Chapter 84 -84-Entering the Dark Realm!

Chapter 84: Chapter84-Entering the Dark Realm!

Ali froze.

"Because..."

He ventured cautiously.

"I’m more professional?"

"That’s one reason."

John turned around.

And stared at him.

Ali began to feel uneasy under his gaze.

"What else?"

The corner of John’s mouth curled upward slightly.

"You can fool them."

"But you can’t fool me."

Buzz!

In that instant.

Every muscle in Ali’s body tensed almost instinctively.

Cold sweat instantly broke out across his forehead.

His heart even skipped a beat.

Ali forced out a smile.

"Captain."

"What are you talking about?"

"Don’t scare me like that."

John looked at him.

Then slowly said.

"You’re a girl."

"Right?"

"..."

The smile on Ali’s face completely froze.

The only sound left in the cave was the unstable hum of the magic array.

Two seconds later.

He...

Or rather, she.

Let out a long sigh.

"Fine."

"Since you’ve already figured it out."

The girl raised her right hand.

And lightly swept it in front of herself.

Buzz—

An extremely faint transparent ripple swept from the top of her head all the way down to her feet.

The next moment.

The slum boy with yellowish skin.

Messy hair.

A thin frame.

And an unmistakably shabby air no matter how you looked at him.

Disappeared.

In his place.

Stood a white-haired girl.

She was still fairly short.

No more than around 160 centimeters tall.

Her silver-white hair fell to her shoulders.

The strands on either side were slightly messy.

Her skin was so pale that it stood out even in the dim cave.

Her features were delicate.

Her nose small and refined.

And her pale violet eyes were now looking at John with a trace of guilt.

Her clothes had also changed into a lightweight black hunting outfit.

On her lower body was a short skirt designed for easy movement.

A dagger sheath and tool pouch were strapped to the outside of her thigh.

A pair of long boots reached almost to her knees.

Overall, she looked neat, light, and agile.

Except...

John’s gaze swept from top to bottom.

Hmm.

Flat.

Very flat.

If you ignored the face.

Her original disguise as a boy barely needed any adjustment to her figure at all.

The girl noticed where he was looking.

The corner of her mouth twitched.

She instinctively crossed both arms over her chest.

"Where exactly are you looking?"

John’s expression remained calm.

"Confirming the details of your disguise."

"..."

The girl clearly didn’t believe him.

John activated [Hunter’s Eye] again.

Sure enough, the panel changed.

[Aya]

[Level: Lv30]

[Class: Shadow Thief Assassin]

[Life Tier: Ten-Thousand-Player Tier BOSS]

[HP: 250,000/250,000]

[Physical Attack: 6,350]

[Physical Defense: 2,450]

[Magic Defense: 2,180]

[Agility: 5,200]

[Talent: Hand of the Phantom Thief]

...

"Aya..."

John quietly repeated the name.

That name.

Felt somewhat familiar.

As though he had heard it somewhere before.

But when he tried to think carefully.

He couldn’t remember at all.

Forget it.

It wasn’t important for now.

John closed the panel.

And looked at her.

"Good."

"Consider this the first step toward being honest with each other."

Aya gave him a strange look.

"With each other?"

She couldn’t see how this guy had been honest about anything.

John completely ignored the question.

"I don’t care why you’re disguising yourself as a man in the army."

"And I don’t care what secrets you have."

"Once we enter the Dark Realm."

"I only have one requirement."

Aya instinctively straightened up a little.

John raised one finger.

"Follow my orders."

"Without my permission."

"You are not to carry out any private operation I don’t know about."

"And you are absolutely not allowed to make decisions on your own at the last second."

He stared at the girl.

"Do you understand?"

Aya nodded furiously.

Her head bobbing like a rattle drum.

"Understood."

"Completely understood."

"If Captain says east, I would never go west."

"If Captain tells me to steal a chicken, I would never touch a dog."

"Stop."

"Oh."

John nodded in satisfaction.

"Good."

He turned around.

And looked at the constantly rippling green portal before them.

Then stepped directly into the green curtain of light.

"Let’s go."

Aya took a deep breath.

She gave the Human Realm cave behind her one final look.

Then gritted her teeth and followed.

"Coming!"

Buzz—!!!

The two figures were swallowed by green light almost simultaneously.

The instant his vision returned.

The first thing John noticed was a smell completely different from the Human Realm.

The damp, icy air carried a faint trace of sulfur.

[Dark Realm · Northern Plains]

The sky was a suffocating dark red.

Heavy clouds stretched endlessly overhead.

Across the distant wasteland grew vast patches of short black vegetation. Whenever the wind blew, they rippled close to the ground like waves.

However.

John clearly had no time to admire the scenery of another world right now.

Because the place they had teleported to...

Wasn’t exactly friendly.

Only a few dozen meters away.

Rows upon rows of black military tents stretched into the distance. War banners snapped in the wind, wargs crouched low along the edges of the camp, weapon racks stood in neat rows, and patrols moved back and forth between them.

The entire military encampment was densely packed. At a glance, there were at least ten thousand Dark Realm soldiers stationed here.

This was obviously a large temporary military camp.

One waiting for the next chance to use the temporary portal and launch another attack on the rear of Dawnstar City.

And beside the teleportation array where John and Aya had appeared.

There happened to be two guards.

At this moment.

Neither of them had noticed that the portal behind them had changed.

One Dark Realm soldier hugged his spear and laughed.

"Did you see that prisoner we caught from the Human Realm last time?"

"All pale and fat."

"Looked like one of those meat beasts raised on a farm."

His companion immediately laughed as well.

"Of course I saw him."

"The first time that guy saw a warg, he pissed himself on the spot."

"Hahahaha!"

"Didn’t they throw him into the wolf den afterward?"

"You should’ve heard how miserably he screamed."

The two burst out laughing.

"Those humans—"

Pshk!

His voice cut off abruptly.

The tip of an extremely thin blade.

Burst straight through the center of his throat.

Blood instantly flooded his mouth.

"Urgh..."

The soldier’s eyes widened.

He didn’t even have time to shout a warning.

The blade was violently pulled back out.

His corpse toppled forward.

Thud!

The smile on the other guard’s face froze instantly.

He spun around.

And saw a white-haired human girl standing behind his companion.

In her hand was a short sword so thin it was almost like a steel needle.

"Aya!"

John had just opened his mouth.

When Aya urgently shouted.

"Boss, hurry!"

"Don’t let him call for help!"

The remaining soldier reacted instantly.

He opened his mouth to shout.

"Ene—"

BOOM!!!

A piercing sonic boom instantly drowned out his voice.

John stepped forward.

The Void Staff had already come crashing down from above!

The staff smashed into his skull and blew it apart on impact.

[-19,418!]

Boom!

Both corpses exploded along with the ground beneath their feet.

Blood, flesh, and dirt sprayed outward in every direction.