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nSilver Bind was very powerful.

nAll criminals could not resist his Orders and the brothers were having a hard time against Silver Bind. Karlton was living up to the reputation of the ‘best of the four Guard Captains’.

n“So, it wasn’t a false rumor that you can kill a Garnak alone….”

nJanya deflected Karlton’s halberd as he gritted his teeth. To the Adapters traveling in , the Silver Bind of the Sky people was the worst skill to fight against. Janya was barely resisting, but his two brothers were already bound. Karlton’s halberd swung towards Janya’s neck.

n“Your resistance is futile.”

nJanya gulped.

nWe should use Black Cloud.

nAre you serious? If we do that…

nThe ones who were reinforcing the barriers are all dead. We will all die anyway.

n…Understood.

nJanya then knelt and raised both his hands.

n“I surrender.”

n“Wise choice.”

nKarlton then released the bind and approached. At that moment, Janya laughed.

n“You are as naïve as rumored also.”

nKarlton then realized something and shouted, “Everyone! Get out of the saloon!”

nSomething exploded from within Janya and a black cloud began filling up the saloon. Within the smog, people moaned and coughed. Some who moved out of the smog tried to come back in, but Karlton yelled, “Don’t come back inside!”

nThe smog did not go away and Karlton’s voice disappeared. Then, the sound of flesh and bones twisting was heard.

nThe Janya brothers were watching it unfold at the top of the ruined building next to the saloon.

n“I never imagined I would need to use Black Cloud here.”

nThey were all covered with some kind of a mask. Janmyung spoke grimly,

n“Janmang breathed in a bit of the cloud.”

n“…Fool. I warned him so many times.”

nJanya frowned as he saw Janmang’s darkened face.

n“If he swallowed only a bit, he might live. Hang on.”

nThen, they saw reinforcements from Golden Sky running towards them.

n“…About time.”

nTheir leader was the high stage Adapter and an elder of Golden Sky, Heuk Surlang. He was famous for his sexual desire in the and was eventually killed by Adapters with his tongue and penis ripped out. Janya was ashamed to side with such a man.

n“Janya, look at you… how pitiful.”

n“…Shut up.”

n“What happened to the witch? You need to hand her over to me.”

n“I didn’t have time for that.”

nSurlang frowned. He then checked the cloud in the saloon.

n“You were in a hurry, I see. Using the cloud with the Leader’s permission?”

n“Silver Bind was here.”

n“Silver Bind?”

nSurlang’s voice shook.

n“Wait- so Silver Bind is in there right now?”

n“Yes.”

nSurlang cackled at the world.

n“HAHA! That fool swallowed up the Black Cloud? That’s a sight to behold.”

nNo criminal had a good impression of Silver Bind. Even Surlang had bad memories of Karlton.

n“That’s a good sight to watch,” Surlang said, but Janya didn’t seem too excited.

n‘…What happened to him?’

nSilver Bind wasn’t much of a problem. Under normal circumstances, he would have defeated him already. The problem was the man who cornered them with just a stab.

nAnd he couldn’t stop thinking that the man was probably not affected by Black Cloud.

n“Oh, and where’s the stone?”

n“Not yet.”

n“…Don’t tell me you let the Fortress take it.”

n“Don’t worry. We just need to pick it up now.”

nJanya adjusted his mask and readied himself to walk back into the saloon. The saloon was covered in black smog. Even the smallest effect was enough to corrupt the spirit so he did not want to go back in. The ones inside had probably reached their limit of corruption already.

n‘I don’t even want to think about it.’

nHe knew what became of the ones who reached the limit of corruption. There was no one in who did not know this. Suddenly, Surlang stopped Janya and asked,

n“…Janya. Who is he?”

nJanya turned and found a man looking at him. He had casually walked out of the smog-filled saloon. Janya was shocked. It wasn’t possible. Even the Greens could not stay normal after breathing in the cloud, and he was not one of the Greens.

n“…He’s the one with the stone.”

n“Oh? Good. Get him!”

nThe men who came with Surlang charged as the man took out his sword.

nStep by step, with each step he took, Janya felt the ground shudder. One strike equaled the death of one of his men. Surlang bellowed, “What is he?!”

nWho was he? That’s what Janya wanted to know. He checked and it looked like there was still about fifty 3rd stage Adapters. That was enough to wipe out mid-level clans. Janya calmed himself.

n‘We have enough… we have…’

nJaehwan frowned as he fought off the enemies. There were too many to stab each one and there was a chance that more bad things might happen again if he wasted any more time.

nHe did not use his sword because he did not like relying on an item’s power, but it was time to use it now. Jaehwan drew the sword from the scabbard. It was then that Janya first realized that the man had been fighting with the scabbard on.

n‘So I was only fighting a scabbard?’

nThe sword cried out with ominous power as it was drawn. Everyone excluding Janya and Surlang froze. It was as if a giant horned monster was standing in front of them.

n“G-Garnak…”

nThe skill within the scabbard. Garnak’s Presence was activated.

nJanya stared at it dumbfoundedly. The reinforcements were smashed like insects and when he came back to his senses, the only ones left were himself and Surlang. But Surlang was already far away, fleeing.

n‘…Bastard.’

nJanya then looked at his brothers on the ground. He would not survive.

n“There’s one way for you to survive.”

nTo survive? Janya’s eyes opened wide.

n“Where’s the Nightmare?”

nNightmare…

n“Why do you laugh?”

nJaehwan asked Janya who was laughing maniacally.

n“I can’t tell you.”

nHe knew. If he told him about Nightmare, he would die even if he survived. He thought of one man. The strongest in and the only one who could unite .

nThe leader of Golden Sky.

nEven if this man was strong, would he be stronger than the leader? He couldn’t agree. He believed it was only possible for his leader to unite and get the Fruit to return to the .

n“Ke…hahaha…”

nHe laughed. With the cloud out, ‘IT’ would start now.

n‘If I’m going to die here…’

nJanya quickly pulled out a dark gem and swallowed it.

nStone of Forgotten Spirit

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