The Wraithwood Forest was as eerie and oppressive as the stories had suggested. The fog was thick, and it swirled like a living thing that clung to the trees and ground. It was difficult to see more than a few feet ahead. How weird.

The air was heavy with moisture, and every breath felt damp and cold. My lungs didn’t like that. The trees loomed above, their gnarled branches twisting into unnatural shapes. Beside me, Lilian didn’t seem to like these trees at all.

“If my old forest was heaven, this forest is hell,” she muttered while I moved an extended branch off my face. Sir Carlos led our group, his gaze fixed straight ahead as he firmly instructed everyone to stick close.

“No straying off, guys. No matter what you hear or think you see. The mist plays tricks, and this place is crawling with things that would love to pick us off one by one,” he ordered, making one of the knights shiver.

Lilian huffed in annoyance. “Don’t need to tell me twice. Why does he keep repeating it, young master?” she called for me, but her gaze was glancing around warily. She was talking a lot, her usual bravado absent, replaced by a keen alertness.

Tyrone, a proper knight now, turned to me with a frown. “Did we have to bring a maid with us, young master?” he said, and Lilian snapped her head at him, staring into his eyes. He cleared his throat and turned away from her. “A-anyways… Where are we going, though? The forest is vast. We can’t just wander around aimlessly.”

“Good question,” I gestured ahead with my hand. “The western side. The Forsaken Alchemist is supposed to be there, according to rumors.”

My voice was steady, but the knights mistook it for arrogance as they snapped their heads at me. Sir Carlos shot me a concerned look over his shoulder. “You’re going to meet him? That doesn't sound like a good idea, young master, based on the things I heard.”

“Sorry, Sir Carlos, I’ve come here knowing that,” I nodded. The tension in his voice didn’t go unnoticed, but I had made up my mind. There was no turning back now.

The knight sighed, his hand tightening around the hilt of his sword as we continued our march. I guess he must be feeling like an irritated bodyguard going with the whims of the rich kid he’s looking after. The rest of the knights remained silent, frowns covering their faces, but they didn’t complain. They could only follow.

The mist mystically muffled the sound of our footsteps. The occasional rustle of leaves was the only indication that we weren’t completely alone.

We hadn’t been walking long when an odd, gurgling sound echoed through the fog. The entire group froze, their hands instinctively moving to their weapons. The mist around us seemed to thicken for a moment, closing in as if the forest itself were aware of our intrusion.

“A-alright… What the hell was that?” Rony whispered, his voice barely audible.

Sir Carlos’s grip on his sword tightened. His deep eyes scanned the area. “Stay alert. It could be anything.”

I expanded my Demonic Sphere. Beside me, Lilian’s ears twitched, her demi-human senses picking up something that the rest of us couldn’t. She crouched slightly, ready to pounce. Tyrone, acting like a hero, took her crouching down as a sign of fear.

He stepped in front of her. “You stay behind me,” he ordered in a firm tone as if to shield her from whatever threat lurked in the mist.

Lilian blinked, a look of surprise crossing her face. She let out an awkward smile, looking at me. I could only shrug in response.

My Demonic Sphere picked up the figure behind the mist as I reached for my sword. The familiar weight was comforting in my hand, even as the tension grew.

The gurgling sound grew louder, more distinct, and then, out of the fog, something leaped toward us. It was a humanoid creature, with its grotesque form barely recognizable as it emerged from the shadows. It had a long, slithering tongue that reached down to its chest, disgustingly wet, and its claws were razor-sharp, gleaming even in the dim light.

A Ghoul.

[Level 25]

Sir Carlos was the first to react, his sword cutting through the air with whipping precision and power. It was so fast that even I missed it. The ghoul certainly didn’t have the time to react as it was severed in two, its body collapsing in a heap on the ground.

“Ah… that was… quick?” Knight Eamon said. But the threat was far from over. More shapes began to emerge from the fog—a whole group of ghouls, their eyes glowing with malevolent hunger as they rushed toward us.

“Stay alert! Protect the young master!” Sir Lucas shouted, and the knights sprang into action, their swords glinting as they engaged the oncoming horde.

Lilian moved with a predatory grace, her claws extending as she prepared to fight, but Tyrone stepped in front of her again. “Stay behind me!” he repeated, his voice gruff with determination.

Lilian hesitated for a moment, and from the corner of her eyes, I caught her face. She wore an expression torn between amusement and frustration. She watched as three ghouls surrounded Tyrone, ready to strike, while he clashed against them.

