Leon, frozen for a second, was brought sharply back to his senses by a firm nudge from Crimson beside him. She was signaling him insistently to follow her into this intimidating new tent.
Her expression had beco quite serious now—completely unlike before when she’d seed sowhat carefree and relaxed during their flight.
This is different. She’s worried about sothing.
Leon had absolutely no choice but to follow her inside, despite every instinct screaming at him to run.
I’ll go. Only because I haven’t detected any serious malicious intent toward from anyone until now.
He took a deep, steadying breath and entered along with her, trying to calm his racing heart.
If I had sensed genuine killing intent or danger, I would have tried to flee imdiately instead.
They entered together, crossing through the blue cloth covering that served as the entrance. Leon found himself holding his breath in tense anticipation mixed with a genuine bit of fear.
What am I walking into?
Inside, Leon was unexpectedly greeted with a warm and pleasant scent—sothing like burning herbs mixed with clean earth. Looking around, there wasn’t much to see initially. The interior was not highly decorative at all—there were only a few essential items inside, none of the elaborate ornantation or luxury he’d half-expected.
Minimalist. Functional. Not what I anticipated.
The lighting inside was deliberately kept low, creating shadows in the corners. But Leon’s focus wasn’t on any of these environntal details.
His attention was completely captured by the man who was sitting cross-legged on the ground with his eyes closed in deep ditation. Even from this distance, Leon could feel the faint but distinctly oppressive Aura radiating from the man—it was absolutely trendous in scale and quality.
That pressure... It’s like standing near a barely contained explosion.
The man appeared to be in deep ditation, completely unaware or unconcerned about their entrance.
But Crimson was leading Leon forward, moving closer to the ditating figure with each step. The nearer Leon got, the more nervous and anxious he felt as the pressure increased exponentially.
This is too much. Way too much.
Feeling it was becoming genuinely dangerous, Leon gave Crimson a reluctant, pleading look. With his free hand, he gestured desperately toward the exit behind them, trying to communicate non-verbally that it didn’t seem right to approach so close when this powerful person was clearly in ditation.
We should leave. Now.
He was reasonably sure she wasn’t in imdiate danger based on her confidence. But for him—a complete stranger in this unknown place with unknown customs—he absolutely didn’t want to get caught in the anger of so imnsely powerful being who might take offense.
I’d rather be far, far away from people like this.
But the girl either didn’t understand his gestures or deliberately chose to ignore them. She kept moving forward with purpose after shaking her head, and his visible reluctance got exactly the opposite reaction he’d hoped for.
She reached out, grabbed his wrist firmly, and physically pulled him along with her.
Her grip was surprisingly warm, her palm rough with calluses—proof of a warrior’s hands, not a diplomat’s.
GRIP!
Leon panicked internally but had no choice except to follow along, stumbling slightly as she dragged him.
Shit! This is bad! This is really bad!
She didn’t stop pulling him until both of them were standing directly in front of the ditating man—close enough to touch if they reached out.
Leon could see the man up close now with perfect clarity. He looked impressively tall and well-built—muscular, but not excessively so. Lean and powerful rather than bulky. He had the sa distinctive red skin as Crimson and deep burgundy shoulder-length hair. White painted symbols covered his bare upper body in intricate patterns. His lower body was covered by similar primitive-style clothing, though the quality seed higher than average.
He’s massive. Probably even taller than when standing.
Now that Leon was so dangerously close, he could feel the oppressive nature of this man’s presence even more clearly and intensely.
It’s like standing next to a volcano. Barely controlled power.
Crimson finally released Leon’s wrist. But in the next mont, she said sothing quite loudly in her language—words Leon couldn’t understand at all.
"Vel’kresh mandor SIKTH! Tor kala vel MANDOR!"
But one thing was imdiately clear: her tone was far too unapologetic and familiar when speaking in front of soone who was obviously much, much stronger than both of them combined.
Is she insane?! You don’t talk like that to soone this powerful!
In the next mont, the man’s eyes opened slowly and deliberately.
OPEN...
Revealing deep, piercing crimson eyes that looked directly at Leon from head to toe, scanning him with uncomfortable intensity from the very first mont.
The scrutiny made Leon shiver involuntarily despite trying to maintain composure.
He’s analyzing . Judging . Deciding if I’m a threat?
And in the background, Crimson kept saying sothing continuously in her harsh language. Her voice was loud and insistent, and she just kept going and going without pause, clearly excited or explaining sothing important.
"Kresh mandor vel sikth TOR! Vel kala MANDOR sikara! Kresh vel—"
anwhile, Leon was barely keeping himself together as the man remained fully focused on him with those intense eyes. He hadn’t expected to get this much direct attention the very mont those eyes opened.
I thought he’d look at her first since she’s the one talking!
From ti to ti, the man would answer Crimson in his own language—responses Leon couldn’t understand, but they were short and precise. His deep voice made Leon’s heart beat faster with anxiety each ti he spoke.
"Vel."
"Mandor sikth."
"Kresh."
Since he couldn’t understand what they were even discussing, Leon had no idea whether he should attempt to flee right now or stay and hope for the best.
