Chapter 257: 257
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Alec told Dominique to head back to the sect after he finished assassinating the second prince and disposing of his body, so he was currently alone.
He'd left Bunbun and Fenrir to go back with Dominique since he was just going to work off some steam alone.
They'd been doing damage control as they kept away the monsters and creatures in The Great Expanse, but not helping out in the battles against humans.
The forest that Alec eventually found himself in was one that wasn't frequented by anyone else.
Not only because of the ominous way that it looked, as if the shadows would leap out at you and drag you down into hell, the monsters and creatures here were particularly vicious, and not only one had lost their lives here.
Alec breathed roughly, finally feeling at ease after he slaughtered a few monsters to his liking.
The stress had built up so much during the infiltration mission, and while he liked using his head, it didn't sit right with him when he couldn't move his body whenever he wanted to for a long period of time.
He almost felt as if he'd lost his edge a little, but he was relieved to note that his worries were unfounded.
Mm while he liked doing infiltration, he didn't think he was suited to it long-term.
Alec was cutting his way through monsters and creatures alike while they attacked him.
There was something very wrong about this place.
In the outer area of the forest, it wasn't as obvious, but when he neared the centre of it, the more it felt like there was something strange going on.
It was quite subtle, but there was something in the air that was causing all the monsters and creatures here to react with a lot less intelligence than he expected.
It was completely unnatural.
While monsters generally reacted with no intelligence whatsoever, the same was not said for creatures.
Yet, the creatures and monsters here in the forest reacted the same way to his presence – when he wasn't actively concealing his presence, that was.
The amount of bloodlust that he was stealing from all these combined together was actually rather startling, and the longer he stayed here, he was sure that he could even possibly break into the advanced rank.
However, it was still startling.
Exactly what was causing these monsters and creatures to react so ferally?
They pounced on him like they weren't thinking at all.
It just got stranger and stranger, but Alec easily cut through them because they weren't working together, nor were they using even the faintest amounts of magic.
They were just all throwing their bodies forward senselessly.
The further in Alec headed, the more monsters and creatures swarmed him.
It almost felt as if they were protecting something.
Or rather, something was forcing them to protect it.
The forest was a shadowy thing, and it almost felt as if the shadows were alive, with how much they covered the entire place.
Though sunlight should have shone through, the thing was that almost none of the sunlight pierced through the foliage of the trees, which was rather strange.
The shadows draped over everything unnaturally and Alec could only think that the same thing that was controlling the beings here was also doing that.
In a wide area that very noticeably *wasn't* being surrounded by creatures or monsters, there was a wide, plain area.
The only reason why it was noticeable, besides the lack of living things, was that it almost appeared as if all the light was concentrated into this single, wide circle.
There weren't any trees that overshadowed this area either.
Alec stepped nearer to it with curiosity burning in his veins.
The thing was – it wasn't the doing of any living creature, but instead, there was a surrounding barrier that was lit up in Alec's eyes.
Even before the monsters and creatures started attacking him, he'd already seen their glow from the distance, which was what drew him nearer in the first place.
Studying the barrier while he fended off the attacks of creatures, Alec's eyes were gleaming.
Similarly, Ye Sha was also staring hard at the barrier.
He'd never seen something like this before, but through Alec's eyes, he was able to see the runes that made up the barrier.
It was something that appeared absolutely splendid, and Ye Sha could see why Alec was so enthused about his line of study, and why it appealed to the other System.
There was just something so innately graceful about the production of a working barrier that made it strangely appealing.
But before Alec was finished studying the barrier, he heard the sounds of a loud explosion near the place.
Alec narrowed his eyes in the direction of where the explosions had come from.
That was definitely the work of human hands, and not these mind-controlled monsters.
The System thought about it for a bit before disregarding it.
It wasn't strange for there to be humans in the forest, and it wasn't like he was going to run towards that direction just because he heard a concerning sound.
Ye Sha clicked his tongue, staring at the screen.
"Alec. There's the presence of a Main Character in the forest."
Alec frowned. "What? Well… ignore them, then. Those explosions don't seem like they're approaching us any time soon."
"Hey… you know, seeing as how you're a Main Character…" he started off slowly.
Alec instinctively felt like he wouldn't like whatever was going to come out of Ye Sha's mouth next, and he was right.
"Do you think this is the start of another plot?"
The habitual smile on Alec's face widened, and Ye Sha hastily backtracked.
"Not that I want to be the bearer of bad news, but you can't deny it. Hearing a random explosion in the middle of what seems to be a human-free forest can't be anything but a plot!"
Alec hated to admit it, but he thought that Ye Sha may be right.
