The instant Klein realized that the old man was still alive, he instinctively took a step back, slightly bent his body, and raised his left palm before him.
In the indescribable silence, Klein tensed his nerves, like a cat ready to pounce at any moment.
Yet despite Klein's vigilant and aggressive stance, the old man with a face full of pale beard made no move. His eyes shifted slightly, his mouth half-closed, and he said in a muffled voice:
"Another Seer has finally come here."
"Another?" Klein frowned in thought, but then remembered that there were living beings missing from the God War Ruins. That might include several Seer Pathway Beyonders who had tried to find mermaids or had already successfully advanced.
Seeing that the other party intended to communicate, Klein chose to steady things for the moment despite the precedent of Lady of Despair Panatiya, and asked after some thought:
"Why do you say that?"
The old man with black eyes and white beard did not answer directly. Instead, he continued in that muffled, low voice:
"Do you want to escape this place? I can tell you how."
Klein was not swayed. Instead, he asked directly:
"Then why are you still here?"
The old man lowered his head and let out two dry chuckles from deep in his throat, giving an answer that made one's hair stand on end:
"Because I died long ago."
"..." Klein was certain that the old man before him was neither a spirit body nor something like a Zombie, but neither did he think the man would make such a joke.
The atmosphere froze once again. The old man could only slowly raise his head, glance at Klein in Gehrman Sparrow's appearance, and say:
"I used a special Beyonder Ability to find a gap