When Evan opened the door and stepped inside, he found a vast open space shaped like a dome.
There, he encountered a monster unlike anything he had ever seen in the previous world.
A massive creature with green skin and a body packed with muscles.
It stood upright on two legs, wings on its back, and a long tail trailing behind.
Its head looked distinctly reptilian.
Easily five meters tall, the gigantic Gargoyle stared at Evan, drooling.
Boom! Boom!
As soon as it spotted Evan, it stomped hard and began to roar.
Kyaaaaao!
Evan quickly drew the Elemental Sword and the Sword of Jormungand’s Fang from his inventory.
‘So, this was the creature guarding this place?’
Unlike the previous world, this place was preserved in perfect condition.
Naturally, the monsters guarding it also existed as they should.
‘A Gargoyle, huh. What a troublesome creature.’
Among monster classifications, it was considered an upper-tier being.
It attacked swiftly, using its great strength and low-altitude flight.
Flap! Flap! Flap!
The Gargoyle’s wings beat as it rose about a meter off the ground.
“This is going to be a pain.”
Evan swiftly activated a skill.
-The Sharpshooter Skill has been activated.
- Aiming at his target, Evan hurled the Sword of Jormungand’s Fang with all his might.
Thunk!
The blade flew straight and embedded itself in the Gargoyle’s arm.
Kyaaaah!
Furious, the Gargoyle roared and charged at Evan.
Evan channeled the elemental power of his Elemental Sword.
Crackle!
Sparks erupted from the blade.
‘This thing is, after all, an amorphous entity. It’s more vulnerable to lightning-type attacks than to ordinary sword energy.’
At the same time, Evan summoned his aura and shaped it into sword energy.
Kyaaaaao!
With its maw wide open, the creature lunged at Evan to bite him.
Despite the threatening attack, Evan remained calm and steady.
Recalling how he’d handled Gargoyles before, he swung his sword at the monster.
Slice!
The blade, carrying both sword energy and electricity, glowed bluish as it cut through the monster’s head.
Thud!
With a single stroke, the creature collapsed to the ground.
It was so simple that it felt almost anticlimactic.
Clatter!
As soon as the Gargoyle fell, a door suddenly opened.
From there, countless more Gargoyles poured out.
Evan narrowed his eyes and took a deep breath.
-Accomplishment: Gargoyle Slayer achieved.
-40% additional damage applied to amorphous-type monsters.
Interest.
Gargoyle corpses were strewn all around Evan’s feet.
‘…Where did all these things come from?’
Catching his breath, Evan slowly walked forward toward the door the creatures had emerged from.
He glanced around, scanning the connected passage.
‘The structure’s changed a bit from what I remember.’
Originally, the path to the Hidden Piece wasn’t here.
The collapsed entrance that was supposed to be here was gone, replaced by a new entryway.
Cautiously, Evan kept his guard up as he entered.
Following the corridor all the way, he eventually came upon a completely empty room.
Evan stepped inside.
“Looks like there’s nowhere else to go from here.”
At that moment—
-You have entered the Fire Trial Chamber.
With a message window, flames erupted throughout the room.
Fwoosh!
“Ugh!”
Evan frowned at the sudden trap.
Though the flames engulfed him, they did little real damage.
-The effect of the Ring of Flame has been activated.
-Fire resistance has increased by 50%.
-Fire affinity has increased.
-…….
With the ring’s effect, his fire resistance soared, and his affinity with flames increased.
But the trap didn’t end there.
Grrr!
Fire-Affinity Flame Wolves and fire-breathing lizard monsters appeared. Their numbers exceeded thirty.
‘This is definitely going to take a while.’
Evan called upon the elemental power of his Elemental Sword.
Naturally, he countered the fire attribute with water or ice elements.
Soon, his blade became covered in water, then transformed into a razor-sharp ice blade.
Evan charged forward.
Antechamber of the Holy Temple of Bellium.
Here, Alan, Reynold, and Ayra waited for Evan’s arrival.
Reynold, sitting on a chair, absentmindedly gazed at the coins he’d spread out on the table.
They were all different types of Guild Currency.
Now, most were nearly worthless or had lost more than half their value.
“…Guess I’ll have to tighten my belt for a while.”
With a deep sigh, Reynold reluctantly clung to his Guild Currency.
He wanted to get rid of them at once, but since he’d steadily been buying them up with his savings, the hit was severe.
Alan clicked his tongue at Reynold’s plight.
Then he walked over to Ayra.
“Uh, the young master is late.”
Ayra, staring blankly up at the sky, opened her mouth as Alan approached.
Alan nodded, looking worried.
“Could something have happened to him…?”
“He’ll, he’ll be fine!”
When Ayra answered boldly, Alan gave a slight chuckle.
“Yeah. I’m probably just worrying over nothing.”
Unless there was real trouble, there was no need to be overly concerned.
All the church officials seemed to be good people.
That was the impression Alan had gotten from observing them on the way here.
Ayra got to her feet and nervously fiddled with her hands.
“Um, um… Alan. I was wondering if I could visit the library… The priest mentioned earlier that if the wait got long, it would be good to use the library here…”
“The library?”
