After a moment of rapid thought, Roya's mind began racing.
Had he somehow offended this guy back then?
If they fought head-on, there was no chance he could win.
In that case… should he run?
Roya had always been quite confident in his ability to escape.
But standing before Rikuto Aoi now, even he felt uncertain. Since advancing to Level 8, this was the first time he had encountered a presence this bizarre.
Raw strength was only part of it.
The other part was an eerie inscrutability—something completely impossible to see through or predict.
"Relax. I'm just here to have a chat."
Roya's eyes shifted.
He suddenly realized that every elemental particle in the surrounding air had changed masters. Mana itself had been seized and converted into the exclusive property of a single individual.
That individual was the man standing before him: Rikuto Aoi.
Roya's class did not rely on any single primary energy source.
Correspondingly, he could make use of nearly every form of energy in existence.
Mana, aura, qi—even certain methods normally reserved for healing classes.
In short, his methods were endlessly varied.
And among them, escape was his specialty.
But now…
At some point, a powerful restriction had silently arisen around them.
Mana was sealed.
Space was sealed.
Even the flow of qi had been locked down.
Changes to living structures had been greatly restricted.
And when he probed even deeper, he discovered that time itself had also been affected.
"I already told you."
"We're just talking. Why are you so tense?"
Seeing that every direction had been blocked, Roya simply gave up trying to resist.
"Hahaha, you're asking what I'm doing here?"
"Isn't the Murkwater Sea my hometown? These monsters have been making a mess, so I'm staying here and killing them."
"I've lived here for over a hundred years. I can't just pack up and leave."
Roya spoke casually, as though he were chatting with an old friend.
Rikuto Aoi's aura also relaxed.
This man still carried some of the characteristics of Egemisa.
And his answers were not exactly the same as they had been in the future simulation.
Still, they were close enough.
Rikuto suddenly asked:
"How much do you know about this world?"
"Uh, what exactly do you mean?"
"You don't know what's happening right now? Wait… don't tell me you were accidentally sealed somewhere for ten years, suddenly came back into the world knowing nothing, and tracked me down to ask what happened?"
Rikuto merely smiled.
"Ahem. Fine. Maybe I shouldn't make wild guesses."
"All I can say is that monsters are currently attacking the world everywhere."
"And the gods everyone once relied upon have temporarily withdrawn from the world stage because of certain agreements."
"Along with them, many churches have also disappeared."
"The upper ranks of those churches seem to know a lot of inside information, but to ordinary clergy it feels as if they suddenly lost their faith—like the gods abandoned them."
"Meanwhile, the monsters seem to have gone mad and are attacking everywhere."
"So… that's basically it. What you see now is the result."
Roya explained rapidly.
Much of what he said was already known to Rikuto.
"Mm…"
Rikuto asked, "Have you heard of the Expeditionary Army?"
"Oh, sure."
"I heard that in order to resolve this world-wide disaster, some powerful individuals with a strong sense of honor voluntarily stepped forward and called upon experts from all over the world to deal with the source of the catastrophe."
"They've apparently already suppressed one of the affected regions."
"I heard the crisis in the Dream Sea was stopped by them."
"As they operated in their respective territories, strong individuals from different regions gradually gathered together."
"I've heard that within the Expeditionary Army, there exists a method for moving between Sea Domains, allowing them to reinforce one another and assemble quickly."
"Mm…"
Information about the Expeditionary Army was scarce.
In order to keep their movements secret and prevent the monsters from tracking them, very little intelligence was released to the public.
After all, the monsters already possessed overwhelming numbers.
If the army openly revealed its movements and objectives, the danger would be immense.
As a result, almost no information about the Expeditionary Army had reached the Land of the Moonlit View.
It seemed that only Level 8 class-holders received invitations.
But the only Level 8 there, Ruga, had given a much simpler answer when Rikuto asked him during a simulation.
He didn't know.
Because someone was needed to defend the Land of the Moonlit View, Ruga had not received an invitation at all.
Apparently, the invitations were distributed selectively.
"Did you receive one?" Rikuto asked.
"Yep. But I turned it down."
"When the sky falls, someone else will hold it up."
"I like staying in one place and not wandering around—unless there's some problem I absolutely have to solve."
"Back then, I had a friend. That old guy named Ansei stayed on this little island with me for several years. I still kind of miss him."
"Some of your Origin Magic carries traces of his style."
Roya stopped there and said no more.
"If you're looking for the Expeditionary Army, you probably don't need to search for them deliberately. If they think you're valuable, they'll come find you themselves."
Valuable, huh…
Rikuto had only been in the Land of the Moonlit View for two days. It was perfectly normal that they had not yet contacted him.
Information did not necessarily spread that quickly.
"All right. Understood."
As for Izparut and the others, Rikuto had already asked about them during the future simulation.
He had no interest in repeating every question aloud.
There was indeed something abnormal about Roya.
But that anomaly was likely tied to his class.
Even when Rikuto precisely reenacted the simulated future, Roya still spoke words that differed from what had been foreseen.
The deviations were limited to phrasing and minor gestures.
It was as if this man was inherently unpredictable.
"I'll come see you again after a while," Rikuto said.
Roya's face twitched.
"Huh? Again?"
"Do you really have to?"
Rikuto smiled.
"Yes. I'll be back."
Roya suddenly felt as if he had been marked.
After saying that, Rikuto turned around and tore open a Phase Passage.
In an instant, he vanished from before Roya.
Roya puffed his cheeks and muttered:
"Fine, fine. We don't have any grudges against each other. You're not going to kill me, right?"
"And if you really do want to kill me, I'll just let you."
…
Land of the Moonlit View
Rikuto Aoi returned once more to the Land of the Moonlit View.
The timing was just about right.
He had planned from the beginning to return after taking a look around the Murkwater Sea, without staying too long.
In the Advancement Hall of the royal palace, Suenari was standing quietly.
After being given most of the day to himself, he had already regained his composure.
For a nine-year-old child who had just endured the destruction of his entire home, being able to recover so quickly was proof of extraordinary strength.
Rikuto walked up to him.
"Are you ready?"
Suenari answered firmly:
"Yes! I'm ready!"
Rikuto asked:
"What class have you decided to choose?"
Suenari lifted his head and said:
"Big Brother Rikuto, I want to become a Mage!"