[Analyzing….]
[No one found]
“What?” Ryuk felt slightly confused as he saw Haldar blocking his path, standing and looking straight ahead. His senses could clearly hear multiple voices, individuals screaming, and the roar of a monster, yet the system detected no one else present—meaning that aside from Ryuk, Esme, and Yao Lian, there were no strangers with unknown energy signatures.
[ This appears to be a formation, Host ]
‘I see,’ Ryuk replied, standing still and gazing into the distance. Even the smallest details, from the bugs in the grass to the stars in the night sky, were vivid in his eyes.
However, despite all his senses, he could not clearly detect if this entire Trial 2 was indeed a formation.
It was certainly not a matter of Ryuk being weak, given that Esme’s illusions were strong enough to confuse him, despite her being technically weaker than he was in strength. Thus, it was likely the type of energy used in this case. Noting the sword marks that cleared a section of the forest, it appeared Iliantara had attempted to break through the formation using brute force.
However, considering that Iliantara and Lucas were standing with their arms folded, looking toward the second portal, it was most likely that they had successfully broken through the formation and reached the other side but were now stuck due to some kind of restriction placed on the second portal.
It seemed probable that this restriction had something to do with either the others or the formation itself, preventing them from moving on to the third trial.
“Is something the matter?” Esme inquired, having just turned her attention away from Yao Lian after casting an illusion on her for safety, given that breathing in such an area could be lethal.
“…nothing. Can you feel anything in this place? Like an illusion or something?” Ryuk asked, glancing toward the dense forest, as night had already descended, enveloping the area in darkness.
“No, it feels normal,” Esme responded, stating that she could not sense any energy disturbances in the area—similar to Ryuk, who also could not perceive anything amiss, apart from the system’s alerts.
“What if…” Ryuk mused. He contemplated the possibility that the formation was written in a mechanical form, not emitting energy that Esme could detect. It could resemble the green slab, which utilized runes.
Naturally, he came to the conclusion that the formation possessed a runic architecture. He recalled memories of the Ardoros, where he had seen a lock inscribed in an ancient language outside his mother’s room.
Most likely, at that time, he learned about artifacts with mechanical structures, drawing energy from another dimension, not specifically from the current location.
Clearly, those energies were manipulating the surrounding energy as fuel, with the main trigger residing within themselves.
“By the way, where are the horses?” Esme asked, seemingly unconcerned about the dire situation.
Unlike her usual self, her calmness suggested that her trust in Ryuk allowed her to feel safe, even amidst potential danger.
“Hold my hand,” Ryuk said, not wanting to reveal that he had given three horses to Lin Feng and arrived here alone. He extended his hand, and Esme clasped it between her own, gripping tightly.
“Let’s go.” As he took her hand, he moved forward, automatically channeling his ability throughout his body, including a push that instantly nullified her energy.
“Uh-huh?” Esme looked blankly at him as she felt all her stored energy drain away, leaving her energy core empty.
She stared at him in confusion, but he continued calmly forward, pulling her along with him.
Without any issue, they passed through the barrier and onto the clear path forged by Iliantara, who had cut a straight line through the forest.
As he entered, Ryuk distinctly felt as though he had passed through an invisible wall, as something on his skin was nullified, including the push.
With this experience, he was able to understand it better. He finally understood why others, except for Iliantara and Lucas, had not gone through this path.
It was not due to pride, as Esme suggested, but rather because they were unable to see this route due to the formation.
“I felt something,” Esme, now that she had entered the formation, felt a kind of energy within, making it clear that this formation was separate from all the planes present in this place, existing only inside the forest and separating it from other locations, making it appear like a separate dimension where the monsters that were killed could be resurrected.
Indeed, from the outside, everything appeared normal, but now as she entered, she could clearly feel the energy reacting vigorously; all the sounds and the explosions were much clearer as there was a fight going on in several places with those monsters getting disrupted by the fact that those energies which had scattered before were accumulating once again and creating that monster—a repetitive cycle.
