The gap between Gutongs Castle and this place could no longer be divided simply by wealth and poverty.

Up on the surface, there were towering spires that pierced the clouds, magnificent palaces both gorgeous and ancient, and all kinds of creations that—though already broken by time—could still proclaim their former glory.

But down here, there were only houses packed together like tiny grid cells.

And this crowding wasn’t the natural kind of crowding. It was crowding that had clearly been specially planned out—crowding produced to achieve the highest possible living efficiency.

If she had to compare it...

it was like a grand, imposing villa owned by a farmer, and the old, crumbling pigsty behind it.

"Master... and slaves?"

Ariel let out a soft sigh. She had grown up in the streets, so it was easy for her to infer what life in a place had been like just from the external environment.

So even after a thousand years—even with no one here now—Ariel could tell at a glance that the people who used to live here absolutely could not have called it "comfortable."

"Even the building materials are just ordinary stone, and the craftsmanship is crude. Aside from being a place to sleep, I’m afraid it couldn’t even fully manage the most basic wind-and-rain shelter," Ariel said, carefully examining the stone wall.

No—thinking about it, this was underground. There was no need for any so-called shelter from wind and rain.

So that was why the houses had this strange form. The materials ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) used were just whatever they could grab locally—ordinary stone dug straight out of this cavern.

It was...

"reasonable" to the extreme.

"So what exactly is the relationship between Gutongs Castle... and this vast slum?" Ariel frowned and murmured,

"I remember Miss An said that the demonfolk a thousand years ago spent their whole lives trying to rebel against those towers... towers... could it be that ‘towers’ doesn’t specifically mean literal towers, but Gutongs Castle—the place where those towers stand? If that’s the case... then the ones who used to live here were the demonfolk of today?"

Ariel shook her head and, for the time being, threw that conclusion aside—hard to believe, but the most reasonable one.

Her teacher had said that when facing events this ancient—events shrouded in strange fog—you absolutely could not rely on so-called "reasonable" guesses, because if you really "guessed" something...

you might lose your life.

That was what taboos were like—utterly unreasonable things. Just like how an Evil God could notice you without meaning to, solely because you called out its true name.

And besides—

"Now isn’t the time to be thinking about that."

Ariel sat down against the base of the wall and lifted the outer coat Miss Muse had put on her—slightly too large for her.

At her thigh, the tightly wrapped bandages had already been soaked red with blood again. That meant the wound not only hadn’t healed, it had split open again.

"Is it because of the long trek? I didn’t even notice back at the edge of the flower sea."

What a shame—those were bandages Miss Muse had wrapped with her own hands!

Ariel pouted, then, full of reluctant regret, started unwrapping the bloodstained bandages.

But she didn’t rush to put on fresh ones. Instead, she pulled out a silver needle, threaded it, did the simplest disinfection with her own flame, then lowered her head and began stitching the wound shut.

With her battle qi and magic still not recovered—unable to heal the injury quickly—this kind of suturing was the best way to keep the wound from splitting open again.

Even if it hurt a little.

No anesthetic, and no way to ease the pain—Ariel simply kept her head down and stitched the wound with calm focus.

There was no pain on her face. Only a light sheen of cold sweat seeped out on her forehead. Her hand stayed steady, her movements nimble and practiced.

Clearly, this wasn’t the first time she’d done it. Even though she was a warrior with a tough body, she’d been forced into using the kind of stopgap treatment ordinary people used when they got hurt.

Fortunately, once her strength recovered, after she removed the stitches, this kind of wound would heal without leaving any trace.

"So what should I do next?"

After dealing with the injury for now, Ariel leaned sideways against the wall and started thinking about where to go from here.

Once she entered this complex cluster of buildings, Zagu shouldn’t be able to find her and Miss Muse so easily.

And from what she’d seen so far, this was the place Miss Muse had pointed to—she hadn’t come to the wrong place.

So the next step was either to keep going deeper into this "slum" in the direction Miss Muse had indicated, or—

finally stop rushing and rest for a while...

"Hee."

In an instant, it felt as if she’d stepped through a sheet of ice and fallen into an icy lake.

It was clearly laughter that carried heartfelt delight, the kind that should have been happy—but once it reached Ariel’s ears, it made her entire body go cold in a single moment.

She held her breath, slowly got to her feet, pressed against the wall, and peeked out half her face.

Sure enough, on the narrow road not far away, a "ghoul"...

No. It should be called a Corruptor—the term that mysterious old loli had used.

Its lidless eyes were still wide open, and that grotesque grin—split nearly to the corners of its mouth—was still just as spine-chilling.

"Damn it—why would there be—"

A thin mist drifted through the cramped street. Maybe earlier her flame had only lit too small an area and she hadn’t seen it clearly. Or maybe the mist had only just returned from somewhere.

Either way, Ariel suddenly realized that at some point, she had once again ended up inside that mist.

So that was it...

It wasn’t a question of why there was mist in a place like this.

It was that...

this mist was exactly where it belonged.

And along with it, those Corruptors wandering through the mist also belonged on streets this narrow and cramped.

"Spare me. I thought I’d temporarily escaped the tiger’s jaws, but instead I came straight into the tiger’s den?"

Ariel gave a self-mocking smile. Then she used both hands to support Miss Muse’s perky butt, and rose carefully, her movements gentle.

Light. Slow. Silent.

The only advantage she had over before was that this time, it seemed she still hadn’t been noticed by the Corruptors.

So as long as she stayed far away from that prowling "laughing ghoul," and found a safe place to hide in a place this huge, she should—

Ariel’s movement suddenly froze.

Because the moment she turned around, she abruptly discovered that at the far end of the narrow street she was on, a Corruptor was poking its head out of the darkness...

It only stuck out its head, tilting its neck as it stared at Ariel. Its bloodshot eyes were wide, but its lips were pressed tightly together.

From how it looked, this should be a...

"rage ghoul."

This "rage ghoul," just like how Ariel had been watching that "laughing ghoul" a moment ago, was hiding in a corner, secretly staring at Ariel.