The Ferryman

This black Great Sword appears to have once been someone's weapon, and after the fall of the Black Iron Knight, it was sized to be usable by humans.

However, Ivan's power is still unusable. Even after he asked the Gravekeeper Girl to help him absorb the power from the Crystal once, he still cannot use the sword freely.

Helpless, he could only ask the Gravekeeper Girl to keep the sword for him for the time being, then walked out of the door and left the Graveyard.

Outside the Graveyard was a path leading down the mountain, and no other monsters were encountered along the path.

Halfway there, he suddenly heard the sound of flowing water again. Ivan followed the sound and came to a riverbank.

The riverbank was covered with Crystal clusters of all sizes. The light within these Crystal clusters was not particularly bright; some were already dim and almost invisible. The ground of the riverbank was also covered with Crystal fragments of all sizes. These fragments had lost their light and would shatter very easily if stepped on.

Strangely, as Ivan descended the mountain, the setting sun, which had been hanging in the sky, disappeared without a trace, leaving the riverbank devoid of any other light source except for the faint glow emitted by the Crystal.

At the end of the riverbank, there was a dark Great River, and the view on the other side was not visible. In this darkness, Ivan even thought it might be a vast ocean.

He walked around the edge of the riverbank and found a very dilapidated pier in a cove. Next to the pier was a large metal gong.

Upon seeing the gong, Ivan suddenly couldn't resist the urge to tap it with a hammer.

The clanging sound carried far and wide, and then suddenly a row of flames appeared on the riverbank.

A small, pitch-black boat emerged from the darkness and gently moored at the shore. On board was an old man, his figure hunched over and his face obscured. He raised the oil lamp at the bow and shone it toward Ivan.

"Hmm--So it's a person after all?"

The old man's voice was as unpleasant as an owl's, tinged with a hint of surprise.

"I never expected to meet someone here. You came from the Graveyard? That's even more rare—an undead who retains human intelligence and hasn't lost their way."

"Hello."

Ivan asked him, "Is this the ferry for this river? If so, I'd like to take a ride and see what's going on outside."

"Go outside? What's there to see outside?"

The old man grumbled, "Ever since the king outside sealed off the passage to this Graveyard and sent steel Puppet to guard the Graveyard, I haven't had any business. Those rulers outside are afraid the dead king will rise again and seize their Authority, so they sent all their kings and Knight here. That Puppet, it's like a city wall. With it there, nothing outside can get in, and nothing inside can get out, not even at the end of the world... Oh, by the way, I haven't asked yet, how did you get out?"

"I defeated that Puppet; it had aged too much time."

Ivan answered honestly.

"What? You defeated that Puppet?"

The old man glanced at him a couple more times, which surprised him.

"Then you can board the ship. I won't charge you."

Thank you.

Ivan boarded the ship and then sat cross-legged at the stern.

The old man picked up the Oar that was lying across the boat and began to row, talking to Ivan as he rowed.

"To be buried there, you must be a very important person, right? Who are you?"

"I don't remember."

Ivan replied.

"Lost your memory? That means your soul has been stolen."

The old man said, "Do you see those lights? The light shining in the Crystal on those riverbanks, that's spirit. Everyone in this world has a spirit within them, and there are also many unclaimed spirits, born from the oldest tree in this world. People can absorb unclaimed spirits and make them their own. When a person's spirit is taken away, they may experience amnesia."

"I see."

Ivan touched his chest.

No wonder I often feel like something is missing from my body.

"Don't even think about regaining your memories."

The old man glanced at him.

"Even if you steal enough spirits to fill your emptiness, those spirits are no longer your original ones. Ha, but whether you remember this godforsaken state of the world or not makes no difference. In any case, no matter how glorious your glory was, the country you once belonged to is now destroyed."

Is the situation outside really that bad?

Ivan asked.

"There are no countries left outside now; in fact, it's quite difficult to find anyone still conscious and alive."

The old man replied, "The outside world is now full of corpses crawling out of the ground, monsters, and a group of Divine Attendant falling from the sky. Those Divine Attendant are all madmen now, killing and burning anyone they see. To be honest, I really don't understand why you want to go out. That Graveyard is probably the only peaceful place in the world now."

"We have to go out and see the world."

Ivan answered in a low voice.

The boat swayed on the dark river for an unknown amount of time before the riverbank suddenly appeared faintly ahead.

A few scattered lights flickered over there, but the Sun was still nowhere to be seen; it looked like night.

"It's dark now, isn't it?"

Ivan couldn't help but ask.

"It's getting dark?"

The old man chuckled softly.

"That's certainly true for this country; to be precise, it's their favorite eternal night."

Seeing Ivan's confusion, he continued, "This river now leads to various different countries, and in these countries, time no longer flows. Where it's dark, it's forever dark; where it's light, it's forever light. Of course, there are even more powerful ones, those are truly amazing, hehehehehe..."

Amidst the strange laughter, the old man escorted Ivan to the riverbank, to the small ferry crossing.

"If you come across this gong, ring it, and I will appear."

The old man showed no intention of going ashore. Instead, he poled his boat back into the dark river. Before parting, he said to Ivan, "Anyway, there's no one else to ferry you across at a time like this. I won't charge you. If you want me to take you, just ring the gong. Of course, that's assuming you haven't lost your mind, hehehehehehe..."

After saying goodbye to the oddball with his sharp tongue and grating laughter, Ivan followed the path in front of the ferry and climbed higher.

This place was significantly larger than the Graveyard. Under his feet, there was no longer a mountain path, but a main road and steps paved with stone slabs. Looking up, he could vaguely see the city walls and gates in the far distance.

Ivan climbed the steps all the way to the city gate, and when he looked up, he saw the words written on the gate.

The City of Light.