[RAY POV]
Two suns hung in the sky, creating a warm atmosphere that wrapped around the land like a heavy blanket. The air was fresh and felt alive, thrumming with a deep intensity that could be felt clearly just by sensing it with one’s body and soul.
The trees in the surroundings stood like towering giants, their trunks thick and rough like ancient pillars carved by time itself. The mountains, the grasslands, and every visible stretch of land appeared overwhelmingly large, as if this world had evolved specifically to house creatures of enormous size and overwhelming physical dominance.
And it was true, because this world was not Akumia. It was the world of beasts, whose name even Ray did not know despite spending considerable time surviving within it.
When he first arrived in this world, he had been consumed with fear and confusion.
After all, no humans existed here, only beasts that ruled every corner of the land. Even the rabbits that roamed this world were the size of elephants, and their calm appearance hid a violent and ferocious nature that revealed itself the moment they sensed prey or threat.
He had been pushed close to death so many times that he had started regretting his decision to come here, but alas.....he could not return now.
It was not that there was no way to go back, but the path that could take him back was so suicidal that attempting it would almost certainly lead to his immediate death.
Of course, all this information was provided to him by his system.
Maybe I shouldn’t have stepped into that space crack.....
Ray thought as he dragged his bloodied and battered body toward the river stream in front of him. Each movement caused his muscles to scream in protest, while fresh blood slowly seeped through torn wounds and stained the oversized blades of grass beneath his feet.
Today’s hunt had once again ended in failure. He had not been able to kill even a single rabbit in this place.
Their hides were simply too durable, layered with dense flesh and natural defenses that were far beyond ordinary beasts. Even though the God Slayer Sword was extremely sharp, its true destructive power was directly tied to Ray’s own rank and growth.
He could create cuts across the bodies of those monstrous rabbits, but piercing deep enough to deliver a fatal strike remained beyond his current capability.
Even when he activated the Indomitable Mantle skill to grant his attacks explosive impact and greater force, it still failed to give him the overwhelming power required to end them in one decisive blow.
The moment he tried to push the battle toward finishing a single rabbit, the surrounding group would instantly charge toward him, forcing him to retreat while barely preserving his life. Their coordination was frighteningly precise, almost as if they were consciously preventing him from securing a kill.
It felt as if they were deliberately playing with him.
They would allow one rabbit to step forward and fight him alone, watching patiently from the sides as if observing a performance. However, the moment he came close to killing that lone rabbit, the entire group would rush toward him like enraged predators protecting one of their own, leaving him no choice but to escape.
{They find you entertaining, thus they are using you as a source of entertainment. After all, you are the only human on this planet, I suppose. And looked tiny and unique to them.}
"The way you say those words feels disgusting to me," Ray muttered, his voice carrying a bitter undertone while exhaustion clouded his expression and his breathing remained uneven from continuous battles.
{How is that my fault? It is your mind that chooses to interpret it that way. And I would say you are quite unlucky that the space crack led you into this den of ferocious rabbits. But then again, you are fortunate enough that you have not become their food. Considering their appetite and territorial nature, surviving this long is already an achievement.}
Ray simply sighed after hearing Aetheris’s words. The sound escaped his lips slowly, filled with resignation and acceptance, because deep down he knew it was the truth.
The System had not lied when it stated that the space crack would not lead directly to the Semi Divine beast’s abode.
The space crack was a spatial phenomenon where three completely different locations became connected in a strange and unstable cycle. In this particular case, the world of Akumia and this beast world had somehow become linked through that irregular dimensional disturbance.
The space crack present in the world of Akumia led directly into this den of ferocious rabbits, while the crack located in the Semi Divine Beast’s territory led back toward the world of Akumia. Meanwhile, the crack hidden within the ferocious rabbit den served as the gateway that connected to the abode of the Semi Divine beast.
Their entry points and exit points were completely different, functioning in a circular yet distorted pathway that defied normal spatial logic.
Well, it was true that it did not make much sense, but it was the reality he was currently trapped within.
How good it would have been if I could have just jumped into the abode of the Semi Divine beast and then instantly entered again through that crack to return back to my world.....
