I Became a Ruined Character in a Dark Fantasy-Chapter 389

The quest completion window only appeared after he exited the edge, proving that fighting within the boundary wasn’t the intended method. Once again, and unintentionally, he had cleared the quest in a way only experienced players would attempt.

"Even if their main force is nearby, they won’t notice us right away. The magic waves from inside the rift shouldn’t extend beyond it," he added lazily, reaching into the void and retrieving several items. He placed them on the ground: the flail, the steel gauntlet, and the plated bracers Lucia had dropped.

"I hope none of these are damaged. It was chaos back there," Lucia murmured as she sat beside Ian and began inspecting her gear.

Diana, who had been quietly watching, finally spoke. "You really took care of all of them?"

"Yeah. Almost got sucked into the rift while doing it, though."

"You didn’t just run away?" Diana sighed as if in disbelief and sat down in front of Ian, her eyes still fixed on him. "I saw it for myself, but I still can’t believe it. How did you even fight in there? That undead seemed almost completely unaffected by the rift’s influence."

"With effort," Ian replied flatly. "It was inconvenient, sure, but not so much that I’d call it impossible."

"That’s ridiculous," Diana muttered, her brow furrowing at Ian's casual response. "If I told people what I saw today, most wouldn’t believe me. Honestly, I can’t fully comprehend how it was possible unless..." Diana’s voice trailed off.

Ian cracked one eye open, raising a brow. "At unless what?"

"Never mind. I almost misspoke," Diana replied, clicking her tongue.

As expected, Ian thought with a faint scoff. He didn’t bother pressing her. Whatever it was, he’d find out soon enough once they reached the stronghold.

"There’s something I don’t understand," Lucia interjected. She had just finished reattaching one of her bracers and was fitting the other onto her arm.

"Why were those undead there in the first place? And how were they able to keep moving? Even if they were reanimated by necromancy, there should be limits without their caster nearby."

"Chaos energy sustained them," Ian replied, rubbing his temple. "They couldn’t last forever, but there, they could hold out for a while."

Diana’s brow twitched. "Chaos? Are you saying pure void energy powered them, not corrupted magic?"

"Yeah, that’s what it seemed like."

"That must mean Carmiel has fully transformed into a demon."

"Carmiel?".

"That’s the name of the necromancer."

"Ah, I see."

So now they had a name.

While chaos energy wasn’t exclusive to demons, Ian saw no reason to correct her assumption. Not all corrupted beings carried fragments or essence bead of chaos power like he did. Besides, appearing too knowledgeable about chaos might raise suspicion.

"Either way, I doubt they were just stragglers or abandoned troops." Instead, Ian shared another fact he had uncovered. "They were moving with a clear purpose. From what I saw, they were trying to capture us."

"Capture us?" Diana froze, and Lucia stopped what she was doing to look at Ian.

He continued calmly. "They were probably following orders—to drag us back into the rift or something else entirely, I’m not sure."

"So, they’re using the rift as a trap," Diana murmured, rubbing her temples.

Ian shrugged. "Well, it wasn’t a trap meant to last forever. It felt like a capture one, good; if not, move on kind of thing. Those undead weren’t exactly impressive."

"That’s something only lunatics—I mean someone as strong as you—would say, Ian Hope," Diana retorted with a sigh, as if craving a smoke.

"That lunatic necromancer must have picked up some new twisted skills while wandering around. He might’ve even attacked that fortress to collect minions for his traps."

"I saw some skeletons that looked like goblin bones."

"I have a bad feeling about this. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s digging more traps around the region as we speak."

"Yeah, he could be."

Though I wonder what he’s trying to gain from all this, Ian thought as he considered the situation.

Perhaps this was how Carmiel gathered useful minions—by targeting humans and corrupted ones with potential. Skilled necromancers could revive the undead, keeping much of their life's abilities, while creating mutated monster underlings proved relatively easy.

Diana, her face set in a hard expression, broke the silence. "We need to head back and report this as soon as possible. Can you move?"

"You’re asking the wrong person," Ian replied indifferently, glancing at Lucia.

Still adjusting her gauntlet, Lucia clicked the connector into place and nodded. "I’m fine. Really."

"You’ve got blood on your mouth."

"I just threw up a little."

"Well, if you say so," Ian said, nodding. He pushed himself up from the ground, still feeling a lingering headache and dizziness. But by now, such discomfort was manageable with sheer willpower.

"We’re not so far that we’ll need to camp again, are we?"

"Of course not," Diana replied, standing as well. "Though we’ll need to pick up the pace a bit."

After making sure Lucia was also on her feet, Ian gave a brief nod, gesturing for Diana to lead the way. Without further comment, Diana turned and resumed walking.

***

As they moved beyond the rift’s domain, a dense forest stretched out before them. The path transitioned from a gentle incline to a steeper, darker mountain trail. The forest was unnaturally quiet, its silence pressing against them.

—Boring. Gonna grab a quick nap.

Lucky you, Ian thought, suppressing the urge to roll his eyes as he trudged forward. Moments like these made him miss Nila. If it had been here, it would have tackled this slope as though it were flat ground, and Ian could have dozed off in the saddle.

Instead of mourning it, I’m thinking about how useful they’d be. Great.

Diana moved along the ridge smoothly, her steps unhesitating as if she knew the terrain by heart. She maintained a steady pace, no different from walking on flat ground.

