Ashe's walk was over. He asked around carefully, understood it, and followed to the appropriate carriage. Ironstride was a sturdy animal that would carry his carriage.

There were several other passengers with him. They were part of the same group and didn't bother to talk to the boy. As for the horseman himself, he was a talkative man and drilled Ashe's brain.

The entire journey cost him 4 orbs and more than a day. Add to that the food price, and he only had 6 stone orbs and 1 green orb left. He also brought the remaining apples and was using every opportunity to eat them.

Ashe left the carriage a few hours later. Near the location of his Eclipsed rank mission. The boy was the last passenger, and the next one wouldn't leave until the next morning.

This meant that he had at least 24 hours to explore, and in his opinion, that should be more than enough. His priority was the mission of the Eminent rank, and he went to do it.

The temple of the Sugar God was outside Zalindar City. The god couldn't boast a large number of followers.

Religion and the government were common institutions that worked in agreement with each other and tried to pursue common interests.

In addition to the Binders, the gods also chose their servants, including Seeers, who pursued their interests.

However, this was voluntary, and they didn't force anything on people. If God had to use force against humanity, it was a rare and unique exception.

The Sugar God himself wasn't famous. This was also reflected in the location of his temple. It was located in an empty, stony, and dry field.

Instead, rivers were visible in their depths. Clumps of sugarcane grew around them.

Ashe approached the temple and drew a parallel to the Dreadvale building. It may have been a separate structure, but it wasn't far from reaching the clouds.

He entered the temple and found no sign of life. Not only were there no Seeers but there were no monsters either.

Although, according to his knowledge, both of them should have been here.

Ashe stepped through the halls, checked the rooms, and discovered no trace of the fragment.

'A way to get underground.' He concluded what he wanted and changed the direction of his search.

Ashe turned the fragments into Shards and used them to check all suspicious surfaces. The crushed fragments were more sensitive and had a better chance of following the trace.

His idea and clever use of his skills paid off. He approached the fountain he already had in his experience, which was made of marble.

It turned out to be empty, devoid of any liquid. The shards changed colour in their depths as if they came into contact with other foreign shards.

'The entrance must be here.'

[1, 58% - 1, 56%]

Ashe didn't lose much and, having found a hidden handle, he descended the stairs.

He dived deeply, slowly, and was in absolute silence. Rather, he saw a noticeable number of fragments, which Ashe was following in his footsteps.

The boy wasn't good enough at reading them and couldn't precisely say to whom these fragments belonged.

Possibly Seers, monsters, or even Binders.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

At the end of the stairs, where the fragments were especially numerous, a corridor appeared before him.

A door with a large hatch. A special number was felt in it, and Ashe, upon touching it, saw numbers along with knowledge.

[0.31]

After the sword, no other object showed the number of fragments. This hatch was a new discovery, which also indicated the presence of a key somewhere nearby.

It should be noted that this unusual reading of fragments wasn't familiar to Seeers either.

Ashe, as the Chosen One, didn't waste this ability and quickly found the key. It was lying right next to the door, in the corner, as if there were no time to hide it.

[0.32]

The metal key also carried a small part of the prophecy. More than the lock, it also confirmed the existence of a second key somewhere behind the door.

It turned out that the door was locked from the inside, but it could also be opened from the outside.

Ashe did just that and entered the vast darkness. With the help of Protection, he had the Shards ready and would instinctively create a barrier against any danger.

As for light, he was also offered fragments that were released into the air.

[1.58% - 1.54%]

Darkness enveloped the room, which opened into a large hall with other rooms. As soon as he entered, the boy smelt blood, heard heavy, rapid breathing, and saw strange fragments all around him.

Ashe moved around it as he took out his sword.

The hall had large pillars that reached up to the ceiling. This place undoubtedly looked like a land dedicated to a god, which hadn't met with a very good fate.

Following the trail of blood, Ashe found its owner. 'Those must be temple guards,' he guessed and observed the Binder, whose Mark was no longer active. 'I can't save him.'

He told himself with regret and didn't lose focus. There was no sign of the Seeers yet, but the breathing and fragments were still lively.

Ashe strolled over and came across a pile of corpses. The killed and half-eaten Seeers were lying on top of each other.

Even above that lay a still-living man, whose breathing was uncontrollably rapid.

Blood was pouring from his mouth. His eyes were unfocused, and tears were pouring down his face.

Ashe carefully carried him down. The boy laid the Seeer down, away from the corpses, and asked in his ear.

"What happened? The guild sent me to help you." He whispered softly but clearly.

Sadly, Seeer couldn't even acknowledge his words. It was as if his body had lost its soul.

The boy tried, but he couldn't get a reaction from him. In a few more minutes, he too would turn into a corpse and leave the world of the living like the others.

Ashe took a deep breath. 'His tracks are brand new. Whoever did this should still be here.'

The only help he had in examining the area was the fragments. He did study them and wondered what the prophecy said.

The hall was even more gigantic than it seemed at first. He didn't see more corpses or even an imprint of life.

It was as if whoever had done all this was collecting them and gathering them in one place.

In the centre of the hall stood a statue, a precious structure that had fallen to the ground.

Small rooms were on either side of it. One wooden and the other stone.

Fragments were coming out of the stone room. Ashe heard a voice and felt the presence of a foreign creature.

The room had no doors; the entrance was straightforward, and Ashe went in cautiously.

He saw his target, a three-legged monster wrapped in a sprinkle. This creature looked quite deformed. It stood motionless in front of a bloody body bent at the waist.

The monster was looking at the corpse and seemed to be thinking about what it had done.

Then he felt Ashe's presence, too. The blood-stained face turned toward the boy, and a battle of fire and ice broke out in his eyes.

The monster was moving in his direction with wild intensity, although with a slow movement.

'What a nasty thing,' Ashe thought, not wanting his new and clean clothes to be stained by the abomination he saw.

As the creature approached, it became easier to perceive it, and it seemed to have a mutational tendency.

It seemed to be a cross between two different beasts.

Two distinct colours of blood were dripping down its body. One was green, monster-like, and the other was red like a human.

Ashe examined it carefully, but even the boy's trained senses could detect its thirst for killing.

Fragments were flying around the monster and were more chaotic than anything he had ever seen.

'It is Sinarchs, at least; maybe Mournclasts.'

The difficulty of the mission increased a little, but if he believed in the recommendation and had six binders, the entire process would be much easier.

'Protection and Prophecy are on my side.' He rocked his head.

Ashe couldn't constantly face weak opponents to gain strength. He had to do it for the world; he had to become much stronger for Bugator, Don, Shon, and Avi.

One of them was still alive; he would overcome any fear just for her and make sure that the sacrifices they had made for him wouldn't be in vain.

'But I don't know what kind of creature it is.' Since his knowledge of monsters was quite high, he was a little suspicious of something he had never seen before.

Then his opponent seemed to aim at him and was about to jump at any moment. For this, the creature chose a position that allowed the boy to see its shoulder.

The monster's shoulder was glowing!

It had the Mark on it, a sign that only Binders had, which they received from the gods after making a Covenant.