According to Elana, the biggest problem that came with navigating the mistwall was not the dangers that lurked within. Well, that wasn’t exactly true. For an ordinary person living in Extim, the monsters that hid behind the thick layer of mist before the edge of the world was considered to be a grave threat.

Even members of the Shadow Crusaders— those who were typically above Level 150, which was the peak of humanity in this world— would oftentimes struggle to bring down these monsters that crept through the mistwall. So they were very likely at least Level 150, more likely even Level 200.

But for Damien? These monsters were hardly even a threat. That was why Elana barely mentioned them in passing to him. While he hadn’t told her his exact level, she assumed he was someone from Medul, so even Level 200 monsters were supposed to be weak compared to him.

However, pure power was not enough to get through the mistwall. Ulric had stressed this fact, before he had convinced Damien to seek out Elana.

And Elana agreed with this, stating that the true threat of the mistwall came from… its layout.

“The mistwall is like a maze,” Elana said as she led the way forward. “But there are no walls for you to break through, so bruteforce would never work. Instead, it is a maze that deprives you of your senses, making it nearly impossible to make your way through it, even though it is merely a straight line.”

Damien cocked a brow when he heard that. “So you’re saying it just turns you around in circles until you’re lost? But what if I travel really, really, really fast?”

“While that may appear to be a sound strategy, the mistwall doesn’t merely cause confusion through messing with your directional senses.” Elana shook her head back at him.

“What else does it do?” Damien asked with a frown.

Elana sighed as she raised her head towards the twilight sky. “It creates illusions— it leads you to believe you’ve done things you’ve never done before. And it’s all by design. Because the mistwall’s magic is intended to trick you into believing you’ve done everything within your capabilities to cross to the other side.”

“So are you saying that even if I jump into the mistwall, it’ll trick me into thinking I’m still accelerating forward when I could’ve just come to a complete halt immediately?” Damien tapped a finger on his chin.

“Indeed.” Elana nodded back at him. “As I said, it is designed to try to do everything in its power to trap you within its confines until you either perish or fall into insanity.”

“I see…” Damien tilted his head back as he considered this.

This sounded like it could have truly been dangerous if he went there alone. While his [Soul Mastery] offered him some protection against illusions, curses, and other enchantment spells, he knew he wasn’t able to resist these spells if they were strong enough. And considering that both Ulric and Elana knew of Damien’s strength, but still thought he needed their help, it was very likely that these illusions would be able to overwhelm him.

But that did beg the question—

“How did the mistwall even come into place? It almost sounds like someone made it a long time ago. Also, how are you going to help us pass through it?” Damien asked as he peered into Elana.

The [Enchantress] shrugged. “Who knows? Maybe it’s a natural formation of the world. Or perhaps it was created by the Overlords a long time ago?”

If it’s made by an Overlord, it would make sense that it is powerful enough to overwhelm even my [Soul Mastery], Damien thought as he nodded.

“But as for your other question…” Elana continued. “All I have to do is simply follow the guiding arches that were left behind by Adam.”

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“Arches?” Damien furrowed his brow.

“Pillars etched with incredibly powerful antimagic properties,” Elana explained. “They are placed once every mile, and in total, there are over a hundred of them. Only a high-leveled enough [Mage] is capable of activating their domain. While I am a mere [Enchantress], I am also a capable [Mage].”

“Wait, so it’s at least a hundred miles to cross through the mistwall?” Damien blinked a few times.

The elderly [Enchantress] nodded. “It is quite the journey, yes.”

“Then shouldn’t we pick up the pace?” Damien said as he took a step forward. “We still have quite a long ways to go!”

“It’s thousands of miles to even reach the mistwall in the first place.” Elana crossed her arms, before tilting her head back. “Besides, I’m not the one slowing us down.”

The two of them looked back down the road at the three figures trailing after them. Lena, Aria, and Ulric were failing to keep up. Mostly because Aria was chasing Ulric around while Lena was trying to rein the little demon girl in.

“Mister, Mister, can we please play? Please? That was so fun!” Aria exclaimed as she ran in circles around Lena.

Ulric ran back from the little demon girl, screaming in a terrified voice. “No— you almost killed me!”

“Aw, but that’s because I thought you wanted to kill us! Now that I know you’re a friend, I just want to play! I mean, you’re strong, right?” Aria beamed back at the former assassin.

“Now, that’s enough, Aria. You’re scaring the poor man.” Lena sighed as she picked up the little demon girl.

“But mama—” Aria started.

And Damien stepped forward, shaking his head at Aria. “Listen to your mother, Aria. You have to behave. Especially after what you did.”

“Aw… alright…” Aria’s shoulders sagged.

Lena rolled her eyes. “When you say it, she listens. But when I do…”

“That’s because I’m the cool dad,” Damien said with a grin back to Lena. “Now come on, we have a long journey ahead of us. Let’s get going.”

Damien gestured for the group to follow. And they did, making faster progress than before. But even still, it was tough for even this group of relatively higher-leveled individuals to traverse such a great distance, making the journey take quite a while…

***

Ulric was terrified of the little girl. There were a few reasons for this. First of all, she was extremely strong. While Ulric knew that Damien was powerful, Damien was a full-grown adult. Aria was a little girl.

And she was very much stronger than Ulric.

“Look, what I caught, mama!” Aria exclaimed as she dragged the body of a giant snake behind her back to the campsite.

Ulric gulped as he stared at the black snake. It was definitely an obsidian snake— a monster that was between Level 150 and 200. While Ulric was certain he could bring down one on his own, he also wasn’t a literal child. Besides…

Ulric looked Aria up and down as Lena reprimanded the little girl.

She barely even has a scratch on her… Ulric thought he chewed his lower lip.

Now that it was night, the group had set up camp off to the side of the road to rest for the night. But Aria had snuck off while Lena was preparing a stew and Damien had been busy asking Ulric and Elana more questions about the edge of the world.

Elana shook her head as she turned away from Aria. “Just what exactly is she…?”

Damien just scratched the back of his head in response. “I told you, we’re from Medul, remember?”

“I know, but still…” Elana closed her eyes. “I think I’ll just head to bed now.”

“Alright, goodnight.” Damien waved at her as she sauntered off.

Ulric eyed her back for a moment, before he looked towards Aria. He could tell that one of the reasons why Elana was terrified of Aria was the same as Ulric— because Aria was terrifyingly strong.

However, the second reason they were both afraid of Aria was extremely different. And it was what made Ulric uncomfortable.

After all, Ulric was afraid of Aria because she wanted to ‘play’ with him— whatever that meant. Meanwhile, Elana reviled Aria because she was not a human.

Perhaps Elana didn’t say it outright. But Ulric saw the look in her eyes. It was an all-too-familiar look to him. That had been directed to him many times before.

Lowering his head, Ulric looked down at himself morosely. And he wasn’t sure how to feel right now.

***

But as the night went on, and the group drifted off to sleep, a few shadowed figures began to gather by the forest edge. Bandits, eyeing the asleep travelers with glee.

Bandits, who were about to have a terrible time…