"Fuck!" Alec swore angrily, hacking that much harder at the incoming monster in anger.
He was pissed.
Seriously, this body was bringing him all sort of problems!
Problems followed Main Characters around like a curse! Not only that, it wasn't one of *his* Main Characters, so he was rather inclined to just ignore it.
"Are you going to ignore the explosions or not?" Ye Sha prodded his friend.
"…"
Alec ignored Ye Sha.
He continued studying the barrier that was in front of him, barely managing to dissipate a bit of his annoyance as he concentrated.
The barrier was unlike anything he'd seen before, so it took a bit of work to decipher.
As far as he could make out, the barrier was here to keep something in and everything else out.
If that wasn't concerning, then he didn't know what was.
By all accounts, it seemed as if something was keeping whatever was in there sealed instead of protecting it.
It was also because of this that Alec didn't recklessly enter.
All his instincts screamed at him to keep away from it, and he was never one to ignore his gut feelings.
"…Looks like I really will be looking for the cause of those explosions."
Ye Sha snorted. Alec sounded almost sullen, and it was quite funny since he knew how much the other wanted to just ignore everything that had to do with plot.
However, plots didn't disappear just because you wanted them to.
They were rather circular, and they'd eventually hit you when you least expected it, so being able to meet it on your own terms was by far the best option since it gave you the most control over the direction the plot was flowing.
Alec might not like it, but this was the only way that he would be able to maintain a semblance of control over the developing situation.
If you looked back at everything that Alec had gone through since he'd been born, there were only ever subplots and things that weren't so serious, so Ye Sha could only conclude that Alec's [Main Plot Route] had yet to start.
There were another few series of explosions in the far distance, each of them closer to each other.
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Alec told Dominique to head back to the sect after he finished assassinating the second prince and disposing of his body, so he was currently alone.
He'd left Bunbun and Fenrir to go back with Dominique since he was just going to work off some steam alone.
They'd been doing damage control as they kept away the monsters and creatures in The Great Expanse, but not helping out in the battles against humans.
The forest that Alec eventually found himself in was one that wasn't frequented by anyone else.
Not only because of the ominous way that it looked, as if the shadows would leap out at you and drag you down into hell, the monsters and creatures here were particularly vicious, and not only one had lost their lives here.
Alec breathed roughly, finally feeling at ease after he slaughtered a few monsters to his liking.
The stress had built up so much during the infiltration mission, and while he liked using his head, it didn't sit right with him when he couldn't move his body whenever he wanted to for a long period of time.
He almost felt as if he'd lost his edge a little, but he was relieved to note that his worries were unfounded.
Mm while he liked doing infiltration, he didn't think he was suited to it long-term.
Alec was cutting his way through monsters and creatures alike while they attacked him.
There was something very wrong about this place.
In the outer area of the forest, it wasn't as obvious, but when he neared the centre of it, the more it felt like there was something strange going on.
It was quite subtle, but there was something in the air that was causing all the monsters and creatures here to react with a lot less intelligence than he expected.
It was completely unnatural.
While monsters generally reacted with no intelligence whatsoever, the same was not said for creatures.
Yet, the creatures and monsters here in the forest reacted the same way to his presence – when he wasn't actively concealing his presence, that was.
The amount of bloodlust that he was stealing from all these combined together was actually rather startling, and the longer he stayed here, he was sure that he could even possibly break into the advanced rank.
However, it was still startling.
Exactly what was causing these monsters and creatures to react so ferally?
They pounced on him like they weren't thinking at all.
It just got stranger and stranger, but Alec easily cut through them because they weren't working together, nor were they using even the faintest amounts of magic.
They were just all throwing their bodies forward senselessly.
The further in Alec headed, the more monsters and creatures swarmed him.
It almost felt as if they were protecting something.
Or rather, something was forcing them to protect it.
The forest was a shadowy thing, and it almost felt as if the shadows were alive, with how much they covered the entire place.
Though sunlight should have shone through, the thing was that almost none of the sunlight pierced through the foliage of the trees, which was rather strange.
The shadows draped over everything unnaturally and Alec could only think that the same thing that was controlling the beings here was also doing that.
In a wide area that very noticeably *wasn't* being surrounded by creatures or monsters, there was a wide, plain area.
The only reason why it was noticeable, besides the lack of living things, was that it almost appeared as if all the light was concentrated into this single, wide circle.
There weren't any trees that overshadowed this area either.
Alec stepped nearer to it with curiosity burning in his veins.
The thing was – it wasn't the doing of any living creature, but instead, there was a surrounding barrier that was lit up in Alec's eyes.
Even before the monsters and creatures started attacking him, he'd already seen their glow from the distance, which was what drew him nearer in the first place.