{Are you having those suicidal thoughts again? Have you mistaken a Semi Divine being for some street ruffian that you can casually bypass? Even if by some heaven defying luck you managed to outpace the senses of a Semi Divine beast, your fortune would still not remain on your side. After all, the space crack, or perhaps what you can call a dimensional crack, vanishes after a person enters it once, and it only appears again after one full day.}
{I do not think even that System of yours could allow you to survive for one second in front of a Semi Divine beast, let alone endure its presence for an entire day. The pressure alone would likely crush your existence.}
"I know alright, you don’t need to rub salt on my wounds."
Frustrated and exhausted, Ray removed his torn and blood soaked clothes before stepping into the river. The warm water flowed around his injured body, washing away layers of dried blood and dirt while causing a sharp sting across open wounds that slowly dulled into a numbing sensation.
After cleaning himself, he leaned back against a large rock that remained partially submerged beneath the gentle current. The warmth of the water relaxed his tense muscles, allowing his battered body to recover slightly from the relentless strain of survival.
"This world surely holds a strange kind of peace and silence, if one ignores the occasional roars and piercing screeches of those enormous birds circling high in the sky."
His gaze slowly drifted upward as distant shadows of massive winged creatures glided across the twin suns, their cries echoing across the vast wilderness like reminders that this land belonged to beings far beyond his current strength.
He muttered to himself, allowing his thoughts to float freely as he stared at the twin suns reflecting across the moving water.
I didn’t know acquiring a Rune would have been this difficult. I wonder how Ash managed to get them.....
Although there was lingering displeasure in his heart whenever he thought about him, he had to admit that Ash’s ability to collect Runes had earned Ray’s respect. If nothing else, he had to acknowledge Ash’s power, determination, and resourcefulness, all of which were far beyond ordinary individuals.
But I have always thought about something that I cannot seem to understand even a little. I have the System that told me about the Runes, but what does Ash have? Does he also have a System, or is it something entirely different..?
That thought had always lingered in the back of his mind like an unresolved puzzle, yet he had never found an answer to it. Ash even knew the reason why demons killed his family and even knew the name of the demon responsible.
Something like that could not simply be attributed to a System. Ray had always carried his suspicions, but he had never possessed any proof to support them. It was nothing more than a strong instinct that refused to fade away.
{You are thinking about that again. Ash cannot be a time traveler, and someone who travels into the past cannot remain alive for long.}
{You are taking Time too lightly. Seeing both the future and the past incurs the wrath of the Heavens in the form of debuffs, curses, and sometimes irreversible disabilities. Unless someone possesses Fate affinity, which is extraordinarily rare, escaping the influence of Time is almost impossible.}
{Fate and Time are connected. In fact, everything that exists in the universe is connected in one way or another. Time cannot exist without space. Space cannot exist without gravity. Gravity cannot exist without matter. Matter cannot exist without mass. Mass cannot exist without energy, etc.}
{If you were to claim that Ash traveled to the future, I might have accepted that possibility. However, traveling back to the past is far more disastrous. I do not remember all the details, or perhaps those memories are sealed for now. You will need to grow stronger if you wish to uncover them. But what I can tell you with certainty is that going back to the past leads to unavoidable death.}
Ray remained silent throughout the explanation. It was not the first time Aetheris had told him something like this, but it was certainly the longest and most detailed explanation he had ever received.
Lost in thought, Ray leaned against the rock as the warm glow of the twin suns stretched across the endless wilderness, painting the rivers and forests in golden hues. For a brief moment, everything felt calm and distant.
But suddenly, as if someone has flipped a switch.....screams filled with fear erupted across the world.
They were not human screams, but terrifying roars and screeches of beasts echoing across mountains, forests, and skies.
In an instant, the silent and peaceful world descended into complete chaos.
That was not the only change. Ray felt his heartbeat accelerate violently as if his chest would burst open at any moment. His mind became hazy and unstable, forcing him to activate more than five mental stabilization skills just to maintain clarity and control over his thoughts.
The next moment, as he hurriedly began wearing his clothes, the entire world trembled violently, as if something incomprehensibly massive was pushing or dragging it across existence itself.
The ground beneath him vibrated in deep waves that traveled through water, stone, and air, carrying an overwhelming pressure that made his instincts scream in alarm.
{Eternals?}
Aetheris spoke in a confused tone, as if struggling to remember something important, yet he instinctively understood that whatever was happening was the work of the Eternals or something even above that rank.
While Aetheris remained lost in his thoughts, he snapped his attention back toward reality after hearing Ray’s horrified shout.
"WHAT THE FUCK!!!"
***