"You have a disguised messenger from the Devil of Balance moving around you."
The moment the Golden Knight told him that—
The old woman from the Elite Residence was the very first person to come to Ethan's mind.
'That woman is undoubtedly one of Balance's followers…'
'But for her to be the servant sent specifically for me… that makes no sense.'
'I only received the mark a few months ago.'
'Meanwhile, she has been hiding inside Ashvarn for many years already…'
No matter how much Ethan thought about it, he found it impossible for the old woman to be the person sent specifically because of him.
The second person who came to mind…
Was the witch Schierke.
The same witch currently trapped alongside them inside Old Ashvarn, sharing the exact same mark as the old woman in an incredibly suspicious manner.
Yet Ethan possessed no actual evidence against her beyond her strange behavior—
Behavior that could be explained in more than one way.
"I'll have to think of a way to expose that damned messenger later…"
The Golden Knight shook his head, offering him a piece of valuable advice.
"Do not try to oppose them."
"The messengers are powerful, and killing them is extremely difficult."
"And you are weak."
"You cannot defeat one at your current level."
Letting out a quiet sigh, Ethan responded.
"I never stop facing ordeals that constantly remind me how weak I truly am…"
He spoke before raising his eyes toward the Golden Knight once again.
The final ruler of the Legacy Dungeon whom Ethan had feared all this time…
Was nothing like what he had imagined.
Despite the overwhelming presence that terrified him initially, the Golden Knight was not difficult to speak with.
Rather, he was the kind of person one could converse with surprisingly easily despite the absurd difference in power between them.
'He feels normal… and abnormal at the same time.'
'As though something inside him is broken.'
And while Ethan briefly sank into his own thoughts—
The world around them slowly began moving once again.
"It seems my time has ended this time as well."
The Golden Knight spoke in a cold, emotionless voice while staring toward the distant horizon where nothing existed except towering dark buildings.
"Perhaps this will be our final meeting like this, my successor…"
"The next time we meet…"
"It will most likely be upon the battlefield."
At that point—
The Golden Knight would become an enemy attempting to kill Ethan and all of his companions.
His existence gradually began fading away as the flow of time slowly resumed around them.
Ethan remained silent while watching him disappear, unable to determine what exactly he should say to the man standing before him.
Because the Golden Knight was nothing more than a dying soul struggling inside a body robbed of its freedom—
Reduced into merely another pawn among the countless pawns of the curse.
He was a slave.
An unimaginably powerful slave.
The knight was almost completely gone when Ethan finally felt it was time to say something.
The words left his mouth immediately.
"Thank you…"
"For everything."
He spoke with slight hesitation, uncertain whether he should truly thank the man he might eventually kill with his own hands in the future.
Yet he did so anyway.
Because he understood that the man standing before him was not his enemy—
At least not for now.
The Golden Knight stared at him silently for a second.
Then suddenly burst into loud laughter.
Ethan could not see what expression the man was making beneath the golden helmet—
But hearing that voice alone made him certain the knight was smiling.
"Good luck, my successor…"
"The cursed Hunter."
"If you succeed in killing me…"
"Then we shall meet once again without question."
The Golden Knight spoke those final words before vanishing completely.
And time resumed flowing normally once more.
Ethan found himself standing beside Jackson exactly where he had been from the very beginning.
As though his meeting with the knight had been nothing more than an illusion.
It had been a short encounter.
Yet it left Ethan thinking about it for a long time afterward…
And the image of that Golden Knight refused to leave his mind.
In the end, that legendary old Hunter had warned him about the future—
But Ethan felt that was not the true reason the man had come to see him.
'Perhaps…'
'He simply wanted someone to speak with after all those years…'
At least…
That was the feeling Ethan was left with after speaking to him twice.
Ethan turned his head toward Jackson, who was already preparing to return to battle.
He realized the giant Hunter was most likely the person who knew the Golden Knight better than anyone else alive, considering they were Hunters from the same generation.
Ethan wanted to ask him more about the knight…
But ultimately stopped himself, keeping his meetings with the Golden Knight a secret known only to him.
Returning his attention toward reality—
The monsters were still flooding the battlefield while his fellow Hunters continued fighting below.
Their current team was powerful.
Most of them had already reached Elite Rank, and their levels had surpassed forty.
Under normal circumstances, such strength would have been overwhelming.
Yet inside the deep regions of the city…
It barely sufficed to survive against the monsters lurking there.
Especially the Black Knights summoned by the curse.
Savage creatures that refused to fall easily, as though every single one of them had been born solely to serve the Golden Knight.