Ayra’s suggestion came out of nowhere, but Alan thought it wasn’t a bad idea.
It was getting a bit dull just waiting around here.
“Then I’ll come with you.”
“Huh?”
“Reynold’s going to keep sulking, and I have nothing else to do either. I’m curious about the temple anyway. Ordinary people can’t just walk in here, so we may not get another chance.”
At Alan’s words, Ayra nodded in agreement.
“I-I’m also curious about what the temple’s library is like. And I want to help the young master! The library must have a lot of material on the temple. There might be things that could help with the guild’s business, too.”
With shining eyes, Ayra showed great enthusiasm.
Alan considered her words.
‘Come to think of it, this is the largest place in the Southern Region. The library must be packed with data from all over the South.’
He realized he’d learned something from Ayra.
She was doing what she could to help Evan in her own way.
“I need to step up my game, too.”
“Yes?”
“No, it’s nothing. Let’s go.”
Alan and Ayra left the room together.
They asked passing believers for directions and soon found the temple’s library.
Ayra couldn’t help but marvel.
“Wow. This place is huge.”
The library was tucked into a corner on the second floor of the temple, but inside, it boasted three expansive stories.
As Alan entered first, the librarian approached them.
“Welcome. You’re outsiders, aren’t you? Have you come to use the library?”
“Yes.”
“Understood. First, let me explain the basic rules.”
The guide led Alan and Ayra into the library.
“You can only read the books here; only church staff may take books out. Naturally, recording is forbidden. All books have magical detection, so don’t even think about taking any with you. Please be careful.”
The security seemed stricter than expected.
“Understood. Of course.”
Alan assured the librarian again that they’d be careful, then began looking around the library with Ayra.
“With all these books… What should I read first…”
“Alan, I’ll go ahead and start reading thoroughly on my own.”
Ayra gestured to the shelves.
They were lined with books about the Southern Region’s environment, economy, incident records, and culture.
“I’m going to try to take in all the information here.”
||
2″
From the start, Ayra’s purpose for coming here was to make use of her exceptional memory.
The information here seemed quite advanced.
Even just a quick scan would allow her to recall much of it.
This was a rare chance for her memory to shine.
Alan began browsing the library shelves with Ayra.
“The content is way too difficult.”
Alan picked up a book but quickly closed it.
Nothing stuck in his mind.
It looked like a specialized text, hard to understand for anyone but an expert.
Alan put the book back on the shelf and watched Ayra.
She flipped through books at lightning speed and reached for the next.
‘…Is she actually reading?’
From the side, it just looked like she was flipping pages and putting the books back.
Unable to comprehend, Alan turned back to the shelves, searching for other texts.
Just then—
Boom!
Suddenly, an explosive noise rocked the library.
“Kyaaaa!”
“W-what the?! All of a sudden…”
“What’s all this commotion?”
Books tumbled everywhere and the place descended into chaos.
Alan immediately went on alert, while Ayra stopped reading and started trembling.
“Wh-what’s happening… all of a sudden?”
“Is someone attacking this place?”
As Alan was forming this suspicion—
Thud!
The library shook again with another loud crash.
Then Alan noticed a section of wall near the shelves ripple strangely.
“What is that?”
When Alan placed his hand on the undulating wall, his hand went right through it.
“…”
“…Ayra.”
“Yes. I see it too. Is it a hidden space?”
Ayra stared at it in amazement.
They both began to ponder what to do.
Thud!
A giant snake, with a head that looked to be five meters long, collapsed to the ground, glaring at Evan.
Evan’s whole body was battered and bruised.
He had suffered more injuries than expected in the battle with the monster.
After overcoming every obstacle, Evan had finally reached the last location.
The hidden Boss Room concealed within the temple.
Upon arrival, he found a creature completely different from what he’d expected.
It was a Hydra, one of the Four Deadly Serpents, lying dormant there.
A massive snake with eight heads.
A ferocious beast, not one bit inferior to the Basilisk.
It had once burst out of an S-rank large-scale Void Gate and laid waste to an entire city.
‘Damn. I can’t believe I’m facing the real thing.’
Barely, by using buffs and adapting the Third Form of Lee Han, he managed to corner and finally subdue the creature.
“It’s over now.”
Dragging his battered body, Evan approached to deliver the final blow.
The Hydra’s eyes, bloodshot, glared at Evan.
Evan gave a wry smile.
“You can’t possibly beat me. This is my second time fighting one like you.”
He drove his sword into the center head of the Hydra.
Shluk!
Sssssss!
With a hideous snake’s cry, the monster writhed and thrashed.
But its strength quickly faded, and soon the Hydra’s entire body began to glow and melt away.
-Assimilation rate has increased significantly.
-The Myth achieved by Lee Han has been linked.
-You have inherited the Myth of Hydra Slayer, Lee Han.
-It has been added to your Mythic Power.
And where the creature died, an old, chipped sword fell to the floor.
“What’s this…”
Evan picked it up.
He felt like he’d seen this sword somewhere before.
‘…Isn’t this the sword I used in the previous world?’
Finding the weapon he’d lost long ago, Evan was momentarily stunned.