Due to being much more sensitive to energy, and with her attribute being the creation of illusions, she was somewhat able to discern the mechanism of this formation, which was creating beasts or monsters one after another to fight with other people.
However, this did not seem to be their problem, given how the formation appeared to be cracked in this direction.
The outer walls had healed, but the mechanism was completely collapsed in the middle.
“Will no one be able to go through the formation?” Not feeling any energy or presence approaching them, Iliantara, who was looking in the direction of the portal, inquired of Lucas, who was also looking forward, where it was written that four to five people were needed at a minimum for the portal to open.
“Should I try to break through it?” Lucas, seated on a rock with his arms folded, felt the itch to pass through the portal while breaking the restriction. But it was also true that in doing so, he might close the portal, making them stay on this side forever.
“It needs five people?” Ryuk and Esme arrived without being noticed by Lucas and Iliantara, considering how both of them were surrounded by the energy of Sunya, which was nullifying everything, while also exhausting the yoke in the process—though, of course, it was not visible due to their physical strength.
“…..You, have I met you before?” Lucas glanced in Ryuk’s direction, narrowing his gaze as his folded hands slowly unfolded, before approaching him and stopping at a hand’s distance, looking coldly toward him as he inquired.
“No,” Ryuk replied in a nonchalant tone, uninterested in having a conversation with this guy who was strong but also suspicious due to his nonchalant attitude, given that he possessed that particular technique which even Ryuk felt was overwhelming his mind with dark thoughts.
Indeed, though it was not revealed or ever mentioned, after going through the Rakshasa technique and using it to control Lucas’s puppet, Ryuk felt mentally burdened.
It was as if the technique was corrupting him, but his ability nullified the corruption.
“Hmm, you… why do you smell like someone I know?” Lucas narrowed his gaze as he slightly perked his nose, looking suspiciously at Ryuk. His nose twitched.
‘This idiot,’ Iliantara slapped her face in embarrassment, realizing that this guy had just uttered a misleading nonsense.
“You! Stay away from him!” Esme jumped in between Lucas and Ryuk as if trying to protect Ryuk from him, given how he just sniffed a man.
Technically, he didn’t sniff; given how their enhanced senses were already far enough to let them know, but still, telling and instantly identifying someone through smell, especially of the same gender, was suspicious.
‘Is he a dog?’ Ryuk raised an eyebrow while feeling his mouth twitch at seeing Lucas, identifying him through his smell, even though he had done everything to hide his energy and change his eye color.
[Host, that guy is after your ability.]
‘What?’ Ryuk suddenly heard the system’s voice interrupting in the middle of his thoughts. Where he expected it to joke in this moment, it seemed serious.
Indeed, when Ryuk was unconscious and in a coma, he detected an energy signature nearby filled with killing intent. However, it seems he is acting kindly now, which is suspicious.
Earlier, the system was unable to identify Lucas’s energy signature from its puppet, but now that he is near Lucas, the system, which is in analyzing mode, has detected energy signatures that match those collected while in standby mode when it was gathering signatures around its host who had been in a coma for five years.
At that time, it noticed a malevolent energy signature, but it couldn’t identify the person since it was in sleep mode.
“Nope, I am not what you think I am,” Ryuk said with a blank expression, rejecting Lucas’ doubts, to which Lucas nodded before taking his seat again, folding his hands and closing his eyes as if he completely believed what Ryuk just said.
‘This idiot,’ Iliantara thought as she stood by, having just heard Lucas mention useless things he had already discussed with several people.
Indeed, he doesn’t have any scent recognition system, but upon seeing anyone strong enough to threaten him, he simply asks if they are Ryuk Devereaux.
“I apologize for his actions,” Iliantara said, stepping forward to apologize. Realizing there was no time for further conversation, she added, “We need five people to cross the gate.”