His sword blocked one, cut the arm of another, but the third slammed into him. He spat out blood from the impact. The three ghouls used that moment of weakness to jump him, attacks showering down at his armored body as his sword fell to the side.

“How embarrassing,” Lilian muttered, and her instincts took over. In a blur of motion, she moved behind the ghouls. Her claws swiped through all three of them like a knife through butter, and their bodies fell to the ground in pieces.

“....” Tyrone stood there, stunned, as he tried to process what had just happened. “Huh?”

I couldn’t help but chuckle lightly at the sight and then stepped forward to face a group of ghouls myself. I couldn’t rely too much on the knights when valuable EXP was at stake, especially now that I was going through an EXP restriction.

“The maid’s stronger than she looks, Tyrone,” I called out, lifting my sword as I prepared to unleash a technique I hadn’t used before.

With a deep breath, I focused my energy, letting it flow through me as I imagined the technique. The system flooded the information in my head, and my movements followed a phantom of it.

[True Demon Sword Art, Second Form—Infernal Blossom of the Abyssal Moth].

My sword hummed, and I felt the power surge through it.

I swung my sword downward and sparks of fire bloomed from the edge, spreading out like petals in a storm. The flames sapped at the ghouls, consuming the part of their flesh it touched in an instant. Their hollow screams echoed through the mist as the fire ate away at their bodies, until stopping a few seconds later.

The bodies were charred, and spots of flesh were missing from their body, wherever the petal-like energy had touched.

The technique was powerful, more so than I had anticipated. In mere moments, a big portion of the ghouls had been dealt with, with much of their body parts reduced to cinders. Despite the success, I didn’t feel any stronger—no level-up notification appeared.

The battle didn’t last much longer. In less than a few minutes, the last of the ghouls had been dealt with as Sir Carlos, Sir Lucas, Lilian and I warmed up a little. Now their twisted forms lie motionless on the ground.

“Whew,” The rest of the knights heaved out a collective breath. They looked relieved now that the immediate danger passed.

Tyrone still looked bewildered as he approached Lilian. I observed their exchange, noticing his eyes were wide in disbelief. “Hey, ah. What… what level are you?”

“Oh,” Lilian blinked at him and shrugged, her usual smug grin returning. “Level 40, how about you?”

Sir Carlos and Sir Lucas exchanged shocked glances, their expressions mirroring Tyrone’s surprise. She said the number as if it was no big deal, but it was clear that she was a girl not much older than me. How the hell was she so strong? The other knights were the same. Only I remained unimpressed because I was there when she ascended.

On another note, I was a little sad that I didn’t even level up once. The restriction was killing me, and it might be worse than the lifespan issue in the long run. I sighed.

“Alright, enough chit-chatting,” I clapped my hands, breaking the momentary silence. “Let’s get mo–”

Before I could finish my sentence, I felt a sudden yank on my back, something sticky and strong wrapping around me in an instant. It was so fast that it bypassed my Demonic Sphere.

My eyes widened in shock as I was pulled backward with alarming speed, the fog growing thicker around me as the distance between me and my group increased.

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“What the—?!” I barely had time to react as I was dragged deeper into the forest, my feet leaving the ground as I was hoisted into the air. My group shouted for me, but their voices grew distant.

The world spun around me and I struggled to make sense of what was happening.

I caught a glimpse of something massive, its form barely visible through the fog, as it moved with terrifying speed. I focused my Sphere on it, and the form grew more visible in my head. It was a gigantic spider monster with a skull for a head, its legs long and spindly, and it was running deeper into the forest, dragging me along with it.

Dammit.

[Level 33]

“Argh…!” The sticky web it had used to snare me was wrapped tightly around my body, making it impossible to break free. It was white in color but shimmered with a green aura.

I tried to move, to summon my strength, but the web only tightened, the sticky thing further restricting my movements. My sword had fallen to the ground when I was yanked away, so Sword Arts were out of the question. Summoning the demonic dagger might work, but the awkward angle of my arms made it so that I might accidentally impale myself. Fist Arts was not an option, I couldn’t move them.

I didn’t have much of an option, and my time was running out fast.

The moment this thing would determine the distance from my group was long enough, it’d throw me into its mouth. Or worse, it was taking me to its home, probably occupied by its kids and other family members.

In either case, I was done for.

The 2nd God Art I received… The thought flashed through my mind suddenly, a desperate idea born out of necessity.

I closed my eyes, focusing on the energy within me. The notification flashed before my eyes, the memory of it clear as day.

