Evan took deep breaths, remaining completely still, not daring to move an inch.
With a calr mind, he scrutinized Alvey and noticed a crucial detail.
'Transcendent?'
Indeed, the Alvey standing in front of him was not the Demon King of Light, but a Transcendent 'Peak Rank' Demon.
In other words, Evan had travelled far back in ti, to an era before Alvey beca a Demon King.
'Just how far back into the past am I?'
As he asked himself that question, Alvey's shadow wriggled and two beings erged from within.
The first was a tall man with neatly combed salt-and-pepper hair, a rugged appearance marked by a strong jawline and a few days' worth of stubble.
His piercing dark-blue eyes and well-built physique suggested an active lifestyle.
Evan found him familiar, or rather, he'd seen two people who looked like him, leading to an educated guess about his identity.
This man was holding soone in his arms, a girl.
'No…she's a woman.'
Evan corrected himself. Despite being a few inches shorter than Eliza, she had a mature air that indicated she was much older.
Her long hair, even when tied in a side ponytail, reached past her waist. She wore a uniform similar to the n present, but hers bore a single star above the crest on her chest pocket.
Evan also noticed that the mont she stepped out of Alvey's shadow, his body shivered.
Not from fear, but from cold.
Her re presence reduced the ambient temperature, her aura potent enough to ignore Evan's resistances.
Alvey turned to the dark blue-eyed man who had erged from his shadow and asked.
"McEnda, can you sense anything?"
"Nope. I'm coming up blank as well."
'McEnda?!'
That was another familiar na. The na of the Demon General who killed the Dragon Lord Gorm during Gozon's first invasion of Aidos.
His earlier guess was confird: this man belonged to the renowned Archdemon bloodline. Evan recalled the appearance of McEnda II from the Hall of Statues and knew McEnda IV from Arlan Maddox's mories.
Given this man looked close to Alvey in age, by process of elimination, he deduced that this was McEnda III.
'If he's McEnda III, then the woman…?'
His gaze shifted to the blue-haired woman who walked over to the edge of the abandoned playground, looking around to see if she could spot anything 'off'.
"Is this really the place that surge of law energy ca from? There's Nothing here."
"Funny, I had the sa thoughts, Sigesi."
McEnda III replied, calling out her na and confirming Evan's guess once again.
She was Sigesi Valren, the owner of the Sword; Frostshade, and the mother of McEnda IV.
re seconds after coming out of the Spatiotemporal portal, Evan had already t the owners of two of the Energy Factors the spell absorbed.
BoL's Light-Space: Alvey.
Frostshade's Ice: Sigesi.
'She's a Sovereign. Again, just how far back in ti, am I?'
Evan thought this while silently hoping the three Demons would tire of their search and leave, giving him a chance to escape.
But of course, Lady Luck decided to toss a middle finger in his face.
"Where's Arthur?"
"I'm already here."
The reply to Alvey's question ca from behind Evan, so he could not see the face of the person who replied.
However, even if he could, he wouldn't care about it right now.
His senses went numb when that voice rang out for a split second and he couldn't feel anything.
Then, he felt everything.
Fear.
Danger Sense began blaring alarms like crazy in his head.
If there was one thing about the Danger Sense skill, it was that it worked relative to Evan's current situation.
Right now, 'Danger' to Evan would apply to the scenario of him being discovered by these Demons.
Danger Sense had warned him before he activated Lethe, and was silent because Alvey, McEnda and Sigesi would not be able to detect him with the skill active.
But for it to co active now—
'That ans whoever is behind has a higher chance of seeing through Lethe than the Transcendents in front of !'
Evan's instinct was clear: do not turn around. If he did, then whoever or whatever was behind him would instantly see through Lethe's concealnt. He felt as if they were already looking right at him.
Footsteps approached, and the individual walked past him, their gaze lingering as if they sensed sothing amiss but weren't sure what.
When the figure finally ca into view, Evan saw who 'Arthur' was.
Short hair silver hair and highly handso facial features. The kind that would have females of all ages swooning at the sight of him.
He had strangely shaped slit pupils and obsidian black irises.
