Unable to leave this place?
Hearing the old man's words, Richard narrowed his eyes slightly, rose from his chair in a crouch, and tensed the muscles beneath his clothes, assuming a fighting stance.
While he preferred not to fight if the matter could be settled peacefully, he did not fear a fight either.
What puzzled him was that the old man did not likewise assume a fighting stance. He remained seated, looking over at him as he slowly said, "Young man, don't be hasty. I may stop you from leaving, but not in the way you imagine—that would take far too much effort. As an old man, I have my own methods. Much gentler ones."
Richard did not relax his guard in the slightest. He stared at the old man, prepared to deal with an attack at any moment.
The old man continued, "Do you want to know what method I intend to use against you? If you're curious, I'm willing to tell you."
Richard did not answer.
The old man began on his own. "I told you earlier that, for the safety of the plane and to set it upon the correct path, the entire Truth Society carried out a great correction upon the whole world. One crucial part of that was removing the effects of the Dawn Project's modifications from living beings.
According to the theory of Divine Punishment, modifying life and elevating its essence was defiance of the position assigned by God—an immense sin. Thus, the entire Truth Society began the Reverse Dawn Project, also known as the Dark Seal.
During the Dark Seal, we used a series of methods to return countless individuals in the plane to the ordinary people they had once been, stripping them of their ability to wield extraordinary power. The same held