“This doesn’t make any sense… Just what is going on over there…?! Why are the members of the ancient races taking orders from mortals?” Tox was baffled by what he witnessed.
At first, Tox thought that he was just seeing things. After all, how could those ancient races be ordered around by mere mortals?
However, upon closer observation, Tox soon realized that his ability was not playing tricks on him.
With Tox’s sudden revelation, the other celestials were just as bewildered as him.
“Ancient races following mortals—has there ever been such an occurrence throughout the history of the world?”
“How can it be? Even the strongest mortal would be no match against the weakest of the ancient races.”
“It really doesn’t make sense at all.”
As the celestials spoke among themselves, Astratis furrowed his brows as a slight frown appeared on his face.
“It is unthinkable that those stubborn ancient races would submit to mortals. Alas, it’s unfortunate that I am unable to use the Celestial Gaze without drawing attention to myself; otherwise, I could confirm it right away. If it is true that mortals have discovered a method to control the ancient races, it will be beneficial to our purpose for coming to the Celestial Battlegrounds.” Astratis internalized.
Though despite his optimism, Astratis did not get his hopes up too high. In the end, there was a higher chance that Tox misread the situation unfolding than there being some mysterious method that even the celestials did not know existed.
Meanwhile, Argosima released a small sigh of relief.
“That Tox—is he trying to scare us to death? For a moment, I thought he was going to say there were 200 people, not twenty.” Argosima commented as he shook his head.
“Are you still thinking about that bet? You should follow my example and set it to the back of your mind. All you have to do is wait patiently for the free gift to fall into your hands.” Neri replied in an almost boastful tone.
“Heh, you’re right. We can just sit back and reap the benefits this time. I’m glad you convinced me to wager four items like you. Otherwise, I would have really lost out.” Argosima said gratefully.
“Just be glad you listened to my advice and-” Neri replied as she smiled and nodded.
“This can’t be right! Why are they still increasing…?!” Tox exclaimed.
Every step Tox took, the number of people he discovered with his detection skill continued to rise.
50…
100…
150!
“There-!” Tox tried to speak, but he seemed to have trouble getting the words out of his mouth properly. His face was no longer one of shock or disbelief. Instead, it had transformed into a look of dread!
“Tox? What’s wrong? Did something unexpected happen up ahead?” Argosima asked.
However, Tox ignored their inquiry and immediately set his sights on Izroth.
At the moment, Izroth still maintained that same carefree expression of his that he had from the beginning. But, looking at it now, Tox felt as though he were staring at the face of a demon.
“…200…” Tox uttered quietly.
Neri frowned, “What is it? Why is it that you have chosen to go mute all of a sudden? Speak up properly.”
“…200—there are more than 200 lifeforms ahead of us…!” Tox forced himself to speak out.
The instant those words left Tox’s mouth, everyone looked at him as if in a puzzled manner. Though Tox did not blame them as even he found it hard to accept the words that came out of his own mouth.
It was not too long ago that he claimed himself to be without equal when it came solely to detecting others. No equal? He could not help to look back and see it as an absurd statement! If he was without equal, then what was Izroth? How could someone with such a miniscule amount of Ethos beat him at his own specialty?
Naturally, there were those among the celestials who did not immediately take Tox’s words at face value.
200? Surely, they were just hearing things, right? Yes, that must have been it. Or, perhaps it was Tox’s poor attempt at humor.
“It’s okay if you want to tell jokes, but it should not come at the cost of neglecting your duties as a scout,” Argosima stated.
Argosima put up four items for the wager—an amount that exceeded even the value of Tox’s original bet with Izroth.
More importantly, he placed his bet along with the others not even a minute ago! Wouldn’t his loss now be a little too unreasonable?!
“That’s right. Don’t be ridiculous. The range of your detection is 300 meters. We are roughly 620 meters from where we entered the Celestial Battlegrounds. In order to observe a group that far away, one would have to more than triple the range of your detection ability. A detection ability that covers an area that large—wouldn’t it be stepping into the territory of the Celestial Gaze?” Neri commented.
