Chapter 92: Twenty-third Floor, The Sword That Never Returns (2)

[Escort. Time remaining: 23 hours 21 minutes.]

It had been thirty minutes since we started walking aimlessly toward the right. Just as I had feared, I hadn’t found the slightest hint of a hidden mission during this time.

The desert night’s chill grew sharper with each passing moment, creeping into my bones. Even with my Ice Resistance skill, goosebumps prickled across my skin.

I resisted the urge to circulate mana to warm myself since enduring the cold would help raise my resistance.

Thanks to my skill, the cold hasn’t been too bad. I am surprised by how well Comet is dealing with the cold, however.

No, he wasn’t just enduring; he looked utterly unaffected by the chill.

How is he not struggling?

I didn’t sense any mana flowing in or from him, so I wondered if he had some other means of protection.

The monotony of our silent walk started to wear on me, so I decided to ask him, “Comet, aren’t you cold?”

“Hmm? Oh, I’m using the goddess’s power. Desert nights are bitter, but I should’ve considered your comfort. Allow me to bless you as well.”

“No, that won’t be necessary.”

I quickly waved my hand in refusal, as that would ruin my training. Although, his mention of divine power piqued my curiosity.

“The goddess’s power... Didn’t you say her believers lost access to it after she disappeared?”

“Yes, that’s true. But after I received her revelation two months ago, I’ve been able to access a small amount of it.”

“So, that’s why you call yourself her last apostle. You’re the only person who can still use her power in this world.”

“Exactly. Still, I feel unworthy of such a title...”

The more we spoke, the more I understood just how important Comet was to the planet on which this floor was set.

Drawing from my experiences on the eleventh and twelfth floors—my individual challenge floors—and their influence on the floors occurring on Planet Soborn, I became increasingly convinced that Comet was a pivotal figure. He would undoubtedly shape core events for the floors to follow.

If that were the case, locating the goddess’s lost relic on this floor could be far more significant than I had realized.

There are eight hours left until sunrise.

Assuming the heretics wouldn’t attack before sunrise, I only had that long to find the hidden mission.

Without Two-Way Portal and accounting for the time needed to return, I would only have about four hours to search. Thankfully, since I had the portal, I could dedicate the full eight hours to the task.

It was time to get serious and focus on finding the goddess’s relic.

No reaction from Sixth Sense so far. Am I really supposed to keep heading right?

We had a clear direction to head in, but uncertainty gnawed at me. I now regretted not bringing Doppy along. With Doppy’s spiritual senses, I would have felt more reassured. In hindsight, maybe giving a signal device to someone else wouldn’t have been a bad idea.

No, Doppy is the only one I can trust with it.

The low-ranking mercenaries and slaves could panic and trigger the signal unnecessarily.

Though I could return through a portal if needed, it would drain a significant amount of my mana. Burning through too much now could mean I wouldn’t have enough if anything unexpected occurred.

I sighed, realizing I was overthinking. Eight hours was plenty of time, I just needed to stay calm and search methodically.

***

[Escort. Time remaining: 21 hours 11 minutes.]

Two more hours passed with no breakthroughs.

Under the clear night sky, the blue sands of the desert shimmered faintly and reflected the soft starlight. The ever-changing dunes shifted slowly but surely, but we pressed on in silence.

Though Comet and I had conversed comfortably earlier, we ran out of topics to discuss after two hours of walking.

I mean, I could start another conversation, but...

I wasn’t in the mood to keep chatting after talking non-stop this entire time. Though Comet didn’t show it outwardly, I could tell he was starting to get fatigued too.

It was understandable. We had been walking without rest since the morning, enduring the harsh swings of heat and cold. Even with the goddess’s power, exhaustion was inevitable.

Only six hours remained until sunrise when the air around us shifted.

A biting chill suddenly washed over me. The cold had been sharp before, but this was on an entirely different level.

A green aurora began to shimmer on a distant dune.

It was unlike anything I had ever seen. I thought auroras were phenomena that only occurred near the poles, yet here one was, dancing across the desert sky.

I didn’t know auroras could appear in the desert.

The sight was breathtaking. The translucent green waves undulated like silk, glimmering with an otherworldly beauty.

A breathless murmur of awe escaped before I could stop it, “Wow...”

As if struck by a sudden realization, Comet gasped, “Ah!”

“What is it?”

“The ‘Sword That Never Returns!’”

“The sword that never returns?” I echoed.

The lyrics of the old mercenary ballad floated to the surface of my thoughts.

“Beneath the Milky Way, only green-tinged cold lingers... Ah—The Sword That Never Returns.”

The "green-tinged cold" likely referenced the aurora before us.

Comet opened his mouth, likely to explain further, but I cut him off.

“The lyrics... I remember them.”

“Yes! ‘His wife searches the desert under the night sky, but beneath the Milky Way, only green-tinged cold lingers.’ It just came to me as well. Let’s move!”

“Right.”

Comet quickened his pace, and I hurried to keep up with him.

He grew excited and exclaimed, “

Ha!

I knew it! You truly are the guide! I never doubted it for a second.”

“It’s not me. You have Doppy to thank for this.”

Even as I responded, a question tugged at my mind.

Why did the goddess call me the guide?

I hadn’t received any revelation from her, so why assign me that role?

Do she and Fenrike have an agreement?

I had no way of knowing for sure and instead, began to wonder even more.

Why has the goddess, who was silent for fifty years, suddenly chosen to speak to Comet now? What is her true purpose?

