Noticing the confused looks on Kieran and Pierre’s faces, Herbert replied with a bitter smile, "That weapon is effective against the monsters, but it is more effective against humans! Anyone who uses it after eliminating the Night Monsters will become a Night Monster too! In other words, the monsters we’re facing right now all used to be humans! The original Night Race had been one of the guardians of Isogu City back in the day! According to this tablet’s record, that weapon was first created to serve the greedy ambitions of a Neegor Dynasty King, who wanted to achieve immortality. The Night Race was just inconspicuous collateral damage!"Herbert’s bitter smile got even deeper as he elaborated.
When he saw what the ancient guardians had written down on the tablet, he couldn’t believe it. However, logic told him that it was all true.
None of this was important though. According to the tablet, there were far more horrifying things out there.
If he destroyed the tablet, its horrifying contents would be gone as well, but when Herbert thought about what was on it, he could not help but s.h.i.+ver in fear.
How could a normal human being do such a horrible thing?
The elderly scholar asked himself that question more than once.
"Instead of achieving immortality, they created the Night Monsters? How is that possible?"
Pierre shook his head in disbelief.
"If the Night Race was just inconspicuous collateral damage… Did the tablet mention any other beings too?"
Kieran caught the meaning behind Herbert’s words as he recalled the b.l.o.o.d.y scene back in Herl City.
The mastermind and the person who had stepped into the trap had known each other. If both parties had been guardians, it would all make sense.
As for the parcel that the black figure had retrieved, it had to be the weapon that Kieran and his friends were looking for.
"The weapon that fell into the Night Race’s hands and the tablet… This can’t be just a simple history lesson!" Kieran thought silently as he looked at Herbert, searching for answers.
If it had been just a brief history lesson, the Night Race would not have deliberately planned all these things.
The Night Race leader, one of the original guardians, would not have caused all that commotion just for a story.
There had to be something else on that tablet!
Herbert opened his mouth, but he did not say anything.
Kieran understood when he noticed the man’s manner. No doubt, the elderly scholar had hidden some crucial information from them, but Kieran shrugged it off, deciding not to press him.
Forcing answers out of a respected elderly man was not Kieran’s style, even if Herbert was just a native.
Besides, it was only thanks to Herbert that Kieran would be able to finish his Main Mission smoothly.
By the time Herbert had started to explain the tablet’s contents, system notifications had already begun to appear.
[Herbert elaborated on Isogu City’s secrets, Isogu City Exploration +3%]
[Main Mission: Explore at least 20% of Isogu City within 4 weeks, Completion 22.5%]
[Main Mission Completed!]
[Player will leave his fourth dungeon in 5 minutes…]
[Please take whatever items you wish to keep with you.]
[Note: Any items that exceed the maximum weight will be discarded!]
...
As he looked at the tablet, Kieran noticed that the digging sound inside the crumbled corridor was getting louder by the second.
The Night Monsters were digging really fast, faster than he had expected.
"Herbert, where should we set the explosives? We need to make our way out! The Night Monsters are coming!" Kieran reminded Herbert.
"No need for that! Here! The tablet mentioned there was another secret exit right here!" Herbert said as he quickly went over to the statue. Pierre and the big guy followed him.
Kieran was standing still in the same spot, looking at the crumbled corridor and listening to the digging sound, which was getting clearer and clearer by the moment.
"2567! Hurry!" Pierre yelled at Kieran as the statue was pushed aside and an exit appeared behind it.
"Thank you for inviting me here, Herbert, but I guess our journey together has to come to an end!" Kieran said, pointing at the trembling rocks and the dirt by the crumbled entrance. "Someone has to stall them so everyone else can leave safely. I think I am the best candidate for that!" he added with a smile.
"2567…" Herbert said. Pierre was overwhelmed, and the big guy was looking at Kieran in confusion.
"I wish a safe trip to the three of you! Don’t worry, I won’t die that easily! Remember to shut the door!"
Kieran waved at the trio and turned around to face the incoming monsters.
He glanced around at the explosives he had installed and smirked a little.
"Here comes the biggest reward!" he mumbled to himself.
Herbert and Pierre were looking at Kieran’s back, completely frozen as they stared at him blankly.
Unaware that Kieran had told them the truth, the two of them instinctively thought that Kieran was about to sacrifice himself to give them a chance to escape.
Both of them had tears in their eyes. Their faces turned red as the tears blurred their vision. Their chests tightened and their throats choked up, preventing them from uttering a single word.
"Let’s go!"
After having a hard time struggling with his emotions, Pierre, who was also a soldier, mustered enough strength to get moving. He had witnessed too many life-and-death situations on the battlefield, so he knew what he had to do that exact moment.
"I can’t let 2567 die in vain!"
With that thought in mind, Pierre grabbed Herbert and jumped through the exit under the statue. The big guy followed them.
Bang!
After the three of them jumped through, Pierre did not forget Kieran’s advice to close the statue.
Just as the statue moved back into place, the Night Monsters dug through the blockage and flooded in like gus.h.i.+ng waves.
The kerosene lamp in Kieran’s hand was thrown towards the corner, where the explosives were piled up.
However, as the lamp was flung in the air, it suddenly stopped, as if a formless hand had caught it.
Suddenly, a powerful, sonorous voice that sounded like two pieces of metal clas.h.i.+ng against each other was heard, echoing around the hall.
"Such a great sacrifice! When I was still a guardian, such sacrifice was worthy of respect. Now though? I will show respect to your spirit by tasting your blood and flesh slowly!"
A tall figure walked out among the sea of Night Monsters as the voice subsided.
From a human’s perspective, it had a vigorous, rugged face. It was scanning around the area with its haunting eyes.
"So there really is another secret pa.s.sage! That old geezer never trusted anyone, even his own successor! Was the Philosopher’s Tablet destroyed? Nevermind, it’s just a little more trouble!"
It glanced over the destroyed tablet and s.h.i.+fted its attention fully on Kieran, who was surrounded by the Night Monsters.
Its eyes were filled with malicious intent and mockery as it gave Kieran a teasing grin, like a cat who had just caught a mouse.
"Do you know why I don’t mind? Because the stone crafted Philosopher’s Tablet was destroyed, but there is another one that is still intact, a living one! Herbert must have read through the Philosopher’s Tablet and decided to destroy it, right? That old geezer must have written some horrifying tales on it to scare our poor scholar out of his mind! This is way more interesting though! I can dig out his memories piece by piece! I always liked slowly peeling silk from a coc.o.o.n! Are you curious about how I can read other people’s memories?"
The Night Race leader raised his hand and snapped his fingers.
After that clear snap, a palm-sized, rainbow-glowing crystal appeared above his hand.
"Because I have this! This grants me power and enables me to control both humans and Night Monsters! With it, I am the King of the World!" the Night Race leader shouted in a demented manner.
Kieran squinted his eyes, carefully looking at the glowing crystal floating in mid-air.
His heart suddenly bloomed with an impulsive thought.
He wanted that crystal!