Chapter 33: Before Dawn

Valentina stared intently at Neo.
Neo sensed her gaze, turned to look at her, then went back to his work.
Valentina continued to stare at him.
Neo put down his task and turned to her. “What is it?”
“Nothing. I just want to take a good look at the bravest man I’ve ever seen in my life.”
Neo smiled. “I take that as a compliment.”
“Not only brave, but also extremely bold.”
“Hehe,” Neo laughed. “You’re brave too, oh, and silly for going crazy with me.”
“You’ve seen my wounds already.”
“The surgery was good. The skin has healed, but who knows what’s inside?”
Neo raised a hand. “I promise, I’m fine inside and out. My heart isn’t evil.”
Valentina pinched Neo. “There’s no need to discuss my heart. You’re just a scoundrel taking advantage of me. I’m talking about your wounds.”
Neo became serious. “Alright, no more jokes. The wounds on my chest and abdomen are mostly healed. The fracture in my left shoulder still poses a problem, but it’s not serious. It will heal better over time. After all, I’ve done my best. My self-healing ability is remarkable—those Red Ghost Centurions didn’t die for nothing.”
“Fine! I won’t argue anymore,” Valentina said, somewhat annoyed.
“Valentina, remember this: unless you see my head cut off and me dead for sure, I’ll find a way to get back alive, no matter what happens. Understand?”
Valentina frowned. “Why say such ominous things?”
Neo smiled. “I just mean my life is precious. I can turn any disaster into good fortune. You must have faith in me.”
“Hmm, that’s better.”
White Socks had already taken Valerian to the Swift Wind Team’s camp. Neo and Valentina successfully infiltrated Watzburg’s underground tunnels. This time, they didn’t rush to the surface but followed the tunnels to the end. Neo took out a large folding leather bag and used a delicate air pump to fill it with air, explaining to Valentina, “I spent a lot of time studying the terrain to escape. Just by looking at its structure, I knew that even if it doesn’t lead directly to the Dark Lands, it definitely has a very complex underground network.”
Seeing Valentina’s surprised expression, Neo said, “You know there are Dark Lands under the Erdreit domain, right?”
Valentina nodded. “When I was at the Knight Academy, I entered the Dark Lands once with my team through Langert (a famous entrance in the Erdreit domain). But I’ve never heard of an entrance here in Watzburg. In fact, throughout the entire Bafas domain, there have been no reports of underground inhabitants attacking anyone.”

One air sac had been inflated and sealed, and then Neo began inflating another. “I’ll give you two clues. The year before last, at the Edrit Tournament, Baron Bafas offered as a prize a finely crafted magic-steel battle axe. The guy who competed with me for the championship would rather lose at a critical moment just to get that axe, which left a deep impression on me. During last winter’s training, Group 1 of Bafas’ militia wore cave python leather armor, and they shone brightly in the night infiltration exercises. Those 11 sets of cave python armor, though well-concealed, revealed their metal fasteners—style craftsmanship from the Underworld.”
“So Bafas has close ties to the Dark Regions?”
“Unfortunately, I heard the future lord of Bafas is terrible.”
“Kuep Bafas. That name is also quite famous in the Edrit domain.”
It was rare to see Valentina mock someone, and Neo already had a pretty good idea of how terrible this Kuep was.
“Alright, let’s explore our emergency escape route.”
The second use of the rubber bodysuit was as a wetsuit. The water was icy cold, and the inside of the water passage was pitch black, but neither of these posed a problem for Neo. With his air-filled bladders, breathing wasn’t an issue for a while.
Well-prepared, the two of them entered the water and swam deeper along the underground passage. Since they were going with the current, it wasn’t difficult. The main concern was avoiding obstacles, but that wasn’t too serious either, as the passage was wide enough and the current was gentle.
“This at least proves there are no waterfalls or steep, narrow passages for a while. As long as we’re careful, we’ll be safe,” Neo reassured Valentina as they entered the water.
For Valentina, being underwater was absolutely unpleasant—pressure, limited air, darkness, cold, and the inability to stand firmly on solid ground… All these factors made her hate water. On top of that, she had drowned once as a child, which left her with psychological trauma. But with Neo by her side, she felt much more at ease. She didn’t open her eyes; instead, relying on her senses, she could clearly feel Neo swimming ahead. Occasionally touching the rope connecting her to him also helped calm her anxiety.
In fact, Neo wasn’t fearless either. Water, especially enclosed and winding underground waters, instilled an instinctive fear in land creatures. But Neo was a warrior.
The first lesson for a knight is virtue education, while the first lesson for a warrior is courage training.
Ahead lay a forest of dragon lances. When it was time to charge, one had to rush forward without hesitation, using weapons, shields, armor, and their own bodies to clear a path—that was what a warrior did. Neo was a good warrior, and a good warrior knew how to overcome fear, being brave and fearless, almost as if it were an instinct.
There was nothing unusual about this underwater journey—not even a minor incident. Through the passage, Neo and Valentina quickly reached a quite large underground pool. The unpredictable depth of the pool made Neo cautious. He wasn’t here for exploration; he had no interest in finding out how deep it was or if there were any other currents or eddies. So he swam along the edge of the passage he came in through and then surfaced.

