Gapar cautiously peeked out from a dark alley.
Colorful banners fluttered throughout the entire city. Giant portraits of him were plastered everywhere—even projected into the sky with magic, floating around like enormous balloon heads.
It felt like some kind of "public exposure era." All kinds of portraits of him covered the streets and alleys—even this damp, shady corner where thugs looked like they could appear at any moment.
What was this supposed to be? Warding off evil with his face? Treating him like a door god?!
This spectacle was even more outrageous than what happened with Darrick back then.
After quietly asking around, he finally learned what had happened—
The recording of his battle with Conrad had somehow spread everywhere.
He hadn't even returned to Bedford City yet, and the footage had already circulated throughout the entire kingdom.
While he was drunk in a tavern, people were watching his battle.
While he was sleeping in an inn, people were cheering as he beat Conrad senseless.
And now, thanks to a joint proposal from the Adventurers' Guild and the Bedford family, the whole city had turned into this absurd state.
They might as well rename it Gapar City, he grumbled inwardly.
Eventually, he managed to get hold of a recording stone and watched the entire battle from beginning to end. In the end, even he had to admit:
"They really made me look cool."
Conrad had set up dozens—maybe even hundreds—of camera angles to flawlessly capture his own victory from every perspective.
Instead, it all ended up benefiting Gapar.
Now everyone could watch Conrad getting beaten from multiple angles and cheer for it.
The footage was incredibly impactful. Conrad unleashed countless techniques, and Gapar countered every single one of them. The way he adapted to every move—especially his comeback against the legendary magic at the very end—
Thops' Barrier reappearing in the world.
Sunlight tearing through the endless night.
The rift illuminated once more.
The Sword Saint bringing down evil with his club.
Not only did Gapar look incredible in the footage—
The audience felt exhilarated too.
And on top of that, Conrad wasn't some nobody. He was a demon who had slaughtered Sword Saints years ago, a descendant of the Demon King who sought to unify the continent, and a being tainted by the bloodline of an evil god.
Gapar's revenge, combined with the righteous act of slaying a demon, elevated the footage into something far greater.
The royal family would probably use it as propaganda for years—and might even invite him on a nationwide speaking tour.
Gapar stared blankly at the repeated highlight clips playing outside and fell into deep thought.
Normally, he would have rushed out to bask in this kind of spotlight.
But the current level of attention far exceeded anything he had expected.
Honestly… he was a little scared.
As he had grown older, he had also grown less interested in showing himself off in front of strangers. His recent flashy moments in the city had mostly been around familiar faces like Leon.
"…Maybe I should just head back to the mountains."
At least until the hype died down.
Otherwise, he could already imagine crowds gathering outside his house every single day, cheering nonstop.
Once he made up his mind, he acted immediately.
After casually meeting with a few acquaintances, he quietly slipped out of the city.
In truth, he had already planned to leave. He still needed to visit his master's grave and the graves of his fellow disciples. The descendants of the Four Sword Saints would likely come to thank him as well, not to mention the countless social obligations waiting for him.
The next month or two would probably be extremely busy. Exploring dungeons was completely out of the question.
So before leaving, he made one final trip through the Sein Dungeon—a simple walk-through, revisiting each area before departing.
It was more for sentimentality than anything else.
After spending so much time there, he had grown somewhat attached to it. Saying goodbye to the dungeon felt like parting ways with an old friend.
Would he come back again?
Maybe.
A mischievous thought suddenly crossed his mind.
"Next time, I should bring Yufi—my daughter—here to experience it."
"I'd be more than happy to welcome her."
Inside the Lord's Room, Wade spread his arms in a welcoming gesture.
A world map lay before him. The green representing the influence of the Sein Dungeon glowed brightly across Bedford City and the surrounding regions, continuing to expand outward—completely swallowing Spring City in the process. The Springday Dungeon was probably crying by now.
Beyond that, scattered patches of green dotted the map like splashes of paint. Across the Kingdom of Yanor, large and small green zones had begun appearing everywhere. Sein's influence was steadily blooming across the land.
Even neighboring countries showed faint traces of green if one looked closely enough.
Influence had to be widely recognized before it could truly "count" as color, meaning every patch on the map had been hard-earned.