"The Curse of Darkness truly is bizarre…"
"It turns humans into monsters…"
"And creates them from nothing as well…"
The battles did not calm down after that.
On the contrary…
As the hours passed, the pressure from the monsters only grew heavier, as though the curse itself had begun realizing that time was no longer on its side. The dark streets filled with nightmares once again while the sounds of collisions and magical explosions continued echoing throughout Old Ashvarn.
The Hunters fought without rest.
Beneath the light of the burning bonfires, their shadows moved amidst the ruins like ghosts covered in blood and smoke.
Ethan was among them.
His two swords never stopped moving for even a single moment while his dark Aura Armor wrapped around his body like thick smoke. His steps had become faster than before, his movements sharper, after gradually adapting to Asterion's sword style within actual combat.
The Black Knights remained his most troublesome enemies.
But they were no longer as terrifying as they had been in the beginning.
Ethan was beginning to understand them.
He understood the rhythm of their movements, the moments they committed to an attack, even the angles where their armor became useless. And the longer the battle dragged on, the more black corpses piled behind him.
And yet…
The situation did not improve.
Because the number of monsters kept increasing endlessly.
Every street they cleansed became flooded by another wave of creatures emerging from the depths, as though the city itself could never stop giving birth to more.
Moon fought at the frontline alongside Jackson and Gustav.
Her phoenix flames blazed amidst the darkness like a sun, tearing through monsters while crimson ash scattered through the shattered streets. Meanwhile, Raiden remained the wall protecting everyone whenever the formations began collapsing, while Luna and Schierke supported the battle through relentless magic.
Even Alicia…
The girl who once trembled in fear had begun fighting with deadly silence, moving lightly between monsters, striking their weak points before vanishing again before anything could touch her.
As for Chai Heart—
His arrows had become terrifyingly precise.
The young boy no longer resembled a child upon the battlefield.
But a true Hunter.
And despite all of that…
Exhaustion gradually began devouring everyone.
Their injuries accumulated.
Mana reserves started running dry.
Even Jackson himself, despite his strength as a King, no longer moved with the same ease as before. The monsters appearing from the depths of the Cathedral were far stronger than anyone had expected, and some possessed strength frighteningly close to the level of Kings.
And as time passed…
Fear slowly began returning once more.
Not the fear of death.
But the fear that help might not arrive in time.
Ethan could clearly feel it whenever he looked at the faces of the Hunters around him.
They continued enduring only because hope had returned to them.
Because the message had finally reached the outside world.
But…
What if it was already too late?
What if Old Ashvarn was simply too monstrous to save?
Those thoughts continued drifting through Ethan's mind while he severed the head of another Black Knight with his blade before lifting his eyes toward the crimson artificial sky above them.
The night within the city never changed.
The same darkness.
The same scent.
The same feeling…
As though the entire city itself was waiting for something.
Then—
Suddenly.
One of the distant bonfires trembled violently.
The flames surged unnaturally for a brief moment, causing the Hunters to stop slightly and stare toward it with tension. Even the monsters themselves instinctively retreated.
Ethan frowned immediately.
That feeling…
Was different.
Not the presence of a curse.
Nor a monster.
But something else entirely.
Something that caused even Jackson to slowly raise his head, his eyes hardening for the first time in a very long while.
Then…
Amidst the distant dark streets, an old man appeared, calmly walking through the city.
He wore a long black robe flowing behind him alongside the cold wind, while a red beard partially covered his sharp face.
And his eyes…
Were a terrifying crimson red.
The creatures of darkness crowding the streets froze for several moments.
Then…
They began retreating.
Ethan's eyes narrowed the instant he saw him.
That presence…
Was not normal.
It felt almost identical to what he had sensed from the Golden Knight.
An overwhelming difference in power.
Yet different.
Calmer.
And somehow…
Far more dangerous.
The old man continued walking through the bloodstained streets while the flames reflected against his black clothes.
The monsters finally approached him.
Dozens charged toward him at once from the dark alleys.
But…
The old man never stopped walking.
He did not even glance toward them.
And in the very next moment—
The monsters' bodies suddenly split into halves.
Blood exploded throughout the street while corpses collapsed one after another before anyone could even understand what had happened.
Even Ethan himself…
Could not see the strike.
The Hunters froze in place.
The old man finally stopped before the nearest bonfire.
Then slowly raised his crimson eyes toward the Hunters.
And amidst the complete silence—
His calm, deep voice echoed throughout the entire city.
"Tonight…"
"Asterion shall join the hunt."