Despite my uncertainty and attempt to deflect, Comet unwaveringly declared, “It’s all thanks to you, Mr. Kwon Su-Hyeok. You are the guide.”

He continued to praise me, almost naively. While he wasn’t exactly wrong, I always felt awkward receiving compliments directly. Ignoring him, I quickened my pace.

“Let’s move a bit faster. There’s no telling how long that aurora will last.”

“Okay.”

The aurora seemed to be around four hundred meters away, which was not too far. However, as we advanced toward the glowing light, the green waves suddenly vanished, seemingly swallowed by the night.

That was when a faint tremor rippled through the ground beneath us, barely perceptible but unmistakable. This wasn’t a random occurrence—I recognized the sensation.

This vibration was eerily familiar, and I recalled feeling it during the previous ambushes. The disappearance of the aurora likely signaled the arrival of heretics.

I assumed they wouldn’t move in this cold.

Instead of targeting the survivors, they had thankfully chosen to pursue us.

Given the circumstances, I was sure they were tracking us by following the trail of divine energy Comet emitted. It would explain how they had managed to tail him so accurately, even when he had been hidden among the caravan.

The tremors were still distant, perhaps two to three kilometers away. By my estimation, however, the force heading toward us was five times larger than any ambush we had encountered so far.

We need to get out of here.

While I could fight them off if necessary, I didn’t want to take any risks until we discovered the relic. If we weren’t careful, the heretics could easily use their numbers advantage to distract us, bypassing us and reaching the relic first.

Since their target was Comet, I could use him as bait to lure them away.

“Why did the aurora disappear so suddenly? What’s happening?” Comet asked, glancing at me in confusion. He hadn’t noticed the tremors yet and had no idea what was approaching.

Without a second thought, I hoisted him onto my shoulder.

“Mr. Kwon Su-Hyeok!?”

“The heretics are following us. They must be tracking the divine power you’re using.”

“Ah... Damn it! I’ll deactivate it right away!”

“No! Don’t!”

I stopped him before he could dispel the divine blessing. He looked at me, perplexed.

“They’re still far off. We need to lure them away from the relic first.”

“Sooo... I should only deactivate it once we’ve drawn them far enough?”

“Exactly.”

Still perched on my shoulder, Comet gave a small nod.

With no time to waste, I sprinted westward. The rumbling vibrations trailed behind us through the sand.

***

[Escort. Time remaining: 20 hours 43 minutes.]

Even if the heretics were crawling beneath the sand, they couldn’t match my speed.

I headed west for four kilometers, before pivoting south and running another two. Along the way, I deliberately altered my course to throw off the pursuers. It would take them time to reorient and pick up our trail again.

When we finally returned to our original location, we were pleased to see the green aurora had reappeared, shimmering like a beacon in the night.

Although we had shaken off the pursuers for now—knowing the aurora had already vanished once—we didn’t waste a second. Driven by urgency, we sprinted toward the glowing light.

Beneath the aurora, a glowing blue door was nestled in a hollow of sand. There was no structure surrounding it, just a door standing alone in the middle of the desert, illuminated by an ethereal light.

“Is that it?” I asked.

“Yes. Finally... We’ve found the final trace left by the goddess.”

He inhaled deeply, seeming as if the weight of fifty years had lifted from his chest.

His breath trembled, and when he spoke again, his words carried a raw, unfiltered gratitude. “Thank you, Mr. Kwon Su-Hyeok. Truly, thank you.”

“I wasn’t the one who did this. You found it through your own efforts.”

I offered him a small, reassuring smile.

We approached the blue door together. The air around it thrummed with an unfamiliar energy, soft yet potent. The mana that emanated from it was unlike anything I had encountered; a dormant force that had somehow remained hidden for five decades.

The door had likely revealed itself in response to Comet’s presence, waiting for him all along.

But as Comet stood before it, I could see his hesitation. He glanced at me with a troubled expression.

“Uh... Mr. Kwon Su-Hyeok?”

“Yes?”

“I think... only I can enter.”

“What?”

I stared at him, taken aback.

He nodded firmly, confirming my suspicion. After all the effort we had expended to reach this point, I wouldn’t be able to step through the door.

So, that is that I guess? All the hidden mission wanted me to do was escort Comet to this door.

Still, I didn’t feel disappointed even though I wouldn’t receive direct compensation for my efforts. The achievement points I would earn would be more than enough.

While I processed the situation, Comet spoke again, “It seems only the goddess’s apostle can enter. If you believe in the goddess, y*ou might be able to come in with me...”

I shook my head, smiling faintly.

“It’s fine. Go on ahead.”

“Thank you. I’ll be quick.”

Meeting my gaze one last time, Comet opened the blue door determinedly.

As it swung wide, a dazzling light spilled out, flooding the desert with a golden sheen. The radiance was so intense it lit the night sky like a miniature sun, visible for miles.

Comet stepped through the doorway, the blue door closing behind him and vanishing immediately. Then, a tremendous wave of magical energy rippled outward from where the door had been, surging through the air like a shockwave.

The heretics will sense this for sure.

Though the door was now invisible, my senses told me it still existed in the same location, concealed from sight but not from perception.

If I wanted to ensure Comet’s safety when he returned, I would have to eliminate the heretics before they reached this place.

That was when, from a distance, the familiar rumble began to echo through the sand.

I adjusted my grip on my axe and steadied myself.

I wasn’t concerned about the fight. The only question was how I would handle them this time. Perhaps Master of Shadows would serve me well on this dark desert night.

The tremors grew heavier and reverberated through the ground, and every shadow cast by the moonlight began to ripple and shift.