*Chapter 52: The Inheritance!

Lust, outskirts.

A group of people wearing crimson cloaks stood in a special formation.

Low, continuous chanting echoed.

Cold, withering.

An invisible force spread out.

In an instant, the June sky turned into a cold winter.

Standing to the side, a person wearing the same hooded cloak let out a low laugh.

"Come on! Come on!"

"A bunch of self-righteous fools!"

The laugh was filled with disdain, and as the person slightly raised their head, a pair of blood-red eyes emitted a faint glow in the night.

...

A few minutes later, Kael was dug out of the rubble by Gawain.

"Lord Morey’s Secret Keeper’s Handbook saved me," Kael said, then struggled to get up.

But that was clearly a vain attempt.

Although the Secret Keeper’s Handbook given by Morey had provided some protection, Kael was still severely injured, unable to move at all. Compared to the attacker who had turned into a corpse, Kael was fortunate.

"Can you hand me that head?" Kael requested.

Gawain didn’t refuse and handed the scorched head to Kael.

"Thank you, Gawain."

"G-gen...tleman..."

Holding the head, Kael wanted to say something, but in the end, he couldn’t utter a word. The young man could only choke up when he thought of the innocent Old Henry.

Gawain glanced at Kael but said nothing.

He wasn’t good at comforting others.

Digging Kael out from the rubble was the least he could do.

After his Hand-to-Hand Combat reached the extraordinary level, not only had his attack methods undergone a drastic change, but his Physique attribute had reached 2.8 in its normal state. With nearly three times the physical fitness of an average person, his hearing had become sharp enough to clearly catch Kael’s groans from beneath the rubble.

Gawain turned and walked back towards the "Fog Killer."

The fallen head's eyes were wide open, a look of unwillingness still etched on the face.

Gawain casually fired two more shots.

The "Fog Killer’s" eyes immediately turned into two bloody holes.

Though the enemy seemed as dead as could be, Gawain still believed this was a good habit and needed to be maintained.

Then, he took his grandfather’s ring from the "Fog Killer’s" hand and conveniently picked up the "Executioner."

*Executioner: This is an extremely cruel weapon. Its original user did not use it as a weapon for combat but to punish his slaves. In the end, after cutting off the original user’s head, it was taken away. Effect: The sharp edge offers an attack above the level of a blade, while the serrated edge will cause pain equal to that of a bullet for those cut (just pain, not real damage, but it can shatter the spirit of those injured).*

...

When he picked up the "Executioner," words appeared before his eyes.

But when Gawain picked up his grandfather’s bronze ring, he was stunned.

Because, inside the ring, he found an inscription: "Does it matter to waver between reason and unreason?"

If that was all, Gawain wouldn’t have been so shocked.

What truly stunned him was that this inscription was written in a language he was very familiar with from his homeland.

"What is this?"

As Gawain was lost in thought, a faint light flashed from within the bronze ring. In the next moment, it appeared on the index finger of his left hand.

*Unknown object detected, evaluating...*

*Recognizing key, evaluation passed!*

*Inheritance complete!*

…

Three lines of text flashed before Gawain's eyes, followed by a vision of a pitch-black night sky.

It was even darker and more profound than the night sky over Lust.

Seven stars hung in the sky, arranged in the shape of a "T," shining brightly.

Three of them were dim, lined up at the bottom and connected to a bright white star, a gray one above that, a black one higher still, and a red one at the top.

The three dim stars flickered like candles in the wind, as if they could extinguish at any moment.

The white star radiated an enticing glow, like cream.

The gray star seemed like a mist, drawing one into its depths, making it impossible to discern anything.

The black star resembled an abyss, threatening to swallow anyone who gazed upon it.

The red star was filled with ominous energy, yet it was the one that intrigued Gawain the most. Despite the ill omen that would make anyone else shy away, Gawain couldn't tear his eyes away, as if something within it was calling to him.

It was like seeing food when you're starving.

A primal instinct.

