Chapter 54: On My Own

Smith, Charles, Jessie, Ravy, and Lorey followed behind Dane, although none of them seemed particularly eager to move deeper into the forest.

Elias, however, continued walking ahead without paying much attention to them. His eyes constantly scanned the surroundings as he examined the enormous trees, the tangled roots beneath his feet, and the narrow path stretching toward the ruined city in the distance.

The forest remained strangely quiet.

There were no birds, no insects, and not even the distant cries of monsters.

That silence bothered Elias more than the presence of monsters would have.

He had already learned enough about spatial rifts to know that such places were rarely peaceful. If there were no creatures near the entrance, then either the monsters were concentrated deeper inside, or something far more dangerous had driven them away.

Elias’s expression became increasingly serious as he continued forward.

Behind him, Dane’s footsteps gradually became louder.

"Wait!" Dane shouted, his voice echoing through the trees.

Elias frowned before halting and turning his head toward him.

Dane quickly caught up, stomping his feet as he approached with an irritated expression. Once he stood several steps away, he glared at Elias and muttered furiously, "Do you think you are at your manor, bastard? I am the team captain, and you have to heed my command. Understood?"

Elias stared at him for several seconds.

’This is annoying,’ he remarked inwardly.

He was already aware that the rift was Grade Two, and if they walked too deep into it without understanding the environment, none of these six people would survive. However, he was also certain that they wouldn’t listen to him even if he explained the situation.

Elias sighed deeply.

Dane’s expression immediately turned sour.

"Did you just sigh at me?" he asked.

Elias’s eyes narrowed.

The gaze he gave Dane was sharp enough to make the man’s body stiffen, and his voice remained completely calm as he said, "You want me to follow you? Make me."

His hand slowly moved toward the hilt of Lastbane.

Dane’s eyes trembled, and he immediately stepped backward before barking, "I will make you pay for this insubordination!"

Elias didn’t bother answering.

Instead, he turned around and continued walking through the narrow pathway.

Dane remained frozen for several seconds before clenching his fists.

The other rangers eventually caught up to him, and Smith glanced toward Elias’s distant back before asking, "What about him?"

"Fuck him," Dane spat. "Let him wander off and die here."

The other rangers exchanged uncomfortable glances, but none of them dared challenge Dane.

Elias continued alone.

He checked both sides of the path as he walked, occasionally looking toward the thick vegetation surrounding him, but nothing attacked him. The deeper he went, the more unusual the forest became, because the enormous trees eventually began thinning out, revealing broken stone structures beneath their branches.

After several minutes, Elias finally reached the ruined city.

He stopped near the remains of its outer wall and looked across the enormous ruins.

The city was roughly twice the size of Kilmir, and its collapsed buildings stretched far beyond what he could see from the entrance. Towering ruins, broken roads, and half-buried structures filled the area, while enormous trees had grown through some of the buildings over the countless years they had apparently remained abandoned.

Elias narrowed his eyes.

’If the rift is allowed to expand, this entire city will eventually devour Kilmir.’

The thought made his expression colder.

A spatial rift wasn’t merely another dangerous location. Once overloaded, its boundary would continue expanding into the real world, forcing the environment within the rift to replace everything surrounding it.

That meant Kilmir’s future depended on closing this rift before it reached that point.

Elias turned his gaze toward the left.

Beyond the city’s crumbled wall, the forest continued for a considerable distance until the trees eventually disappeared into a strange shimmering boundary.

His eyes narrowed.

’I would find some there.’

Every spatial rift possessed a barrier surrounding its territory, and the barrier itself was different from the unstable entrance through which they had entered.

Warriors could only explore the area inside the barrier, but what interested Elias more were the resources found nearby.

Almost every object that naturally existed close to the barrier would gradually transform into a variant of Riftstone.

Riftstone possessed unique properties that made it extremely valuable throughout the Dracarian Kingdom. Blacksmiths used it as a forging mineral, Mages incorporated it into magical formations, and spiritualists could use it as a medium for storing spiritual energy.

Its purity varied according to the grade of the rift.

The higher the rift’s grade, the purer the Riftstone that formed around its barrier.

Normally, only someone at the Exalted level could accurately determine that purity using aura, mana, or spiritual energy, but Elias didn’t intend to waste time worrying about it.

He turned toward the barrier and began walking.

Behind him, Dane and the other rangers noticed his movement.

Their expressions immediately became confused.

Smith raised his voice and called out, "What are you doing?!"

Elias didn’t answer.

He had already created considerable distance between himself and the others, and rather than slow down to explain himself, he continued toward the shimmering boundary.

Smith looked toward Dane.

Dane’s expression darkened as he watched Elias’s retreating figure, but a cruel glint soon appeared within his eyes.

"Let him," Dane stated.

He turned his attention toward the ruined city and pointed toward it.

"Jessie, Smith, and Lorey. You three go to the right of the city and find out what kind of monsters this place has."

Jessie’s face immediately paled.

"Are we really going in there?" he asked nervously.

Dane glared at him.

"Did you not hear me?"

Jessie swallowed before nodding.

"Yes."

Dane then looked toward the remaining two.

"Ravy, Charles, and I will find the guardian."

Ravy’s expression became uneasy.

"The guardian?"

Dane nodded.

"Yes. We find it, determine its strength, and return with the information."

Charles silently looked toward the ruined city before nodding.

Although none of them liked the idea, they understood that they had been sent here for exactly this purpose.

Everyone nodded, and they parted.

Three of them headed toward the right side of the ruined city, while Dane, Ravy, and Charles moved deeper toward its center.

Meanwhile, Elias continued walking toward the barrier alone.