That figure, without a doubt!

The one stepping on Greg’s corpse is the gatekeeper Gedok who previously would shout to adventurers to open the gate.

Although Gedok would sarcastically jab a couple of times when adventurers insisted on using the main gate, he initially called for people to take the secret path willingly, so he is presumably favored by adventurers... maybe?

"It’s that money-stealing guy."

However, Uffie’s face darkened the moment she saw Gedok.

"He dares to show up here again." Fanen also displayed a dangerous look, his sharp claws gleamed.

What’s going on, why is the adventurers’ attitude towards Gedok not very good?

"What’s the deal with the money stealing?" Leon asked with interest as he casually tossed a flying knife toward the other person.

The flying knife embedded deeply into the ground next to Gedok’s feet, though intentionally missing its mark, he screamed "Eek!", no longer daring to handle his lord’s corpse, shrinking as he looked over at them fearfully.

Feels like the residual shadow of Sain Dungeon is much more humane than those from other dungeons, Leon thought to himself.

"This guy is a residual shadow guiding people, claiming to guide, but such a wide side path anyone with eyes can see, his only use is to open the gate ahead of time." Isha took up the narrator’s role and explained:

"Originally thought to be a mediocre guy, nobody understood why Sain would even preserve him as a residual shadow," Isha looked at Gedok like he was trash and added, "but later, when exploring Stoneveil Castle, we discovered that after dying and reviving, the Lune loss is more than before and things often go missing."

"Could it be?" Leon roughly knew what Isha was about to say.

"Yes, all stolen by this guy, if you just walk back a few steps while exploring the city you can see this bastard secretly tailing us, and he even loots corpses!"

"So despicable!" Maru couldn’t resist shouting while swinging a fist.

"And the reason you haven’t killed him yet," Drew, proficient in dungeon exploration, said, "is because you’re worried killing him might cause certain residual shadow events to disappear?"

He guessed correctly, no matter how annoying Gedok is, considering residual shadow events, as of now no one has killed him, at most they beat him up, and as long as Gedok gets a beating, he won’t steal things anymore during this exploration.

He is also the only residual shadow currently in Sain Dungeon who doesn’t become hostile to adventurers even after being beaten up... or should it be that he’s afraid?

"I see... does he have any grievances for taking revenge on Greg?" Leon asked.

"Unclear, just know he said Greg kept exploiting and insulting him." Isha shook her head.

"Really." Leon nodded, speaking no more, just asked: "You mentioned that if the residual shadow gets killed, it only affects one’s own dungeon exploration right."

"What are you planning, might cause certain events to disappear." Isha advised.

"Correct, only affects personal dungeon exploration, partners are unaffected, and I don’t think this guy is tied to any significant event." Surprisingly, Fanen chimed in at this moment.

Leon looked up at him, their gazes met, exchanging something unknown.

People are uncertain about what Greg did to the gatekeeper, but based on current experiences, everyone’s sentiments towards Greg are somewhat higher.

Uffie went over to ask Gedok what he was doing, the response was nothing more than "This guy humiliated me so I’ll take revenge" and "From now on I’m free to do anything I want", accompanied by some giggling laughter.

She examined closely and confirmed that the items the guy was selling didn’t seem particularly valuable.

So she swung her fists and beat him up before leaving confidently, even if offending him meant no longer buying items, it didn’t matter.

After this commotion, the group decided to take a stroll around Stoneveil Castle first, looking for the location of the Divine Tower according to the stele information, so they turned and left.

And not long after everyone left, Gedok who was battered and bruised crawled up shakily, speaking filled with resentment: "Lowly Faded ones, I’ll make you pay sooner or later!"

His eyes sparkled with venomous resolve, trying hard to lift his head.

Then he locked eyes with those behind the thief hood.

"...Ah!" Gedok paused in a daze, suddenly jumping up, somehow unaware a man wearing a thief hood had appeared before him, as terrifying as a ghost!

"Shh—" The Mysterious Hooded Man gestured for silence, then slowly unsheathed the Ring Knight Straight Sword.

"Wait, what are you doing? Hold on—"

A mysterious slashing sound rang out.

"I’m free now, I can do anything I want..." Gedok’s final words echoed.

Dropped {Gedok’s Bell Sphere} x1

The Mysterious Hooded Man sheathed his weapon, suddenly turning sharply, meeting Fanen’s gaze leaning against the trunk watching him.

They exchanged a look, revealing shared purpose.

Fanen, slightly surprised, uncertainly asked: "Lai, Leon?"

The Mysterious Hooded Man familiarly patted his shoulder, signaling to follow, the smile beneath the hood was evidence of a sunny disposition.

"You have to deal with unpleasant folks, you think so too, right?" Leon’s voice came from beneath the hood.

Fanen paused for a moment, but thinking he also intended to secretly return to beat Gedok, shared a similar intent although Leon’s methods proved more radical, thus a feeling of complicity arose, he also laughed:

"Yes, that’s the way to do it!"

"Where did you go, you’re so slow." Moments later, Uffie asked the returning pair.

Leon and Fanen didn’t say anything, just exchanged a smile and kept secrets.

