The reasons for becoming suspicious of Kreutzvalt were simple.
It was a realization that came after doubts piled up and led to repeated reflection.
First.
Why did Kreutzvalt not step up during the continent’s crisis?
He had summoned Hio to protect the continent from the Abyss and had personally begun teaching him, yet he never once thought of resolving the issue himself.
He explained that it was to stay secluded in the Abyss to study its energy, deter the Strange Entities here, and manage the Abyss Tower simultaneously—but that explanation was insufficient.
His research was already complete; far from deterring the Strange Entities, Hio had never seen him personally go out to hunt even once, and the same applied to his management of the tower.
Second.
Why did he not provide detailed accounts regarding Tetradia?
Based on Kreutzvalt’s words, Tetradia was undoubtedly the most important location.
If one could just enter the Tower of Mages located there, they would be able to escape the World’s End and head for the continent.
However, Kreutzvalt avoided stories related to Tetradia with a strange intensity.
He repeatedly brushed it off, saying Hio would understand once he arrived.
Third.
The Master Magician from 1,000 years ago seen on the Floor of Breakthrough, Abellar Pavlenko.
For what reason were his memories shown, and was it truly Kreutzvalt who showed them?
Hio had once subtly tested him by asking about it.
He had asked if Kreutzvalt remembered Abellar Pavlenko and why he had shown those memories.
The answer he received was that Abellar was dead and there was no need to worry about him.
He explained that it had merely been a means to summon Hio.
Once again, it was a grossly insufficient explanation.
Of course, Hio had to pretend to accept the explanation.
He couldn’t afford to show any signs of suspicion.
He had to act like a dull-witted, passionate disciple who considered meeting Kreutzvalt a great opportunity.
And finally, fourth.
He didn’t like the man’s cackling laughter.
As these questions accumulated, they turned into suspicion, and as that suspicion persisted, Hio began searching for reasons.
During magic training, while strengthening the undead, and in the middle of learning new spells—whenever a gap in his thoughts appeared, he thought about Kreutzvalt.
It was thanks to those thoughts, which bordered on obsession, that he was able to remember.
He remembered Kreutzvalt’s voice.
He realized the true identity of that somehow familiar sound.
At first, he simply thought it was the voice that had saved him and Daphne in the Labyrinth.
At that time, he had assumed that person was Kreutzvalt, so when he first met Kreutzvalt, he thought it was a voice he had heard somewhere before.
But that wasn’t it.
No matter how much he thought about it, the voice from back then and the current Kreutzvalt were different people.
If so, why was Kreutzvalt’s voice familiar?
Where had he heard it?
He was able to find the answer before long.
“The light shall sink, and the darkness shall rise.”
It was then.
The being that had appeared while tearing through the space within Abellar’s memory on the Floor of Breakthrough.
The gloomy voice that had been heard then.
“Then you shall be the Abyss.”
It was Kreutzvalt’s voice.
There were several things to be careful of when traveling through the World’s End on the ruined continent, but if one had to pick the most important one, the choice was easy.
‘Stop moving when “night” falls.’
Night was the time when the Strange Entities were active.
It wasn’t night just because the sun had set and the world was submerged in darkness.
It was night because the Strange Entities were active.
There was no clock to look at to determine the night, either.
One simply had to feel the presence of the Strange Entities beginning to take hold and think, ‘Ah, it’s night,’ and refrain from moving.
“…It’s night.”
Just like right now.
Presences began to rise from all over.
It was a truly bizarre sensation, the likes of which he had never experienced on the continent.
Having felt it, he had to stop his travel for the day here.
If he were discovered even once and a battle broke out, he would have to fight for his life until “day” arrived.
Recalling the battle at night from a few days ago, Hio shuddered slightly and sat down on the ground.
As a result, the ash that had accumulated up to his ankles fluttered into the air, but what could he do?
He just had to endure it.
In this place where one couldn’t see a single inch ahead, the Strange Entities naturally had senses other than sight that were exceptionally developed.
For instance, the ability to sense energies other than the Abyss.
Therefore, if he were to use magic recklessly, he would attract the attention of every Strange Entity in the vicinity.
Frowning at the ash sticking to his mouth and nose, Hio rummaged through his Pocket Dimension Pouch and pulled out a piece of paper the size of his palm.
It was a very simple Artifact that showed the direction to Tetradia and the remaining distance.
“Still a long way to go.”
Muttering like a sigh, Hio folded the paper and put it back in his pocket.
The road was long, and he couldn’t let his guard down for a single moment.
Just as Kreutzvalt had said, the strength of the Strange Entities increased drastically the further he got from the Safe Zone and the closer he got to Tetradia.
The Strange Entities near the Safe Zone, like Gegegi or Ttuntmuni, had a certain cuteness to them because he had seen them for so long.
The ones he was encountering now were just horrific and annoying.
It was a relief that Hio’s magical growth over the past year had been immense.
Otherwise, he would have died surrounded by a swarm of Strange Entities a few nights ago.
Sitting like that, he stared into the darkness.
At a glance, he seemed dazed, but the reality was different.
He was sitting there while minutely and steadily releasing the Abyssal energy he had stored in his body.
It was a type of camouflage meant to deceive the senses of the Strange Entities.
The Strange Entities, which reminded him of various animals, insects, and plants, had eyes, but they were no different from decorations.
They were beings created in imitation of the existences on the continent.
While they envied and admired the light, they also loathed and felt jealous of it, and thus were created as shadows of the light.
Consequently, those creatures felt an instinctive rage toward the living beings of the continent.
They possessed an outstanding ability to pick up the presence of living creatures and hunt them down.
However, even those Strange Entities probably didn’t know that a living being from the continent would be able to handle the Abyss, their exclusive property.