Like the three demons present, he was wearing a Demon Army Uniform, bearing Two Silver Stars on his chest pocket.
As Arthur ca fully into view, Evan felt a strange resonance, akin to Series Skill Resonance but not quite since none of his skills were responding.
'It's like our Very Existences are resonating…'
Another thing Evan could sense about both Arthur and Alvey—was that they were 'Irregulars'.
Beings that didn't conform to the norm.
Evan felt that title really suited this boy nad Arthur, as he could sense more ti law energy from the boy than he could sense light law energy from Alvey.
It should be noted that this boy was a Legendary Level, yet he had more law energy than a Transcendent who could comprehend the laws.
In what world was that normal?
'What's more, he has other law energies. I can't sense them clearly as I'm not a Legendary, but I can feel spatial power and destruction energy.'
"Did you notice sothing?"
"I scanned the area. Sothing really did happen here.
The concentration of ambient cosmic energy here is off the charts.
It's as if soone just opened a portal into outer space and let the unfiltered cosmic energy pour in for a second before closing it up."
Arthur's reply to Alvey's question mirrored Evan's recent experience—a portal from Outer Space had indeed opened briefly before closing.
Hearing Arthur's words about 'Space', Alvey raised his hand to do sothing but Arthur stopped him.
"Hold on, let Beatrix co over first. I think she may figure sothing…"
Curiosity piqued, Alvey held back, wondering what this 'Beatrix' could discern that two Transcendents, a Sovereign, and a Legendary could not.
The girl in question arrived a few seconds later, breathing heavily as she complained.
"You guys…are wayy too fast….ha…ha…"
"You're the one who's way too slow."
"Well, forgive for not being able to teleport as far as you guys can in one go."
Evan observed the teenage girl. With long white hair and bright hazel eyes that seamlessly complented her appearance, she wore a plain brown turtleneck, black jeans, and sneakers.
But it was the divinity emanating from her that caught Evan's attention and not her facial features.
She was a goddess.
And she was conversing casually with the three Demons as if they were close, even though both races were at odds.
On a side note, Arthur wasn't a demon, but Evan couldn't identify what he was either.
Anyway, Beatrix sighed and wiped her sweat with a handkerchief before speaking.
"At least I got here before Arty did."
When she said that, soone calmly walked into the playground via the broken gates, raising a brow when she heard her na called.
Seeing her, Evan's eyes shook.
'Oi OY OY!!!'
Artemisia had warned Evan that 'There was soone in particular that he shouldn't let discover he was from the future.'
'The fuck is this bullshit!?'
Artemisia had told him that he'd realise who it was when he saw them. But If she had told him who it was, he might have risked using Blink to escape, even with Alvey present.
The newcor approached, standing at a perfect distance for Evan to take in her full appearance without raising his head.
She was fairly tall for a teenager, with long black hair reaching down to her waist. She possessed golden eyes that seed to suck one in and had a 'relaxed' air about her, her face betraying no particular expressions.
This girl was a beauty, and that beauty was only going to grow along with her age.
Evan was sure of this, as he was very familiar with the future version of her.
The person whom Artemisa had warned him about, was none other than herself.
The teenage Artemisia Mallory Delgasso.
'Can I go ho now?'
That was Evan's honest desire after he saw Artemisia calmly walk into the area.
Questions swirled in his mind.
Why was Artemisia here with Alvey Sargon and McEnda III? Who was this Arthur guy? This other goddess called Beatrix?
Fuck, what year was it even?
Seeing a teenage Artemisia made him fear just how far back in ti he had travelled.
Evan wanted to get the hell out of here, but alas, Lady Luck was still holding up her middle finger towards him.
"Am I needed?"
Artemisia posed that question to Arthur as she arrived, and the boy nodded before pointing at Beatrix.
"Yeah. Boost Beatrix's level for a bit. And Beatrix, scan the area with your power and tell what you sense."
The two goddesses followed Arthur's instructions. After scanning the area, Beatrix shook her head with a puzzled expression.
"It feels like sothing's off, but I can't tell what…"
Arthur nodded, unsurprised. He then turned to Alvey, telling him to use sothing that made Evan's eyes widen.
A Pseudo-Authority.