“Puff!” As Neo observed his surroundings, he said, “Very good, this is exactly the hiding place we need.” He added happily, “It takes 15 breaths to swim here, and there are two forks along the way—those unprepared won’t be able to make it. And do you feel it?”
Valentina followed behind Neo, paddling through the water. Hearing his question, she replied casually, “Feel what?”
“The wind. There are additional ventilation shafts here, so we don’t have to worry about breathing. Hmm, this is good. I’ll carve out a few shallow pits for climbing.” Saying this, Neo took out his small pick that could double as an ice axe or a mining pick. With a few taps, he carved a shallow pit, and soon, a climbing path leading to a rock platform 4 meters above the water surface was completed.
When Valentina followed Neo onto the platform, she realized it was much larger than it appeared from underwater, with caves leading somewhere unknown.
Neo checked carefully. Valentina asked, “What are you looking for?”
“Looking for signs of any creatures that might have been here.”
Valentina smiled. “Is it good or not?”
“Each has its advantages.” Neo stood up. “I haven’t found anything for now, so let’s assume there are none. That means we need to find another exit.”
“Huh?” Valentina was surprised. Then she said, “I said earlier that you’re the bravest person I’ve ever met, right?”
“Yes.”
“I take it back.”
“Hehe, okay.” Neo wasn’t bothered at all. He looked up—this underground pool resembled a small vertical dome, with water in the lower half and space above. The top was about 30 meters above the water surface.
“Hey, this place is great. That over there is a good exit.” Neo pointed diagonally at the opposite rock wall, where another platform existed about 10 meters above the water surface. Not only was it higher, but it was also at least 10 meters away from the platform they were on.
“I can’t see it…” Valentina felt a bit frustrated.
“No problem. I can handle this alone.” Neo opened his bag and took out a 30-meter-long rope. Then he nailed an iron spike into the platform, attached a dog-kill knot to one end of the rope, and wrapped the other end around his waist. After taking off his tight-fitting clothes and getting ready, he began climbing up the rock wall with his pick in hand.
Neo had trained regularly, with rock climbing being a major part of his workouts. It not only strengthened his muscles and endurance but also improved his flexibility, coordination, concentration, and balance. So the rock walls in this cave posed no problem to him. He quickly reached his destination, nailed another spike there, tied the rope to it, attached a pulley, and slid down diagonally.
“There’s only one pulley. Tie a loop below to cover your waist and hips, then use your arms to climb back and forth—going up is easy.” Neo briefly explained how to use it to Valentina.
“That platform up there has an air current. I don’t know if it leads to the surface, but anyway, once we get there, we should be safe.” As he put on his tight-fitting clothes, Neo asked anxiously, “For climbs below level 10, you should be fine, right?”
Valentina gave Neo a glare. “If he dares to climb, he’s dead.”

