Master Of Astral Summoner-Chapter 162: Daemon hunt-rite

'Wow… I didn't expect this. The sky suddenly looks this bright.'

Shaan stopped for a moment when he noticed the color of the sky above Twilight Sanctum. It felt… completely different from before. The dark atmosphere that Shaan had seen almost every day since arriving here vanished instantly, and for the first time, he could see something that actually resembled a "sun" in the Dark Realm.

'Damn. I can even see clearly around this forest now, and I—'

"Hey, what are you doing?" shouted the officer who happened to be walking behind Shaan. "Hurry up, the other participants have already arrived at the location, and the Daemon-hunt rite is about to begin."

"Ah, o-okay."

Shaan quickened his pace and finally slowed down when he saw a massive crowd of participants filling the area around the cave entrance. The sight left him speechless. His mouth fell slightly open as he stared at the gathering, which looked like a swarm of ants.

"This is insane… absolutely insane. How can there be this many participants?" Shaan scratched his head, frustration briefly flashing across his face. "Damn it. Because I got distracted by the sky earlier, I ended up getting separated from Chelsie and Nalira. Where are they now?"

Shaan scanned his surroundings, but unfortunately, he couldn't spot either of the two girls anywhere. He tried to squeeze his way between the participants, yet the crowd left him no gaps at all. Damn it. None of these participants seemed willing to give up their positions.

"All participants, listen to me." Shouted one of the officers wearing a gray uniform standing in front of the cave entrance. "Today, we will begin the daemon hunt rite event. Are you all ready?"

"Ready!" A sea of voices filled the place.

"Before the event begins, I will explain several important rules," the staff member continued as he swept his gaze across the crowd. "First, participants must not attack one another while inside the cave. If anyone breaks this rule, we will immediately disqualify them from the event."

'Yes, that sounds reasonable.'

"Second, before you enter the cave, the officers had handed out your weapons at the twilight sanctum earlier. Make sure to double-check that it is indeed the weapon you used. It is prohibited to bring additional weapons or high-powered explosives into this cave.

'I agree. Of course, that would be very dangerous and could harm everyone, right?'

"And lastly, when you hear a siren sound like this—"

"SKRREEE—!"

All the participants immediately covered their ears simultaneously when the strange sound rang out. The noise resembled a broken radio, shrill and painfully loud enough to pierce anyone's ears.

'What the—?!' Shaan quickly covered his ears. 'What kind of sound is that?!'

"When you hear that sound, it means the Daemon Hunt Rite has ended. Understand?" the staff member shouted.

"Understand!"

"As for the scoring system, we already explained it back at Twilight Sanctum," the staff member continued as he pulled a sheet of paper from his pocket. "The staff also handed out these papers to each of you before, in case you forget the rules or the scoring details." He looked at all the participants' faces. "Do you have any remaining questions regarding the rules of this event?"

"…."

"If there are no questions, then today's Daemon Hunt Rite officially begins!"

The moment the staff member finished speaking, all the participants rushed straight into the cave. Shaan felt his adrenaline surge as he ran along with the crowd. For some reason, his competitive spirit awakened, fueled by the blazing enthusiasm of the other participants.

'Come on, Shaan. You can do this.'

With renewed determination, Shaan charged into the cave, fully prepared to defeat anything that stood in his way. However, the moment he stepped inside, the atmosphere shifted completely.

'H-heck… what's going on?'

Shaan halted when he saw all the other participants suddenly stop. Two separate paths stretched out in front of them, each leading deeper into the cave. Small signboards stood at the entrance of each path, and red moon symbols marked their surfaces like guidance signs.

"What does this say?" said one of the participants, a man dressed in brown, as he began to read the small writing under the red moon symbol. "It says here—"

"Argh, slowpoke." The burly man immediately pushed the man roughly. "Take the other path. There's a big hole waiting on this path," said the man with a laugh. "What kind of stupid clue is this?"

All the participants, who heard the man's loud words, just laughed. They all thought the clue was pretty stupid and sounded so honest.

However, for some reason, in the midst of the laughter, Shaan remained silent. He instantly remembered Sebastian's previous words, 'Don't trust the clues.' Damn. Could this be what Sebastian meant?

"The person who made this clue is an idiot for telling us something this important," the burly man mocked with a laugh. "But at least thanks for the information."

With full confidence, the large-built man followed the direction shown on the sign without any hesitation. Nearly half of the participants chose the same path as him, while the rest headed toward the other route.

'Something about those signs feels wrong, 'Shaan thought as he stroked his chin. 'They must be a trap. I need to tell Chelsie and Nalira about this.'

Without wasting any time, Shaan immediately looked around, trying to find the two girls. Fortunately, Shaan managed to find the two girls still standing in front of one of the boards, as if waiting for something.

"Chelsie, Nalira!" Shaan shouted, calling out to them both. "Thank goodness, I found you two."

"Shaan?" Chelsie waved her hand. "Thank goodness you're okay too."

"Chelsie, Nalira, you have to—"

"There's something strange about that clue." Nalira stroked her chin, her expression serious. "We chose the other path."

'It seems Nalira realized that. Good instincts.'

"Huh?" Chelsie scratched her head, her face looking confused. "B-but, Elsie, the clue said—"

"Lira, listen. Why would an officer place a clue so carefully to tell us the truth? This must be a trap. I'm sure of it, Nalira said, walking toward the other path. "I'll take this path."

"W-wait!" Chelsie immediately ran after Nalira, who had already moved ahead. "Shaan, come on—we need to catch up to Nalira!"

Shaan nodded and chose the other path. Halfway down the road, they suddenly heard people shouting for help from the road next to them. Damn. It turned out that what Sebastian said was true; the clue was misleading.

'Luckily, Sebastian told me this,' Shaan sighed. 'Otherwise, I might have ended up like those who were trapped.'

"Oh my gosh, that was close." Chelsie covered her mouth, her face pale. "Elsie, you're amazing."

"…. Come on, now we have to—'

"CRRRAK—KRRSS!"

"What was that?"