This ant that Alvey had comprehended a World Law to the level where he had acquired the right to enforce his will upon its power.
Alvey used his and in that sa mont, Arthur did the sa, revealing he possessed a Pseudo-Authority of his own and it was no less powerful than Alvey's.
Again, it should not be forgotten that this Arthur guy was Level 700 while Alvey was Level 990 .
The two law energies swept across the playground in an instant and they had both discerned what had occurred here—what caused the power surge that attracted them.
"Spatial Displacent."
"Temporal Displacent."
""…""
Both looked at each other in silence as they simultaneously called out two similar yet very different phenona.
"What if it's not one of the two, but a mix of both?"
McEnda suggested this and the two of them glanced at him montarily, before turning back to each other.
"Both?"
"Both.
With a nod of mutual agreent, Arthur and Alvey concurred.
""Both is good.""
McEnda sighed and shook his head at their interaction before continuing, building on their discoveries.
"So, sothing was sent through space-ti from this place…"
"And what we sensed was the surge of energy that was released."
Sigesi chid in, adding to his observation and Artemisia nodded in agreent.
Hearing their analysis, Evan's expression brightened. If they believed whatever was displaced had been displaced from here, they might leave, since it was no longer present.
However, Evan forgot that Lady Luck had been giving him the middle finger all this while.
Alvey and Arthur gave the two demons and the teenage goddess with them puzzled looks, with Arthur posing a question that prompted all eyes to turn towards him and Alvey.
"Why are you guys automatically assuming whatever was 'Spatiotemporally' displaced was displaced from here?"
McEnda, catching the emphasis in his question, narrowed his eyes, looked around and asked back.
"You're saying whatever was displaced was displaced to here? But if it was, we should have noticed it by now.
However, there's nothing here."
"Unless it…or whoever it was, was able to leave before we got here."
Sigesi proposed a possibility following McEnda's statent. However, Alvey dismissed it with a shake of his head.
"Nothing has left this place since I spread out my aura. I locked down the space and the lock is unbroken."
Hearing this, Evan discovered that even if he had still attempted teleportation, it would have failed due to the spatial lockdown.
Alvey's words prompted Beatrix to react with surprise as she hadn't noticed the spatial lockdown. Realisation then flashed through her eyes as she spoke.
"Wait, that ans whatever was displaced here…"
"…is still here."
Arthur completed Beatrix's words, before turning towards Alvey who had already solved the puzzle as to why they couldn't see or sense anything.
'This is not good…'
Evan had already started creeping away when McEnda channelled a fraction of his demonic energy into the ground, his eyes glowing slightly.
When he did this, Arthur smiled at McEnda and began speaking.
"Concealnt is a pretty powerful law. Skills created with it can also be pretty broken sotis.
However, no matter how much concealnt you apply, it's very difficult and nigh impossible for soone in the third dinsion to conceal the space your existence occupies, and the ti flow your existence experiences."
As he spoke, Arthur, Alvey, and McEnda's gazes converged on a certain spot—the spot where Evan was!
'?!'
Arthur grinned, and at that mont, Evan realized that Arthur could see him!
Simultaneously, the three activated a trio of abilities.
|¬Pseudo-Authority of Ti. ¬| [Pseudo-Authority of Space.] [Pseudo-Authority of Darkness.]
The power of the three unleashed Pseudo-Authorities converged on Evan, buffeting him with a wave of energy that forcefully dispelled all his active skills.
His concealnt was released and his transford face reverted to the original.
Artemisia, Beatrix, and Sigesi watched in astonishnt as the space glitched and Evan's figure shimred into existence before their eyes.
He tried to force his body to move but failed miserably.
Tendrils of darkness wrapped around his limbs, binding him to the ground, space froze around him, and ti was halted from his neck down.
Under these constraints, even a Transcendent would find movent impossible, let alone the Epic Realm Evan.
With a cheerful smile on his face, Arthur slung his hand over Evan's shoulder and spoke.
"Co on, dear friend, you just arrived. Why the rush to leave?"
"?!"
In a sudden blur of motion, Arthur's hand struck the back of Evan's head, and the Hero's vision went black.
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