Welcome to the Café of the Dark Guild’s Successor - Chapter 176

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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A café operated by the heir to the Dark Guild.
Chapter 176
As I looked around, the familiar path I walked every day felt strange and unfamiliar.
The overgrown bushes were thick with thorns, and massive vines twisted chaotically, blocking the way forward.
It was a road that would be difficult even for an ordinary person to traverse.
“I think it would be best if we stopped at the Temple first.”
“Wouldn’t that be dangerous?”
“If we recover the Holy Swords, they should be helpful.”
At Cayden’s suggestion to retrieve the Holy Swords that had once succeeded in sealing Desikan, I changed direction toward the Temple.
Though vines lunged at us from all sides, Grandfather’s protective barrier made it easy enough to reach near the Temple.
The demonic energy was as thick as when we’d ventured to the middle zone, pressing against my skin.
“What is that smell? Dreadful.”
“It’s the stench that comes from the evil spirits. This is no place to linger.”
Wyatt the elder and Rifed the high priest, who were walking ahead, pinched their noses.
“When the seal twisted, all five Holy Swords must have revealed themselves.”
“That one too?”
Biedler pointed to a massive serpent moving low along the ground, rapidly approaching us.
It was a Holy Sword I had encountered before.
“Yes. I’ll recover it.”
Without hesitation, Cayden poured Holy Power into his blade and charged toward the serpent.
The serpent, sensing the threat and having swollen its body, suddenly grew docile before Cayden and transformed into a sword, falling to the ground.
“Recovered.”
“This one too?”
“I’ve collected two.”
Though the Holy Swords were formidable, Grandfather, the elders, and the high priest were all such skilled fighters that it didn’t take long.
Once we’d recovered all five Holy Swords and regrouped, Cayden called out.
“From now on, the demonic beasts that couldn’t approach because of the Holy Swords will come charging at us.”
Before he’d even finished speaking, beasts began pouring out of the forest.
“Don’t waste time. Go now.”
We had no time to squander here.
Each of us took a Holy Sword and ran at full speed toward the Café.
The path was blocked in places, but it was far easier than the middle zone.
Upon reaching the Café, I clenched my teeth. The exterior was completely smothered by vines—the building was scarcely visible.
“Is this the place?”
“Yes. It’s been completely swallowed.”
Every door was blocked, which was troubling.
“How do we get in?”
“If there’s no entrance, we’ll make one.”
Grandfather stretched out his hand, and with a crash, the wall broke open.
“Is it alright if we fix it later?”
“As long as you build it stronger next time.”
I smiled as Grandfather glanced back at me.
Just as we’d rebuilt the Café after it burned down before, as long as there are people, we can restore the place whenever we need to.
As I entered the Café through the broken wall, my neck suddenly went cold.
“What’s wrong?”
Cayden, who’d been following right behind, stopped when he saw me and looked puzzled.
“His voice…”
Desikan’s voice echoed in my head again. He sounded furious, as if enraged that we’d escaped from him.
“Now I shall gain my freedom. I will find you soon and make you experience unimaginable torment.”
Biedler stepped in front of my confusion. His eyes were the same crimson red as Desikan’s, and I flinched for a moment.
“Rosia.”
But the moment my name was called by him, the fear brought on by Desikan vanished.
“Are you alright?”
“…Yes. Let’s hurry.”
I shook off Desikan’s voice and ran toward Grandfather’s room.
The interior of the Café was in disarray, but fortunately the Magic Circle remained undamaged.
“Everything will be decided here, it seems.”
“We can only hope that we can hold him back.”
In the heavy silence, I placed my palm on the Magic Circle. Light engulfed us, and we arrived at the Mine.
“Is this the place?”
Wyatt the elder looked startled at the space being larger than expected.
“Such precious Divine Stones scattered about like this. Heh. It’s easy to see why anyone would be tempted.”
“A place like this existed? We had no idea whatsoever.”
Rifed the elder looked shocked the entire time—ever since he’d seen the Magic Circle my mother had hidden.
“If we had all set aside our greed and shared every piece of information… things would never have come to this.”
But regretting what was already past could not undo the passage of time.
All we could do was give our best effort to avoid leaving any further regrets behind.
We descended and began searching the area in earnest.
“It’s unlikely to be where the miners have already dug.”
“I don’t sense anything at all. Are you certain this is the right place?”
“If it were easy to find, it would have revealed itself already.”
“Spread out.”
We divided the area to conserve even a moment of time.
