[Achoo! >.<, which dumbass cursed my Host?]
'Focus on work.' Ryuk stood calmly outside a portal, looking ahead while the system wasted his time again, as he had already done. He kept his gaze focused on the direction of the inner pavilion, clearly feeling the intense battle occurring.
Although this provided Ryuk with the opportunity to enter the main palace without any hassle, it also created a significant problem since Iliantara and Lucas were present.
Though a few moments ago Lucas tried to enter the portal, he halted for some reason and once again took his seat on the rock, as if he had changed his mood.
Even though the situation was in Ryuk's favor, he couldn't risk being entangled in a battle where he would have to deal with both of these flag bearers simultaneously.
[Scanning....]
[Host, each of them is two times stronger than you in stats.]
'....' Ryuk kept his gaze forward while not glancing in the direction of Iliantara or Lucas, who were doing the same, as if all were conscious of each other's presence. With a vague understanding, he ordered the system to compare their battle strength with his.
Although there were several variables, such as how he had Shunya, the Conduit Dome, and the sword inside his Kundalini, he couldn't ignore their advantages, like Lucas's Rakshasa technique and Iliantara's species' special abilities.
All these factors led Ryuk to reach a simple conclusion: this was definitely not the time to confront both of them.
"Are you all not coming inside?" Breaking him out of his thoughts was the voice of Yao Lian, who, arriving just a hand's length away from the portal, glanced in their direction, observing how, aside from her, everyone seemed reluctant to follow and enter the inner pavilion.
Naturally, she could somewhat understand that they were likely being cautious, considering what might exist on the other side, or maybe they were already aware of the danger in the inner pavilion, which was why they wanted her to enter first.
These thoughts kept Yao Lian caught between doubts about whether to enter or not. She wondered what she should do.
'Should I persuade her?' Yao Lian thought, seeing how those three people wearing black—Iliantara, Young Master Ruike, and Lucas—were not even giving her a glance. She decided to pursue the white-dressed one—Esme.
╔─━━━━━━━━━░★░━━━━━━━━━─╗
Energy signature belongs to
Regina Devereaux
Time until arrival = 7 minutes
╚─━━━━━━━━━░★░━━━━━━━━━─╝
'..This...' Ryuk somewhat mused, realizing that at a time when he really needed someone to keep these two—both flag bearers—in check, someone had finally arrived. As he had anticipated, it would still take some time, but seeing Regina's arrival made him feel somewhat assured as he took action, moving forward. "Let's go, Esme."
As he moved, prompting Esme, who held his hand to clasp it with both her hands, she nodded before moving forward. This caused Yao Lian, who was contemplating how to persuade these people to move forward and test themselves regarding what the problem was with the inner pavilion, to be slightly taken aback as she saw the young master and the woman herself moving toward the inner pavilion.
"W-wait, I am coming too," Yao Lian said. She had already seen how Lucas, the man with several tattoos sitting nonchalantly on a rock, had cracked the Green Judgement stone, and she worried that he might attack her if he found her alone. This thought urged her to proceed cautiously to follow behind Ryuk.
"....are you not going to follow me?" Ryuk halted midway as he spoke, causing Ilyantra and Lokus to look in his direction, thinking he was talking to them. However, ignoring their presence, Ryuk's eyes turned toward the forest ground, looking in the direction of a tree where, just moments ago, he had sensed the presence of someone. Not getting an answer, he added, "Fenghuang, I am talking to you.
Are you not going to follow me?"
'!?!'
'H-how?' A thin malnourished woman hiding behind a tree, which was the epicenter of the formation, felt her eyes widen visibly as she heard that man—who appeared the most suspicious among all these people she had seen—call her out using her name.
She felt a chill, causing her to instinctively take a step back, knowing that her present situation was not in her favor. Just now, she had been identified by that man, who knew she was the Empress of Jade Dominion.
Or, to be exact, an empress who lost her real body to a fake copy.