. A little over five thousand? That was not even enough to count as spare change toward core repairs! What kind of savings was this? This was not savings at all.

It was advance payment that had already been assigned somewhere before construction had even started! Owen silently shifted his attention toward the area outside the dungeon entrance. In the temporary camp, one adventurer party after another was lined up, waiting to enter Blackstone Dungeon. Owen fell silent for a moment. Then he could not help laughing.

"Good. Very good." The blue core brightened faintly in the darkness.

"Rayne and the others are off the clock."

"Next, it's your turn!"