Stark was alone, and the chamber of the ‘Shadow Monument’ was currently falling apart.
He needed to find a way out before it was too late.
He took the items from Judicator’s ash body, minimized all the panels (but made sure not to close them as he would read them later), then began running and jumping over collapsing debris, while also avoiding the ceiling that was falling on him.
He looked up as a major part of the ceiling was now gone, and he hoped that there could be a way to get out from there since he had technically entered the monument at the top of the mountain.
And yet…
It was pitch black, there was no crimson sky, no clouds, nothing.
Nothing… except for those three giant crimson moons with eyes on them, and they were all staring down at Stark, almost mocking him.
Seeing them blink was disgusting, and Stark couldn’t help but shiver at the thought of these things being alive.
[Do not be disgusted by us, puny human!]
[Hah~ he beat the boss and now thinks he is hot shit?]
The moons spoke, they were much closer to him than before, almost as if they were… GETTING CLOSER?
After a few seconds (which kept increasing the amount of damage around the chamber), the ceiling was completely destroyed, and the moons were now so close that Stark could perfectly see their eyes and pupils, he was like an insect in comparison.
…
[Name: The Crimson Moons Trio (Immortal-Level Monsters)]
[Level: ???]
[HP: ???]
[Strength: ???]
[Stamina: ???]
[Speed: ???]
[Defense: ???]
[Skills: ???]
…
Immortal-Level monsters were the 8th category of monsters in this world, even above calamity.
There was not a single chance Stark could win if he fought them.
[Haha~ look at him, so scared!] Stark could hear their voices in his head
[Makes me want to crush him!]
[Don’t do that… it’s not our time yet!]
They were talking with one another, ignoring Stark who was just standing there, taking in the view of those monsters: he realized that there were truly some things beyond comprehension in this world, and these moons were one of them.
“How do I leave?” Stark shouted at the moons, and the three of them turned their eyes toward him.
[Look at this kid, really getting confident, huh~]
[What’s the point of telling if he can’t hear us!]
[Yeah, humans can’t listen to our holy voices, so just sit and die!]
“Stop talking and tell me already!” he repeated, “Plus your voices are anything but holy!”
And suddenly, the moment he responded to them, all three moons stopped what they were doing and slowly turned their pupils toward Stark.
[…]
[…]
[…]
Even though it was their only feature, Stark could see that they were surprised.
‘Fucking hell…’ Stark realized that they wouldn’t help after a few seconds, and so he looked around again.
The floor of the monument was beginning to crumble too, and just as expected, below was also a black void: it was certain death if he fell.
Thankfully enough, he noticed that on top of the display the fallen angel’s statue had been on appeared a portal.
‘Phew…’ he began running toward it, avoiding the debris and the destroyed floor.
[You… can hear us…]
[Ohoh~ interesting… I think ‘Godless’ will be interested]
[Hm~ what’s the point of telling if he is gonna die anyway?]
And so before they could even finish their sentences or say anything else, Stark jumped into the portal to get out of this place.
He didn’t know what the hell had just happened, but it was weird.
***
As Stark emerged from the portal, he came out of the silver fog and found himself at the top of the mountain again.
And as soon as he did that…
~CRUMBLE~
The giant monument that was taking up the majority of the flat mountain top suddenly fell appart, and the silver fog also dissipated.
“Ah shit…” Stark sighed, he had been this close to dying again.
He looked around, but there was nobody, his brother and the ‘Wyvern Wrath’ group had seemingly already left since they weren’t interested in a rift with no rewards anymore.
Honestly, he had expected many classifiers to ambush and steal his items away as soon as he left (which he would have never given because they were in his inventory void), but it seemed like he was wrong.
As Stark began to make his way down the mountain, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he was being watched.
He looked up to the sky, and the crimson moons were still there, looking at him, amused expressions on their faces.
[The exit portals are located at the start of the rift and at the death canyon, please head there to leave!]
Such a panel appeared to inform Stark, and he nodded, descending the stairs of the mountain very slowly: winning didn’t mean he wasn’t injured, and he planned to buy many [Max Health Potions] when he got back.
Even when he walked in the plains, heading toward the canyon, Stark couldn’t shake the feeling that he was being hunted by those three crimson moons.
He knew that he had beaten the boss and claimed victory, but he couldn’t for a moment believe that he was out of danger.
These things were… terrifying.
But Stark didn’t even bother looking too much into it as they couldn’t do much if they were so high in the sky, otherwise they would have already killed them all, right?
Soon enough, he reached the death canyon, and he noticed that there weren’t that many people remaining as the majority left.
Those that remained were fighting monsters.
After he defeated the boss, a path to pass the canyon had appeared, meaning that anybody could keep going now.
But once he did pass the small bridge that had formed… all eyes fell on him.
All the classifiers stopped what they were doing once they saw him, their faces showing all kinds of emotions.
“…” Stark didn’t mind, and he immediately spotted the exit portal.
“W-WAIT!” Stark heard a voice behind him, and once he turned around, he saw that it was Lana, the blonde-haired archer.
“What’s up, Lana?” Stark asked, raising an eyebrow, he was so nonchalant about it that it almost looked like he hadn’t just killed the rift boss by himself.
Many people were skeptical of Stark, Lana included, they had seen him come back to life, who could guarantee he couldn’t do that over and over?
Lana took a deep breath and approached him, looking nervous, “I-I just waited for you since… huh… y-you need a ride back home, right?”
“Oh…” Stark nodded, he felt thankful to her, and out of pure habit, he patted her head, “Thanks!”
“…” Lana’s face flushed as she felt Stark’s hand on her hair, but she couldn’t say she didn’t enjoy that feeling, “L-Let’s go!”
“Yeah!” Stark replied, already starting to walk towards the portal.
No one dared to approach Stark, some were hesitant since it was obvious that his level didn’t indicate how strong he truly was, and others because Lana Moonless was with him, and they feared her father, the Archer King.
In the end, it didn’t matter since Stark successfully left the Secret Rift alive.
[Congratulations, Stark Heartsouls, you have completed the Secret Rift ‘Shadow Valley’!]
