Lucian left the still-silent Leda behind and continued deeper into the Tower Settlement.
Before long, he spotted Freyja standing beside a well. Without hesitation, she grabbed the ladder and slid straight down.
Lucian walked over and leaned forward to look inside. The well was deeper than expected, if this were the game, it would probably be a fatal fall. From above, he could see murky water pooled at the bottom, faintly giving off a rotten stench.
He called down, "Freyja, anything down there?"
Freyja landed steadily, holding onto the ladder as she glanced around. At first, it seemed like nothing but stagnant water.
No. There were Hornsent.
"…Damn it, this isn't a well. It's a sewer!"
"Huh? Why are there Hornsent down here too?!"
Hearing her shout, Lucian frowned. First one hiding behind that filthy waterfall, now more lurking in the sewers… what were they, rats? Why did they love burrowing into places like this?
The sounds of combat quickly echoed up from below.
After a short while, Freyja's voice rose back up, carried by the hollow acoustics.
"…Yeah, doesn't seem like there's anything here."
Having cleared out the Hornsent in the sewer, she moved toward a section blocked off by iron bars. It was too dark to make out details at first, but as she approached, she noticed something.
There was a door built into the bars. With a keyhole.
Freyja immediately called up, "Wait, there's a gate here. Looks like a door!"
"There's a path ahead!"
She searched the corpses of the Hornsent she had just killed, looking for a key. After a while, she found nothing. And in a place like this, it wasn't likely the key had simply fallen into the sludge.
She stood up again and looked at the door.
'…Right. Why bother with a key?'
'If there's no path, just make one.'
'It's only a barred gate, after all.'
Freyja positioned herself, then slammed her shoulder into it.
Bang!
The lock shattered instantly. The gate was blasted off its hinges and clattered loudly across the sewer floor, the echo ringing through the tunnels.
At that point, Lucian slid down the ladder as well.
The sewer was oppressively dark, so he took out his crystal staff. Standing on the ladder, he conjured a floating glintstone light. As the bright orb rose above his head, it illuminated much of the area.
Looking around, he noted that half the sewer was a dry, brick-laid walkway caked with filth, while the other half carried a slow stream of foul water.
Not great, but at least there was somewhere to step.
Lucian dropped down and looked toward the broken gate. Freyja had already moved ahead, and faint light was visible at the far end of the passage.
Looks like the exit.
He followed after her, though a bad feeling crept into his mind.
If he had to guess, the path ahead would lead to either a cesspit… or a poison swamp.
Not that it mattered whether this was some twisted homage to a certain director's obsession with unpleasant terrain. In the Lands Between, any stagnant water inevitably deteriorated under the influence of Scarlet Rot.
First it became foul and tainted. Then it turned into poison swamps. Eventually, it would evolve into full-blown Scarlet Rot.
Even areas unrelated to Rot weren't exempt. It was as if some lingering law from the era when Scarlet Rot held dominion still persisted, quietly shaping the world.
And in this Tower Settlement, the water flowing down from above had already turned into that disgusting brown cascade. What lay ahead, where it all collected…
He didn't even want to imagine it.
As expected, when Lucian reached the end of the sewer and stood beside Freyja, what greeted them was a vast, sprawling poison swamp.
It stretched out endlessly, almost like a sea of filth.
From what he remembered, the only place that could rival something like this was the Shaded Castle.
Of course, it still couldn't compare to the Lake of Rot.
Still, as Lucian looked across the swamp and saw the remnants of buildings scattered throughout, he fell into thought.
The Hornsent… actually lived in places like this?
He knew their society was deeply stratified, but this? The lowest class literally living in a cesspit?
Freyja, meanwhile, watched the vague shapes moving within the swamp, clearly intrigued.
"This place isn't on the map."
"Which means this area hasn't been explored by Sir Ansbach!"
Lucian glanced at her. As expected of someone who had endured Scarlet Rot before, she didn't seem particularly bothered by the stench or the environment.
Then again, she had fought through the Swamp of Aeonia. Compared to that, this was just unpleasant, not deadly.
For powerful warriors, ordinary poison wasn't much of a threat.
