The woman at the desk had obnoxious, bright pink hair, which certainly didn’t reflect her personality. Eliam couldn’t tell if she would have been a better guide than Apredia or worse.

  When he walked up to her, she immediately rolled her eyes and sighed, “No, I’m not looking to hook up with you. I don’t care if you’re a hero or not.” She paused and continued, “I really am starting to hate these night shifts. The days are much better.”

  Eliam froze, not expecting that answer at all. He quickly recovered and shook his head.

  “No, I’m not here for… that. I have a few questions for you,” Eliam said.

  The woman somewhat perked up and glanced at Eliam oddly. “Questions? At this hour? Well, sure, I guess.”

  “I was here earlier. What do you know of Apredia?” he asked.

  The woman froze ever so slightly. It was so slight that Eliam wasn’t sure if he actually saw it or not.

  “I haven’t heard of her. I have only ever worked at night,” she said.

  Eliam was about to growl, but quickly realized the discrepancy. Didn’t she just say she preferred day shifts?

  “You’re lying,” he hissed.

  She paled as she took a few steps back. “Listen, chill out, okay? I don’t know what problem you have with Apredia, but I’m not involved.”

  “I’ll be the judge of that,” Eliam growled.

  “Okay, okay, fine. Why don’t we just go and talk in the back? There are too many people here,” she proposed.

  Eliam hesitated, but nodded in the end. If he had made a scene here, then it would have been possible for some other heroes to try to intervene.

  He followed the woman back through the back of the hero’s guild. As soon as the woman turned a corner, Eliam sensed something was wrong. She had gone out of her way to ensure she was ahead of him.

  He checked his MP to find that he had enough to use his Unseen skill. Thankfully, the cloak’s skill wasn’t nearly as cost-intensive as the weapon ones.

  He activated the skill and peered around the corner. Sure enough, the woman was standing there, a dagger in hand, waiting for him. He carefully inched around her until a cut grazed across her face.

  “The hell?” she muttered as she stumbled backward.

  Fuck, my aura activated.

  He felt the invisibility wear off, and he quickly sidestepped behind her. He grabbed her weapon hand and slammed it to the ground with a crunch. She began to scream in pain before he quickly moved his hand to her mouth and covered it.

  I’m not going to allow her to kill herself like the other man did. This is basically my last chance to get this info.

  “Who the fuck are you guys and where is Nemina?” he growled.

  The woman tried to bite his hand, but he threw her to the ground. She cried out in pain as she slammed against it with her chest, taking the brunt of the fall.

  “Apredia is going to fuck you up,” she screamed.

  “Apredia is dead,” Eliam said.

  “What? That’s impossible… she was level 49,” the woman said.

  Was 49 that high of a level?

  “So? Did you not feel my aura?” Eliam said.

  The woman paled. “Impossible.”

  “Not impossible. Now, tell me what you know,” he growled.

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  She shook her head. “You don’t understand what they’ll do to me if I do that. It won’t just be the now, me. It will be every other me afterward.”

  “Who would be doing this to you?” Eliam asked.

  “I can’t answer that,” she said.

  “Then you leave me no choice,” Elaim shakily raised his weapon to her throat.

  It felt wrong to threaten her like this, despite my anger. Still, I need to find Nemina. I promised her I wouldn’t let this ever happen again.

  The woman paled. “I…I will just be back in the next loop and…”

  “And? Forced to continue to forget and reloop for all eternity? Is that really a life to live?” Eliam asked.

  She froze, comprehending what Eliam was saying.

  “Whatever, time is up. I guess we’ll find out if we’re telling the truth,” Eliam said.

  “Wait! Fine, I’ll tell you where this Nemina person is, but that’s it!” the woman cried.

  “Hurry!” Eliam growled.

  “They’re keeping her in the old Apredilio cathedral,” the woman said.

  Eliam threw her to the ground and started to walk away without another word. He didn’t know where the cathedral was, but he did know someone who probably would. The issue was that most people didn’t know about the corruption going on behind the scenes. Eliam had probably just made a lot of enemies.

  The woman looked almost relieved. “My name is Ariana… I’m afraid I am to be condemned. Please save our world.”

  “What?” Eliam asked, but it was too late. Ariana’s dagger was already stuck in her throat.

  Eliam sighed as he shook his head and left the guild. There was something much deeper going on here.

  He glanced up at the hints of dawn. He would be having a long talk with Jared.

  ***

  Eliam found himself back in the guild later on in the day. Jared waved to Eliam as soon as he saw him.

  “I’m glad you’re alright, Eliam. I heard they found two of the guild’s members dead. Actually, one of them was Apredia, the person who helped you yesterday,” Jared said.

  Eliam glanced at him, a blank look on his face. “I’m aware, actually, we have something we need to discuss.”

  Jared gave him an awkward look and joked, “What did you have something to do with it?”

  Eliam nodded as he motioned for Jared to come inside. They sat at one of the tables in the corner, a tense aura surrounding them.

  “There is something very wrong with Denovere,” Eliam said quietly.

  “What do you mean?” Jared asked. “I mean, I know it’s kind of a dump and all, but it’s not like that doesn’t exist on Earth.”

  Eliam shook his head. “No, that’s not what I mean. There is corruption amongst us all. Apredia and the other attendant, Ariana, had something to do with it.”

  “What are you saying?” Jared said.

  “Some of the heroes, the people of Earth, sided with Quarlak,” Eliam said.

  Jared froze, not expecting that response. Eliam didn’t blame him as it didn’t make much sense.

  Why would anyone from Earth side with Quarlak? What did they have to gain?

  “That’s… why?” Jared asked.

  Eliam shook his head. “I don’t know. All I do know is that they took Nemina. They’re holding her at the old Apredilio Cathedral apparently. I don’t know where it is, but I was hoping you could show me.”

  Jared nodded. “I was wondering where your partner was. It’s not far from here.” Jared stood up. “I’ll show you right now.”

  They walked toward the center of the city, only stopping once they stood before an older-looking building. Sure enough, it looked like a cathedral, but nothing nearly as grand as the one for Sagmin.

  In fact, it was kind of decrepit. The walls were peeling and eroding. What was once probably beautiful architecture was now nothing but a shadow of its former glory. Denovere clearly wasn’t taking care of it.

  “Well, here ya go,” Jared said as he motioned at the building. “Although I can’t say I’ve seen anyone ever go in or out of that place.”

  Eliam shrugged. “I’m going to go and check it out. Wait out here for me to come back. If I don’t, then you know what happened.”

  “Eliam,” Jared said quickly. “Be careful. If what you said is true, then it’s possible Earth isn’t safe either. I don’t want my wife to have to visit your grave.”

  Eliam nodded and went inside the cathedral without hesitation. He had been through plenty of torturous situations already. There was nothing that would be worse than the harpy den. He would crush anything in his way.

  The place was completely abandoned. At first, he wondered if Ariana had lied to him, but then he saw some stairs hidden away behind the altar at the end of the cathedral. It was a similar setup to how the one for Sagmin was.

  I wouldn’t be surprised if Sagmin’s Cathedral was based on this one.

  Eliam slowly went down the steps, ensuring he made little to no sound. Once he made it all the way down, he gasped.

  It led straight to the Nircozonian Domain.