[True Demon God Art: Eclipse of the Shadow Tyrant.]

[Description: A powerful technique that channels the dark energies of the Demon Realm, allowing the user to manifest the overwhelming presence of a Demon Tyrant. This art envelops an n-meter area (depending on your Qi) around the user in a shroud of impenetrable darkness, obscuring vision and creating an aura of fear that weakens the resolve of all enemies caught within its grasp. The user's physical form merges with the shadows, becoming a terrifying specter that strikes with devastating force.]

I didn’t hesitate. Pouring 50% of my Qi into the technique, I let the darkness explode out of me in a ripple, spreading in all directions and enveloping everything around me. The once vibrant world around me had been consumed by shadows, the fog engulfed by the impenetrable blackness.

The large spider suddenly stopped in its tracks, its huge legs digging into the ground as it was enveloped by darkness. Deprived of the ability to see or perceive what was around it, the spider instinctively recognized the threat. The sudden stop caused my momentum to continue, and I flew toward the creature, still tangled in its web.

But in the shadowy realm, my body merged with the darkness, phasing through the webbing as if it were nothing. My hand found the demonic dagger from my [Soul Storage], and I unsheathed it with a fluid motion, the blade gleaming with a dark light.

Without a second thought, I tapped into the third technique of the Sword Art.

[True Demon Sword Art, Third Form—Chaotic Requiem of the Hellfire Wasp.]

I became a blur of motion, passing through the spider like a phantom. The creature didn’t even have time to react as the dagger cleaved through its massive body, dividing it in two with a sizzle of blade against flesh.

The darkness receded as quickly as it had appeared, my surroundings changing to the eerie forest. The two halves of the spider fell to the ground with a heavy thud, its legs twitching in its final moments before going still.

I landed softly on the forest floor, the demonic dagger’s dark blade gleaming faintly in the mist. I exhaled, feeling the tension slowly drain from my body as I surveyed the aftermath, holding it tight.

[You’ve defeated a Level 33 ‘Mortarachnithorax’.]

[You’ve earned experience points.]

[You’ve leveled up!]

The level-up notification I had been expecting finally appeared, making me feel much giddier than I should have been. I had gained at least something from this encounter.

Tucking the blade back into its sheath, I took a moment to catch my breath. The power of the [Eclipse of the Shadow Tyrant] was insane, far more so than I had anticipated. But it also drained a significant portion of my Qi, leaving me feeling slightly fatigued.

As the fog began to settle once more, I glanced around, sighing. Another day, another unlucky incident for Iskandaar Romani. I was now completely alone, separated from my group by who knows how far, let alone in which direction.

Now that I think about it, Myth Slayer class Active Skill [Void Step] also had a similar ‘phasing through physical plane’ effect. I forgot about it in the heat of the moment…

“Perhaps next time. For now,” I muttered to myself as a wry smile tugged at my lips. Banshees screamed as if they were poor women being eaten by predators, and the fog itself breathed down on my neck like a looming ghost. “Where the hell am I?”

The forest around me felt even more oppressive now, the shadows deeper, the mist thicker. I had no sense of direction and no clear path to follow. The only thing I knew for certain was that I needed to find my way back to the others—and fast.

Finding the alchemist on my own would be hard, if not impossible. And even if I did manage to find him, negotiating would be out of the question without the presence of a 5th Ascension Knight beside me.

“Goddammit.”

****

The mist had returned, enveloping everything and making it extremely difficult to see more than a few feet ahead. I had to depend on my other senses to stay safe.

As I walked, the dead leaves under my boots crunched with a sound that seemed especially loud in the heavy silence of the Wraithwood Forest. Well, silence other than the call of ghosts. The faint glow of will-o-wisps flickered in and out of sight, their pale light casting ghostly shadows that danced on the edges of my vision.

Those things were evil. They tried to lure people toward danger, to lead them astray into the unknown depths of the forest, so I ignored them.

My Demonic Sphere pulsed with energy and alerted me to their presence and the myriad of other threats that lurked just beyond the mist. The cost of maintaining the Sphere was harsh on my Qi reserves, but it was necessary. Without it, I’d be blind to the dangers around me… and in this place, being blind meant being dead.

Even though I tried my best, a small number of monsters still found a way to escape my notice. This place was filled with shifting shadows within shadows, after all. Every so often, a ghoul or specter would appear and test their chances with me, their contorted shapes rushing toward me with an eerie hunger in their gaze.

At one point, a Mist Wraith drifted close, its ethereal form almost invisible in the fog, save for the faint outline of its skeletal face. Thankfully, it was just a baby.

