Chapter 89 -89-This Is How the Dark Realm Does Security Checks?

Chapter 89: Chapter89-This Is How the Dark Realm Does Security Checks?

Several hours later.

John gradually slowed his pace.

On the distant horizon.

A massive black silhouette appeared.

Aya raised her head.

Her eyes lit up.

"We’re here! Night City!"

As they drew closer.

The entire city finally revealed itself before them.

Towering city walls stretched for dozens of kilometers.

Their height was almost on par with Dawnstar City.

Black metal and dark red stone formed the dominant colors of the entire city.

Along the top of the walls.

Large numbers of war machines and Dark Realm soldiers patrolled back and forth.

And farther away, at the center of the city.

A massive dark green curtain of light shot straight into the sky.

John narrowed his eyes.

That thing’s scale...

Was almost comparable to the [Eternal Night Gate].

Clearly.

Night City itself was also an important military hub.

The five large legion teleportation arrays the quest required them to destroy.

Were most likely inside the city.

"It’s bigger than I expected."

John muttered.

Aya, however, didn’t respond.

She was staring at the city gate.

And the expression on her face was gradually becoming strange.

"Boss, look over there."

John followed her gaze.

In front of Night City’s main entrance.

Several absurdly long lines had formed.

Goblins.

Orcs.

Dark elves.

Humanoid races with goat horns.

There were even several unknown creatures standing three or four meters tall.

The races were all over the place.

That wasn’t the problem.

What was truly strange was—

The inspection was painfully slow.

Only once every few dozen seconds.

Would one person at the front be allowed inside.

John frowned.

"Security is this strict?"

Aya looked puzzled as well.

"It shouldn’t normally be like this. Night City has tons of people entering and leaving every day. At this speed..."

The two continued approaching.

Soon.

They finally got a clear look at what was happening in the inspection area.

Then.

Both stopped dead in their tracks.

"..."

"..."

In front of the city gate.

A horned Dark Realm man stood before several guards.

And on his body...

Not a single thread.

One of the guards held a crystal glowing with purple light.

And scanned him all the way from the top of his head to the soles of his feet.

Then they pried open his mouth.

Checked his teeth.

His ears.

His hair.

They even made him turn around.

Two soldiers then started using their hands directly.

Patting down every inch of his body.

The way they did it.

Was so rough it made one’s scalp tingle just watching.

Only after confirming there was no problem.

Did the soldier beside them wave a hand.

"Go in!"

The horned man hurriedly grabbed his clothes off the ground.

And slunk into the city.

Next.

A dark elf.

Same thing.

Strip.

The one after that.

A goblin.

Still strip.

The corner of Aya’s mouth began twitching.

"This... doesn’t seem right, does it?"

John fell silent.

Didn’t seem right?

They were clearly planning to inspect every single place something could possibly be hidden.

Forget disguise skills.

Even if you were a Night City native born and raised here.

Standing in front of an inspection line like this.

You’d need a long time to mentally prepare yourself.

Aya looked at the goblin ahead of them, currently being held in place by two soldiers while they checked the soles of his feet.

Her body instinctively edged a little closer to John.

"B-Boss... are we still going in?"

Even her voice had started to stammer.

John glanced at her.

Then looked toward the city gate again.

"Don’t rush."

Even he was feeling a little creeped out.

[Faceless Shadow Mask] could change his appearance.

But this kind of inspection clearly wasn’t limited to visual confirmation.

There was a magic crystal beside them too.

Who knew what it could detect?

There was no point in recklessly walking over there.

Especially since Aya was currently a fake goblin.

If her disguise could fool their eyes.

But not that crystal.

Things would get very entertaining, very quickly.

"Let’s observe first. See if there’s anyone who doesn’t need to be inspected."

He still had the [Thorn Witch Badge].

If that thing carried sufficiently high authority within the Dark Realm.

Maybe it would let him use some kind of special passage directly.

Aya had clearly thought of the same thing.

"Makes sense. Let’s see how officers or nobles get in."

The two scanned their surroundings.

And quickly found an excellent observation spot.

Not far outside the city walls.

There was a mountain of garbage.

Rotten meat.

Animal bones.

Torn cloth.

Decaying plants.

And excrement from who knew what kind of creatures.

John stood in front of the garbage heap.

And fell silent for two seconds.

Aya was already backing away.

"Boss, how about we find somewhere—"

"Here."

"Huh?"

"Good view. And no one wants to come near it."

"..."

That made sense.

But why did it feel so hard to accept?

The two circled behind the garbage heap.

And crouched down.

An indescribable stench hit them full in the face.

Aya instantly covered her nose.

The smell nearly brought tears to her eyes.

"Ugh—what the hell is this stuff?!"

John held his breath as well.

"Endure it. When you’re doing something important, you can’t sweat the small stuff."

Aya rolled her eyes.

"Then stop holding your breath."

John: "..."

Neither of them noticed.

Deep inside the garbage heap behind them.

A piece of torn cloth covered in black sludge slowly shifted.

Within the gap.

A pair of eyes opened.

And silently fixed on the two of them.

...

Time passed little by little.

Ten minutes.

Twenty minutes.

Half an hour.

Plenty of people entered the city.

But no matter what race they were.

No matter how luxurious their clothes looked.

Once they reached the city gate.

Everyone received the same treatment.

Strip.

Inspect.

Get dressed again.

Leave.

Aya went from nervous at first.

To gradually numb.

And finally leaned against the garbage heap.

Her eyelids were starting to droop.

"Boss... I don’t think they have a VIP lane."

John didn’t answer.

Even he was starting to question his life choices after watching for so long.

Just then.

The sound of orderly footsteps suddenly came from the distance.

A cavalry squad of more than a dozen riders approached the city gate.

At the very front.

Was a Dark Realm man clad in black-and-red officer’s armor.

The ordinary soldiers around him immediately moved aside when they saw him.

Even the city gate guards instantly straightened up.

John’s eyes immediately lit up.

"Here we go."

Aya instantly perked up as well.

The two poked their heads out at the same time.

The officer dismounted.

And walked straight toward the inspection checkpoint.

The soldier responsible for inspections immediately stepped forward.

And saluted respectfully.

"Sir!"

The officer nodded.

Without even glancing at the people waiting in line.

He walked straight ahead.

The corner of John’s mouth curved upward slightly.

As expected.

Someone with status really was—

The next second.

Before the guard could even open his mouth.

The officer had already unfastened his belt with a swift motion.

His movements were crisp and decisive.

Without the slightest hesitation.

His armor was still hanging on his body.

But he had already yanked his pants straight down.

Slap.

And tossed them onto the ground.

The entire sequence was smooth and practiced.

As if he had rehearsed it countless times before.

The air instantly fell silent.

The curve at the corner of John’s mouth froze.

"..."

That imposing Dark Realm officer.

Was now standing completely naked at the city gate.

He even casually kicked his boots off to the side.

Only then did the two guards react, mechanically stepping forward with the crystal in hand.

"Open your mouth."

"Turn around."

"Spread your legs. Wider."

Behind the garbage heap.

Aya slowly pulled her head back.

Her face had gone pale.

John silently sat back down as well.

The two looked at each other.

Neither said a word.

After quite a while.

Aya finally whispered.

"Boss, I’m suddenly starting to think... failing the quest might not actually be that unacceptable."

John: "..."

For the first time.

He genuinely felt that the Dark Realm.

Was far more dangerous than he’d imagined.