Most dungeons possessed deep influence only within their own regions, with that influence gradually fading the farther away one traveled—until eventually reaching the level of a dungeon like Sein, whose influence spread across entire nations.
The current world map was a chaotic blend of enormous color blocks and countless smaller scattered dots.
The opening of Lake Liurnia and Thops' growing fame had already brought significant attention to Sein.
Now, Gapar had pushed its reputation even further.
After all, nearly everything Gapar used during that battle had originated from the Sein Dungeon.
In other words—without Sein, he might never have returned alive.
And since he had defeated a top-tier demon, the footage would inevitably be used as propaganda against demonkind as well.
Morale across the continent would soar.
Meanwhile, hidden monsters lurking throughout various kingdoms would tremble in fear.
And the greatest highlight of all—
The silver shield using Thops' Barrier to nullify legendary magic made people realize just how terrifying its true value was.
Previously, many people believed the shield was only useful inside the dungeon—or merely a gimmick for dealing with the Lunar Queen boss fight.
Gapar had proven otherwise.
Even outside the dungeon, Thops' Barrier was monstrously powerful.
A massive wave of public discussion erupted almost instantly.
Legendary magic—the strongest form of magic known to the world—could actually be countered by something originating from the Sein Dungeon.
It sounded unbelievable.
Some extreme mages even began loudly claiming that "magic is useless."
But most people remained rational.
They pointed out that the drop rate of the "waste stone" fragments was absurdly low, and assembling the shield itself was even more difficult. Since Gapar, no one else had managed to succeed.
Even then, according to Stella, the barrier only reacted to legendary magic. Against ordinary spells, the silver shield was just… a shield.
So the final conclusion was simple:
Most mages could continue living normally.
Only the tiny number capable of using legendary magic actually needed to worry.
After all—how many people in the world could even cast such magic? Ten?
Still—
From now on, whenever facing an opponent, people would inevitably wonder:
What if they suddenly pull out a Thops' Barrier?
It was an absurdly bizarre mechanic.
As a result, more and more people began focusing their attention on the Sein Dungeon—the dungeon that had been making waves over the past few months.
Including many high-ranking figures.
Every time Wade thought about it, he felt a little excited.
But after considering it carefully—
No matter who was watching, his work remained the same.
"Overthinking is pointless. I just need to keep doing my job."
He opened his notebook and began drafting a new plan.
"Gotta release some benefits while the hype is high… then slowly scale them back once the newcomers settle in."
Just as he began writing—
A letter floated down from the altar behind him.
An invitation.
From the Unicorn Dungeon.
(***)
Western Continent — Demon Capital
Near the Great Demon Tree, inside a temple—
A priestess named Onora, whose pale skin contrasted sharply with that of ordinary demons, gently stroked the rough surface of the massive tree.
Golden ornaments concealed her eyes, adding to the mysterious aura surrounding her.
Only she—and one other presence—remained inside the temple.
A faint wisp of black mist.
Conrad.
"That damn Gapar… I nearly died because of him," Conrad growled bitterly. Then, with visible gratitude, he added, "Thank you, Lady Onora. The phylactery you made saved my life."
Onora said nothing.
She simply turned her delicate face toward him.
For some reason—
Conrad suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.
No… she wouldn't hurt me… right?
The instant that thought surfaced—
He froze.
Onora's aura suddenly became terrifying.
No… she really intends to kill me!
"Wait—why did you save me only to—"
His voice abruptly stopped.
Onora's lips moved slightly.
And in the next instant, she completely devoured his consciousness.
Only after swallowing the final trace of him did she finally speak:
"Because when you die, your memories return to the Great Demon Tree. I don't want others learning that I once supported someone as useless as you."
That was why she had created the phylactery in the first place—
So that after his failure, she could erase him immediately and destroy his memories before they returned to the Great Demon Tree.
As a priestess, she could not allow herself such humiliation.
She gently stroked the tree once more, erasing the final traces of Conrad's existence.
"As expected… the Demon King's bloodline is still nothing more than a vulgar mortal experiment. This tedious trial should come to an end."
A faint smile curved her lips.
"The one we should truly follow… is that existence."
Her smile deepened further.
"It's time to send our kin… to seek a darkness deeper than the Demon King."