Scarlet Rot, on the other hand… without proper treatment, even demigods could fall to it.
And ecologically speaking, it was catastrophic. A true blight on the land.
Lucian could easily fly over the swamp to explore, but he had no desire to wander around in a place like this just yet.
So he called out to Freyja, who had already stepped into the muck.
"…Let's leave this area for later."
"There's probably nothing worthwhile here. Maybe not even any real enemies."
"Better to stick to the main route and explore the upper parts of the Tower Settlement first."
Freyja thought about it, then nodded. He had a point.
If anything, stronger foes were far more likely to be found deeper within the city.
The two climbed back up the ladder and returned to the settlement above.
Once they emerged, Freyja looked around.
"…Where's Leda?"
Lucian pointed toward the foul pool where the wastewater continued to pour down.
"She got ambushed earlier. Something jumped out of the sewage and splashed her."
"She's… not in the best mood right now."
Freyja casually pulled out a rag and wiped the poison residue off her leg.
"…Yeah. That's rough for her."
"Doesn't look like there's any clean water around here either."
After a while, Leda finally rejoined them.
She had already washed her outer white cloak as best she could. Thanks to the supplies Moore had given earlier, she managed to clean most of it using a bit of soap and some of her drinking water.
Still, the stained areas remained faintly visible, an eyesore she couldn't fully erase.
She approached the two and said calmly, "Let's continue forward."
"According to the map, there should be a Site of Grace ahead."
"Sir Ansbach mentioned that beyond it, he found the location where records were stored, as well as one of Lord Miquella's discarded cross-shaped marks."
"So most of the area beyond that point remains unexplored."
Based on the distribution of Hornsent throughout the city, it seemed Ansbach had taken a stealthy approach. Aside from the earlier scorpions, there hadn't been much bloodshed among them.
Lucian nodded.
That meant there were still plenty of unexplored places within the Tower Settlement.
Maybe even something valuable hidden away.
The three of them set off once more, following the faint glow of Grace.
As they walked the streets, the light grew stronger.
But just as they were about to reach it, they encountered resistance.
This time, the Hornsent weren't scattered or unaware. These ones were clearly prepared.
Several gaunt Hornsent stood on a bridge connecting two buildings, raising their staves. As they cast their spells, spiraling rings of light shot toward the group.
Hornsent sorcerers.
At the same time, the others surged forward, led by the larger warriors wielding massive cleavers.
Leda and Freyja exchanged a glance and nodded.
Leda immediately dashed forward, leaping up toward the bridge. Her blade pierced straight through one of the sorcerers with ease.
Landing lightly, she pulled her sword free and slipped aside to avoid an incoming attack.
Then she struck again—faster, sharper.
Another sorcerer was cut clean in half.
The remaining casters quickly shifted their focus to her, abandoning the fight below.
With the pressure from above removed, Freyja threw herself fully into the frontline.
She let out a roar infused with power, her blood surging, strength flooding her body.
Gripping her blade, she swung forward in a wide arc.
A wave of blazing Flame of the Redmane swept across the battlefield, forming a wall of flame. Even her sword was engulfed in fire.
The Hornsent hesitated, instinctively shrinking back from the heat.
Too late.
Freyja charged through the flames and cleaved one of the towering warriors in two.
The others rushed her, weapons raised, but her greatsword carved through them effortlessly, leaving no room for retaliation.
With Leda returning after eliminating the casters, the already one-sided battle ended swiftly.
Lucian didn't bother stepping in.
Instead, he stood back and observed, quietly assessing their strength.
Both Leda and Freyja were clearly weakened here.
Leda had dropped from the level of a top-tier champion down to that of an average one.
Freyja, who had originally been slightly weaker, was now roughly on par with her.
Before bypassing the suppression of the Land of Shadow, Lucian himself had experienced the same effect. His strength had fallen from near the peak of demigods, close to a lord, to somewhere in the mid-tier.
So the suppression was percentage-based. The stronger you were, the harder you fell.
That explained the disparity.
At this point, Lucian had a decent grasp of the strength of Miquella's followers.
