Claire stood before the mushroom house, lips tightly pressed together, clutching a Communication Stone that flashed continuously in his hand. His eyes remained fixed on a curtain of light not far away, one that was steadily contracting.
That curtain of light was not gentle flowing water, but a millstone that pulverized all rules. Wherever it passed, ancient rocks and twisted vegetation alike were reduced to particles of nothingness.
This was a cruel compression of living space, the first test the Fairy Ancient City used to select the strong.
"Whoosh—"
The slowly moving curtain of light suddenly sped up, rapidly closing in on Claire at a visible rate.
A teeth-grinding squeezing sound rang through the air, as though the shell of the world itself were shattering.
Claire's expression shifted slightly. His knuckles turned white from the force of his grip, and he instinctively looked back toward the mushroom house.
"Whoosh—"
At almost the same moment, a fierce gust rushed toward him, and dazzling golden light bloomed before his eyes.
That golden light was not warm. Instead, it carried a cold, metallic quality, like an instantaneous eruption of highly concentrated energy radiation.
Claire instinctively narrowed his eyes and retreated two steps, a faint stinging sensation spreading across his skin.
When he came back to his senses, he saw Dago standing before him.
Dago stood there quietly, the golden radiance around him slowly withdrawing into his body like a peerless blade returning to its sheath.
Compared to several days ago, Dago's appearance had not changed much, but his entire aura had undergone a heaven-shaking transformation.
His gaze was no longer as sharp as before. Instead, it was as deathly still as an abyss, and the occasional flicker within it carried indifference toward all things in the world.
It had grown deeper and more