Only extremely powerful celestials like Astratis or his siblings could implore the Celestial Gaze, a detection ability where one extended their Ethos thousands of meters. This allowed them to observe everything in a broad or narrow manner. It also let them “see” things that were otherwise hidden from the visible eye.
Of course, the downside was that it could not be concealed since one’s Ethos would be on full display. That’s why someone like Tox with a natural detection ability was invaluable on their current mission.
Now, Tox wanted them to believe that someone, who barely had enough Ethos to be considered a lower celestial, could detect people that were nearly an entire kilometer away? It was a ridiculous notion!
Some of the other celestials who also took part in the wager also expressed their concerns with Tox’s claim and wanted to see it with their own eyes.
“Isn’t saying he has a Celestial Gaze too much of a joke?”
“Hah, maybe he’s trying to get some of us to back out and take some more Young Wings for himself.”
“It’s not good to be too greedy, you know? We’ll be keeping our bets. Ahahaha.”
“You all…!” Tox had to swallow his words as he almost coughed up blood in anger.
He had already chosen to accept his defeat and come to terms with it, but now they accused him of wanting to take more for himself? Take more what? Embarrassment? Hadn’t he already been humiliated enough?!
“Alright, let’s stop there. There’s no need to linger on the matter any further. Since we have to pass that way regardless, we’ll know the results soon enough. That being said, I hope that everyone has not forgotten our main objective. When we arrive, I won’t be able to make a move and risk alerting the pillar. Therefore, I will be depending on everyone here to handle the matter without fault. If I find that anyone is slacking off because of the bet, then I’ll just end it here and declare Izroth the victor. Understood?” Astratis stated.
After Astratis spoke, the celestials followed his instructions and dropped the subject. It was just as he said, they would be there soon enough and get their answers.
…
“Careful, they’re right on the other side of this hill. Many of them are mortal, but forty of them are still a part of the ancient races.” Tox warned.
It did not take long for the group to reach their destination.
Astratis was nowhere in sight. He had chosen to trail close behind and keep a lookout from a safe distance.
Those of the ancient races possessed many unique abilities, some of which were long-ranged communication or soul sharing upon their death. It was best to avoid directly revealing himself for as long as possible in the Celestial Battlegrounds to limit the level of risk.
The group came before a somewhat steep hill, which they quickly ascended towards the top. The hill separated the grasslands-like area from a patch of land that was surrounded by towering trees with a small man-made lake at its center. But, it was no ordinary lake.
The water within the lake, if one could even call it that, was a dark charcoal color that resembled sludge more than it did any kind of drinkable water.
There was also a foul odor coming from the lake that smell like that of burning sulfur. It was an unpleasurable experience, to say the least.
The only upside was that the lake’s foul odor acted as a natural cover for the group’s scents, shielding them from those ancient races who may possess a strong sense of smell. Of course, they did not know how one with such a strong sense of smell could stand the lake’s odor in the first place.
The group arrived at the top of the hill; however, they did not rush in. Instead, they peaked their heads over to observe the situation below. But, what everyone witnessed left them momentarily speechless.
Indeed, there were more than 200 lifeforms on the other side of the cliff and this undoubtedly surprised the celestials. However, that was not what caused them to be speechless.
At the same time, Izroth narrowed his eyes as he noticed something unusual down below.
‘Strange… How can they be in this place? And, that’s… Why is he in such a miserable state? What are they planning?’
Izroth was not the only one curious and taken aback by those on the other side of the cliff.
Sychia clenched her fist as the look in her eyes changed to one of aversion.
That’s because she recognized four of the people down there!
Three of them were the reason she ended up in that pathetic state and had to rely on Izroth to recover. They were the same individuals she and Izroth came to this Secret Realm with—Zouren, Luxia, and Agromin!
But, what Sychia did not expect was that she would see another familiar face.
Kneeled down wounded before the lake covered in heavy and thick chains that exuded a terrifying aura was the first person to step through the portal of the Secret Realm, Hakros!