In the Lands Between, both Leda and Ansbach would be considered top-tier champions.
The others were no slouches either, each one deserving of the title of hero.
Though that man, Dane… he felt different.
He might be hiding something, but even then, his ceiling likely wasn't far above Leda or Ansbach.
All things considered, Miquella's faction was incredibly strong.
At least on paper.
In reality, with such a mixed group of different backgrounds, it was doubtful they could fully work together.
Lucian stepped past the battlefield. There wasn't much worth looting.
Following the light of Grace, the three climbed up to the second floor of a nearby house.
Beside the Grace was a strange arrangement of objects, flanked by two spiral pillars. Something was enshrined between them, it looked like a ritual altar.
Stepping outside, two paths lay ahead.
To the right, a staircase led upward.
To the left, a path led back toward the bridge where the Hornsent sorcerers had been.
According to Ansbach's map, he had taken the right path.
The left, however, was marked with a note: a locked door.
Lucian turned to the others. "What do you think? Want to check the left side first?"
Freyja grinned and slapped her arm.
"The big gate earlier was one thing, but there's no door in this town I can't break!"
"Sir Ansbach probably avoided it to stay quiet."
"But I want to see what's behind it."
Leda didn't object.
Lucian handed the map back to her and started forward.
"Alright. Let's go."
Crossing the bridge between the buildings, they reached the door.
It was a heavy iron door set into brick, clearly sturdy.
Freyja, seemingly determined to fight every door she saw today, kicked it hard.
The metal groaned.
After judging its durability, she took a step back.
Then slammed into it with her shoulder once more.
After several heavy impacts, the thick iron door was already badly warped.
Finally, with one last shoulder charge, Freyja smashed straight through, door and all, crashing into the room beyond.
"Hah! Told you. There's no door I can't break!"
Leda chuckled softly. "You really are full of energy no matter the situation."
Lucian and Leda followed her inside.
The room was dimly lit, cluttered with shelves and miscellaneous items. It looked like some kind of storage room.
As Lucian stepped in, his gaze suddenly shifted.
There was someone here.
He hadn't sensed them until entering the room.
He walked closer and finally made out the figure.
It was a hunched Hornsent crone, sitting atop a table. Dense, fine Omen-like horns protruded from her head, completely covering her eyes.
She looked as though she were asleep… or perhaps dead.
But Lucian was certain.
She was alive.
For some reason, despite all the noise from the door being smashed in, she remained completely unresponsive.
Freyja and Leda noticed her as well.
After observing her for a moment, none of them could make sense of the situation.
With nothing useful found among the storage, the three left the room.
Returning to the Site of Grace, they took the other path.
Following the upward stairs, they reached the upper levels of the Tower Settlement.
The buildings here were more numerous, more refined in design and decoration.
And yet, the destruction was far worse.
Collapsed structures were everywhere. Many had been reduced to nothing but rubble.
During the massacre, this area had clearly been a primary target.
It was here that Lucian encountered the first Horned Warrior.
Just as Ansbach had described, the warrior was massive—larger even than the shadowy Hornsent they had faced before, easily approaching three meters in height.
Unlike the gaunt figures below, this one was built solid, muscles tightly packed, wielding a pair of curved blades.
The moment it saw intruders bearing the power of the Erdtree, it readied itself for battle.
It spread its stance, lowering its center of gravity, and reversed its grip on the blades, planting them into the ground with the spines along their backs facing forward.
Those spine-like protrusions, resembling Omen horns, began to glow.
Power surged into the blades, coating them in golden light before flowing into the ground and racing toward Lucian and the others.
Realizing the attack would erupt from below, all three of them leapt away.
The instant they moved, countless twisted, golden horn-like spikes burst from the ground.
Had they been struck, they would have been impaled without question.
Feeling the power behind the attack, Lucian finally grew interested.
The enemies so far had been too weak to bother with.
But this one…
This one might actually be worth something.
He gathered violet gravitational energy in his hand. After a brief charge, it erupted outward.
A brilliant beam of gravity magic shot straight toward the Horned Warrior.
It was too fast.
