"Come, brother Onimaru Kunitsuna," urged Ascalon, the level fifty-five leader of the Damnedling Army whose name was written in gold.

'An SS-ranker?' Daru mused.

It was naturally easier to trust someone from the same race than a hideous, hunching abomination.

Daru shook his head lightly, snapping himself out of bewilderment before proceeding to enter the invisible boundary.

The moment he did…the world changed.

The monochrome hues were washed away by vibrant colors.

The trunks of the trees were pale-brown, the leaves green, and the stone slabs, although still of a monochromatic theme, were seemingly alive and full of hope.

Then words appeared in the skies, the same way Valmaris would introduce a new location:

"Hidden Reprieve"

…Was the name of the mystical forest.

"Have…we left the Underworld?"

Of course, Daru already knew the answer to his question. He was just so bewildered at what was happening that he couldn't help but still ask.

"If only that were the case…" Ascalon sighed in response. "Unfortunately, no. We are still in the Underworld. In Limbo, to be exact…"

Daru fell silent.

'Limbo, huh…'

Knowing this matter wasn't really too important, at least to him, but it was certainly good to know where he was.

If only he knew how valuable knowing the names of each region of the Underworld was…

"I see…so, how did you guys end up here?"

"Let's head to the village first. I'll tell you what I can on the way."

Daru nodded and followed, astonished.

Establishing a village in this god-forsaken, ashen realm must've been incredibly difficult, but since these people — Damnedlings outside the Reprieve — took the time to make a livable settlement for themselves, it could only mean one thing: getting out was more difficult, perhaps even impossible.

Daru's heart grew heavy at the thought.

Limbo was somewhat fun for him, but he didn't want to stay here forever.

He couldn't help but glance at Ascalon, who was giving orders to another beast-like humanoid creature with wolf-like features.

It didn't seem like the guy was despairing.

'Maybe they know the way?'

Daru's train of thought was cut short as the short, cherry blossom-haired SS-ranker turned to him, smiling.

"Man, you don't know how glad we are that you're here, brother!" Ascalon began, unhesitatingly wrapping his arms around Daru's neck as though they had been friends since they were kids.

Cody would've seethed at the sight.

Fortunately — in more ways than one — the guy wasn't here.

Daru, on the other hand, didn't mind, but he was getting slightly impatient to know the answers to the gnawing questions.

"Why is that? Also, you didn't answer my question. How did you guys end up here?"

"Ah, right. Sorry about that."

The cherry blossom-haired SS-ranker paused for a while, sighing before continuing: "probably the same way you did? Through an Underworld Key a few years ago. Only…I was dumb and overestimated myself. Now, I'm trapped here. A case of 'curiosity killed the cat', basically…"

Daru observed Ascalon's expressions.

The guy was certainly downcast about his situation, but not hopeless.

This lifted his mood a bit.

The cherry blossom-haired SS-ranker has been here for far longer than he had, and there was a chance that they already knew how to leave.

Maybe they even built a village for that purpose.

Daru was about to continue asking, but the words got stuck in his mouth as the settlement finally came into view, or at least a part of it.

He momentarily froze in astonishment at the sight of wooden shacks stretching on a vast patch of condensed ashen soil hidden in an abundance of thriving oaks and spruces.

Smoke rose to the heavens in some parts of the village — or the small, rural town, as Daru deemed the word more fitting — and individuals of varying races walked to and fro, carrying various stuff.

"Welcome to Egress Haven, brother Onimaru." Ascalon welcomed with a wide smile. "Come, follow me to the meeting shack."

Daru nodded and followed closely behind the SS-ranker, entering the village proper.

As soon as he did, the ones nearest to the area he entered from and saw him froze, dropping whatever it was they were carrying.

Then, with trembling hands, they pointed at him.

Daru was a bit dumbfounded.

Fortunately, Ascalon stepped forward, chuckling:

"Hahaha, I know, I know, and yes, we finally have a chance. But calm down, alright? Brother Onimaru still doesn't know what's going on, so we'll talk with him first, you guys continue what you're doing for now."

The way-too-bewildered folks of Egress nodded reluctantly, struggling to peel their gaze away from Daru.

Only then did the two continue walking to the meeting shack located somewhere at the heart of the village.

The same thing happened five more times, but fortunately, things didn't get too out of hand.

It seemed that Ascalon was both well-liked and well-respected, even though he was among the youngest he had seen in the settlement.

Perhaps it was because he was an SS-ranker.

Strangely, though, there were quite a number of individuals here whose race he hadn't even heard of.

Humans, Veshari, Aetherborns, and Vyrrkans…

These were the four races of the Sword Trials, so he truly didn't know what the others were.

The half-beasts, for example, have never been mentioned in any of the articles he read or lectures he had.

Unfortunately, as much as he wanted to continue his conversation with Ascalon, there were too many disturbances.

Daru could only wait until they arrived at the meeting shack.

The two inevitably arrived in front of a well-made, wooden shack that looked the same as the rest of the accommodations in Egress, but bigger.

There wasn't really anything too notable about the exterior, so the two simply entered.

Daru was greeted by a shabby meeting table and makeshift chairs.

Scanning his eyes across the interior, he froze, noticing a figure sitting on one of the chairs.

An old man, based on the fellow's wrinkled body.

Only, the guy…had no head.

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