“Well, now I’m clear about this. It’s getting late; let’s go.”
The two returned the same way, inflating the airbags and placing other items like dry clothes near the entrance, then found the well that Neo and Mach had used last time. They were familiar with this place, and below it was a puddle—should things get urgent, one could jump in without worrying about insufficient depth or lack of buoyancy, which was a very important detail.
In fact, there were many such details: route planning, seemingly unimportant items that actually proved useful, and so on—all with their own rationale. As they moved forward, Neo pointed them out one by one to Valentina, who then truly realized that beneath the madness, boldness, and even good luck lay a careful mind committed to perfecting every detail. Details determined success or failure. For the first time, she deeply understood this concept through Neo’s approach.
“The first half of this Blood Dawn belongs to Neo.” That statement wasn’t an overstatement.
Neo felt that working with Mach made an excellent scouting duo. Though there was no direct communication, he could still discern from subtle cues that Mach had extensive and seasoned experience as a scout. Scouts fell somewhere between wanderers and forest rangers, with a distinctly militaristic style—especially this last aspect, which Neo valued highly. It represented teamwork and coordination, rather than acting on impulse, seeking attention, or stepping in only when capable. Mach indeed lived up to his expectations; despite tempting figures like envoys and meat slaves, he remained dedicated to completing his tasks and stayed out of unnecessary matters. This was hard to achieve for ordinary solo or small-group professionals who placed great emphasis on heroism.
With Valentina, they formed a tough hunting duo. Neo saw himself as the tip of the knife, while Valentina was the blade—his tip delivering the strike, her blade providing support. With Valentina by his side, he had the confidence to raid house by house without worrying about startling the Red Ghosts due to accidents.
Over the past two days, the number of Red Ghosts had sharply decreased. If it were humans, reducing the camp size and uniting closely would be a normal move in such a situation. But the Red Ghosts were different—they had some animalistic traits, especially a strong sense of territory. In a row of 5 rooms, with 3 Red Ghosts living there, they instinctively ended up occupying rooms one after another.
In the shallow minds of most Red Ghosts, humans were difficult to deal with because of two things: iron weapons and castles. Humans without iron weapons or castles were mostly seen as easy prey. This mindset made them overconfident in the defensive capabilities of castles, leading to an inflated sense of security—especially among mid-to-senior commanders like centurions and milliarchs—creating a fatal flaw.
While acting, Neo wondered why, with their numbers reduced so much, the Red Ghosts still slept scattered here and there—wasn’t that like waiting to be slaughtered?
“If we don’t achieve something now, it would be a waste of the opportunity the Red Ghosts created for us!”

Relying on their extraordinary hearing and sense of smell, Neo and Valentina infiltrated a civilian house. Valentina lacked knowledge and experience in stealth, and the dark surroundings also hindered her, so Neo kept her at a distance near the entrance, ready to eliminate a Red Ghost, while he went inside to deal with another.

Within a 5-meter range, Valentina’s senses were quite sharp. She noticed that Neo’s stealth style was unique—far from the sneaky movements she had imagined for a rogue, it reminded her more of a cat walking calmly and silently, as if that were its natural state.

What was most striking were Neo’s movements as he moved. He seemed well-acquainted with his surroundings; as he walked, his limbs moved fluidly as he dodged obstacles, effortlessly avoiding unnecessary contact. His skill and ease were both pleasing and somewhat terrifying to Valentina. She felt that if Neo pursued assassination, even with his current abilities, he could surely become famous in the field.

A black light flowed across the palm of Neo’s right hand, glowing darkly like flame, visible even in the pitch-black room. It looked eerie. With a very slight sound, Neo’s hand pressed down on the head of a Red Ghost.

The Red Ghost merely trembled slightly before convulsing—its consciousness had been killed instantly, leaving only a lifeless shell. Within seconds, that shell too decayed into debris, barely worthy of being called soil, almost indistinguishable from ashes and sand.

Neo’s “Life Siphon” skill had become even more powerful—a benefit of draining eight Red Ghost Centurions last night.

Valentina couldn’t see clearly when draining the Red Ghost in the inner room, but she witnessed it clearly this time. At that moment, she felt Neo like a death god who stripped away lives in a cruel manner that made her heart tremble. Yet there was no sense of evil—only pure terror, deep in her soul, unsettling and oppressive, like the instinctive fear all living things feel when faced with darkness and death.

Neo nodded at Valentina, signaling that the task in this room was done. He stepped out first, and Valentina followed behind, slightly dazed.

The second room, the third, the twentieth, the thirtieth… Before, she hadn’t realized it, but this time, under these special circumstances, Valentina noticed Neo’s coldness toward enemies—like the frigid night on the mountain peak during the avalanche. It was profound and merciless, without a trace of pity or hesitation. Lives were erased silently one after another, while Neo’s hand reaching for the next target seemed always steady, his gaze always calm—no madness, no excitement, no joy, no sorrow. There was a purity akin to death itself, leaving behind only a faint sense of desolation wherever he went.

For Neo, this was a feast. Although, in terms of quality, even if he drained all the remaining ordinary Red Ghosts, it wouldn’t compare to what he gained from those Centurions, at the basic level, he had achieved a surplus for the first time—so great that it had to be released.

