Chapter 74: Towards the Light Temple

’Yeah... I made the right choice.’

Peace handed Ralph his sword back.

’The principle of being unprincipled...’

There was a saying...

The only difference between genius and insanity was success.

Partying up with his would-be killers — potentially still would-be killers — was indeed ludicrous. Yet, the rate at which Peace had been able to hunt with them far exceeded anything he could have achieved alone.

No part of him trusted any part of them. He still wanted to slap Volkar upside the head for pissing on him. He also wanted revenge on Ralph for what he’d put him through.

On the flip side...

’We hunted twelve in record time...’

Using Peace’s sword up the coin slot method, they’d managed to rack up kills. They could have kept going, but another party of Divers had appeared on the outskirts of the forest. So, they stopped in lieu of keeping their secret a secret.

Not that hunting more mattered much to Peace.

He wasn’t in a situation where he could sell the drops or Spirit Stones. And eating rocks was yet another thing he’d be unable to explain. Besides, after their ninth kill, the golems had stopped yielding EXP; Peace was now at 31/51 EXP towards his next rank up.

Glancing back at the party watching them furtively, Ralph ordered:

"Stay sharp, idiots. Especially you, Pariah. Don’t let them see your hair."

Rolling his eyes, Peace pulled his hood down over his eyes.

"I know..."

’Dickweed.’

At the very least, the other group seemed non-hostile. Though they were clearly intrigued by the stone piles scattered about — the twelve remains of the Lesser Earth Golems Peace and his posse had killed.

As for what came next...

They continued towards the Light Temple.

Although the white marble structure resembled a gigantic ziggurat, it was anything but.

It had an interior, and that interior was massive. It spanned multiple floors, several of them underground. It was quite the maze to navigate, even in the game. Navigating it in real life sounded like a horror. Especially without a proper scout.

As for the power distribution within...

Like the Maw of Hell, the spawning zones inside the Light Temple weren’t random — they were fixed. So at least they knew what they would be dealing with and which areas to avoid if they entered.

Getting there was another issue, as the spawning zones along the way were random.

But, looking around...

’We have quite the simple path ahead.’

Only two spawning zones, with no overlap between them. Both spawned some of the weakest Tier 9 monsters — all either E or D-class.

"Back into Formation C."

The only problem for Peace was his lack of a proper weapon after Ralph had reclaimed his sword and graciously told him to "kick rocks" rather than part with his precious short sword.

Well...

That wasn’t exactly what Ralph had said, but that was how Peace interpreted it.

Not that Peace complained too much. He had his trusty gauntlets to punch with. Plus, if he could figure out how to trigger that partial transformation, he’d have access to claws.

Yet he had so little to go on that he couldn’t draw any meaningful conclusions. From what Peace could tell, it could be anything from his mental state to the power disparity between him and his chosen target.

For now, it was simply a matter of focusing on the task ahead. And, for that, his party members alone were enough.

Mainly...

[You have slain a Tier 9 E-Class Grasswart] [+2 EXP]

Yulis released an arrow that cut through blades of grass and struck something Peace never saw.

The first of the two spawning zones, Grass Hunter, was quite unique in that it transformed the terrain wherever it appeared, covering it in tall grass that reached up to the waist.

It was full of small creatures, mainly little green things called Grasswarts that slithered through the grass, poisoning whoever they came across before slithering away. Then, they’d stalk their target and attempt to reapply the poison whenever it wore off until it killed them.

’Too bad for the slithery shits, perception Resonances counter them hard.’

Yulis certainly seemed to possess one, judging by how he kept firing into the grass, carving a path through.

[You have slain a Tier 9 E-Class Grasswart]

[+2 EXP]

[You have slain a Tier 9 D-Class Toxic Fern]

[+2 EXP]

Not wanting to spend too long in the annoying zone, they pressed on to the next as fast as they could.

This next zone, which could appear in either the Bright or Dark Forest, sometimes in multiple locations at once, contained slightly more dangerous creatures. Creatures that nearly everyone knew from folklore or RPGs — goblins.

While they were weak, only D-class, their true strengths lay in their intelligence and tendency to patrol in groups.

At the same time...

Because they possessed intelligence, the complications of intelligance came with. In short: fear.

This made farming them quite difficult, as they’d simply avoid strong parties. And, if a party persisted in hunting them, the goblins would set a plethora of annoying traps and band together en masse.

However...

Peace pointed at a group of little green things the size of Gnomes as they ran away with their hands in the air, having abandoned their wooden spears.

"Why are they all fleeing...?"

’We havn’t killed a single one.’

Ralph huffed.

"You tell us, Pariah. One look at you and they nearly shit their pants."

Silent, Peace raised an eyebrow.

’You sure it’s not that guy...?’

Volkar, who was chasing them with his axe raised, screaming:

"Face me, cowards!"

Thankfully, Ralph managed to call him back before he got too far.

"Volkar! Be careful, those things steal muscles."

"Gah!"

In any case...

They’d reached the zone bordering the Light Temple.

And, since this entrance was within the fearful goblins’ domain, it was uncontested, allowing them to walk right in...

’It really is massive from this close.’

They took a short respite, eating and drinking or polishing their weapons. Then, they marched towards the nearest entrance Yulis had spotted during their long but uneventful trek through the Goblinlands.

Finally, they entered...

Only for the wall to seal shut behind them the moment Peace, the last of them, stepped inside.

’Huh...?’