Before the warrior could even pull its blades from the ground, the beam had already struck.
The attack pierced through its chest armor, slamming into flesh as hard as stone.
And yet.
The warrior didn't budge.
As if nothing had happened, it calmly pulled its blades free.
Lucian blinked.
…You've got to be kidding me. So this kind of "hyper-armor" actually exists in real life?
Even if the damage wasn't severe, any normal being should at least stagger.
But this thing didn't even flinch.
At that moment, Leda and Freyja charged in from either side.
Freyja leapt into the air, bringing her blade down in a Lion's Claw.
Sensing the terrifying force behind the strike, the Horned Warrior crossed its blades and blocked head-on.
At the same time, Leda moved in from the flank, her sword flashing.
Her blade cut through armor and bit deep into its flesh.
Still—
No reaction.
The warrior held firm, then forced Freyja's blade upward with a powerful motion before driving its elbow down toward Leda.
Leda slipped aside to evade.
Midair, Freyja twisted her body and followed up the second half of her Lion's Claw.
This time, the Horned Warrior stepped back swiftly, avoiding the blow.
Lucian narrowed his eyes.
So it wasn't just some slow, tank-like brute that dumped everything into attack and defense.
It could move just fine.
Which made it even stranger.
How could it endure such attacks without any visible reaction?
This wasn't something that could be explained by game mechanics.
In reality, being hit meant being affected. That was an absolute rule.
Even Lucian himself, and other demigods, could only reduce the impact, not eliminate it entirely.
He stopped attacking and began observing more carefully.
Right now, this unnatural resilience interested him more than the warrior's techniques.
The Horned Warrior fought both Leda and Freyja at once, yet showed no signs of being overwhelmed.
With their strength suppressed and the warrior empowered by the Land of Shadow, it held a slight advantage.
Add in that absurd, immovable body.
And it could handle two opponents with ease.
For the first time in a while, Lucian felt something familiar.
This felt like fighting a boss.
Golden energy surged once more along the warrior's twin blades. Twisted Omen-like horns extended along their edges, forming jagged, unnatural blades.
With a single swing, the extended edges tore through Leda's cloak. Thankfully, she dodged in time.
Freyja wasn't as lucky.
The strike hit her directly.
The horned edges carved multiple deep wounds across her body, blood spilling freely.
The shape of those conjured blades resembled the weapons used by Omenkillers, designed specifically to hunt Omen.
Lucian was beginning to understand.
He decided to test it himself.
Stepping forward, he drove magic into the ground.
The earth beneath the warrior shattered, jagged stone erupting upward and launching it into the air.
In the same instant, Lucian shifted into a spectral state and appeared beside it.
The warrior reacted quickly, swinging a blade midair.
Lucian's hand crackled with draconic lightning as he struck, knocking the blade aside and slamming the warrior back to the ground.
Its body was scorched black.
But it rose again immediately.
Even the blade that had taken the hit hadn't been knocked from its grasp.
Lucian shook his hand slightly.
The impact had felt like hitting solid stone.
But even a body like that shouldn't be completely immune to force.
His own body was tougher, and even he couldn't ignore impacts entirely.
There had to be something else at play.
He stepped in again and delivered a powerful kick.
This time, the warrior finally reacted, its body bending slightly as it was pushed backward, its feet carving trenches into the ground.
It steadied itself and swung its blades again.
Lucian had his answer.
The Horned Warriors invoked a form of divine descent.
Through this, they drew upon the power of nature itself.
Conceptually, they fused themselves with the land they worshipped.
Using that power, they became part of the natural world, something akin to a minor earthbound deity.
That was why they didn't waver.
Why ordinary attacks couldn't shake them.
Just as a person cannot easily move the earth… or stir the sea.
Of course.
With enough force, anything can be broken.
Having confirmed his theory, Lucian decided to end it.
He thrust his hand forward, solar flames igniting across his palm, and pierced straight through the warrior's body.
Even as the flames consumed it, the Horned Warrior tried to strike back.
But in the next moment.
The fire erupted from within, reducing its upper body to ash.
Its twin blades fell to the ground with a dull clang.
The fight was over.