"It must be Easton's gang members." Nicolaus broke the silence and said in a solemn tone.
"The Slum Lord? I thought your family maintains some mutual relation with that guy." Abium also recalled the name and furrowed.
"You knew him? Easton took care of the slum's security for the past two decades and even eliminated two famous cult members. So, we don't care about these small matters." Nicolaus paused for a moment as he felt a glare from Huggin and shrugged his shoulder.
'Easton, huh. He let the enemy into the town and caused the whole town to be massacred by those monsters. He is a greedy man and has a weakness for women and treasures.' Muttering inwardly, he walked into another alley and moved deep into the slum area.
Although a few hoodlums blocked their path from time to time, Prince Huggin took care of them singlehandedly.
After a few minutes of walking, the group finally arrived at a large two-storied building entrance.
The building was much bigger than the regular ones and was guarded by a few ruffians outside.
'This is his house.' Abium's eyes flickered as he gazed at the two-storied building and muttered.
"This is it."
"You even know his house? Who are you really?" Prince Raollet looked at him up and down suspiciously and asked.
On the other hand, Abium smiled mysteriously and looked at the few young men who stood at the entrance.
The ruffians wore tattered clothes, carried rusty knives in their hands, and appeared to be in the middle of chatting.
"Secret!"
Abium spoke and dashed ahead with a spur moment. Simultaneously, he tapped his space ring, took out the 'Sword of Wrath,' and held it in his right hand.
Then, he sent a minute amount of mana and covered the sword with a basic sword aura.
Although the thugs noticed his arrival and grabbed their weapons quickly, he had already arrived near them and moved his sword.
Whenever he made a slash, a human head flew up and rolled down on the ground.
Some screamed and tried to escape, but all of their attempts went futile.
Before Huggin and others could join the fight, Abium killed everyone at the entrance and painted the building's entrance in blood.
He then sheathed his sword, stored it in his space ring, and walked towards the wooden door without minding others' shocked gaze.
Once he arrived near it, he raised his hands, placed them on the door, and pushed it forcefully.
The next instant, the wooden door opened with a creaking noise and revealed a grand hall to everyone.
Multiple candles and magic lamps were lit around the hall's corners and illuminated the interior.
Abium calmly looked around and soon zeroed his gaze at the center where a large bed was laid.
He soon saw two naked figures lying on the bed and frowned.
One was a well-built muscular man, while the other was a woman with silvery hair. Her mouth was covered in a white cloth, her hands and legs were tied, and many small wounds appeared on her olive skin. She had sky-blue eyes, silvery ears and tails, a duchess nose, and barely visible eyebrows.
At that moment, Umi also identified her and started to cry.
Simultaneously, she removed her hand from Huggin's grip and tried to run towards the silver-haired woman, but Raollet stopped her.
"Mama! Mama!"
Due to her loud cry, the muscular man woke up from a deep sleep and sat up with a tensed face.
He instantly glanced around and soon looked at the entrance.
"Who are you? How did you get in?" He asked while grabbing the sword from the nearby table and moving out of bed.
Meanwhile, Abium didn't mind his shout and focused his attention on the naked Beastwoman. He first activated the [Spiritual Scan], analyzed her body, and checked her body status.
He also noticed that she had already lost consciousness and furrowed.
Her face seemed swollen, and multiple scratches and wounds appeared over her naked body.
'She is unconscious due to the intense sex. Anyway, she isn't dead yet.' He retracted his gaze and shifted his attention towards the Slum Lord.
"I'll take care of him."
Crown prince Huggin took a step forward, sprinted towards him at an unimaginable speed, and thrust his sword at his chest.
"ARRRRGGHHHH!" A painful scream resounded inside the bright hall the next second.
In a blink, Huggin's sword pierced through his heart area and appeared on the other side!
He tried to back away but soon fell with a loud thud, painting the floor in blood.
At that moment, Umi rushed toward the bed and shook her mother's body to wake her up.
"Mama, Wake up!" She shouted, but no response came.
Meanwhile, Abium also arrived near the Beastwoman, examined her body condition, and sighed.
He then grabbed Umi's hand, gave her to Huggin, and took out a wooden barrel from his spatial ring.
"Don't worry, kid. Your mother is just sleeping."
Saying so, he opened the top, lifted the barrel with both hands, and started pouring the water on her body.
Once he bathed her body with water, he took a cotton towel from his ring and wiped the water droplets from her head to toe.
"Don't you feel uncomfortable wiping a naked woman's body?" Huggin stared at his action in surprise and asked.
The same thought ran through Nicolaus's head, but he wasn't in any good mood to ask a question.
On the other hand, Raollet didn't feel anything abnormal and quietly focused his gaze on the surroundings.
Meanwhile, Abium chuckled and shook his head.
"I've done this type of job when I raided many slave organizations' hideouts. As long as you focus on your job, you won't feel uncomfortable." As he spoke, he stored the towel back in his spatial ring and took out his linen shirt, pants, and leather shoes.
Then, he dressed her up and even put on the leather shoes.
After that, he glanced at the Crown Prince and asked.
"Give me another healing potion, Your Highness."
"Those are expensive items." Crown Prince grumbled slowly but gave up.
