Ash approached the pale boat. After climbing aboard and untying the rope, he grabbed the oar and began rowing toward the opposite shore, where the sensation of the Dawn Fragment was coming from.
As the boat moved, he noticed the mist became much denser, with the same sensation he was already accustomed to.
It wasn't as intense as the Soul Devourer's, nor as deadly as during his First Nightmare, but it was difficult. He could hear whispers in his mind, figures at the periphery of his vision.
Letting out a sigh, he kept rowing until he reached the other shore. Upon landing on the stone floor, he noticed the mist had become denser and obscured the enormous cave.
'Strange,' he thought. The underworld was strange.
Ash continued venturing into the mist, guided solely by his latent ability.
Soon, when he exited the tunnel, he entered a labyrinth where he continued taking twists and turns, choosing the correct path to avoid wasting too much time on his search.
Several hours of walking passed until he finally emerged from the labyrinth, arriving at a great arched bridge over a river.
The mist had ceased to be hostile and was now just a mere haze.
Crossing the stone bridge to the other shore, Ash observed a human skeleton sitting on a rock, looking at the river of the underworld. On its head was a crown resembling a diadem with a metal band.
Ash approached the skeleton and grabbed the crown, which disappeared in a sea of sparks.
[You have received a Memory: Fragment of Dawn]
Ash summoned the Memory and immediately activated the enchantment, feeling how his powerful Ascended Memory rose a full level, temporarily becoming a Transcendent armor. Likewise, his Pale Needle grew stronger.
With this, he would have no trouble dealing with the Cursed Herald.
Ash ignored the corpse and continued on his way toward the depths of the cave. The cave was large, tall enough for a giant to pass without any problem; the perspective made Ash feel like a dwarf.
Now that he had one of his objectives, he only needed to obtain his second Memory.
---
Walking for nearly an hour, he arrived at a new area. The ground was covered in black sand, while the walls gleamed like obsidian. In the center rose an enormous pillar of dark stone, surrounded by huge scaffolds that, nevertheless, seemed tiny and insignificant on its surface.
Vaguely, it took the form of a titanic statue of the last hero who had sealed the darkness of the accursed city. Looking up, he sighed upon seeing the missing head, which had been torn off with devastating violence.
Ash activated the Mist Field enchantment. His armor, empowered by the Crown of Dawn, increased the range and density of the mist, which began to cover the entire space at great speed.
The creature let out a loud shriek, launching itself directly at the human figure.
Ash summoned his Fang of Mist, which had become a first-level Ascended Memory, and with the Misty Enhancement, his strength was sufficient to fight the Fallen-rank creature.
Ash watched the Spire Messenger land on the ground a few dozen meters away from him, unable to see through the dense mist, standing guard, ready to attack.
Ash began walking toward the center of the cavern. Upon arriving, he placed his hand on the base of the incomplete statue for a few seconds, then turned toward the Messenger.
Letting out a sigh, Ash ran directly at the Spire Messenger. His movements were silent. The Misty Enhancement had completely increased his power, making him much stronger, much more resistant, and much faster.
Ash appeared from the side, leaping directly toward the Messenger's wing.
His enhanced sword, using its enchantments, easily broke the creature's defense, completely severing one of its wings.
The Messenger screamed, twisting its body and using several of its clawed legs to try to tear him apart.
The legs struck the Memory fabric without leaving the slightest damage or scratch.
Upon landing, Ash disappeared into the mist, using the Camouflage enchantment to avoid being seen by the Messenger.
Since he had cut off one of its wings, it was unable to flee to the sky, so it had no choice but to fight.
He watched as the Messenger beat its remaining wing, trying in vain to disperse the mist. The mist was wide and dense, covering a large part of the cavern.
Originally, the enchantment had a range of about one hundred to three hundred meters, but with the enhancement, the range multiplied several times, covering over a kilometer.
And since it was passive, he didn't need to spend essence to keep it active.
Ash moved stealthily behind the Spire Messenger.
Without hesitating, he swung a slash with all his strength, his sword impacting one of the fallen beast's legs, leaving a huge, bleeding wound.
The Messenger turned, launching its body with its sharp beak in the direction of the attack, but there was absolutely nothing there.
The Messenger felt another deep wound on its body, and then another from a completely different side.
A third wound came from above, severing the remaining wing, which fell to the ground. Rivers of blood poured from the deep wounds of the Spire Messenger's body.
Ash, hidden in the mist, watched this with satisfaction. Although the attacks he had received were painful, the Cloak of Mist had not put his life at risk.
After waiting a while, Ash found a way to kill the fallen creature.
Running around it, he delivered a slash that opened a new wound. When the Messenger turned to attack, Ash slid downward, directly toward its belly. A moment later, he plunged his sword in, making a complete cut that gutted the creature. It staggered for a few moments before falling. Ash moved, avoiding being crushed and drowned.
Ash retreated into the mist. Despite the mortal wound, the Messenger was not worried; its eyes were filled with unbridled rage and malice, searching for him to kill him.
After all, it was only a matter of time before blood loss killed the beast.
Ash was not a brave, fair, or stupid warrior seeking his own death. This world does not reward the just and brave, but those who survive by using every possible advantage.
Besides, he didn't want to get seriously injured. If he received a severe wound, he would die from blood loss.
Ash watched the Spire Messenger in silence, not moving. One, two, three, four, five full minutes passed until finally, the Messenger collapsed to the ground. Its eyes, once full of malice and fury, turned gray and lifeless.
A smile appeared on Ash's face as he emerged victorious.
[You have slain a Fallen monster, Cursed Herald]
[Your soul grows stronger.]
[You have received a Memory.]
Ash didn't even summon his runes to find out what he had obtained. The Fragment of Dusk was an extremely heavy shield that he didn't want to use.
He stopped using the Mist Field enchantment, and the mist began to dissipate slowly.
After a few minutes, the entire cavern returned to normal, with no trace of the five-meter-tall devilish sea from before.
Ash walked to the corpse and opened it up with his sword.
After searching a bit, he extracted two brilliant Ascended-rank fragments. The fragments were similar to glass spheres that gave off a curious glow.
Ash looked at the fragment in his hand before exerting pressure and destroying it.
[Your soul grows stronger.]
Ash looked at his counter.
Phantasmal Fragments: [872/1000]
Ash frowned slightly. His progress wasn't as fast as he would have liked. He was less than two hundred fragments away from having his second soul core.
Ash looked at the fallen monster's corpse. He didn't have a storage Memory. He wanted to take the creature's legs with him, as well as its meat for the journey.
In the end, he sighed.
Cutting pieces of meat, he separated the hide, creating an improvised bag with a few kilos of meat to eat on the road.
"Well, there's nothing left for me to do here, so I'm leaving."