Gawain had to grit his teeth to force himself to look away.

Then, as his gaze fell on the dim stars, words appeared again—

*"Do you want to spend 500 gold crowns to enter the secret realm?"*

…

"Secret realm?!" Gawain was shocked.

While staring at the stars, he had already begun to guess what they represented, but he never imagined that they would signify "secret realms."

Judging by the attitude of the innkeeper at the Pinecone Hotel towards the "secret realm," Gawain could imagine its value.

And that...

Was just one!

Now there were seven!

"The Mad King's heir... The Mad King's inheritance... The Mad King's treasure!" Gawain whispered softly to himself.

Finally, he confirmed—

The Mad King's Treasure!

The bronze ring before him was the Mad King's Treasure.

And the clue about the Mad King's Treasure that the "Fog Killer" mentioned?

Gawain couldn't be sure if his grandfather had deliberately misled the enemy.

Or if the enemy had been the one misleading.

Or perhaps there had been some marvelous misunderstanding between them.

For now, none of this mattered to Gawain. His gaze once again swept over the stars that represented the "secret realms."

Every dim star would prompt the message *"Spend 500 gold crowns"*, but the white, gray, black, and red stars had no such prompt.

"Do I need to complete the 'secret realms' at the bottom before unlocking the ones above?" Gawain speculated based on the "T" formation.

Then he completely withdrew his gaze from the ring.

It wasn't that he didn't want to explore the "secret realm."

But he was broke.

He didn't have 500 gold crowns.

All his assets combined only amounted to 192 gold crowns, 11 silver sols, 30 copper bits, and one half-bit.

He was far from the 500 gold crowns needed.

And besides!

There was the disaster!

Gawain hadn’t forgotten what Morey had said about how each time a "secret realm" was opened, a disaster would follow.

He needed more information about the "secret realm."

He needed to confirm more details before opening it.

And then there was...

The inscription!

Engraved inside the bronze ring, that familiar script from his homeland!

"Could it be that the Mad King was also...?"

Gawain pondered, then his attention was drawn by the sound of hooves in the distance.

A carriage was speeding toward him.

It was Scylla.

The headliner of the Garden Club and the owner of the Hunter's Tavern jumped down from the carriage in front of Gawain, looking disheveled.

"Do you know?"

"You owe me big time!"

"I... xxx! It's that guy!"

Before the woman could finish her sentence, she spotted the corpse of the "Fog Killer" on the ground. Immediately, after a string of exclamations mixed with colorful language, she rushed toward the corpse.

She didn’t search the body; instead, she spat on it.

"Bastard!"

"You bastard!"

"You smartass idiot!"

She continued cursing as she spat on the "Fog Killer's" corpse.

"What happened?" Gawain felt a growing sense of unease.

"This idiot made us think he had successfully fooled the Flesh Church, but in reality, everything here was under their control. These guys are craftier than we thought. They hid in the shadows, letting this idiot attract all our attention, and then secretly set things up... No, it wasn't even secretly. Anyway... go ask them yourself!"

The more this woman tried to explain, the more frustrated she became, a look of panic in her eyes that Gawain had never seen before.

Gawain quickly opened the carriage door. Morey and Mrs. Pons were slumped in their seats.

Both were covered in blood, with Mrs. Pons once again unconscious, and Morey weakly lifted a hand to gesture at Gawain before giving a bitter smile.

"While I was fighting the Pinecone Hotel's bodyguards, the Flesh Church used the corpses to start a ritual."

"A ritual?"

Gawain’s sense of foreboding intensified.

"The Gate of Flesh!"

"It’s..."

Boom!

Before Morey could finish explaining, the entire city of Lust began to shake.

Amidst the trembling earth, a massive gate made entirely of flesh and bones slowly rose from the ground with a heavy, wailing sound, like the howls of the undead. It cast a shadow over the entire city of Lust.

Seeing this, Morey’s face drained of all color.

"We’re finished!"

(End of Chapter)