The Buried City.

At the top of one of the Eternity Peaks, the magic circle inside the Eternal Barrier lit up. Darius did not need to turn his head to tell who was the one that had just arrived. His focus remained on the spectral army that was charging up relentlessly through the mountain path. He greeted Qin Ruo without facing him, “Welcome back to the Buried City!”

“Glad to be back,” Qin Ruo replied calmly. He looked into the distance and did not bother whether Darius had heard him.

After being in and out of the Buried City so many times, he was already used to the transition of altitude between the plains and peak and was indifferent to Darius’ customary greeting. He first took a good scan of the surroundings, then, as usual, he followed the sky bridge lining and looked all the way down to the Buried City which was at the far end from Eternity Peak.

No matter how many times he was there here, the same scenery always took Qin Ruo’s breath away. Although it was a deserted city that had long lost its glory, he was still greatly enthusiastic about it, as if the city still had numerous secrets left to be explored; ample bosses left to be conquered; and most importantly, lots of treasure left to be claimed!

Such an enthusiastic feeling was especially obvious today.

“Darius, when will be the next patrol time?” Qin Ruo asked Darius. Although he was now a powerful Tier 5 Warrior, he would still not take the major bane of the Buried City lightly.

Sacred Artifact—Eye of Hades!

Qin Ruo would never forget the first time he set eyes upon the artifact, nor would he forget the horrifying fact about this artifact as explained by Darrius before.

“You are lucky this time!” Darius responded, “This time you will have three hours and forty minutes.”

Qin Ruo pulled back from his unsuccessful observation of the Buried City and slightly gripped the Water Dragon’s Staff in his palm. “Three hours and forty minutes, there should be enough time…”

But before that, Qin Ruo decided it was best to get familiar with the Tier 5 skills first.

He bent his knee slightly and a powerful surge of energy was directed from within his body all the way to his back.

“Owh!” Following Darius’s exclamation, a pair of holy Angelic Wings spread out smoothly. The wide pair of wings flapped elegantly on Qin Ruo’s back.

The moment Darius felt the enormous energy released by the Angelic Wings, he could immediately determine that this unique elemental fluctuation belonged to no other than the powerful ability of a human adventurer. He could not suppress his excitement and turned around quickly while leaving the mountain path to his loyal companion—the Thunder Wolf, a monster Pet that has the power equivalent to a Tier 5 Megaboss.

Paying his attention to the Angelic Wings on Qin Ruo’s back, Darius could not stop being amazed. He examined the blazing holy wings admirably.

“Divinity!”

Darius looked at Qin Ruo emotionally. The joy in his eyes was getting more and more intense. “You have fused with Divinity! You are here for the quest!”

“Just wait a moment.”

Qin Ruo smiled and flapped his wing vigorously. He shot upward all the way through the Barrier. He glided freely around the Eternity Peak for one lap and then dove abruptly to the foot of the mountain at full speed like a flying arrow.

As Qin Ruo reached the bottom of the cliff, Darius suddenly felt two other Soul Imprints within the Eternal Barrier light up simultaneously. Soon, two figures walked out from the magic circles.

“Hi!”

Two Elementalists with their face covered under the shade of their hood walked out to meet Darius who happened facing them. They were stunned by the anomaly and one of them subconsciously greeted the NPC.

Darius frowned and asked objectively, “You two plan to infiltrate the Buried City today as well?”

One of the two Elementalists was wearing a bright red chest sigil with a big M carved on it, while the other one wore a black sigil with the word Jail on…

Hall of Heroes League!

Black Jail Clan!

Hearing the odd line by Darius, they looked at each other in surprise and asked, “Why asked so? Is there anyone else here already?” This was the third time they had entered the Buried City. They bumped to each other at the same Eternity Peak last time they were in and figured that their imprints were coincidentally carved within the same Eternal Barrier. That’s why they were here together as a party today. Knowing that someone else has also arrived through this entrance, they were naturally curious to know who.

Unexpectedly, Darius was not happy with the increasing amount of human reinforcements…

He warned them seriously, “One hour before you guys entered, there were already two other players that arrived and accepted the quest. If you both insist on joining the quest, Hades will certainly send out more specters to stop the four of you. The evil lord will surely place more Liches to guard the secret Golden Key as well…”

This time, it was their turn to frown simultaneously.

“Who might it be?” The one from Hall of Heroes asked.

“How am I going to know something that even the mighty Hall of Heroes League Master doesn’t have an answer to?” The one from Black Jail said sarcastically.

Majestic Hero laughed along and did not mind the sarcasm. He continued, “The other two entrances were opened only yesterday. So these two must have come through Aricus Ruins. You are quite close to those in the Netherspirit’s Claw, right? Maybe you can ask Netherclaw to check whether there are any members from his league that also arrived here?”

“Come on!” The one from Black Jain rolled his eyes and replied in disdain, “I am close to the Leader of Carefree Clan but not Netherclaw. Please don’t simply tie a string on me.”

“Alright, alright.” Majestic Hero shrugged. “It’s all the same. Just ask Carefree to check with Netherspirit’s Claw then. Anyway, it’s really inappropriate for us to just barge into the quest like that. What if we raise the difficulty level and cost them their lives? This is a dispute I do not wish to create.”