‘I need to focus.’
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath to revive the senses I’d trained at Raven.
As I slowly opened them, there stood Biedler right before me.
“Aren’t you going?”
When I sent him a questioning look, he shrugged.
“You’re the best at searching, it seems. Let’s go together.”
“As long as you don’t get in the way.”
Biedler’s expression showed he was taken aback by my response, but he didn’t complain and followed quietly.
I scanned the surrounding terrain sharply.
Though I’d seen the landscape many times before, when I examined it with hidden places in mind, there were many suspicious spots.
But with so many solid walls worthy of calling this place a mine, I suspected that searching blindly could take years without result.
First, I excluded the core area the miners had excavated and headed to the thicket where old trees stood.
There was a cliff at the rear, and seeing it reminded me of the cliff where I’d been dragged by vines.
Wondering if there might be something there, I was slowly running my hand over the wall when—
“Is that supposed to be like that?”
“Like what?”
“The bracelet.”
Looking down at my wrist at Biedler’s words, my bracelet was glowing faintly.
Since this had never happened before, I tilted my head in confusion and touched the bracelet.
“Where did this come from?”
“From a village nearby. I happened to obtain it.”
Remembering that Cayden was the one who’d given me the bracelet, I called out to him nearby.
“Do you know why this is doing this?”
“That’s strange. I’m sensing the same energy that comes from the Holy Swords.”
“All of a sudden?”
“Yes. I could sense Holy Power from the beginning, but… not to this degree.”
Cayden, bewildered, reached out and touched the bracelet.
That was when it happened.
“Ah!”
The bracelet began absorbing Cayden’s Holy Power.
I pushed him away and it fell, but from the bracelet that had already drawn in his Holy Power, a straight beam of light shot forth.
“How curious.”
“We should follow where it leads.”
Grasping at straws, I ran after the light the bracelet was indicating.
The light guided us deeper to a cliff further inside.
As we approached the wall, the bracelet began to tremble.
I ran my fingertips over the wall and discovered a small groove in what appeared to be an ordinary surface.
There was no particular reaction when I touched it, but when I brought the bracelet near, I felt movement from inside the wall.
“There’s a space behind it.”
“Give that bracelet to the high priest.”
At Biedler’s words, I nodded and removed the bracelet. Cayden, with a tense expression, took it from me.
The bracelet began absorbing Cayden’s Holy Power once again, just as before.
And remarkably, the absorbed Holy Power compressed into a round crystal and fell with a soft clink.
It was exactly the right size to fit into the groove in the wall.
“Place it here.”
As expected, the crystal fit perfectly into the groove.
With a click, the wall slowly moved to the side. There was enough space for a person to enter.
“We found it!”
We cried out with joy.
Hearing our voices, Grandfather, Wyatt the elder, and Rifed the high priest came running.
“So it’s true. Well done, both of you.”
“Youth truly has its advantages.”
“High Priest, do you know anything about this bracelet?”
When Rifed touched the bracelet, nothing happened.
“So it only responds to High Priest Cayden. This is no ordinary object.”
Everyone looked cautiously beyond the wall shrouded in darkness.
A space that had been sealed for over six hundred years. We were careful, not knowing what might be inside.
However, having heard Desikan’s voice, I gripped my sword and stepped inside first.
Grandfather kindled a flame from behind, and the interior became visible.
I didn’t need to venture far before I saw the end of the chamber.
As the light illuminated it, Desikan’s enormous body, sleeping as if fixed to the wall, revealed itself.
It was far larger than anything I’d encountered before, and the pressure from merely looking at it was suffocating.
My heart pounded—thump-thump—as if he might open his eyes at any moment and strike us down.
The moment Grandfather spotted Desikan, he immediately created flame—the hottest one known to burn it.
But not even a scorch mark remained on his body. Magic was useless.
“How do we destroy it?”
“What if we pierced it simultaneously with the Holy Swords?”
According to Rifed the high priest’s suggestion, the Holy Swords did seem like they’d be most effective against Desikan, a creature of the Demon Realm.
“It will be useless.”
Just as I reached for one of the Holy Swords laid on the ground, Cayden, who had been silent until now, lifted his head.
His state of being—quietly composed—was different from his usual self.
“I think I finally understand.”
“Understand what?”
“The reason we existed.”
As I heard Cayden’s measured words, unease crept over me.
“It was always a question. Whether the Guardian’s true purpose was purification. Only now do I have the answer.”
Cayden’s eyes turned cold.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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