章 23: The Eye of Judgment

"Don't worry, just ignore it."

Even though Yukina was an inhabitant of Ground Zero, she still found the Terror Ghoul disgusting. That's why she quickened her pace and got ahead of Albrecht.

She wasn't scared of the Terror Ghoul, not in the least. It's just that, she didn't want to get close to a horrid creature.

'Wait til she sees the Terror Ghoul Captain. That would be a feast for the eyes.' Albrecht muttered to himself.

Zap~!

Suddenly, the dark lightning they were using as a guide changed direction. Albrecht and Yukina had to retrace their footsteps as they followed the altered path of the maze. The time interval of the maze changing was random as well, that's why all that the duo could do was run, all the while keeping their distance from the Terror Ghoul.

Quite frankly, they don't really need to mind the Terror Ghouls since there was no way they'd approach the two. After all, Yukina was the guardian of the First Outerlayer, and the Terror Ghouls were inferior to her.

As much as they wanted to absorb her aura, they couldn't even dare approach her.

Albrecht was aware of that. That's why he ignored the Terror Ghouls despite their threatening presence. The duo continued running, weaving through the meandering maze as it continuously changed. There was no time to lose. At most, they have one day to clear the dungeon and obtain the Beast Horn of Obedience.

Scenes seem to pass by in a blur as the duo continued running. Both of them were on the verge of exhaustion, but they pressed on, clinging desperately to the optimism that they'll clear the dungeon.

Shiiing~!

A brief shining light appeared from the distance, and Albrecht instinctively turned his head at it. The sparkle wasn't in their path, but Albrecht recognized what it was, and he didn't think twice about deviating from their way.

'Is it what I think it is? But then again, I'd need four of them. I'll only be wasting time if I get it and it's just a quarter of a whole.' Albrecht muttered to himself.

Nonetheless, he went to the shining light.

And what he found there made his eyes almost pop out of their sockets. The Cardinal Needles, which were supposed to be scattered all over the entire Shadow Realm Dungeon, were all gathered in one place.

A quick confirmation from the System gave Albrecht the statistics of this scenario happening. It was less than 3%, and he so happened to encounter it.

[You have obtained the Cardinal (North) Needle]

[You have obtained the Cardinal (South) Needle]

[You have obtained the Cardinal (East) Needle]

[You have obtained the Cardinal (West) Needle]

[You have gathered enough materials to craft a legendary item]

[You have learned the skill 'Craftsmanship', 'Fusion', and 'Combination]

[Accessing the Akashic Records of Space and Time for crafting, fusion, and combination recipes...]

"To think that I'd be this lucky. It was worth checking out that sparkle." Albrecht muttered to himself. For a moment, he forgot the mission at hand, and he decided to craft the item with all the four items he gathered. After all, the Cardinal Mirror Compass could be considered a shortcut to clearing the Shadow Realm Dungeon.

[Four key items can be fused]

[Fusing Cardinal (North) Needle, Cardinal (South) Needle, Cardinal (East) Needle, and Cardinal (West) Needle]

[Fusion Successful]

[You have obtained the Cardinal Mirror Compass (also called the Eye of Judgment)]

[Item: Eye of Judgment (S-Rank)]

[Would you like to equip the Eye of Judgment?]

[Yes/No]

Albrecht didn't hesitate to equip the Eye of Judgment.

[Item: Cardinal Mirror Compass (Eye of Judgment) (S-Rank)

Obtainment difficulty: ?-Rank

A divine artifact said to point to the truth. It is the ultimate guide and seeker of truth and judgment. Grants the user the 'Zecian Clairvoyance' skill. It perceives the innermost parts of the soul and shows relevant information and true identities of anything perceivable. Might or might not work on otherworldly beings.]

[The Akashic Records of Space and Time is reacting strongly]

A split second was all it took for Albrecht to finding the shortest path to the center of the Shadow Realm Dungeon. He resumed his sprint with Yukina right on his tail.

Five minutes passed, and they finally arrived at the center of the Shadow Realm Dungeon. Right in the middle of it was a huge horn with gold and diamond engraving.

From afar, it looked like a normal relic or a museum accessory. Nevertheless, Albrecht was aware that the item was actually the Beast Horn of Obedience. He just needed to get it and get out of the maze. With that, the Shadow Realm Dungeon will be cleared, and they would have a fighting chance against the outbreak from the Second Outerlayer.

However, a huge Terror Ghoul floated on top of the Beast Horn of Obedience. It let out a groan which sounded more like a shriek of despair.

This gigantic Terror Ghoul was also known as the Terror Ghoul Captain— an A-Rank Monster that could only be defeated by a group of Diamond-Rank and Platinum-Rank Adventurers. No one has seen the Terror Ghoul Captain before, except for the other Albrechts in alternate dimensions who already conquered it.

With all the information he had about the Terror Ghoul Captain, Albrecht had already foreseen more than a dozen ways how to defeat it.

In hindsight, it was all thanks to the other Albrechts who had defeated one before. And mostly, it was thanks to the System that had gathered all those information and had given Albrecht easy access to them.

"A Terror Ghoul Captain. It's the first time I've seen one." Yukina commented. "How are we going to defeat it?" Yukina asked with a curious expression on her face.

This left Albrecht disappointed since he expected a more violent reaction from her. Unbeknownst to him, though, it took every being of Yukina to hold her composure. A little bit of scare would be enough to make her undergo an out-of-body experience. That was how terrified she was of the Terror Ghoul Captain.

It didn't take long before the Terror Ghoul Captain detected the presence of Albrecht and Yukina. With a grunt, it turned its head towards the duo, letting out a shriek as it closely guarded the Beast Horn of Obedience.

"M-m-master! How are going to defeat it?" Yukina hissed as she hid her whole body behind Albrecht, cowering in fear.

"That's the neat part. We won't." Albrecht responded as his eyes glowed a nice shade of white and gold. He had activated the 'Eye of Judgment'.