"—In the secluded bamboo grove, I never saw the sky; the road was perilous, and I came alone too late."
"—Standing alone atop the mountain, clouds gathered below."
"—Dim and obscure, day was as dark as night; the east wind drifted, bringing Divine Spirit Rain!"
A murky, grating chant emerged from the vortex, intermittent and echoing over Silent Forest. It seemed as though every glimmer of light between heaven and earth had been swallowed by that vortex.
The east wind swirled, clouds and mist coiled about, and sparse black raindrops scattered across the land. Some of the ferocious blood-eyed monsters wailed and shrieked as they melted in the black rain, while others rapidly swelled in size beneath it, their presence climbing higher and their auras growing ever more frenzied.
At the same time, to onlookers, the enormous vortex seemed at one moment to shrink into a tiny dot, while at the next, the distance between it and Professor Emma was stretched infinitely far away. The pair of grayish-white Giant Hands reaching out of the vortex also became distant and tiny.
Professor Emma quietly listened to the chant.
She quietly watched as the vortex cleverly used Spatial Magic to open a safe distance from her.
She made no move to interfere with the other party's descent.
On one hand, this spatial passage lay above Silent Forest. Shattering it would indeed keep the uninvited guest on the other side of the passage "outside the door," but it would inevitably damage Puji Island's geomantic balance and spatial structure.
On the other hand, Professor Emma also felt a certain urgency to earn merit—she had assumed the position of Vice Principal of First University before fully advancing to Legend, attracting much gossip, criticism, and even secret opposition and resistance. But if she could successfully suppress