Neo was prepared for this situation. Before taking action, he entered the world of consciousness and discussed the issue with Nancy in detail. Nancy’s advice was to make use of this power rather than expelling it through dark means.
“Dark means?” Neo felt he had a vague understanding at the time, but overall he was still confused.
“You have inherited the power of darkness and unlocked the ancestral marks in your bloodline. It brings not only compatibility with dark powers but also certain innate spell-like skills. You meet the conditions to cast the lower-level spells; you’ll need to figure it out on your own.”
Nancy’s guidance helped Neo grasp the characteristics of this ancestral power—that is, to seek that sudden insight, just like a mage casting a spell.
Insight never comes from sheer hard work, so Neo never forced it. Now, at this critical moment when the power surged within him, his heart began to stir.
Valentina saw Neo stop killing and turn back. “What happened?” she asked in a low voice.
“A problem with digesting the absorbed power,” Neo explained simply.
It wasn’t the right time or place for a detailed discussion, so Valentina didn’t press further. The two returned to a large room that Valentina recognized—this was where the Red Ghosts kept hyenas. Along the way, Neo had killed the dogs himself before allowing Valentina to approach, causing some noise. Fortunately, there were no other Red Ghosts nearby, otherwise it could have attracted attention.
Valentina saw Neo approach one of the hyenas. The hyena had been killed by having its neck twisted. This was another detail of Neo’s killing style: he tried to avoid bloodshed to reduce the chance that the Red Ghosts patrolling with the dogs would notice something amiss due to the smell.
“Hmmmm… uhhh…” Neo emitted a series of low, indistinct sounds. Valentina had seen mages cast spells before, and she was sure Neo was doing the same, but not in the manner of a mage. Although mages on Aemera didn’t always use ancient or magical languages, their incantations followed certain patterns. Neo’s didn’t; what he emitted sounded like groans in a dream, somewhat similar to what mages did when casting spells.
Along with the smoke-like black light that gradually appeared around Neo, this peculiar spell gave Valentina a sense of depth and gravity, evoking images of desolate mountains under dark clouds, heavy, massive black chains, or monuments…
“It’s indeed dark power, but compared to the power used by demons and their minions, it’s like water without salt or sugar!” Valentina didn’t understand how Neo could control this power, but she was certain it was his innate strength—after all, she had been one of the witnesses when his attributes changed that night.
There were no runes or diagrams—just pure manifestation of power. Dark rays, like threads, wrapped around Neo layer after layer. But to Valentina, they didn’t convey elegance or lightness; instead, they felt stagnant, as if space itself had frozen there. Once inside, everything would become slow and sluggish.

Valentina noticed that Neo now held a glowing wooden stick in his hand. What made this stick most distinctive was its presence of a very special aura—though faint, it stood in stark contrast to the surrounding darkness, like the bright moon against the night sky, as if the darkness existed merely to highlight its presence.
“What kind of power is this? It contains such abundant vitality!” Valentina was shocked. The nature of this power made her acutely aware of the vast difference in levels. If she hadn’t seen it with her own eyes today, she wouldn’t have believed that such power could be wielded by someone still in the stage of awakening their combat abilities.
The darkness surrounding Neo suddenly contracted, enveloping the glowing stick, which he then thrust into the hyena’s mouth. A wave of watery light flashed over the hyena, after which drastic changes began.
The hyena’s fur started trembling, as if countless small snakes were writhing inside. This became increasingly intense, and soon, its dull, discolored fur was pierced by thorns like steel wires. These thorns were dark and shiny, with sparse, sharp points coated in blood and muscle. The sight of these thorns moving violently was bloody and cruel, clearly deviating from the characteristics of pure darkness.
“This is the result of using life force to suppress darkness. It’s not a pure embodiment of darkness; it has indeed strayed from its essence. Straying from truth means being wrong, and being wrong means being evil!” Neo observed carefully. This was a rare practical lesson that helped him understand the attributes of his core power and also improved his mastery of techniques.
Soon, Valentina realized that these seemingly bloody thorns weren’t just piercing the hyena but also consuming its flesh. By now, the hyena was skin and bones, resembling a corpse left to rot in the desert for over ten days—almost unrecognizable. At the same time, a hyena-like entity formed from black thorns was gradually taking shape.
At that moment, a glow began to emanate from the hyena’s head. The black light was so intense that Neo felt dizzy and even nauseous after just a few glances.
He quickly pulled Valentina away from the room. He noticed that her condition was even worse than his own—her expression was dazed.
Shaking Valentina, Neo softly called her name.
Finally, Valentina’s gaze focused. With a look of fear, she exhaled and said, “That light made me feel like my consciousness was leaving my body.”
Neo tried to analyze it: “It might be the effect of soul-summoning magic! After gaining life, this thing instinctively wants to develop consciousness and thought.”
“What exactly have you created?”
“My original intention was to use the resources at hand to create a mutated thorn puppet, but the power I used was too advanced, causing the magic to get out of control.”
As the two spoke, a cold wind began to blow from all directions. Within this wind, faint energy ripples gathered inside the room, continuously flowing into the hyena’s forehead. The hyena’s body, now taking shape, began to undergo another round of changes.