The one from Black Jail was at a loss for words. He shook his head while lamenting, “I sometimes wonder how do you manage to command the entire league. You are so indecisive… What’s wrong with barging it? There isn’t any rule against it. I don’t care if the difficulty level increases. If they have what it takes, then they will survive whatever going their way. If not, there is no use warning them beforehand anyway. Furthermore, you can only call it a dispute if the other party regards you evenly.”

No one else from the Black Jail Clan other than Black God, who had fused with Divinity, would dare to lecture a League Master using such a tone.

It so happened that Majestic Hero was extraordinary good-natured. He did not mind Black God’s sarcasm at all. He maintained the friendly expression and continued to request for Black God’s help.

Black God sighed. To be honest, he was really unwilling to do the “kind” favor. But he was unable to reject Majestic Hero too, so he reluctantly sent a voice message to Carefree and asked him to inquire on the matter.

A few minutes later, Carefree replied. Black God switched off the voice channel and glared at Majestic Hero. “They are indeed from Netherspirit’s Claw. Carefree has informed them to be careful.”

“Ho ho. Thanks, man. Let’s go now.”

Majestic Hero smiling expression made Black God want to punch him in the face. ‘This kind of person can also become a master? I have no words!’

They immediately walked over and talked to Darius to accept the Secret Golden Key mission.

Darius spoke no further on the matter seeing that they insisted on accepting the Story Quest. He just asked plainly, “So the two of you are going in through the secret passage or directly from outside the city?” Due to the unique environment and considering that most players did not possess the ability to fly, the quest provided two entry points. One was to directly fly down from the peak and look for a hidden underground entrance just outside the Buried City, which would be the faster route; while the second option was to walk through the serpentine stairs built inside Eternity Peak just under their feet. This ladder connected the Eternal Barrier to a corner under the Buried City and was never made known to the Underworld Force.

“Outside of the city!”

Black God chose a faster path. But as soon as he told Darius the decision, Majestic Hero turned to him and said, “It’s far more dangerous out there. We should save our energy and take the hidden ladder instead.” Flying toward the entrance situated just outside the city might attract unwanted attention from the Lich patrolling the city wall. Though the probability was low, Majestic Hero did not dare to take chance. The Lich was after all, a Tier 6 Megaboss. Meeting such a creature would only spell death.

“…” Black God looked at Majestic Hero and did not know what to say. His brain went blank thinking of the close to 10000 steps beneath Eternity Peak. He once again wondered why and how the timid Majestic Hero could have become a League Master.

“Why not I fly over, and you walk the hidden passage?” Black God suggested.

Majestic Hero rubbed his nose under the robe and reminded, “You can still fly inside. I reckon the time spent will be more or less the same.”

“Good gracious! How can you compare flying freely outside to flying inside a cramped tunnel?” Black God shouted his actual thoughts in fury. However, he surrendered after he saw the slightly curved up lips of Majestic Hero. He waved his hand gloomily. “Forget it! I must have owed you a lot in our previous life. Consider myself unlucky to find a partner like you. We will take the mountain path. Let’s go.”

“…” Darius remained calm. After they confirmed the decision, Darius waved his hand and suddenly an empty land beside them quaked slightly.

A piece of flattened giant rock slumped mechanically under their watch.

Bam! The giant rock was moved out of the way and the deep tunnel underneath it was revealed in front of Majestic Hero and Black God.

Both of them spread out their Angelic Wings at the same time and jumped down the stairs built near the mountainside. They dove down swiftly through the center of the tunnel.

***

Ten minutes after the two players entered the secret passage, a figure ascended rapidly from the bottom of the peak. The player spun a perfect circle in mid-air before landed beautifully inside the Eternal Barrier.

His Angelic Wings flapped slowly as Qin Ruo stabilized himself in the air just behind Darius. He told Darius, “I am ready.”

“…” Darius turned to him and asked determinedly, “Before you, four players have already entered the secret passage. The difficulty level is now four times the original task, are you sure you still want to attempt the quest?”

“Four people?”

Qin Ruo was a little baffled. He knitted his brows in deep thought.

‘So fast?’

Including himself and Dark Annihilator who failed to leave a Soul Imprint, it meant at least six groups have entered the Buried City so far.

‘Wait, that does not add up… If only one group can enter per day, then today should be only the fifth. The other three city entrances must have been discovered.’

“If that’s the case…” Qin Ruo took a deep breath. He believed there is a need to experience the Story Quest right now despite the enhanced difficulty.

“You still have three hours and twenty-four minutes. Return along the route where you enter the city after you obtain the Golden Key from the Secret Dungeon and pass it to me.”

“The quest reward will be one Legendary equipment and one Dragoneye Stone.”

“Remember! You are not allowed to carry the key out of the Buried City.”

“Secret stairway, or outside the city?”

Right after Darius completed the briefing, Qin Ruo quickly flapped his wings and jolted down Eternity Peak. He used his action to answer Darius’s final question.

‘Who knows how far behind am I now. I must act fast to overtake the four players in front of me.’