Studying the barrier while he fended off the attacks of creatures, Alec's eyes were gleaming.
Similarly, Ye Sha was also staring hard at the barrier.
He'd never seen something like this before, but through Alec's eyes, he was able to see the runes that made up the barrier.
It was something that appeared absolutely splendid, and Ye Sha could see why Alec was so enthused about his line of study, and why it appealed to the other System.
There was just something so innately graceful about the production of a working barrier that made it strangely appealing.
But before Alec was finished studying the barrier, he heard the sounds of a loud explosion near the place.
Alec narrowed his eyes in the direction of where the explosions had come from.
That was definitely the work of human hands, and not these mind-controlled monsters.
The System thought about it for a bit before disregarding it.
It wasn't strange for there to be humans in the forest, and it wasn't like he was going to run towards that direction just because he heard a concerning sound.
Ye Sha clicked his tongue, staring at the screen.
"Alec. There's the presence of a Main Character in the forest."
Alec frowned. "What? Well… ignore them, then. Those explosions don't seem like they're approaching us any time soon."
"Hey… you know, seeing as how you're a Main Character…" he started off slowly.
Alec instinctively felt like he wouldn't like whatever was going to come out of Ye Sha's mouth next, and he was right.
"Do you think this is the start of another plot?"
The habitual smile on Alec's face widened, and Ye Sha hastily backtracked.
"Not that I want to be the bearer of bad news, but you can't deny it. Hearing a random explosion in the middle of what seems to be a human-free forest can't be anything but a plot!"
Alec hated to admit it, but he thought that Ye Sha may be right.
"Fuck!" Alec swore angrily, hacking that much harder at the incoming monster in anger.
He was pissed.
Seriously, this body was bringing him all sort of problems!
Problems followed Main Characters around like a curse! Not only that, it wasn't one of *his* Main Characters, so he was rather inclined to just ignore it.
"Are you going to ignore the explosions or not?" Ye Sha prodded his friend.
"…"
Alec ignored Ye Sha.
He continued studying the barrier that was in front of him, barely managing to dissipate a bit of his annoyance as he concentrated.
The barrier was unlike anything he'd seen before, so it took a bit of work to decipher.
As far as he could make out, the barrier was here to keep something in and everything else out.
If that wasn't concerning, then he didn't know what was.
By all accounts, it seemed as if something was keeping whatever was in there sealed instead of protecting it.
It was also because of this that Alec didn't recklessly enter.
All his instincts screamed at him to keep away from it, and he was never one to ignore his gut feelings.
"…Looks like I really will be looking for the cause of those explosions."
Ye Sha snorted. Alec sounded almost sullen, and it was quite funny since he knew how much the other wanted to just ignore everything that had to do with plot.
However, plots didn't disappear just because you wanted them to.
They were rather circular, and they'd eventually hit you when you least expected it, so being able to meet it on your own terms was by far the best option since it gave you the most control over the direction the plot was flowing.
Alec might not like it, but this was the only way that he would be able to maintain a semblance of control over the developing situation.
If you looked back at everything that Alec had gone through since he'd been born, there were only ever subplots and things that weren't so serious, so Ye Sha could only conclude that Alec's [Main Plot Route] had yet to start.
There were another few series of explosions in the far distance, each of them closer to each other.