Are they deciding my fate? Discussing whether to kill ? I have no idea!
While trying to follow the conversation through body language, Leon’s eyes wandered briefly around the interior space. He discovered sothing significant—a wooden shelf built into the tent’s fra, filled completely with books and scrolls.
Those are the things I need! With those books and the translation item from the cosmic shop, I could learn their language in no ti!
But right now, he wasn’t worried about language acquisition at all.
Survival first. Language later.
Their discussion finally ended, and only tense silence remained in the room.
Then the man stood up slowly and deliberately. He was indeed tall—almost exactly the sa height as Leon, with both of them standing around six feet four to five inches, him being just slightly taller.
We’re eye to eye. But that’s where the similarity ends.
But the man was noticeably more muscular than Leon overall. Leon maintained a slim, athletic build with muscles hidden beneath his clothing, while this man’s power was on full display.
The man took a single step, positioning himself directly in front of Leon. Close. Uncomfortably close. His deep crimson eyes locked directly onto Leon’s mystical heterochromatic ones.
Outside, Leon appeared calm and composed. But inside, he was absolutely freaking out.
What is happening?! What did they decide?! Not understanding anything being discussed makes so nervous!
After that weird, intimidating face-off that lasted several heartbeats, the man finally took a step backward, creating a small amount of space.
Even watching him move felt profoundly different to Leon sohow. The movent was strangely smooth and flowing—different in a way he couldn’t quite articulate, even though it was just a single step. Previously, he hadn’t been able to analyze it properly, but now he felt it clearly.
There’s sothing fundantally different about how he moves. Like he’s operating on different physics.
The man looked directly at Crimson then and spoke several words with his characteristically deep voice.
"Vel’kresh mandor sikara tor kala."
Leon couldn’t understand anything, of course.
Crimson replied, but Leon noticed imdiately that the look on her face was slightly different now, changed from before. And her tone wasn’t the previous, excited, energetic one anymore either.
Sothing shifted. The mood changed.
This made Leon tense up noticeably.
That’s not good. Definitely not good.
After Crimson’s reply, the man spoke again—a longer statent this ti, maybe a full sentence. Then he stopped and looked expectantly at Crimson for her response.
But when the reply ca from her, she was visibly shaking. Her entire body trembled as she spoke, and her voice was high-pitched—almost shouting in volu and intensity.
"VEL MANDOR! KRESH SIKTH TOR! VEL—!"
It was imdiately obvious to Leon’s keen observation that whatever they were arguing about, Crimson and this powerful man definitely didn’t seem to be on the sa page at all.
They’re disagreeing. Strongly.
But the man seed quite relaxed and unbothered despite Crimson’s loud, emotional shouts directed at him.
For her to shout like that in front of such an overwhelmingly powerful person—sothing I would never dare to do—it ans they must know each other extrely well.
Leon found himself briefly curious about their exact relationship.
Family? Lovers? Teacher and student? Sothing else?
But his focus quickly returned to their ongoing conversation. He was desperately trying to pick up sothing—anything—through their words, tones, and body language to understand what was being decided.
Co on, give sothing I can work with.
He couldn’t decipher the actual content, but it was at least a relief that things hadn’t turned violent yet. That was what he’d been most worried about.
As long as no one’s attacking, I still have a chance.
And just then, a heavy silence fell after sothing Crimson said with finality in her voice, with her fist clenched, the proof that she was not backing down.
Then—
BOOM!
An absolutely overwhelming Aura filled the entire massive tent and probably radiated far outside as well.
WHOOOOOOSH!
Red ethereal energy began visibly radiating from the man’s body in waves, distorting the air itself.
The temperature spiked instantly, dry heat brushing Leon’s face like he was standing in front of an open forge.
It was completely overwhelming in its intensity. Leon imdiately prepared to teleport away if the need arose—his mana already gathering—but before he could execute the technique, his body was slamd violently to the ground by the sheer pressure.
CRASH!
What—?!
Even lying on the ground, his consciousness remained intact and aware. He could still move slightly, though with trendous difficulty.
Through blurred vision, he noticed sothing shocking: Crimson hadn’t dropped to the ground like him. She was excluding a similar defensive Aura and energy of her own, standing her ground against the pressure.
She’s that strong?! Strong enough to withstand this force that I can’t even resist?!
But now wasn’t the ti to be amazed by her capabilities.
I need to get out of here! NOW!
Leon decided desperately that he needed to escape this tent imdiately, before things got worse.
He wasn’t just afraid. He was ashad of the instinct to run—of how small he suddenly felt, how far he still had to climb.
He gathered his mana forcefully, channeling it toward spatial manipulation to teleport outside the tent to safety—
But he completely lost control of his mana before it could even transform into usable spatial energy for teleportation.
FIZZLE!
What?! No!
The feeling was eerily similar to what he’d encountered at the top of that red portal before falling into this world—complete mana suppression.
Oh shit. I’m completely fucked.
As if he’d jinxed himself by completing that thought, the pressure crushing his body increased even more dramatically just then.
CRUSH!
"URGH!
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