Six Letters on Salt Marrow

Perhaps his Arsonist Specialty had played a part, or perhaps the flames that burned the Wicker Man had some mysterious quality. Either way, as time passed, the entire City of Isoville was engulfed in a terrifying sea of fire.

Flames surged upward. Signs burned and fell, and wooden doors burst apart. Stone warped in the heat, metal melted into boiling liquid, and grand buildings collapsed amid billowing smoke.

Corpses lay everywhere as flames swept through the city. The endless heat seemed to warp the air. Blisters rose on the Wild Men's bodies, hissing as they charred black.

Apart from the lack of screams, it was a scene of utter apocalypse.

The fire spread so fast that Xia Lun had no time to inventory his haul. He stuffed the "spoils" into his backpack and left the City of Isoville before the flames sealed his escape route.

To make sure no Salt Monsters survived, he closed the massive stone gate at the entrance before leaving and thoughtfully slid the heavy bolt back into place.

Boom—

The gate sealed shut, cutting off the heat behind him. Xia Lun let out a long breath. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and glanced at his backpack, now coated in gray-black particles.

There might have been more to find in the underground city, but Xia Lun was quite certain he had already taken its most valuable treasures.

While searching the palace, he had followed the intuition granted by Treasure Hunter and discovered a Darkroom beneath the throne in the main hall.

The sight of the Darkroom's door had puzzled him.

The door was extraordinary. Made of alloy nearly half a meter thick, its sleek metallic sheen looked utterly out of place amid the rough, primitive surroundings.

Unable to find a switch quickly, Xia Lun had