"Enter," Sylas said, motioning toward a twist in space.
Alex and Jala looked at it for a moment, then toward one another.
"You mean to say that you could have let us enter before, but you didn’t?" Alex pouted. "We almost died, you know. Several times."
Normally, Sylas wouldn’t respond to something like this, but this time he actually looked between the two of them.
"I bring you two along because you might be useful to me in the future. However, you not only grow at a far slower pace than I do, but you are weak. Unless you can reach a certain standard, it’s not worth my time or effort.
"This time I’ll protect you like this only because it’s too great of a challenge. Nothing more, nothing less."
Alex’s pout only grew deeper. He didn’t need Sylas to say these things out loud; he already understood him maybe too well. The only one who seemed to finally "understand" was Jala himself, but it was hard to tell if he was happy about it, or just more disappointed.
In the end, not having your own life in your own hands wasn’t something that most people could accept. And it was even less possible for Jala, who was now somehow the last of his Hall Clan, and yet had nothing but treasures that seemed utterly useless when push came to shove to show for it.
"I think he’s getting soft on us," Alex whispered. "He actually explained something."
The Hollow Wing’s flapping wings sent the two flying in before Jala could reply. Of course, the Hollow Wing hadn’t done this on purpose. It, too, was just flying into the Hibernation Realm.
With that, Sylas turned to enter.
...
The world flashed around Sylas and the first thing he felt before he sensed anything else was a weapon coming right at him.
It was an odd feeling. His Luck warned him first, his eyes next, but his visualization... it seemed to fall on nothing more than emptiness, as though the attack was echoing from something different than the plane of existence he was still on right this moment.
Sylas immediately changed his tactics, using his sensitivity to the Mesh of Reality instead, but to his surprise he still landed on nothing.
He blinked for a moment, not understanding, his thoughts moving so fast that the blade was still only about halfway toward him by the time he managed to adjust himself again.
This time, rather than just focusing on the Mesh of Reality holistically, he focused on time alone, grappling with his Temporal Delay Progenitor Flame Ability.
For some reason, when he ignored the implications of space—or maybe it was more accurate to say the complexities—everything fell into place properly and he was able to see things for what they were.
He couldn’t help but be reminded of the little girl’s warning that his two Rune Mastery Paths were not compatible.
Sylas frowned, his claw squeezing down and shattering the blade before him. The ghostly warrior took shape in rusted armor, skeletal and rotten; it looked as though it could collapse any moment, but its strength was around the low Level 50s.
A single strike was all that was necessary.
’This battlefield has deteriorated along with everyone else.’
If the enemies had the talent levels of the Noble Demons before their suppression, there wouldn’t be a chance for anything here. Luckily, that wasn’t the case.
But Sylas found himself still lost in the battle of time and space, almost forgetting that he was actually here to save someone... no, this wasn’t even just about saving Megean anymore. If he couldn’t preserve her life, he would be trapped here for the rest of his life as well.
Taking a breath, Sylas slowly exhaled. If there was a secret to be found here, he would find it. But he had to have his priorities straight.
He didn’t have infinite time.
Soon, though, Sylas realized that maybe he would be a fool not to pay more attention to this.
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