Alex darkly looked around himself, but he couldn’t find anyone near him.

What the hell?

He was sure that he had heard a young voice. His expression darkened even further, and he mumbled under his breath, "Is this place cursed...?"

Just as he spoke those words, he remembered the hidden city quest he had yet to complete.

To complete it, he needed to find the Seed of Darkness, which had cursed Nyxare, so it wasn’t as if he was wrong about the city being cursed.

Rather, he was on point.

"Is it possible that the one who spoke to me was Seed of Darkness?" He mumbled under his breath and walked over to a nearby stall.

He didn’t know what the Seed of Darkness actually was – it could be a person, a monster, or an actual seed, but the chances of the last seemed low.

If it were just a seed, the quest wouldn’t have been a hidden city quest – instead, it would’ve been major.

As he neared the stall, the citizens standing around it felt his horrible presence and instinctively took a step away from him.

Witnessing that, Alex frowned and asked in an irritated tone, "Where’s the cemetery?"

All color drained out of the citizens’ faces, but none of them answered.

A few long seconds passed in silence, and he stepped face-to-face with one of them.

"Where is the cemetery?" He asked again, his voice cold.

That person pointed to the left and muttered in a terrified voice, "S-Straight, left, straight, right, left, straight, left, right, straight..."

He continued, and the citizens standing beside him looked at him with terrified faces.

One of them placed a hand on his mouth and answered loudly, "It’s at the edge of the eastern city."

Alex nodded and left.

Just as he walked away, the citizens let out a relieved sigh, and all of them glared at the person who had been too specific with his instructions.

A few seconds passed as Alex found a relatively concealed spot and jumped into his shadow.

Although he was shocked by that voice, there was nothing he could do about it for now.

He followed the instructions given to him and soon reached the cemetery.

He stepped out of his shadow and stared at the numerous graves lined across the area. All of them had a dark chariot pulled by two horses engraved on them.

Another one of Primordial Night Nyx’s symbols.

He stepped closer to the graves and looked around himself, but there wasn’t anything that seemed out of place.

Nothing seemed strange, and the place appeared to be empty.

Suddenly, he stopped and grimaced.

There should at least be a Cemetery Keeper here. He thought and once again checked everything.

Even though I don’t see any Cemetery Keeper, the graves are clean, and all of them have white roses placed on them.

Something was strange with this place, and from the moment he had entered, he was feeling a bit lightheaded.

Is there something in the air?

He jumped into his shadow or at least tried to.

Just as he entered his shadow, he fell through the ground and appeared in a wide room with lanterns lining the walls.

All the lanterns had ghostly blue flames dancing within them, and the walls were lined with various symbols — night skies, owls, mist, and moons — all belonging to various elements associated with Goddess Nyx.

Although the giant room was barely brightened, it posed no issue for him.

With [Shadow Eyes], he could clearly see everything.

"What the hell is this place?" He muttered sombrely and walked toward the largest symbol on the wall.

It was a depiction of the night sky as a veil, and every other depiction around it seemed less vibrant.

"I don’t even know what’s going on anymore."

He placed a palm on the veil, and it shifted.

"What the—?!"

Before he could even take a step back, the veil wrapped around him and pulled him.

He tried to jump into his shadow, but the veil disrupted its activation, so all he could do was watch as the wall devoured him.

Once he disappeared from the room, another incomplete symbol appeared on the wall.

Suddenly, the wall opposite the veil parted into two, and a person wearing black, obsidian armor walked out of it.

The knight stared at the wall and then mumbled in an amused voice, "I told you not to come here."

After a few minutes of nothing but darkness, the world around Alex shifted, and he appeared on top of an altar.

His attire had been changed to a torn leather tunic and pants.

He stood up from the altar and looked around.

The walls of this temple were white and had golden filigree across them.

Yet he couldn’t find a single symbol belonging to the Goddess Nyx – instead, he found a different one.

"No wonder I am feeling stronger," he mumbled while gazing at the vast, shadowy expanse.

It was the depiction of the Domain of Prime Shadow, Erebus — Primordial of Darkness and Shadow.

Because Nyx and Erebus had come into existence together, they were considered siblings – however, divine beings had no such classifications.

Later, the two of them had birthed two children: Light and Day.

"Why is a temple belonging to Erebus here?" He mumbled in confusion and walked toward the exit.

Although Erebus and Nyx were closely related, the original story had never mentioned the former – Nyxare was strictly about the latter.

To think his temple exists within the shadows of the dead.

He soon stepped out of the temple and froze as a blue system screen appeared before him.

[System: Host Alex, you have entered the location of a Story Quest.]

[System: Host Alex, you have received a Story Quest – End of Darkness.]

[Quest: End of Darkness — Witness the battle that had ended the Prime Darkness.]

[Reward: +10,000 Experience, +10,000 Evo Points, Divine Lineage of Darkness and Shadow.]

[Time Limit: None]

[Failure: None]