Once the moment passed, the three of us roamed the castle, looting anything that looked useful.
After some searching, I found the perfect weapon for Ghost.
He was completely captivated by the twin black daggers, each releasing a violet aura that rose like dark steam into the air.
He twirled the daggers in his hands, testing their weight and balance.
"They feel light… but they're actually really heavy," he noted.
"They're probably made from the same metal as my swords," I said with a smirk, sharing what little knowledge I had.
"They also align perfectly with dark and shadow attributes—making them ideal for someone like you."
Ghost nodded in appreciation, silently thankful. The whole exchange didn't feel like one between friends anymore…
More like one between someone who had crossed a threshold ... and others who hadn't.
Everything that had happened had left its mark on our relationships, changing them entirely.
It felt as though years had passed… when in truth, it had only been a few hours.
Ghost was the biggest winner—now wielding an SS class weapon.
As for Snow and me, we each took a set of the black armor once worn by the Nameless cult.
Dressed in the same dark gear, white-haired and all… we looked eerily similar.
"Darkness suits you," Snow said.
"Not as much as it suits you," I replied.
He, who once always carried a bright and cheerful aura, now seemed changed. After facing the depths of the underworld himself… I knew it was an experience he'd never forget.
There were countless treasures all over the place ... we took as much as we could fit into our rings.
Still dazzled by what they'd seen, both Snow and Ghost couldn't help but ask:
"What is this place, really?"
A simple question, yet one I couldn't answer easily.
"This place… is a tomb."
A vast tomb that buried the story of a king.
After gathering all we could, the three of us finally left the castle.
"What now?" Snow asked—a valid question.
Even after everything we'd been through, our main problem still remained:
How were we supposed to get home?
But that wasn't a problem anymore.
"This way."
I pointed toward the path, and both of them looked at me with curiosity.
"I know this sounds strange, guys… but I promise I'll give you answers soon. Right now, I just need you to trust me and follow."
I knew it was selfish of me to ask that after they risked their lives for me.
But my head was about to explode from all the information that had been shoved into it.
I couldn't think straight anymore. I just needed time.
"No problem," they both said.
They understood.
"Thank you... really. Thank you so much."
And just like that, the return journey began.
"There are several teleportation gates scattered across this place," I explained. "One of them was broken before… but now, we just need to find another."
I knew where all of them were.
I had no idea how to calibrate them to return us to Earth, but I suspected the Engineer's followers had already prepared one.
The journey was quiet ... each of us lost in thought, trying to process everything we had seen and experienced in this forsaken land called Londor.
None of us spoke.
Every so often, nightmare creatures emerged along our path. But—
"Slash!"
It only took a few strikes of my sword to tear those horse-shaped beasts into pieces.
My body felt incredibly light. My strength had increased without me even realizing it.
I began correcting small, unnecessary movements in my combat style—instinctively, based on the knowledge I had absorbed.
And there was also Shadow Adaptation, now at level three.
I still didn't fully understand what that ability gave me.
At level one, it allowed me to adapt to my opponent's fighting style and develop instant counters. It was such a powerful ability that I unlocked the Upper Shadow element the moment I reached it.
I assume stages two and three will grant me similar—or perhaps entirely different—powers.
But honestly… I don't know yet.
I figured I'd find the answer eventually.
The massive boost in my strength hadn't gone unnoticed—Snow and Ghost both realized it immediately.
I could tell I was no longer beneath Snow's War King Form in any way. In fact, if I went all out now, I might even surpass him.
My power had multiplied several times the moment I put on that mask. And even though I hadn't absorbed everything inside it, what I had taken was more than enough to elevate me to this level.
As I was now, I was confident I could go head-to-head with any SS ranked fighter without issue.
It was a massive leap.
And yet, I couldn't bring myself to feel happy about it.
Not while I knew that this body of mine might just be a borrowed vessel.
The journey that once took us over a month… was now over in just a few days.
We tore through anything in our path, eventually reaching the hidden teleportation gate nestled deep within a forest.
"I expected it to be harder than this… maybe even running into the Lord of Graves again."
Snow's concern wasn't misplaced. But the Lord of Graves wasn't around anymore.
Even he wouldn't dare linger in the same land as the Lord of ligtt, who was still nearby.
"The real problem is what's waiting for us on the other side."
Nearly three months had passed since we left Earth.
"We've got a lot to explain…"
"Yeah," Snow muttered with a smirk. "Pretty sure winter's hit by now. We were at the end of the year when we left."
"I bet we're going to be expelled from the temple when we return."
"Worse ... we might be listed as missing."
I had sent Ada a warning that I'd be gone for a while, but I could imagine how worried she'd been. She probably searched for me everywhere.
Still, none of that mattered anymore.
We just wanted to go home.
We stepped through the portal without delay, leaving the barren land of Londor behind.
A place where we saw and experienced far too much…
The place where it all began.
Once we returned to Earth, we arrived back at the Shadow Sect ... the very place we had departed from.
I knelt and touched the soil, filled with pure aura, and realized just how much of a blessing it was to live on a planet that wasn't dead.
"Never thought I'd miss the Shadow Sect," I murmured, staring at those dark walls.
"Nothing like home, man. Let's move," Snow replied.
We didn't linger.
The journey took only a few days thanks to our current strength, which made it easy to destroy anything in our path—especially since Earth's monsters were nothing compared to the ones in Londor.
At first, we thought the magic circle we used to arrive had long since faded… but to our surprise, it was still there.
"That's strange. Was that hired mage really that strong? For his spell to last this long?" Snow asked.
I nodded slightly.
"The last time I came here through a similar gate, the caster had to borrow aura from the entire Starlight estate. This… this isn't normal." I stared at the glowing magic.
It was suspicious, but its presence saved us a lot of time. Instead of crossing the entire Eastern Nightmare Lands, the portal would take us straight home.
"Let's go," I said, and both Snow and Ghost followed.
We expected snow the moment we arrived—but the weather didn't seem all that different from when we left.
A bit odd, but nothing worth overthinking.
After crossing the Oclas Mountains…
We were officially back in the Empire after our long absence.
"Lord Starlight?"
One of the border guards attacked us by mistake the moment we stepped forward.
He ended up attacking us ... but I took him down effortlessly.
"It's been a while…"
I assumed three months was long enough to be missed.
But the guard's reaction surprised me.
"What are you doing here, Lord Starlight? Didn't you just return a few days ago with Lady Ada?"
"…Huh?" I blinked in confusion.
To confirm my doubts, I quickly checked the date on his smartwatch…
What I saw left me and the others stunned.
We had definitely been gone for three whole months.
That much was certain.
But according to the clock…
Not even half that time had passed.
In that moment, we all came to the same realization.
"Time flows differently here than it does over there," I said.
Only three days had passed on Earth...