322 Black Swamp

In this world, dark clouds loomed over the skies and blotted out all the sunlight all year round. If not for the red moon's dreary crimson light, the world would be plunged into perpetual darkness.

One could even say that on this land, day and night are reversed. Night is day, and day is night.

"So, this is what lies on the other side?" Leon quietly murmured to himself.

After arriving, his vigilance was raised to the max and refrained himself from scouting with divine sense.

Some creatures were sensitive divine sense. He could not guarantee that using divine sense would give away his location.

[Spirit Eyes]

His blackish-grey pupils began to glow with a silver light.

Smothering black gas filled his vision while the ground felt wet and soft. He found himself in a black swamp with water levels reaching his knees while countless bones littered the place.

Everything he could see was painted black by the boundless darkness profound energy.

"No signs of demons so far," Leon concluded after sensing no nearby lifeforms. Shortly after, his brows furrowed. 

"There are so many bones belonging to demons, beasts, and even humans are in this place. A big battle must have happened here long ago…"

Leon suddenly paused. 

He picked up a white human skull and rubbed the texture, before continuing his analysis, "…However, a portion of these bones are very fresh. Their age doesn't match the rest of the bones."

At this point, Leon's heart trembled slightly on a certain possibility, but he quickly shook his head out of such thinking.

"No, these skulls greatly resemble humans, but there are also some minor differences. Nothing is conclusive yet. Mom and the others might still be alive."

With that in mind, Leon continued to study the surrounding.

"It's no wonder that adoptive father and the others passed out so quickly after arriving. There is such a high concentration of miasma in this place. Something big must have also happened here recently. Also…"

At this point, Leon slightly lifted his knees and checked each leg. He shook his head when his long pants had transformed into shorts. Wiggling his toes, he found that his leather boots had also disappeared.

In that regard, Leon felt a bit helpless. 

He had prepared quite a few spare sets of clothes for the trip, but he did not prepare extra shoes. It appeared that he would barefooted until he finds something to wear.

"…This black water possesses some level of corrosiveness. It is not enough to threaten me in the short term but soak in it for a few days, and I would also be joining the rest of the bones.

Divine Will rippled out from his body and subtly warded away the surrounding black gas. The black swamp water was also divided, revealing the Tier 4 Teleportation Array below his feet.

This Tier 4 Teleportation Array was different from the one in Lost Isle Alley, but both were absolutely necessary for spatial travel between the two locations. 

If someone tries to jump through a teleportation array without having the other one, the chances of being sent into the void were relatively high.

That being said, both teleportation arrays do not need to be activated simultaneously for spatial travel. One was enough, but the other one must be activated for the return trip.

As Leon studied the array, his eyes flashed with an understanding look. 

"I see, the array is hidden in quite an unassuming location, and the demon core's energy had also been depleted."

From these clues, he was able to determine the reason why the others failed to return with the rest of the group. 

"But… who would build such a profound array in such an obscured location? It's like they don't want anyone to find it."

Leon frowned with a pondering look. 

This was contrary to his belief that the demons were plotting something against them. 

But whatever the case may be, it was at least certain that the one who laid the teleportation arrays was very familiar with both locations. 

However, he did not ponder too deeply. He believed that the answer would come to him eventually. First and foremost, he needed to find his adoptive mother. Everything else comes after.

Leon continued to search for clues within the black swamp. 

Amidst the mountain of bones found in the area, he also found some interesting weapons and equipment under the black water. In fact, they were fascinating!

A bone sword was soon picked up for study.

"These weapons are quite primitive, but bone is quite sharp and strong. These are some good bones, but the runic enchantments are even better!" Leon commented as he studied the Tier 2 runic engravings. 

"Hm?" 

Suddenly, Leon noticed something different from the weapon.

"This bone sword had an artifact spirit, but… it's already dead… The runes on this bone sword are all focused on increasing the weapon's attack power and destructiveness. Could this be a forbidden artifact?" 

The discovery surprised him. 

Forbidden artifacts could not evolve like spirit artifacts, but they had much higher base power than spirit artifacts without their artifact spirits.

There was only one person in the history of the Divine Realm who knew how to create forbidden artifacts. 

Furthermore, the Divine Realm was once swept in a great storm because this person refused to share his knowledge with others, leading to multiple powers hunting him down for his runic knowledge.

Eventually, this great master artificer was forced into a dead end after he dived into the Divine Realm's blackhole. 

Upon closer inspection, Leon shook his head.

Even if that great master artificer survived, he would not craft such a low tier weapon. Some minor details did not match with what he knew of forbidden artifacts. 

Leon felt a faint trace of malevolent aura from the dead artifact spirit.

"No, this bone sword is a bit different from a forbidden artifact, but it's not quite a spirit artifact either." Leon mused while resting his chin on the back of his hand.

"A demonic artifact?" 

The sudden thought occurred to him. Although he had not heard of demonic artifacts, it did not mean that they did not exist. Anything was possible. There were many things in Gaia that the Divine Realm did not have.

"In any case, this is a decent weapon. It would be a waste to not keep it. Perhaps, I can pass it onto one of my subordinates."

With that thought, Leon tossed the bone sword into his Worldspace and began pocketing all the weapons he could find. 

In the end, he looted over 200 items from the black swamp. These weapons all ranged from Tier 1 to Tier 4.

Leon was very satisfied with his findings. Of the 200 items looted, there was six Tier 4 weapons, and of these six Tier 4 weapons, one of them was a bone spear. This bone spear was much stronger than his current black spear.

Suddenly, Leon sighed.

"Haiz, I ended up getting sidetracked. If mom and the others are still alive, they would have already left the black swamp. I need to look elsewhere." Leon frowned.

"Hey Leon, let me out. I want to see the world, as well." Lumi suddenly transmitted her thoughts to Leon from inside the Worldspace.

"Hm? Alright, give me a sec." Leon agreed. 

Shortly after, Lumi appeared from the void and floated beside him.

"Wow, there's so much yin energy in the air." Lumi immediately gasped with a content expression.

"If you are already like this with this little bit of yin energy, then it is hard to imagine what you will be like when you go to Extreme Misty Forest," Leon said wryly.

"Extreme Misty Forest? I've heard of that place, but I've never actually been there. Is there really a lot of yin energy there?" Lumi asked curiously.

"It has yin energy if nothing else," Leon said confidently with a smile. He did not doubt that vengeful spirits many times stronger than Lumi exists within the forest. 

It was unfortunate that he could not venture too deep before he chickened out by the terribly ominous vibes it gave off.

But that is fine. Leon still had a long road ahead of him. There are plenty of chances to explore the forest once he reaches the Transcendent realm.

"Really?"

"Really!"

Lumi had her doubts, but her eyes soon glowed brightly after receiving Leon's affirmation. However, her eyes dampened shortly after.

As if knowing what she was thinking, Leon said, "Don't worry. I will honor my words. Once we rescue the people here, I will release you from the Blood Imprint regardless of the results. You'll be free to go explore Extreme Misty Forest all you want when we return."

"Alright!" Lumi said excitedly before adding, "What are we waiting for then? Let's go save the people!"

Leon shook his head wryly at Lumi's excitement. She was easily convinced like an innocent and sweet little girl. When he recalls the story of how Lumi became a vengeful spirit, he found it quite unfortunate.

Being born beautiful was a disaster when you do not have the strength to protect yourself. Aria would have likely gone through the same experience if they had not met.

"Alright, alright! There's nothing here, so we head north to look." 

Leon shoved the unpleasant thoughts to the back of his head and focused on the journey ahead of them.