Chapter 1650 - 985: King of Black Wood, Gwyn

"Hiss..."

Leon looked at the emptiness behind him, gasping in shock, feeling an instant stomach pain.

He took several deep breaths, trying to calm his emotions, but the more he tried, the more pronounced his heart’s pounding became.

"Forget it, I’m going in!"

Why worry about so much, just going for it is enough!

Leon Basque abandoned the thought!

"Boom—"

The heavy Royal Artifact was placed on the branch-formed rack, the massive King’s Soul converged into a bundle, burning fiercely at this moment.

Flames burst from the tops of the pillars on both sides of the gate, the ground beneath began to tremble, the stone gate in front slowly opening amid vibrations, piercing white light surged from the increasingly open crack until the gate completely opened wide, the strong light almost swallowing Leon, causing him to instinctively close his eyes.

As the strong light dissipated, and before Leon opened his eyes, the sound of burning flames already reached his ears.

The sound did not seem like some intense burning, rather it evoked thoughts of an ordinary bonfire, like one accompanying travelers on a prairie, its crackling heard from afar with the evening wind.

"Bonfire?"

He opened his eyes, saw in front of him a blazing bonfire, burning even without touch.

And before the bonfire lay an endless field of pure white space, with only a black road extending infinitely beneath, leading towards the bottom.

A road with a lot of atmosphere.

Filled with anticipation for what lies ahead, Leon stepped forward.

He hadn’t walked but a few steps, and the human figure suddenly appearing ahead made him raise his weapon instantly, for he saw the Black Knight approaching him!

But, the Black Knight passed straight through the wary Leon, only then did he realize it was merely an illusory shadow.

"What does this mean?"

He continued to walk downward, while facing the shadows of Black Knights appearing one after another, perhaps loyal knights that once followed Gwyn, causing indescribable emotions within him.

Should it be... a sense of mission?

The Black Knights followed Gwyn in Fire Transmission, and now, he walks their path, attempting to recreate the past actions.

This stirred up the role-playing enthusiast in him, dispelling initial unease, striding boldly downward.

Eventually, the ground was piled with gray-white ash, so thick it covered his shoe as he stepped down.

The texture of the ash underfoot felt bizarre, beneath it, the sensation akin to stepping on metal-forged support structure, except this "structure" was magnified beyond common sight.

Leon lifted his head, gaze climbing along the gray ash until taking in the full panorama, involuntarily letting out a "wow".

[Initial Firestove]

The hallmark of Sain Magic Words appeared, as usual, before him.

Presented before Leon was the inner scene of a massive furnace.

Heaps of ashes, thick enough to engulf a person completely, amassed everywhere, crisscrossing iron frames above it, where a misstep might result in a fall, with little chance of survival.

All these crisscross steel frames circled the furnace center, a seemingly enclosed "inner shell," its inside unknown, but...

Leon sensed a familiar aroma from there.

It appeared to be the final destination.

This differed from any furnace appearance he knew, but with Sain Dungeon naming it Initial Firestove, he’d regard it as such.

Leon stood his ground, adjusting his gear; left hand wielded Black Knight Shield, right hand wielded Ring Knight Straight Sword, separately they could perform Combat Skills [Bounce Back] and [Residual Fire], combined they performed the magical [Ring Capture].

A pair of Reverse Swords hung at his waist, engraved with [Swift Slash], their red and blue Elemental Bottles strikingly visible, and a waist pouch enhanced with Space Magic to store more tools.

He donned the fully enclosed helmet covering his face, speaking to himself:

"Let’s set out."

No background music echoed in Initial Firestove, or rather, the perpetual fire burning was the best backdrop music.

Wherever one looked was gray-white ash, the flame’s crackling not intense, walking there surprisingly evoked a desolate feeling.

The scenery differed from how Leon envisioned the Initial Firestove; he imagined stepping into blazing flames once the white light faded.

But now it contrasted starkly with his bleak and barren imagination.

Thankfully, it wasn’t completely desolate, as a Black Knight emerged from the ash and charged with a long spear.

After a few rounds of combat, the Black Knight fell, turning into dissipating ash, for Leon at that moment, a Black Knight was no longer a sweat-inducing terror.

From needing multiple people to defeat a Molten Furnace Knight to easily handling a Black Knight, he spent nearly a year and a half.

Sain Dungeon’s power-boosting effect indeed defied the norm.

Leon progressed along the crisscross steel frames, sporadic Black Knights attacked, each neutralized effortlessly, barely impacting the final battle.