They were unable to catch Hio’s presence as he intentionally leaked the energy of the Abyss.
Thus, while those creatures could not sense Hio—or rather, even if they did, they passed him by without recognizing him as a living being—Hio could clearly feel the presence of the Strange Entities.
Whether the Abyss blocked his sight or not, he could see the surrounding presences clearly even without using the ‘Insight’ skill inherent in the Magician’s Staff of Dark Authority.
Not only had his physical body evolved further upon entering the threshold of a superhuman at the 6th Circle, but with “Everything is Doubled” added to his “Genius of Mana Resonance” trait, he possessed sensitive senses that an ordinary person couldn’t even imagine.
On top of that, by meeting Kreutzvalt, he had learned how to utilize those senses for things other than just magic.
To use a metaphor… it was like he had opened a third eye.
‘…Kreutzvalt.’
When his thoughts flowed like this, the end point was always Kreutzvalt.
Just what was he?
Why was he making Hio undergo various types of training, including magic, and how much of what he said was the truth?
It could be a lie mixed with some truth, or everything he said could be a lie, but one thing was certain: he truly wanted Hio to become stronger.
‘…But why?’
What profit did Kreutzvalt gain from Hio becoming stronger?
Raising Hio to prevent the destruction of the continent while not going out to the continent himself?
What an inconsistent story.
He didn’t know what or how much to believe, but the reason he was heading toward Tetradia despite that was because there was no other way.
When comparing Abellar’s memories with Kreutzvalt’s explanation, the fact that Tetradia was here seemed to be true.
If so, shouldn’t he go?
He would know once he arrived—why Kreutzvalt refused to give a detailed explanation, what his intentions were, and for what purpose he had taught him.
The thing he had to keep in mind was to never let his guard down until the end and to prepare a means to escape his grasp, at the very least, when Kreutzvalt revealed his true colors.
He didn’t know if that would be possible, but it was something he had to keep pondering.
The thing that broke his thoughts, which were about to sink as deep as sleep, was a single emotional line connected to Hio.
Theodore, who had been crouching in the same posture as Hio right next to him, had transmitted his will through the line connected to Hio.
“Why?”
When Hio looked at him, Theodore raised his head and looked up at the sky.
Following his lead and shifting his senses, Hio felt it.
“…Damn it.”
He felt a massive presence filling the sky.
It was invisible, covered by the Abyss, but the sense of crisis was felt with his entire body.
“It’s a Watcher.”
A Watcher.
A Strange Entity that was a giant eyeball floating in the sky.
It was the same thing Hio had seen once in the Labyrinth and again on the Floor of Breakthrough.
“…Should we move a little?”
At Hio’s words, Theodore nodded as if in agreement.
The Watcher’s Eye was soon the eye of all Strange Entities.
Unlike most Strange Entities whose eyes had degenerated, that creature was capable of peering down through even this thick darkness.
They had to leave this place quickly, but move naturally enough that other Strange Entities wouldn’t notice anything strange.
It was a ridiculously high level of difficulty, but they had to do it.
If they were discovered by the Watcher’s Eye, information would reach “that existence” in the Abyss that even Kreutzvalt avoided.
‘Leak your energy.’
Having understood Hio’s will, Theodore began to leak the Abyssal energy he possessed.
He was showing them, while gradually increasing the amount he leaked, that he could handle a vast amount of the Abyss.
He was telling them to move out of the way on their own.
This was possible because they had grasped the habits of the Strange Entities to some extent.
Strange Entities below a certain level would notice that something was unusual just by that and avoid them.
But at the same time, it was a gamble.
While most of them wouldn’t try to approach, there were cases where those who were far from ordinary felt curious and approached instead.
The night a few days ago had been such a case, and once a battle broke out like that, they had to engage in a hellish, endless fight until day arrived.
‘Please, not that again…’
One such experience was enough.
While fighting, they also had to run to avoid the Watcher, which caused more Strange Entities to swarm.
Fighting, and fighting, and fighting.
After fighting like that all night long, they moved immediately without time to rest once day arrived.
They had to get out to the continent even a day sooner.
‘Let’s increase the speed a bit more.’
Since they felt the distance between them and the Watcher continuing to close, Hio and Theodore’s pace became a bit faster.
They had to make a large circle like this and return to where the Watcher first appeared.
The Watcher didn’t look back at the path it had already taken.
However…
‘…Dammit.’
He felt a single Strange Entity standing firm in their path, refusing to budge.
While others were slinking away from the momentum Hio and Theodore were exuding, this one wouldn’t move.
It was the situation he had feared most.
A powerful Strange Entity that happened to be born with a particularly large amount of Abyssal energy in the vicinity.
Even if that creature hadn’t come looking for them out of curiosity but was simply in the path Hio was moving along, couldn’t they just increase their speed a bit more and bypass it?
He transmitted that thought to Theodore, and the two turned at the same time.
This would make the distance with the Watcher precarious again, but if everything went according to plan, they would be able to avoid the Strange Entity standing in front of them and pass by without being caught by the Watcher’s Eye.
…If everything went according to plan, that is.
‘That bastard.’
Apparently, the Strange Entity standing in front was not only powerful but also full of curiosity.
As soon as Hio turned, it moved as if it had been waiting and began moving in the same direction.
In this case, there was only one option.
To strike forward as secretly and quickly as possible.
That was better than being caught by the Watcher.
To do that, they had to deal with that creature immediately.
Hio and Theodore, having made their decision, were about to start the battle the moment they exchanged glances.
Then, they suddenly came to a dead stop.
“…What is this…?”
It was because the presences of all the Strange Entities in the vicinity, including the one blocking their path and the Watcher, had vanished.
Or, to be more precise, every single one of those existences was rushing toward one place.
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