Tearing the Boundaries Apart

I quit my job, and now I have a huge pile of things to deal with: health issues, family matters, looking for a new job, and all sorts of other business. On top of that, I had been away on a business trip and only just returned, so there was even more to take care of. That was why it took me until now to start writing again. I still can't guarantee a steady update schedule for the time being, so I'd like to apologize to everyone in advance. I'm truly sorry. However, Xingkong still guarantees that I'll finish this book properly!

"There's still... half an hour."

Landen checked the time and said casually, then returned to his bored state.

At Pippin's insistence, he had been forced to arrive an hour early and wait here. Naturally, he wasn't happy about it. He had already made all the preparations and only needed to arrive on time. Coming early like this accomplished nothing and was simply a waste of time.

The two sides had nearly come to blows over this matter. Once again, Valhalla had acted as the mediator, finding a compromise between their opinions and shortening Pippin's proposal of arriving half a day early to arriving just one hour early.

Of course, Pippin's proposal hadn't been entirely unreasonable. As he had said, who knew whether Masked might emerge from the Shadow Realm ahead of schedule?

However, judging by the current situation, Landen's assessment had been correct.

There was half an hour left, yet Masked still hadn't appeared.

Landen looked up through the patch of sky above, shaped like a bowl and surrounded by mountains. As he watched the last sliver of sunlight, he suddenly waved and called Old Wang over, then began giving him quiet instructions.

In the distance, Pippin