Alec told Dominique to head back to the sect after he finished assassinating the second prince and disposing of his body, so he was currently alone.He'd left Bunbun and Fenrir to go back with Dominique since he was just going to work off some steam alone.They'd been doing damage control as they kept away the monsters and creatures in The Great Expanse, but not helping out in the battles against humans.The forest that Alec eventually found himself in was one that wasn't frequented by anyone else.Not only because of the ominous way that it looked, as if the shadows would leap out at you and drag you down into hell, the monsters and creatures here were particularly vicious, and not only one had lost their lives here.Alec breathed roughly, finally feeling at ease after he slaughtered a few monsters to his liking.The stress had built up so much during the infiltration mission, and while he liked using his head, it didn't sit right with him when he couldn't move his body whenever he wanted to for a long period of time.He almost felt as if he'd lost his edge a little, but he was relieved to note that his worries were unfounded.Mm while he liked doing infiltration, he didn't think he was suited to it long-term.Alec was cutting his way through monsters and creatures alike while they attacked him.There was something very wrong about this place.In the outer area of the forest, it wasn't as obvious, but when he neared the centre of it, the more it felt like there was something strange going on.It was quite subtle, but there was something in the air that was causing all the monsters and creatures here to react with a lot less intelligence than he expected.It was completely unnatural.While monsters generally reacted with no intelligence whatsoever, the same was not said for creatures.Yet, the creatures and monsters here in the forest reacted the same way to his presence when he wasn't actively concealing his presence, that was.The amount of bloodlust that he was stealing from all these combined together was actually rather startling, and the longer he stayed here, he was sure that he could even possibly break into the advanced rank.However, it was still startling.Exactly what was causing these monsters and creatures to react so ferally?They pounced on him like they weren't thinking at all.It just got stranger and stranger, but Alec easily cut through them because they weren't working together, nor were they using even the faintest amounts of magic.They were just all throwing their bodies forward senselessly.The further in Alec headed, the more monsters and creatures swarmed him.It almost felt as if they were protecting something.Or rather, something was forcing them to protect it.The forest was a shadowy thing, and it almost felt as if the shadows were alive, with how much they covered the entire place.Though sunlight should have shone through, the thing was that almost none of the sunlight pierced through the foliage of the trees, which was rather strange.The shadows draped over everything unnaturally and Alec could only think that the same thing that was controlling the beings here was also doing that.In a wide area that very noticeably *wasn't* being surrounded by creatures or monsters, there was a wide, plain area.The only reason why it was noticeable, besides the lack of living things, was that it almost appeared as if all the light was concentrated into this single, wide circle.There weren't any trees that overshadowed this area either.Alec stepped nearer to it with curiosity burning in his veins.The thing was it wasn't the doing of any living creature, but instead, there was a surrounding barrier that was lit up in Alec's eyes.Even before the monsters and creatures started attacking him, he'd already seen their glow from the distance, which was what drew him nearer in the first place.Studying the barrier while he fended off the attacks of creatures, Alec's eyes were gleaming.Similarly, Ye Sha was also staring hard at the barrier.He'd never seen something like this before, but through Alec's eyes, he was able to see the runes that made up the barrier.It was something that appeared absolutely splendid, and Ye Sha could see why Alec was so enthused about his line of study, and why it appealed to the other System.There was just something so innately graceful about the production of a working barrier that made it strangely appealing.But before Alec was finished studying the barrier, he heard the sounds of a loud explosion near the place.Alec narrowed his eyes in the direction of where the explosions had come from.That was definitely the work of human hands, and not these mind-controlled monsters.The System thought about it for a bit before disregarding it.It wasn't strange for there to be humans in the forest, and it wasn't like he was going to run towards that direction just because he heard a concerning sound.Ye Sha clicked his tongue, staring at the screen."Alec. There's the presence of a Main Character in the forest."Alec frowned. "What? Well ignore them, then. Those explosions don't seem like they're approaching us any time soon.""Hey you know, seeing as how you're a Main Character" he started off slowly.Alec instinctively felt like he wouldn't like whatever was going to come out of Ye Sha's mouth next, and he was right."Do you think this is the start of another plot?"The habitual smile on Alec's face widened, and Ye Sha hastily backtracked."Not that I want to be the bearer of bad news, but you can't deny it. Hearing a random explosion in the middle of what seems to be a human-free forest can't be anything but a plot!"Alec hated to admit it, but he thought that Ye Sha may be right."Fuck!" Alec swore angrily, hacking that much harder at the incoming monster in anger.He was pissed.Seriously, this body was bringing him all sort of problems!Problems followed Main Characters around like a curse! Not only that, it wasn't one of *his* Main Characters, so he was rather inclined to just ignore it."Are you going to ignore the explosions or not?" Ye Sha prodded his friend.""Alec ignored Ye Sha.He continued studying the barrier that was in front of him, barely managing to dissipate a bit of his annoyance as he concentrated.The barrier was unlike anything he'd seen before, so it took a bit of work to decipher.As far as he could make out, the barrier was here to keep something in and everything else out.If that wasn't concerning, then he didn't know what was.By all accounts, it seemed as if something was keeping whatever was in there sealed instead of protecting it.It was also because of this that Alec didn't recklessly enter.All his instincts screamed at him to keep away from it, and he was never one to ignore his gut feelings."Looks like I really will be looking for the cause of those explosions."Ye Sha snorted. Alec sounded almost sullen, and it was quite funny since he knew how much the other wanted to just ignore everything that had to do with plot.However, plots didn't disappear just because you wanted them to.They were rather circular, and they'd eventually hit you when you least expected it, so being able to meet it on your own terms was by far the best option since it gave you the most control over the direction the plot was flowing.Alec might not like it, but this was the only way that he would be able to maintain a semblance of control over the developing situation.If you looked back at everything that Alec had gone through since he'd been born, there were only ever subplots and things that weren't so serious, so Ye Sha could only conclude that Alec's Main Plot Route had yet to start.There were another few series of explosions in the far distance, each of them closer to each other.