[Level 22]

It reached out with clawed hands, wails echoing in my ears as if to disorient me. A manaless man would have collapsed immediately. I sidestepped, avoiding its grasp and striking out with my demonic dagger. The blade sliced through the air, severing the wraith’s connection to this world, and it dissipated with a mournful cry.

“Rest in peace, you f-” I cursed at the vanished soul for a bit, quite annoyed, before I continued my trek through the forest. My sense of time began to blur.

Minutes felt like hours, and hours felt like days. The unchanging landscape, the ever-present mist, and the constant strain on my Qi wore me down.

My breathing became more strained, and I searched the fog for any indication of an exit or a destination. Anything.

Suddenly, the density of trees began to decrease. I quickened my pace. The mist cleared slightly, unveiling something completely unexpected up ahead. A... garden?

“A garden in the middle of the forest,” I whispered softly, my voice tinged with disbelief, as I entered the open space. This garden was different from anything I had ever seen in the Wraithwoods. Luminous flowers blossomed among the shadows, their petals emitting an ethereal glow. Twisting vines of a rich green color wound around ancient stone statues, their shapes weathered by time but still exuding a majestic elegance.

The air here was different. It was less oppressive and the eerie screeches of the forest were replaced by a soft, almost melodic hum.

“Insane stuff,” I muttered, shaking my head in bewilderment.

The garden was surely magical. It was a pocket of life and beauty in a place that seemed to be the very embodiment of death and decay, filled with ghosts, spirits, and wraiths. Someone had to be managing this, someone far from normal.

As I ventured deeper into the garden, I found myself looking at a small, rusty hut located at its center. This structure looked ancient, with walls made of weathered wood and a thatched roof that seemed to have weathered many years. Its appearance was modest and humble, but it was clear that it held more than met the eye.

I was nervous about what could be inside.

I stared at the hut for a long moment, my thoughts racing.

This had to be the place. The Forsaken Alchemist’s abode. Who else would be living in this forest? It’s either him or some ghost with intelligence so high that it could act as a gardener. I was at my destination, finally.

But now that I was here, doubt began to creep in.

Should I really knock on that door? I was alone, so I didn’t have the negotiation power that I’d have had if I had Sir Carlos with me. Should I wait for my knights to find me? Things would certainly be easier if he was here.

But… who knew how long that would take? Hours? Days? It’d be dumb to wait. I couldn’t go back to the mist to search for them either, the mist made it impossible to backtrack. The forest behind me was a deadly maze of fog and monsters, there was no guarantee I’d be able to find this place again if I left, and I was running low on Qi.

It’d be suicide to walk back to the mists.

I had no other choice.

With a resigned sigh, I walked toward the door, and my steps felt heavy. I stood silently before the door for a moment, my heart pounding in my chest. Then, summoning my resolve, I knocked.

The noise was muffled by the old wood, nearly engulfed by the mist around it. I paused, but there was no reply. I tapped on the door again, with more force this time, and after a few anxious moments, I heard the sound of shuffling footsteps from inside.

“Coming, coming,” an annoyed voice called from inside. “Who’s looking for me in the middle of the night?!”

The door creaked open soon, revealing a man who looked more like a vagabond than the famed alchemist I was expecting.

He was shorter than me and had an unkempt beard that outlined his thin face. Dark circles under his eyes indicated he had trouble sleeping. His clothing was worn out, and he exuded a somewhat wild presence.

For a moment, I wondered if this was some ghost instead. His head did look a bit too tall for a human’s.

The man’s eyes flicked over me, merely curious at first, but then he paused. His gaze locked onto something just above my head. It was similar to when I looked at people’s Levels. His eyes widened, and then his expression twisted into one of mirthful amusement as he burst out laughing.

“What the hell,” he yelled out with a laugh, doubling over as if he’d just heard the funniest joke in the world. “What did you do to your lifespan, brat? Those are some funny numbers!”

Ah.

So it really is him. That confirmed it. This was the man I’d been looking for. The Forsaken Alchemist, the one who might hold the key to saving my life. From his reaction, the ‘might’ was already proven true.

“Are you done laughing?” I asked dryly as I waited for him to compose himself.

The alchemist wiped a tear from his eye, still chuckling as he straightened up. “No, I am not,” he laughed for a minute more and only then stopped. “Yeah, yeah, now I’m done. Come in, brat,” he said, waving a hand dismissively as he stepped back to let me enter. “I am curious about who the hell you are.”