Inside one of the Hunters’ hideouts near the Cathedral, the survivors spent their final moments preparing for the last raid.
With Asterion Heart and Jackson, the ancient Hunter, now among them, Ethan and his companions finally had a genuine chance of conquering the Legacy Dungeon and bringing this nightmare to an end.
Their preparations did not take long. Time was scarce, and the danger looming over both them and their Clan left no room to waste.
According to Asterion, the ruling Ardyn family had already become aware that something was happening in Ashvarn, despite the Clan Elders’ attempts to conceal the situation.
To keep suspicion and attention away from the city, they had continuously deployed the Second Hunting Squad outside, keeping the hunt active so that monster activity along Ashvarn’s borders would not increase.
Under normal circumstances, the squads rotated every month. But ever since the other Hunting Squads entered Old Ashvarn and became trapped inside the Legacy Dungeon, the Second Hunting Squad had been holding the monsters back alone.
Fortunately, the Second Squad was exceptionally powerful, especially their captain, Verso, who was said to be a true monster. His name had spread far and wide over the past few months after he defended the borders himself for such a long time.
This was the very squad Luna was supposed to join as a Mage Hunter.
But the Second Squad could not keep buying them time forever. Eventually, the ruling Ardyn family realized that something had gone wrong and began dispatching knights to investigate.
That placed even greater pressure on Ethan and the others to clear the Dungeon as quickly as possible, before the ruling family resorted to another extreme solution and carried out a massacre to ensure the curse could never spread.
After all, what they feared most was the Hearts turning into monsters.
Among the handful of Hunters upon whom the fate of the entire Clan now rested, Ethan separated himself from the others and claimed a distant corner for himself, focusing entirely on preparing for the raid.
Knowing how dangerous the coming battle would be, Ethan wanted to prepare properly and approach it intelligently. Unfortunately, the circumstances available to him were anything but favorable.
"I have a bad feeling about this... I barely know anything about what I’m going to face inside the Cathedral."
Jackson had told them there was a King-rank monster beside the Golden Dawn Knight, along with another creature at the very peak of the Saint rank.
The Golden Dawn Knight himself had warned Ethan as well, but those warnings meant little when Ethan knew nothing about their abilities or what they were actually capable of.
"Against enemies like these, knowing how your opponent fights and what their strongest weapons are is essential if you want to counter them. Since I have no idea what they can do, I’ll have no choice but to rely on Wise Crow Sight and improvise during the battle."
Ethan sighed in frustration as he examined his Player System interface.
"This is the absolute worst-case scenario..."
Ethan cursed inwardly, particularly at the Golden Dawn Knight for telling him almost nothing about the enemies’ actual abilities.
His inventory contained a decent number of weapons, but none of them were particularly remarkable. The Executioner’s Sword remained the only one powerful enough to use against monsters that surpassed him in rank.
Aside from the Executioner’s Sword, Ethan extended the Legion’s mechanical arm.
The arm itself had become one of his most important weapons alongside the Executioner’s Sword, carrying three abilities within it that could completely change the course of a battle.
The Grappling Hook allowed him to move freely across the battlefield and evade fatal attacks. The Explosive Stake gave him a powerful burst of firepower, while Overcharge, its newest ability, unleashed a devastating electrical shock whose power depended on accumulated damage.
All of that came on top of his Elite-rank Aura Armor and his other Blessings.
"I really do have a ridiculous number of weapons and trump cards... so why the hell do I still feel so weak?"
Ethan leaned back against one of the cold, distorted walls, raising his head toward the ceiling above.
Their so-called hideout was nothing more than one of the ancient buildings ruined by countless battles, yet it had become a nearly perfect shelter from the monsters.
The ordinary ones, at least.
Stronger monsters like the Iron Devil were more than capable of detecting them even if they buried themselves underground.
"Should I just take a nap and rest my eyes instead of stressing myself out over all this?"
Ethan considered escaping his tension and anxiety through sleep, only to find that he couldn’t close his eyes no matter how hard he tried. Reality quickly reminded him of the terrible insomnia that had plagued him for so long.
And so, he remained awake.
From time to time, his crimson eyes would instinctively wander toward the rest of his companions.
In the distance, he could see his squad leader, Moon, swinging her longsword repeatedly, keeping herself occupied through training. Raiden was doing much the same, while Chai, the youngest among them, sat farther away adjusting his black bow.
Alicia was sleeping deeply in another corner, though the edges of her eyes were slightly damp, giving Ethan the impression that she had been crying not too long ago.
As for the Mage Luna, she sat as usual before a faint flame barely bright enough to illuminate what lay in her hands, repeatedly recalling her spells and reviewing the magical incantations required to cast them.
The stronger a spell became, the longer the incantation required to cast it. That was precisely why Mages needed to raise their Intelligence stat, as it improved both their capacity for memorization and their ability to cast magic more effectively.
Speaking of magic...
Ethan had already learned several low-level spells from Luna, covering all four basic elements: fire, water, wind, and earth.
But they were far too weak to make any meaningful difference against powerful monsters. There was no point relying on them in the coming battle, so Ethan had settled on the Knight class and intended to stick with it until the very end.
"You look troubled, kid. Is the pressure really getting to you that badly?"
The old man’s voice pulled Ethan from his thoughts, and before he even realized it, Asterion was already standing in front of him.
"Ah... the old drunkard."
Ethan answered without thinking, causing Asterion to hurl his wine bottle at him in irritation.
"You insolent little bastard! Show some respect for your elders!"
The bottle smacked Ethan squarely on the head, but instead of getting annoyed, he chuckled and caught it deftly before any of the wine could spill out.
He quickly realized that the effort had been completely pointless.
The bottle was already empty.
’Should’ve known this damn old man would never throw it if there was even a single drop of wine left...’
Ethan smiled faintly before tossing the empty bottle back toward Asterion.
"You’re the one who told me to forget the formalities, remember?"
Ethan reminded him, but Asterion denied it without hesitation before sitting down beside him.
"I thought the world outside was bleak enough, but this city somehow manages to be even more miserable and depressing."
Asterion spoke in a deeper tone this time, turning his eyes toward Ethan.
"You’ve done well surviving this long."
"What’s gotten into you, old man? Why are you suddenly getting all emotional?"
Ethan found the old man’s unfamiliar tone strange, only for Asterion to immediately smack him across the back of the head.