NOVEL WEB Chapter 420: Full Circle
Using the waypoint in Dawn Break Hollow, they teleported to the last one—the waypoint by the city gates.
These gates were different from the ones they had entered through. While that entrance had been left in ruins—shattered and broken from the ancient, titanic battle between the City Lord and Ythar—this one was still pristine, in a sense.
But like most parts of the city, it was crawling with monsters.
Wordlessly, they snuck under the towering statue of the goddess.
The statue was massive, depicting the goddess wearing a veil that concealed her face—more like a widow mourning loss than a joyful bride. In her arms, she held a mask, marked with the small, twisted symbol of the Unknown God.
It almost seemed like this goddess was weeping.
Damon shook his head, forcing the stray thoughts from his mind.
His gaze shifted to the gates.
There, two stone knights stood guard.
He might have believed they were simply statues if they didn't emit that overwhelming pressure—the faint hum of a domain.
They were colossal… easily seventy meters tall.
"Hmmm… fourth class advancement…" Damon muttered.
Sylvia shook her head slowly.
"No… those are in the fifth class."
Damon narrowed his eyes in confusion. Noticing it, Sylvia decided to explain, not just for him—but for everyone.
"It's a common misconception," she began, "about fourth class advancement…"
Evangeline tilted her head, looking through her peripheral vision at the stone titans.
Sylvia exhaled lightly. "Fourth class doesn't grant a domain. What it does is empower the soul. The goal of the fourth class is to build a domain—only after building one can you reach the fifth class. And then, the next step… is making your domain mobile."
Damon's eyes widened slightly. Had he misunderstood the entire process?
It made sense now. The Beldam and Nemoriel… both had domains—but theirs were fixed. The Beldam's was her house. Nemoriel's… the forbidden library. Within those spaces, they held absolute power.
"So that's why the Drowned Saint didn't follow us into Nemoriel's library…" Xander muttered.
Evangeline nodded. "It didn't have a domain. And entering his would mean facing something at the peak of its rank."
Leona sighed. "This class advancement system is so complicated…"
Damon nodded in agreement. "So fourth class is to build a domain. Fifth is making it mobile… or at least letting its power move with you."
Evangeline lowered her head.
"I wonder why Valarie never taught us this…"
Leona bit her lip at the mention of the last Ascendant.
"She only gave us what we needed," Damon said quietly. "That was how she always taught. No more, no less."
He looked at the open gates, then up at the darkened sky and the massive rift drifting above the city.
"We need to leave this place."
Xander gripped his spear tightly and looked at Matia, who hadn't spoken a single word since arriving. She simply followed Damon, silent always.
"What do we do?" he asked.
Leona nodded in agreement. "With our current power… there's no way we're getting past those things."
Damon's gaze sharpened. He looked up at the rift again.
"And we don't have to," he said quietly. "We'll borrow a knife."
He glanced at Evangeline and Sylvia.
"Do you two remember our first night here…? Let's make our last the same."
The two girls stared at each other, their expressions paling.
He couldn't be serious… He was serious.
That was exactly what Damon planned—to throw the city into chaos.
Evangeline took a deep breath… then gave a small laugh at his madness.
"Good to have you back, you crazy bastard."
With that, she and Sylvia stepped into the open. Some of the monsters noticed them—eyes glowing, claws twitching—but before they could react…
Two radiant lights exploded from the two girls.
The glow expanded in all directions, rising into the sky—toward the rift like a beacon.
Some monsters tried to stop them, lunging forward…
But it was too late.
The light reached the rift.
The sky rumbled.
Blackness began to spill from its surface—not like a waterfall, but like an open wound bleeding endless horrors. Countless nightmares poured out from the sky, unleashed by Ittorath, drawn to the light, desperate to escape their prison in the heavens.
Damon felt the colossal pressure of Ittorath's presence, and with it came that feeling he thought he'd forgotten.
Dread.
The ancient horrors of Lysithara stirred. Even broken and corrupted, they remembered their enemy.
Roars echoed across the ruined city.
Even the two stone knights stirred—lifting their massive heads toward the blackened sky, radiating killing intent.
"Run!"
Damon's party sprinted toward the gates as chaos erupted across the city. The heavens cracked with flame and thunder, and the earth split as the two ancient enemies clashed once again.
But the nightmares weren't chasing Lysithara's monsters. They were chasing the light—chasing Sylvia and Evangeline.
Even so, Lysithara's horrors stood in their way, defending their territory from the invaders from above.
Damon grabbed Sylvia's hand and jumped over the leg of a towering behemoth, narrowly avoiding its crushing stomp.
This was the plan. Let chaos reign. Let the ancient war resume.
In the confusion, they would escape.
The stone knights would have to decide—crush the tiny intruders at their feet, or fight the ancient nightmares tearing through their city.
The answer was obvious.
The party moved swiftly, dodging explosions, avoiding collapsing buildings, navigating the carnage until they reached the shadow of the gates.
Almost there.
Almost free.
But then… mist began to rise.
Everything stopped.
The sky, the earth, the horrors—they all froze.
Damon and his party, so close to the gate, came to a halt.
A single figure stood in the mist.
And silence fell over the battlefield.
No one dared to move. No beast growled. No nightmare screeched.
The figure spoke.
"Let us play a game."
It was him.
The corrupted lord of Lysithara.
The one who had once been Vathren.
The noblest of the Ascendants.
The strongest.
The keeper of false truths.
He had found them.
The last obstacle.
The one who played an unwinnable game.
A game with no answer.