Chapter 91: Finding the way to the Dimensional Gate [Part-2]
As Alen walked steadily across the barren landscape for a few minutes, he finally seemed to notice a distinct shift in the atmosphere of the realm.
It wasn’t that there was anything overtly weird or visibly different around the area. The ground was still completely dried out and cracked, the sky overhead was still a terrifying crimson, and the blazing white sun still spilled its harsh light across the entirety of the Crimson Sky realm. The atmosphere was still eerily, heavily silent.
Alen turned his azure eyes to look around his surroundings carefully.
There was absolutely no one around this isolated area. At least he was incredibly thankful that, during this long walk, he had not faced a single monster or any other bloodthirsty beast. It seemed he would be perfectly alright until he finally reached the Dimensional Gate.
"Little Ravena, can you tell me where I should go from here?"
[We have already reached the destination. Just a few meters ahead of where you are standing right now, you are going to cross the boundaries of the dimensions and enter directly into the Void...]
[There is no specific gate to enter the Void. In order to step inside, you have to find a specific place where the space-time fabric is highly unstable and heavily messed up. After crossing through such a fractured place, you will reach the Void...]
[But be careful. You might feel a massive backlash or even lose consciousness entirely after stepping into the Void...]
As Alen heard her grave warning, his face turned deadly serious. He braced himself and stepped forward to continue walking.
The air around him suddenly felt incredibly heavy. He could clearly sense that the space-time fabric in this specific location was truly messed up and distorted. He finally understood why most of the monsters and beasts in the Crimson Sky did not prefer to come anywhere near this specific area.
They rightfully feared that they might accidentally enter the Void if they went too close to this fractured space. After all, almost no monster or beast could ever return to the Crimson Realm again after being ejected into the endless emptiness. To the creatures living here, this location sounded like a dangerous execution ground where they would simply cease to exist and die. So, naturally, they avoided this place at all costs.
As for Ravena, the reason she had been able to travel through the Void Realm and return back to this place in the past was a unique exception. Because she was fundamentally sealed to this realm, she knew its exact spatial coordinates. Furthermore, as a Transcendent Weapon who had enough power to sever the very Order of the Universe, teleporting through dimensional boundaries was just a piece of cake for her.
For Alen, however, things were different. He had no choice but to push forward and leave this place. He truly didn’t want his entire life to be lived in absolute solitude, constantly fighting endless waves of monsters.
He desperately sought peacefulness. But in truth, he knew that peacefulness without genuine happiness was nothing more than an empty illusion.
If a person cannot be happy, then there is absolutely no reason for them to simply feel peaceful. Peacefulness is the quality or state of being calm, tranquil, and entirely free from disturbance, violence, or mental anxiety. But ultimately, those serene qualities cannot be fully realized if the person seeking them is miserable inside.
As he walked continuously, he pushed those heavy thoughts aside. He could now sense that, not far in front of him, the violent fluctuation in the space-time fabric was large enough to become visible.
Because Alen didn’t possess the Space element yet, it was normally difficult for him to detect or know the exact locations where spatial fluctuations occurred. But the distortion here was so massive that he could clearly see it with just his naked vision. The space was actively warping and twisting in the very air ahead of him.
"So it’s right in front of me... Alright, let’s go without wasting any more time."
He confidently stepped forward. But just as his foot touched the ground, his survival instincts suddenly screamed at him, violently warning him to back away.
He quickly stepped backward, using a desperate burst of wind magic to retreat.
*BOOOM!!!*
A deafening blast echoed through the wasteland as thick dust and debris started to fly everywhere. The exact patch of space where Alen had been standing just a single second ago was violently blasted away into a crater.
"What the—?! Who is it now?!"
Alen shouted, shielding his face from the flying rocks.
He didn’t have to wait very long to find out.
From within the thick cloud of dust, a giant bird spread its massive wings. It rose majestically from the swirling debris as the clouds cleared, revealing its terrifying, towering form.
*SKREEEEEEEEECH!!*
Alen stared up at the pitch-black bird covered in dense, razor-sharp feathers. Its pitch-black, soulless eyes stared down at him with a hint of murderous malice. It flapped its giant wings, creating massive gusts of wind that blew the remaining dust and debris away continuously.
As Alen felt the immense air pressure crashing against him, his silver hair whipped wildly in the wind, and he had to fight against the pressure just to stop his body from being pushed away.
[What?! When did that disgusting fowl even appear?! Shit! Alen, get away from him as fast as possible! It is way out of your capability... It is an S-Rank monster!]
[Ding!]
[Vorakryl (S)]
[Description: A giant avian beast that reigns over the skies as a predator. Its storm-infused wings and earth-shaking screech make it a walking nightmare for both monsters and humans alike. The monster possesses an incredibly sharp sense of vision. Not even distant, minor movements can escape from its deadly grasp.]
Alen found himself frozen in the horrifying situation of facing the giant bird head-on.
He looked up at it, a cold drop of sweat sliding down his forehead. He had never fought an S-Rank monster before. The highest he had fought up to now was an A-Rank monster, and even that had been far too overwhelming for him to handle easily.
He was currently just an early B-Rank Awakener, and the terrifying monster hovering in front of him was two major tiers higher than him. There was absolutely no way he could defeat a monster of this magnitude at his current state.
[Hey! Don’t just stand there like an idiot! Run away quickly! You have to cross that distorted space so you can be safely ejected into the Void!]
Alen’s azure eyes snapped back to reality. He instantly started running, pouring all the speed and mana he could possibly muster into his legs.
[Phantom Step!]
He desperately activated his skill, hoping he could escape the monster’s deadly grasp and slip away without the giant beast tracking his movements.
But the giant bird, Vorakryl, with its terrifyingly sharp sense of vision, immediately caught him running through the illusions.
The beast didn’t even need to move from its spot. It simply flapped its massive wings with brutal force. The massive wind pressure created by its wings instantly condensed into the form of a violent storm, launching straight toward Alen’s retreating back.
Alen was suddenly caught off guard, as his Phantom Step skill was instantly negated and shattered by the overwhelming wind pressure. He was violently thrown backward, flying several meters through the air before he crashed. He slid roughly across the hard ground, tumbling along with the sharp dust and flying debris as several fresh scratches and bleeding cuts formed across his battered body.
He couldn’t run away. Not when the overwhelmingly powerful monster hovering in front of him had already locked onto him and marked him as its primary target.
The giant bird flew higher into the crimson sky.
It looked down at Alen with a dark, predatory gaze. Folding its wings, it launched straight down toward him with an unbelievable, blinding speed, ready to devour the boy whole.
Alen looked straight up at the descending monster. There was absolutely no way he could dodge a strike delivered at that incredible speed.
With no other options left, he quickly summoned Godless into his grasp. He let the dark, crimson essence flow wildly around the jagged dagger. Gritting his teeth against the overwhelming odds, he took a desperate, defensive stance, preparing to tackle the villainous monster head-on.
