Ashen Land!
By its very nature, it was half a paradise for underworld creatures and the Dungeon Demon King.
Therefore, beneath Ramore Tower City-State lay an extremely complex network of cave passages.
In the depths of a cold, silent, dark cave passage,
Tuck, holding a horse lamp emitting a soft orange glow, drove away the darkness and proceeded with caution.
If it were the "Gray Day," perhaps there would be kobolds, goblins, goblins, and other dark creatures hunting Black Mice in this place.
But now, during the "Grey Night period," the cold pervaded the entire world, including the cave passages near the surface.
Those underworld creatures could only flee deeper underground to escape the severe cold.
This spared Tuck some unnecessary battles.
The kobolds and goblins usually measured the strength of their opponents by number.
Tuck, alone, was clearly on the "weaker" side.
Soon, at the end of the cave passage, a crackling bonfire came into Tuck's view.
Carlos had been waiting there.
Carlos, with his [Climbing] Ability, did not take the roundabout path like Tuck had.
"If you didn't show up, I would have thought those kobolds had caught you!"
Seeing Tuck arrive, Carlos, warming himself by the fire, rarely made a teasing remark.
Tuck ignored Carlos and squeezed next to the bonfire, using the flames to drive away the chill.
Although Tuck had a Level One [Flaming Bracelet], which made him more resistant to the cold than ordinary Transcendents, he still couldn't ignore the cold for long.
The firelight illuminated Tuck's face as the [Flaming Bracelet] quickly absorbed the heat, and the chill began to dissipate.
Tuck lifted his head.
His gaze moved past the bonfire, past Carlos,
and settled on the semi-circular magical Sealed Door made of magical obsidian, standing about five meters tall and three meters wide, behind Carlos.
The door was densely covered with powerful sealing-series magical rune marks.
And this formidable "Demon King's Sealing Gate" was the very purpose of Tuck's journey.
Previously, Tuck had used the [Steady Growth System] to anchor areas such as:
The abandoned mine.
The cleared kobold tribe deep in the cave passage.
Some peculiar ancient ruins deep in the wilderness.
And a warm cave passage near Ramore Steam Tower, where Origin Energy was abundant.
But!
These ordinary areas only yielded "Origin Energy Experience."
Whereas the area behind this dangerous and extremely energy-rich magical Sealed Door,
That was the real treasure.
A treasure potent enough to transform oneself.
"Tuck, this magical Sealed Door is the entrance sealed by powerful wizards to trap the Dungeon Demon King,"
"It is said that the slain Dungeon Demon King is sealed within."
"Every year, many adventurers come here to try their luck, but all return empty-handed."
"With our levels and strength,
"can we open it using the [Spirit Bridge Rune Stone]?"
Carlos, twisting his neck to inspect the ancient Sealed Door, held no hope that Tuck could open it.
Feeling that the chill had almost completely dissipated and that his body would not be affected by the cold in any forthcoming battle,
"Give it to me!" Tuck said as he stood up.
At this moment, Carlos also displayed a serious expression.
He wasn't worried about Tuck being able to open the Sealed Door.
Rather, he feared some unexpected occurrence.
After all, that was the Demon King's Sealing Door.
Even a fallen Demon King's lair was still extremely perilous.
As Carlos took out the [Spirit Bridge Rune Stone] from his Transcendent Storage Bracelet,
Buzz...
A dense aura of "Rune" and "Sequence" power enveloped the two of them, as well as the surrounding world!
The cold was instantly expelled.
The fiercely burning bonfire was almost extinguished by the suppressed flames.
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Darkness pressed in from all directions.
As rune power descended.
Tuck felt as if he were carrying a tank on his shoulders, his legs trembling uncontrollably.
[Rune Stone]!
It was the Transcendent World's natural transcendent power crystallized.
Expensive, yes, but its function was powerful enough.
[Spirit Bridge, Rune Stone]
It could construct passages that traversed barriers, seals, and different layers of domains.
Carlos had a "Transcendent Storage Bracelet" that could gather the power of the [Spirit Bridge Rune Stone], but Tuck did not.
This was the reason Tuck sought Carlos's cooperation.
Burdened with pressure, Tuck took the [Spirit Bridge Rune Stone] and forcefully pressed it against the Demon King's Sealing Door.
The moment the two made contact!
Buzz...
Buzz...
On the obsidian magic Sealed Door, vast rune markings lit up.
The Demon King's Sealing Door, after all, was a product of over three hundred years ago, long unguarded and unmaintained.
Even as the rune markings lit up, less than a third of them were illuminated.
Moreover, most of the rune markings were faintly luminous, and many showed signs of cracking.
But even so, Tuck was aware that attempting to use the [Spirit Bridge Rune Stone] to open the powerful Sealed Door was nothing more than a pipe dream.
As a matter of fact!
Tuck's purpose for making this journey wasn't to open the Demon King's Sealing Door at all.
Rather, it was to make use of the [Spirit Bridge Rune Stone] to make an exceedingly brief contact with the region beyond the Sealing Door.
Even a mere moment of contact would suffice for the system to take effect.
Previously, Tuck had visited this place multiple times for inspection, as well as gathered considerable data from other adventurers' explorations here.
He knew that certain areas of the Demon King Seal had cracks.
Employing a rune stone like the [Spirit Bridge Rune Stone],
To open the seal was, of course, a slim hope.
However, making contact with the region behind the Sealed Door using the power of the [Spirit Bridge Rune Stone] certainly held some promise.
Once contact was made with the world beyond the Demon King's Sealing Door,
The system would be able to function.
Controlling the [Spirit Bridge Rune Stone], Tuck quickly filtered through the fissures.
Soon, he locked onto a highly fragmented seal crack.
"Go!"
Tuck gathered the strength of the Spirit Bridge Rune Stone, intending to squeeze through the gap.
It was unclear whether the Seal, being so ancient, had become a faltering candle in the wind.
Or whether the location Tuck found was particularly tricky and cunning.
Or perhaps, the effect of the Spirit Bridge Rune Stone was just exceptionally outstanding.
As Tuck constructed the spirit bridge in the crack.
Sounds of cracking echoed from the Demon King's Sealing Door.
The entire Demon King's Sealing Door trembled slightly.
Along with that, the entire cave passage trembled slightly as well, with numerous pebbles and ash falling down in a shower.
"No way!"
Carlos, standing beside him, widened his eyes in disbelief, and while shocked, he also prepared to flee at the first sign of the cave's collapse.
And Tuck was startled, the corner of his eye twitching slightly.
"I only wanted to make contact with the other side, not to destroy the Sealed Door."
When the Spirit Bridge Rune Stone constructed a small rainbow spirit bridge,
"Crash!" A sound!
A large amount of rubble peeled away.
Then, on the pitch-black Demon King Sealing Door, a hole the size of a fist appeared before the two men.
"Damn!"
"Damn!"
Gazing at the hole in the Demon King's Sealing Door, the two men stared at each other, dumbfounded!
The Demon King's Sealing Door, which had thwarted so many, now had a large hole chiseled out by Tuck.
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