"How much farther?" Ian asked, after what felt like hours of hiking.

"Not much. We’re almost there," Diana replied without turning around.

"Then maybe we should slow down a bit."

Diana finally glanced back at him, her brows furrowing slightly. Ian motioned behind him with a tilt of his head.

A short distance behind them, Lucia was panting as she struggled to keep up. Though she hadn’t complained or made a sound, she was gradually falling behind. Normally, that would never happen—it had to be the aftereffects of passing through the rift’s edge.

"Humans," Diana muttered under her breath, clicking her tongue. Yet, she slowed her pace without argument.

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A few steps later, she broke the silence. "I saw your shield, Ian Hope. It looked like a relic. Is it?"

She must be feeling more relaxed now if she’s letting her thoughts wander that far, Ian mused, a faint smirk curling one corner of his lips.

"Relics don’t work properly here, do they?"

"Not all of them."

"Oh, really?"

At Ian’s remark, Diana glanced back at him again. "So it’s not a relic, then. What is it? Just an artifact? Doesn’t look like an ordinary magical tool."

"Well, you could say it’s something like that. I could tell you more if you want," Ian said with a shrug, meeting Diana’s gaze directly. "That is, if you’re confident you won’t bother me with endless follow-up questions."

"What’s that supposed to—You know what? Never mind." Diana frowned at first but quickly shook her head with a shudder. "Yeah. I guess it’s better not to know. I know nothing, Ian Hope."

Thought so.

Ian’s smile deepened slightly.

Ever since he had realized Diana’s survivalist and self-centered nature, dealing with this fairy had become much easier. And not just in the sense of making her keep her mouth shut.

"Still, it’s a shame," he remarked casually, looking at the back of her head. "You won’t be able to tread the edges of the rift anymore. Your range of movement is going to be a lot more limited."

Diana nodded in agreement. "Yeah. Nothing I can do about it. I’ll just have to endure it for a while."

"I knew it." The confirmation Ian had been looking for came through in her response. Glancing briefly at Lucia walking beside him, he added, "So, you plan to eliminate the Wanderers."

"Yes. Initially, I only intended to report their return. However, now that they’ve proven to be a direct threat, I can’t just stand by like before."

Huh. Didn’t expect her to admit it outright.

Ian blinked at her unexpectedly candid answer, and Diana continued in a low voice. "Those who want that lunatic dead will be pleased."

"Sounds like he’s made plenty of enemies," Lucia interjected, catching her breath.

Diana exhaled sharply, almost like a hiss. "Anyone who knew him even before he became corrupted would feel that way. The first thing he did after revealing his true colors was to turn the people of his city into his victims."

Lucia sighed softly. "That makes sense. He wouldn’t have to worry about the Order or the eyes of the gods here."

"Yeah... Well, it’s not surprising. After the world fell to pieces, similar things happened everywhere. It was a chaotic time." Diana’s voice suddenly took on a cold edge.

It wasn’t hard to imagine she had lived through something similar. Perhaps it was during that time that she adopted her survival-at-all-costs philosophy.

"Many people must have died," Lucia murmured.

"Yes. And most of the corrupted bastards died, too. But plenty, like Carmiel, were lucky enough to escape," Diana replied, letting out a snort.

She glanced at Lucia briefly before adding, "I’ve heard that, even before his corruption, he liked to call himself a cheerful wanderer. Can you believe a spellcaster introducing himself that way? He was clearly unhinged from the start."

"But if you live in a place like this long enough, won't everyone eventually fall into darkness?" Lucia, who had been nodding, suddenly asked. "Unlike the corrupted ones like Carmiel, perhaps unwillingly. What happens to those people? Are they all killed?"

"Are you asking about your future, Lucifer?" Diana asked, turning her gaze to Lucia.

Lucia shrugged nonchalantly. "Maybe. Yes."

"Usually, yes. But not always. If you can control the darkness within you, keep your reason, and use your strength for our sake—if you can prove that..."

Lucia’s eyes widened slightly. She didn’t ask if such a thing was truly possible. Instead, she cast a sidelong glance at Ian, who was walking beside her.

The meaning behind her gaze was clear, but Ian’s thoughts were already elsewhere, entirely disconnected from the moment.

So, even if someone chooses corruption, their supply lines don’t completely vanish.

Ian shrugged and casually added, "In any case, it means you have enough forces to take down the Wanderers."

"Not right now—hmm." Diana, who had answered reflexively, hesitated and fell silent, her lips pressing into a thin line.

She was all too eager to talk earlier, but now she clams up?

Ian let out a faint chuckle but kept talking as if nothing had happened. "When the time comes to take them down, will you be joining the fight?"

After a brief pause, she replied, "No," shaking her head, "Taking part in a full-scale battle isn’t my role. Getting involved in that kind of fight would just get me killed pointlessly."

"So you’re only going to do what you know you can handle."

"Exactly," Diana admitted. "I will not die in this cursed place. I’ll survive to the end and one day return with honor."

Honor? All of a sudden?

Ian couldn’t help but scoff at the notion of fairy-style honor.

He added with a wry grin, "When you report back, tell them I’ll also join the hunt against the Wanderers."

"You’ll join?" Diana turned to him, and even Lucia, walking beside him, looked at him in surprise.

Ian shrugged. "I owe them for nearly killing me. I gotta repay that debt."