Power of Runes

I know nothing…

Yeah, Ash knew nothing about the enemy, even after giving what could only be called a spectacular performance of dying. All he had now were a few speculations from his observations, and even those felt uncertain.

Whether any of them were true or nothing more than wrong guesses, he could not say.

Clad in the guise of the Unknown, wrapped in his Phantom armor, the hood pulling shadows over most of his face, and the mask hiding what little remained, Ash stood at the very top of the underground city's dome.

Or rather, clinging to it like a spider clings to the ceiling, holding on with a single hand.

The Absolute Concealment shrouded him completely, not a trace of his presence leaking out.

From this vantage point, he could see the city in its entirety. Lights glimmered from windows and lanterns, streets branched like veins, and the dwarves moved about their lives far below.

The sight should have impressed him atleast, but all he felt was an urge to turn his back and leave. He wanted nothing more than to be gone from this place.

Yes, if he could, he would have already left for the central city by now… if not for one thing.

I will burn him… that bastard…

That thought alone was enough to anchor him here.

The thought burned hotter than the flames that had consumed his body. Call it petty or childish, Ash did not care.

He was a man who remembered every slight, every wound, and every humiliation, no matter how much time passed. If someone wronged him, he kept that memory until the debt was paid.

He would have made Melissia suffer through the exact same way she had once made him endure, if not for the state he had found her in at the time and consider his revenge taken.

He remembered every single debt. He had sworn to wipe out the Shadow Rats when he took the Rune of Stability, to destroy the one who had created the Trial Ground on the Dragon Continent, and even Solareth's name was etched deep into his memory.

He had not acted on any of these grudges yet, but the day would come.

The Unicorn might be spared death, but that did not mean they were safe from his revenge. Killing was not the only way to settle a score.

But this time…

I will burn that demon for sure…

And for that to happen, he first needed to find the source from where the demon was polluting the water to control the people

With Snow's X-ray vision, the network of water supply points across the underground city was easy to locate. Ash began at one end and moved through them one by one, checking for any sign of corruption. Hours passed like that.

But at each location, there was nothing. No strange mana, no demonic presence, no concealed remains.

Finally, he reached the last water supply point, far from the city's main entrance. He scanned it thoroughly, his gaze lingering on every pipe and reservoir.

Still, there was nothing.

There is nothing here… was my assumption wrong?

He weighed the possibility. If it is not from the water, then could it be from the food? But unlike water, food has no single source. It comes from countless houses, shops, and storerooms. Searching through them all would take too much time…

I wish I had some sort of intelligence-gathering un—

Wait…

If I do not have one, then I can just create it, right?

He still had one skill slot left. If he could somehow create an information-gathering skill, even if the chance of success was small, it could give him exactly what he needed.

Moving without hesitation, he slipped behind the massive water tank. There was a small cabin nearby, most likely a resting place or storage space for maintenance workers who serviced the water system.

Ash entered, closing the door softly behind him. The cabin was dim, dusty, and silent, the air stale from disuse.

Certain that no one was around, he exhaled slowly, cleared his mind, and stepped into his soul space.

Entering together with Snow, Ash spoke clearly,

"Skill Creation…"

As the familiar black and white window materialized before him, Ash began throwing out one idea after another for an information-gathering skill. Most were immediately rejected, either due to an insufficient description or because the probability of creation was abyssal.

"Create a skill for information gathering using all my runes."

[Insufficient description]

"Create a skill using Rune of…"

[Insufficient description]

"Create…"

[Skill creation failed due to very low probability]

"Create…"

[Failed]

"Create…"

[Failed]

"Create…"

[Failed]

No matter what Ash tried, the result was the same. Every attempt failed, the creation chance locked at an absurdly low 0.1%. That was far too low to create any skill worth having.

Looking at his arsenal of Runes, the outcome was no surprise. He did not possess a single Rune directly related to information gathering. Rune of Knowledge might help… perhaps… but Ash was far from certain.

What he needed was a carrier—something that could move freely, exist everywhere without being noticed, and yet still be sentient enough to listen, collect information, and deliver it to him.

Was there even such a thing?

He could not think of even a single one. He didn't think something like that even existed.

…Or did there?

Ash did not know, nor did he have the time to think about it further because without warning, he was suddenly thrown out of his soul space.

-BOOM!!!!

Crap!!!

His senses snapped back to reality, and he found himself surrounded by flames. The heat licked at the air, and the roar of the blaze was deafening. This time, it was not only his own body burning—everything around him was on fire.

The water tank above had been blasted apart, twisted metal and shattered stone littering the ground.

The shockwave had leveled everything nearby. His body was already healing, and the torn fabric of his clothing began stitching itself back together.

Before his thoughts could even settle…

-BOOM!!!

Another deafening explosion erupted nearby, the force slamming into him like a battering ram and sending him flying across the wreckage.

Fucking dwarfs!!!!!

He could already guess what had happened. Someone must have noticed an intruder near the water supply—him—and decided the quickest solution was to destroy the entire area.

That was the dwarven way: shoot first, ask questions later.

Ash knew exactly why he had been caught in the blast. When he entered his soul space, only his consciousness retreated; his physical body remained in the real world.

From the dwarves' perspective, he had simply been standing there in silence, doing who knows what, making him a prime target.

And yet…

I had Absolute Concealment activated… for hell's sake, how did they even see me?

Not willing to test his luck any further, and now aware of the direction from which the dwarves were watching, Ash teleported away without hesitation.

The world shifted, and in the next instant he was standing deep within a dark alley in the middle of the city.

He leaned against the wall, taking deep, steadying breaths as his clothes finished repairing themselves.

What a crazy city… really…

And this sentence, Ash didn't knew that he would be repeating for a long, long time.

Because not even a single minute had passed before…

-BOOM!!!!!!!

Another explosion tore through the air, the deafening blast shaking him to his core.

Curses… there are people around here, there are houses, how can they—

-BOOM!!!!

-BOOM!!!

His thoughts were drowned in nothing but the relentless roar of destruction. The entire area was engulfed in chaos, the missiles launched by the dwarves carrying nothing but pure annihilation.

Within moments, every house in a radius of several kilometers had been reduced to dust and shattered stone. The same fate had befallen the people. Blood painted the ground in dark splashes, bodies of the old and young alike lying scattered and broken. Children, elders… no one had been spared.

Ash's eyes trembled as he took it all in. Have they gone mad? Or… is this the demon's doing?

He was not sure what to believe. If the dwarves had truly gone insane, attacking their own without hesitation, that would be madness beyond reason. But his instincts told him this was not the case.

If they were not acting of their own will, then these attacks had to be connected to the demon in some way.

Beneath a massive slab of rubble, Ash stayed perfectly still. He could have teleported away in an instant, but he chose not to. If he left cover now, there was no telling whether another barrage would come hurtling towards him.

But there was various question burning in his mind, and one such was...

How is he sensing me? Or rather… seeing me?

It was the most troubling thing of all. His Concealment was absolute—just as the name of the skill stated, Absolute Concealment. Never before had it failed him. This was the first time another being had been able to pinpoint his location while it was active.

As his body finished mending and his clothes stitched themselves back together, Ash slowly crawled out from beneath the rubble. He ignored the lifeless bodies of dwarves strewn around him, stepping over broken limbs and crushed armor until he emerged into the open.

And then he saw it.

…Ah! Damn… it's a nightmare…

And in that instant, he wished he had never laid eyes on it.

***