Somewhere in the middle of a monochrome mountain with a stone monument near its peak, chilly winds blew fiercely, carrying with them a snow of ashes.

Daru raised his arms to protect his eyes as he advanced, his armor lightly clanging while his blonde hair was ruffled back by the screeching tempest.

He glanced at the forest beneath, then the Underworld River farther away.

He couldn't help but doubt whether he had made the correct decision to explore on his own instead of tailing Rocante.

Then again, this side of Limbo had been unknown even to Nando, so how could he have known that there were no other Swordspawns around?

In any case, Daru was now in the middle of Monument Mountain.

The only thing that would make sense now was to continue the cold and difficult journey to the peak and see what he could learn there.

Daru shook the unnecessary thoughts off, resuming his arduous advance.

He inched closer to the peak, one step at a time, though sometimes, the ridge would end, and he would have to climb a dangerous cliff to transfer to another, traversable ridge.

The ashen winds grew stronger as he neared the top, making the journey more perilous.

Daru didn't even want to imagine how much more dangerous the climb would be if he were in his Neo-Earth body.

Suddenly, a rush of admiration for professional mountaineers flooded his being.

He found it difficult to believe that those people could survive and conquer such harsh environments with mere mundane physiques.

The skills, the experience, and the tenacity required to succeed were probably diabolical.

Some of them even perished in their pursuit of the peaks, too…

Daru's mind wandered like so in the gentler parts of the journey, but most of the time, he was fully focused on the climb, gaining some experience and skills himself.

There were a few times he almost slipped to his demise.

Thankfully, his sword was sharp and was able to easily stab through the solid layer of the cliffs, allowing him to climb back up.

It was quite ironic that it was these dangerous moments that gave his confidence small boosts, gradually increasing the overall speed of his ascent.

Daru trudged, climbed, slipped occasionally, and shivered, but in exchange, the distance between him and the stone monument shrank.

Finally, around three more hours later…

Daru's cold and sore hand gripped the cliffside, and he pulled himself up with one last groan.

He breathed heavily while scanning the surroundings.

There seemed to be no danger, and so, Daru allowed himself to plop down, staring at the gray skies.

It wasn't so hopeless anymore. In his eyes, at least…

Some time later, he crawled back to his feet and walked closer to the monument.

'No, is this…an altar?'

It looked like one, more so than a mere monument.

What he thought to be a massive stone tablet embedded deep into the ashen earth turned out to be ancient stone stairs, and at the very top, in the middle of five stone cairns, stood a forsaken stone table.

Daru couldn't explain what he was feeling at the mere sight of the stone altar.

Still, he ascended the steps, with vigilance at first, and then wonder and endless curiosity.

He soon arrived at the platform, standing in front of what seemed to be a ritual table.

Daru shuddered, the faces of the notable wretches of Egress flashing in his mind.

Nando, Lesha, Caleb, Thrad, Hark, Borz, Aesyn…

'I swear, if they turned out to be heretics…'

Daru wouldn't hesitate to cut them down.

Of course, he hoped that such things wouldn't have to happen, as he had grown quite fond of his comrades, even though he was having some difficulties letting them know.

There seemed to be nothing else on the platform aside from the stone table.

Still, Daru continued looking around, soon noticing five engravings on the five stone cairns.

Starting from the left, there was an ivy, then a thorn, then a sword, then an eye, and then a crown.

'The Five…'

He walked closer and inspected the engravings.

Unfortunately, they were just that, lifeless prints carved in stone.

Daru was a bit disappointed, but he still continued searching for clues. He descended the altar.

Then, he began walking around the small, ashen plateau.

Daru diligently looked around the area for almost an entire hour, but he found nothing helpful.

'Sigh…'

He was a bit frustrated and disheartened.

After all, it took him three and a half days just to scale the Stone Altar Mountain, only for him to find nothing except for information he already knew.

'What now?'

He could return to the riverbank and continue his initial plan of tailing Rocante…

In fact, this seemed to be the only logical thing to do, even though it meant he would have wasted almost an entire week without gaining anything.

'Well, what else could I–'

But then, before he could finish his thoughts, a heavy crash loud enough to echo all the way to the Stone Altar sounded, prompting Daru to look in its general direction.

His vision was obscured by the ashes and the edge of the plateau, though, so he had to walk closer.

He then looked down.

Daru's eyes widened the next moment, discovering what it was that just thundered.

A rather colossal bridge.

A Drawbridge, to be exact.

Originating from an enormous stone castle, it stretched across the wide expanse of the Underworld River, secured to the other side by massive, metallic spikes piercing deep into the ashen ground, allowing those who were permitted to cross the terrifying waters.

And the ones who were permitted were…familiar wraiths.

Their ancient stone armors clunked as they crossed the bridge, their stone swords ready to sunder those who stood in their path.

Daru knew who would stand in their path: the poor wraiths of the ancient settlement in the Ashen Plain.

The one-sided massacre was about to start again.

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