He then took a bluish vial from his spatial ring, moved closer to Umi's mother, opened her mouth, and poured the potion into her mouth.
As Abium massaged his neck region to help her swallow the potion, he soon saw the bruises and wounds on her body healing quickly.
Alas, she hadn't woken up yet.
Abium quickly inspected her eyes, then checked her pulse, and spoke.
"She needs some time to recuperate."
After that, he retracted his gaze and shifted his attention toward the right side warehouse.
Simultaneously, he picked up Umi's mother on his shoulder and walked towards the warehouse while others followed after him.
"H-How did you know of this hidden exit? Even mom and sister knew nothing about this passage, though." Nicolaus looked confused as he arrived near the warehouse's entrance and asked.
"Don't be shocked, Nicolaus. Even Prince Raollet knew of this route." Abium spoke calmly.
Meanwhile, Raollet also got startled a little and nodded in approval.
"Your father told me about this secret passage a year ago. But even I don't know its exact location until now."
"But how did he know?" Nicolaus asked in disbelief as he stared at Abium's back, but Raollet shrugged his shoulder.
"Even I'm so clueless about his origin." In truth, Raollet had been keeping an eye on Abium since the very beginning. Unfortunately, he felt that the person in front of him was shrouded in mysteries.
While others were in deep thoughts, Abium arrived near the wooden door, took out his sword, and slashed at it.
The next instant, the door was cut open and revealed a dark room.
It's a small room used for stockpiling rations and weapons. Although rusty weapons were the only thing that occupied the darkroom, a particular appeared to be in good condition.
Abium even saw a lone wooden oak table and a shelf at the other end of the room and moved closer.
After arriving near the table, he shifted his gaze towards Nicolaus and spoke solemnly.
"It's time to do your duty, Nicolaus."
"Do I have an option to refuse?"
Nicolaus grunted, moved the oak table towards the left side, and then moved the rusty weapons like swords, shields, spears, and daggers to the corner.
After that, he arrived near the shelf, picked up a tiny iron knife placed on the shelf, and made a small cut on his forefinger.
A scarlet drop of blood appeared from his finger.
Slowly, Nicolaus raised his hand, let that blood drop onto the concrete floor, and recited a unique chant.
"The troops destroyed an iron fort built by Druids and Elves
and cleared bushes bearing flowers
fragrant from afar, and other green scrubs,
in the thicket enclosed by forest streams.
In its place, they constructed a war camp,
one as large as the sea of water, and
surrounded it with thorns and metal spikes for protection..."
...
Blood dripped from his forefinger and fell on the floor whenever he recited a verse.
...
"...In a tent with poles and ropes, warriors planted
lances, their blades decorated with flowery
art, and hung rows of shields on them. The curved
bows became a fence that provided protection."
...
As he ended the strange, mysterious chant, the seventh drop of blood fell from his forefinger, splashed onto the floor, and created a magic circle under his feet.
Then, an invisible ripple came from the magic circle, spread in all directions, and caused the whole room to shake violently.
The ground began to tremble, and the shelf began to split open.
A moment later, a staircase that led to an underground passage appeared before everyone's eyes.
Meanwhile, the Crown Prince took out a fire torch from his spatial ring, lit it using a matchstick, and marched forward.
On the other hand, Abium and others closely followed after him, entered the staircase, and went deep into the underground passage.
Once everyone walked in, the shelf made a creaking noise and closed slowly from behind.
As Abium walked into the deep passage, he thought of his next destination and turned solemn.
'The Mysterious Maze...'
He had to explore the Mysterious Maze, enter the Pocket Dimension stealthily through the strange portal and then stay there for the next five months.
'I heard that many artifacts, legendary potions, and even precious materials are in that pocket dimension.' But Abium also knew that getting those materials wasn't an easy job, even for the high-ranked explorers.
At the request of Nicolaus, a few explorers entered the Mysterious Maze in the past and found out it was connected to a mysterious Pocket Dimension of some Ancient Mage.
The explorers entered the Pocket Dimension, went through many trials and challenges, and got many treasures as rewards.
No one knew what the Explorers did inside the Pocket Dimension, but everyone became legendary figures after some years.
Just when the others thought of trying their luck out, the Mysterious Maze and the entrance gate for the Pocket Dimension disappeared without even a trace!
Later, one of the explorers only revealed some crucial information about that pocket dimension and how to enter it.
'He said that we have to collect thirteen mysterious red stones from the Maze and then enter the alter room to start the ritual process. After that, we have to place the gems on a black pillar and wait for the portal to open. If my memories weren't wrong, he also said something about the missions in that book.' That explorer didn't mention anything about missions in detail, but he stated that all those missions were challenging that caused three deaths in their team.
While he was in muse, a drop of water fell from the underground ceiling, splashed on his forehead, and woke him up from his deep thoughts.
Shaking his head, Abium glanced at the rough walls and moved his gaze towards the faraway light.
The route appeared as a cave-like structure and a narrow path.
Although the path appeared muddy and even rocky sometimes, it didn't take them long to reach the end of the passage.
As they finally arrived at the underground exit, they saw sunlight and widened their eyes.
Northern breeze directly arose from the opposite side and gave them fresh air.
The Long Night had finally ended!