In that moment, his body shuddered like a tree struck by lightning. What Verdant Sun God? Lord and savior? Any combination of those words made his throat slimy, and the more he thought about it, the stickier it got.

  I am not religious!

  Even as a Watchman, he’d only started to ‘believe’ in the existence of the Night Mother recently, and that was out of obligation, not a true belief that rose from his heart. If this were spoken aloud, the Mother might just smite him where he's standing.

  Fortunately, Ulrich had always kept his blasphemous thoughts to himself, and even gods cannot pry into the mind of humans.

  All of this resulted in two words that surged out of his mouth:

  “Absolutely not!”

  Silas's body jolted, startled by Ulrich’s firm refusal. His response was strange, almost like repulsion toward the matter of faith.

  Although It hadn’t been long since they met, he could tell that Ulrich was a rather reserved individual. And for such a person to display this extreme response? Inconceivable!

  That’s right, as a faithful person of the Great Sun, I must be patient when spreading the love of God. Only then can we amass more followers!

  Trying to clear the stiff air between them, Silas coughed, “Forget it, consider that I never mentioned it.”

  He didn’t expect Ulrich to show such a repulsed expression upon hearing about their God, though he took no offense to it. As a matter of fact, he was rather intrigued.

  “Not only are you the most shameless and cowardly Watchman I’ve ever seen in my life. Your faith is also lacking. I’m surprised you haven’t been smite by the Night Mother, truly a blessed person!”

  Is that a compliment?

  Ulrich's eyes narrowed. His mouth opened, but not a sound came. Though his jaw clenched, and his hand raised, he didn’t have the urge to respond.

  Seeing this, Silas froze, a smile gradually formed on his face as he said, “Let's travel together. I don’t believe that you won’t accept my lord in your heart after seeing ‘his’ grace.”

  Now you sound like a proper priest. But I still won’t praise your ‘God’…

  On the surface, he maintained a blank smile and nodded, “If your lord is so great, then as his spokesperson, you should reflect that with your attitude. How about this, we’ll travel together, and if your lord is indeed as great as you say, I’ll think about it.”

  With that said, he bowed slightly and gestured forward, “Let's start by showing me the direction to Helgan’s Keep.”

  The settlement of Helgan’s Keep, from their current position, was separated by the Crimson Mountain. And as Ulrich traveled with Silas, he managed to learn a great deal about his current location.

  For example, why was the Crimson Mountain ‘crimson’?

  “This Crimson Mountain is not naturally formed; well, the mountain is, however, the color is not. I assume you don’t know this.”

  “It’s rumored that in ancient times, the mountain was, in fact, a giant settlement, a bustling city. They were prosperous, even when looking at the explored regions of the shadow realm. However, a calamity struck, it was catastrophic and tragic. The origin and truth have scattered into time.”

  “What we do know is the result of this calamity: every single person, regardless of status and race, was slaughtered, their blood dyed the black mountain red, their city became a coffin, and one that trapped their anguished soul into the mountain itself.”

  This—This calamity, perhaps it is comparable to the First Drowning that occurred during the second epoch!

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  This detail reminded Ulrich that the nature of this shadow realm was dark, perhaps darker than he’d expect. Even Margrave, by extension, paled in comparison to that Crimson Mountain.

  Fortunately, although the path to Helgan’s Keep was blocked by the Crimson Mountain, Silas had another route which avoided the need to enter the mountain. If not for Silas, would he have unknowingly wandered through the mountain, unaware of the danger that lay within it?

  He most likely would!

  Along the way, Ulrich grasped many intriguing facts and history about certain structures surrounding them. He also learned a crucial piece of information about the person in front of him.

  Silas, the brazen priest, was a Pyromancer. And their journey wasn’t without a few bones blocking their route.

  As they encountered a group of skeletons along the way, Ulrich took the role of support, while Silas covered the front. In truth, he was just there for moral support.

  A single snap from Silas’s finger, and pillars of fire rose from the ground, burning every single skeleton to ashes.

  Recalling the so-called Verdant Sun God that he preached, it made sense. Light, warm, fire, and blaze, all of these traits befit that of this “Sun God”. Even then, Ulrich was not enticed to praise the Sun or anyone in that regard.

  Staring at Ulrich, he crossed his arms and nodded, “What do you think, the grace of our lord?”

  Ulrich blankly stared at Silas, his eyes lacking emotion, and his lip straighter than a ruler as he formed a fist at Silas, “Stop killing all of them!”

  By the time they arrived near Helgan’s Keep, it was nightfall.

  The journey was arduous, filled with a number of dangers. Skeletons, undead creatures, and even some strange monsters, Ulrich had seen them firsthand. Merci to Silas, the talkative Sun Priest, Ulrich was able to arrive without a fatal wound, just some stains on his clothes and superficial cuts.

  At this moment, they walked down the road that appeared near Helgan’s Keep. Laid before their eyes was a giant stone wall, its height almost reaching the clouds. Along the walls, a number of spherical dome was carved out of stone, a watch tower perhaps.

  There were also ‘rectangles’ and ‘squares’ etched into the wall—presumably, it was occupied by the people within the keep in case of an attack. That only made it more terrifying. The idea that such a giant Keep was made with the implication that an attack could happen, and can happen!

  Either way, the scale and size of this keep had Ulrich sigh with awe and admiration.

  “What do you think, pretty large, right?”

  Ulrich didn’t respond, though Silas had understood this young man by now. Silence from Ulrich was the same as a tacit approval. Knowing that he managed to leave a position impression, he elbowed Ulrich from the side as a gesture of jest.

  At the same time, he wanted to advise this newly descended Watchman, believing that he should be made aware of certain 'rules' within the Keep.

  “Helgan’s Keep is under Lord Helgan. He is a rather righteous and noble man, but the people that within Helgan’s Keep… Well, they are not exactly ‘right’ of mind.”

  Right of mind? Coming from Silas, that meant a lot. Who else can be crazier than Silas? The shameless priest who constantly praises the sun?

  “What do you mean by that?”

  Silas leaned closer, whispering into Ulrich’s ear, “Avoid conflict if necessary, especially with those fellows from the noble houses. Their pride and arrogance, dare I say it, is even higher than the peak of the Crimson Mountain.”

  With that said, Ulrich and Silas went their ways the moment they crossed Helgan’s Keep's giant stone gate.

  Apparently, the man had some business to take care of, so he couldn’t accompany Ulrich for some time. Regarding this, he expressed his exasperation by speaking about his ‘lord’ at length before leaving. Though they did agree to meet again when the time was right.

  As for Ulrich, he hadn’t smiled in a long time since entering the shadow realm, not until that irritating priest departed.

  I should exchange my materials for Umbra shards if possible… Ulrich hoped to obtain a cursed object or weapon for himself within the shadow realm.

  This was all in the goal of getting stronger. And besides using umbra shards as a form of currency, it is also one of the main ‘sacrificial items’ required to open the shadow gate. Thus, having more never hurt—in fact, it is only natural to hoard as many umbra shards as possible!

  During their journey to Helgan’s Keep, he picked up a few materials: red crystals, skeleton bones, some hide from a shadow boar, the list goes on—though his ignorance had him fuming.

  He didn’t know the use or purpose for most of these items, and asking Silas was no different from owing the man a favor. So Ulrich didn’t mention it, afraid that the priest would start preaching about the sun god at length.

  With that in mind, Ulrich decided to head to the Hall of Helgan’s Keep, where most exchanges are expected to happen, and gatherings of people are common.