Cosmic Peak

"Why did you do that, Lady Dee? Couldn't you just proceed normally with your test with him like others?" Tarrox said with a sigh.

Lady Dee smiled and waved her index finger left and right, "Tch, tch...How could I do that after seeing his memories?"

Tarrox looked at fainted Aren and shook his head, "he is suspicious of me. He might be thinking that I deliberately didn't save his companions, and that's why he still hasn't used the bloodline orb I gave him."

"Yep," Lady Dee nodded.

"However, I believe that he will eventually use the bloodline orb. The power he can get from it will not be small, and he will need it to achieve his goals," Tarrox said.

After saying that, Tarrox bowed towards Lady Dee and spoke, "I hope you can erase his memories of the truth. I want him to continue thinking that his companions are dead, and he needs to survive and win against the despair to bring them back.

"Naturally, when everyone is forced out of Wild Expanse after three years to face despair, they will reunite. However, until that moment arrives, he should progress alone."

"did Lord say anything to you after you interfered like this?" Lady Dee asked as she squinted her eyes.

"Err..yeah," Tarrox nodded with a wry smile.

"Then I guess I shouldn't waste the price you paid," Lady Dee said with a smile, "I'll remove his memories about the truth."

"Thank you very much," Tarrox said with a solemn expression and bowed before asking, "what are you planning to do with him? Put him in the test again?"

"No need. I'll just regrow his limbs and then send him on a journey. That priest of Northen Ward Demonic Temple sent him here for that," Lady Dee said with a faint smile.

"Journey?" Tarrox narrowed his eyes, "are you going to send him to the Underworld?"

"Yep. That priest decided that based on this young man's result in a demonic trial. He will progress faster there," Lady Dee said.

"Sigh...I can't stop you, I guess," Tarrox said with a sigh, "Since he is going there, I hope he uses the Bloodline Orb soon to increase his chance of survival there."

Lady Dee chuckled and spoke, "It's up to him."

Tarrox nodded with a weak smile before bid farewell to Lady Dee and left.

"Now, let's get you fixed while you are sleeping," Lady Dee said with a grin as she looked at Aren.

...

Aren woke up after an unknown time and found himself under an unfamiliar roof.

'My hand and leg!' Aren was surprised as he could feel his missing leg and hand again.

He stood up and moved his limbs to check them, "perfect!"

He then looked into the inventory and saw that the missing leg and hand he had saved were still there, "so the Witch Doctor literally regrew my limbs?"

'Oh, I have to re-attach the Mobile Armored Suit,' Aren thought as he entered inside the Emporio Zone and started fixing the Mobile Armored Suit.

As for his cut-off leg and hand, he burned them with the <Demonic Flame: Zarkhel>.

Seeing them melting like ice, Aren muttered, "this flame is really interesting. Since I got demonic affinity, I might be able to level it up."

The limbs were frozen externally, but internally, they burned and disappeared shortly after.

He then started fixing his gear, and after ten minutes, he was done as he came out of the Emporio Zone.

"Young man, it is not wise to leave yourself vulnerable like that."

Aren saw Lady Dee standing in front of him as he came out of the Emporio Zone.

"Well, this is the safest place for me right now, so it's fine," Aren said with a small smile. The lady in front of him was clearly more powerful than a legendary being because he couldn't see her status. He was in her residence and was healed by her, so he was really in the safest place right now.

"What is the last thing you remember?" Lady Dee asked with a smile.

"After arriving here, you said I will have to defeat five monsters one by one, and if I do that, you will recover my limbs. I remember fainting after defeating the 5th monster due to exhaustion," Aren spoke with a wry smile.

Lady Dee nodded with a smile. However, no such things that Aren described happened. She had just put such memories into him.

The chains of events in Aren's head went like this.

A legendary giant fish ate him, and after losing consciousness inside that fish's mouth, he arrived at this strange place and met this unfathomable person called Lady Dee, the Witch Doctor that he was supposed to meet.

She told him to complete the challenge of defeating five monsters, which he did, and after fainting again due to exhaustion after defeating the 5th monster, he woke just now with a pleasant surprise as his limbs had recovered.

"Since you are fine now, then off you go on your new journey," said Lady Dee with a smile as she tapped the staff on the ground twice.

Aren was surprised to hear that. However, the ground beneath his feet suddenly disappeared right after that, and he fell.

Lady Dee walked a few steps forward and peeked into the boundless dark hole in which Aren fell, "All the best, young man."

Aren was dumbfounded as he looked around and down only to see total darkness.

The only thing he was sure that he was falling amidst this darkness.

He stayed silent and waited as he didn't believe he would fall to death like this. He had worn his Mobile Armor Suit, but he couldn't stop this strange fall by manipulating his gear. He was just falling down at the same constant speed.

A minute passed...two minutes passed...three minutes passed...

After falling for ten minutes, Aren finally saw the light and ground beneath him and sighed a relief, "finally."

The scenery beneath him that was nearing every second was in a round frame, and seeing that, Aren guessed that he was falling down in a pipe.

"How strange...," Aren muttered as his falling speed slowed down before he got out of the strange pipe and his feet finally touched the ground.

Looking around him, he saw that he was in a cave, and the exit of this cave seemed to be just a hundred meters in front of him.

[Welcome to the Underworld]