When Neo went to check on the hyena again, he finally understood why darkness was said to be a breeding ground for evil. The hyena had completely transformed—it resembled a muscular calf, nearly half a person tall, without fur, only tendons made of thorny strands. Those sharp spikes looked like short, dense hair at first glance. Its tail was like a whip of thorns, ending in a thick, shiny black spike that made one’s flesh tense just by looking at it. Its appearance was more like those monstrous creatures born from the corruption of those Neo had seen before—part human, part beast, with sharp claws and seemingly the ability to walk upright. Most peculiar was its head, which was actually a human face made of thin thorns, with eyes, ears, mouth, and nose constantly changing shape and expression—just that face alone made the monster seem utterly sinister.

For a moment, Neo felt the urge to destroy the monster right away, but he chose to observe further because Spikes hadn’t shown any reaction, meaning the various changes in the thorns that composed its body were still entirely under its control, and it could dismember it at any time.

After emerging, the monster uttered two words through a combination of scraping sounds: pain, hatred!

Neo began to understand the origin of the monster’s consciousness—souls of the victims from Wurtzburg, filled with resentment.

“The faithful go to the land of gods after death, while the unfaithful continue to suffer,” the missionaries of the Holy Church often repeated these words until they became tiresome to hear. Now, Neo realized there was some truth in these seemingly plain statements. After several incidents, he believed that indeed some souls stayed in the world for various reasons, and when their strength was probed, it was possible to uncover the mystery of their existence.

Valentina, who was beside Neo, also understood the words the monster had spoken. Frowning, she said, “Neo, maybe we shouldn’t use such a evil thing?”

In fact, Neo was deeply moved as well. He realized warily that with his dark power, if he acted without restraint, he might lose control, go astray, and unconsciously fall into the path of evil—just like how the monster was created. But on the other hand, it was also unacceptable to be overly cautious or self-imposing restrictions just because of his unique attributes.

“A thin line separates right from wrong—be careful!” Neo clenched his fists.

After some thought, he slowly said, “Cordim slaughtered and devoured humans, leaving the city filled with aggrieved souls. I use this strange power to allow these souls to seek justice and ultimately achieve liberation and freedom. Though my methods are dark, my intentions are pure. Even if this monster survives after this, I will destroy it.”

“Hmm, okay. I believe you can do it.” Valentina wasn’t a rigid person either. She knew Neo’s experiences and powers were rather unique, making it difficult for him to follow rules strictly.

“With Neo’s reason and self-control, he should be able to hold back. But it’s better to be proactive. I need to talk to Milien about this when we get back.” The only solutions Valentina could think of for the time being were to remind those who influenced Neo from time to time.

The monster’s name didn’t seem appropriate, so Neo gave it a name—Polyhedral. He wasn’t quite sure what abilities Polyhedral had, but judging by its presence, it was surely more than just having some strength and speed.
“Go! Do your best. It depends on your skills how far you can go.” This technique was itself an experiment, so Neo didn’t have high expectations for “Polyhedral.”
With Neo’s verbal permission, Polyhedral immediately became lively, wriggling its limbs and letting out a low growl before leaping out of the room. Looking at its way of moving, it didn’t resemble a dog in the slightest.
Watching Polyhedral disappear into the darkness, Neo thought to himself, “Perhaps there’s a chance to find a human-beast and compare the differences in hosts to see how much impact they have on magical creatures.”
With all this fuss, Neo wasted over 20 minutes. By the time he tried to resume his feast, it was already too late. The Red Ghosts’ patrol wasn’t that foolish either. Loud noises would draw their attention, but complete silence would also raise suspicions. It was because of simple snoring that the patrol detected something amiss and immediately sounded their trumpets. The Red Ghosts woke up in panic and soon discovered that nearly 200 of their kin had been silently killed—almost one-third of the total number of Red Ghosts in Wurtzburg. Filled with shock and anger, even several centurions grew fearful. While rushing to assemble their troops, they also woke Sarug, who was sleeping inside the fortress.
Upon hearing the news, Sarug was equally shocked. Before he could ask further questions, a Red Ghost rushed in in a panic: “Sarug-bi, a large group from the Beach Stone tribe has been spotted west of the fortress!”