"When did you two get so close..." Uffie mocked helplessly.

She had been thinking about training Fanen to face Leon in the future, but now that they are on good terms, she wonders if they’ll hold back when they fight.

Speaking of which, she’s been treating Leon and Dal as training opponents for Fanen these days, and now she finds herself awkwardly unable to converse naturally with Leon.

"Forget it, let’s not talk about that. The Divine Tower seems to be right ahead, surprisingly close."

After leaving Greg’s Fog Gate, walking to the other side leads to an extraordinarily spacious hall, and opposite the door is an excessively large bridge. There’s also a white-haired lion standing guard nearby, looking extremely dangerous.

However, to a team of strong allies, the threat of such a monster isn’t much compared to the Red Wolf at the academy—it was swiftly dealt with.

After passing through a hall filled with knight statues, they arrived on the bridge, where the sound of waves crashing against the sea beneath echoed, and the salty, damp air entered their nostrils, making them feel uplifted.

At the end of the bridge stands a tall tower reaching straight into the sky.

The storm surrounding Stoneveil City greeted dawn at the top of the tower, with rare bright sunlight pouring down from the storm’s breach, adding a sacred feeling to the entire tower.

"You can tell right away that’s the Divine Tower, it really has a unique aura."

"The scenery here is also very captivating," the Strategy Group marveled.

"I wonder what a certain bat lady would say if she were here," Maru suddenly smiled slyly.

"Wow, if this scenery was captured and put into the guide, it would definitely make a big profit!" Leon said in imitation of someone’s tone, instantly filling the Strategy Group with a joyful atmosphere.

"I’m really envious of them..." Fanen showed a longing gaze, the joyful atmosphere of the Strategy Group made him want to join them.

"Hey, hey, what are you thinking?" Uffie quickly grabbed his arm, noticing his unfaithful thoughts: "Didn’t I say there are two more apprentices? I’ll introduce you later, you’ll definitely get along well with them!"

What a joke, she hasn’t even started the match with her father and her top generals are already considering defection!

In any case, after some persuasion, Fanen’s restless heart finally returned to loyalty.

Just as they stepped onto the bridge, a rumbling sound arose, and the bridge shook violently. They soon discovered the source of the commotion—a few giant golems, much bigger than mountain monsters, were slowly getting up!

Outside the golem’s encirclement is the direct path to the Divine Tower, Leon gave his comrades a signal, and everyone understood. Drew immediately cast the Wind Walking Technique on everyone, and they took off running.

Who would want to fight several giant golems at once? There’s important business to attend to!

The golem with a long spear repeatedly struck the ground like playing Whack-a-Mole.

The golem with flames emitting from its chest spewed hot lava at the group.

The golem gripping a big bow bent its bow and shot arrows that were comparable to telephone poles at them, each shot making the bridge tremble.

It truly was a thrilling running journey; any ordinary team would likely fall here.

Luckily, Uffie and Leon are anything but ordinary. With their swift legs, they reached the entrance of the Divine Tower without shedding blood, successfully pushing open the door before being hit by arrows.

A wave of the unique dust smell of ancient architecture wafted into their noses, and what greeted their eyes was a huge elevator surrounded by several fire urns. The firelight dispelled the chill and illuminated the walls adorned with various mysterious reliefs, looking particularly enigmatic.

The group had no time to admire; the golems charged in, forcing them to activate the elevator, rapidly ascending into the sky, apparently heading straight for the tower top.

The people were chatting and laughing, completely unaware of what they might see shortly.

"Giant... fingers?"

At the sunlit tower top, a hand larger than an adult lay still in the center. Surprisingly, the hand only had two fingers, the surface appeared long weathered and shattered, exuding an eerie atmosphere.

In the center of those two fingers, a rune identical to Greg’s Great Rune quietly floated, radiating gold light.

"Sain Dungeon really does have all sorts of peculiar things."

Leon studied the Two Fingers, determined they wouldn’t suddenly revive, and then boldly approached, extending his hand engraved with the Great Rune symbol to touch the floating rune.

In the next moment, a faint golden stream flowed from the rune into his body. The rune on the back of his hand shone brighter, as if it had been "activated."

"Now, it only lacks a Rune Arc."

Leon ran his fingers over the hand’s back with satisfaction, his face full of joy from encountering new things.

One by one, people walked over to activate the Great Rune, looking like obedient children lining up.

Meanwhile, Leon walked to the edge of the tower, where he could overlook the sea and the entire scene of Nimgefo.

Not just Nimgefo, distant scenes blurred in his vision, the colorful land appearing before him like a vast, magnificent painting unfolding.

It was only upon seeing this extraordinary view that Leon truly felt he had arrived in Sain once again.

"I’ve arrived in a new place..."

He touched the solid bricks of the wall, the cold sensation feeling particularly pleasant. He was now just thinking where to explore to appreciate the beauty of this new area.

Just then, his shoulder was patted. Turning around, he saw it was Fanen.

Fanen leaned against the wall, the wind blew his slightly curly short hair. He handed Leon a self-made map of Nimgefo by adventurers, and with a cool smile said:

"Welcome to Nimgefo."