Chapter 391: Tell me, do you want war?

Luke was fucked.

The very person he had been pretending to be, a Guardian with the authority to cross the realms, was standing right in front of him. And judging by the way the other two immediately stepped aside and lowered their heads, they clearly knew exactly who he was.

Royally fucked, he was.

Staring at the owl-faced man for a moment, he finally said, "I came to meet you."

The man hummed softly. "I will speak with you and give you the answer you came searching for, but only under one condition."

His eyes narrowed slightly.

"Tell me, how did you bypass the Ritual?"

Luke drew a slow breath. There was no point trying to come up with another elaborate excuse. He had already committed himself to the lie, so all he could do now was make it sound convincing.

Not to talk about the system warning.

"Because I am beyond the Ritual’s comprehension. As far as it is concerned, I don’t exist. I have no place in this world. Just understand that."

The owl-faced man remained perfectly still, his gaze fixed on Luke.

For a moment, Luke thought he saw a faint glow within those sharp eyes.

His suspicion was immediately confirmed.

[Presumably a lie-detecting skill, Host.]

Luke’s lips curled faintly beneath the mask.

Well, he wasn’t lying.

Not entirely, anyway.

He truly had no place in this world. He belonged somewhere else, with someone else. That was why the Ritual had failed to recognize him in the first place.

The man remained silent for several seconds before finally speaking.

"Come with me, Stranger. We shall have some tea while we talk."

The two demi-humans did not utter a word as Luke began walking alongside the owl-faced man. Apparently, the authority this owl possessed was more than enough to silence any objections they might have had.

Luke was relieved that he would not need to run anymore.

However, the moon was nowhere in sight, so he did not redistribute his stats recklessly. Most of his points remained concentrated on Endurance and Speed.

He could still be ambushed at any moment.

He needed to stay prepared.

They walked deeper into the forest, and gradually, the fog began to thin. With every step, more of the surroundings became visible, revealing just how densely packed the trees were.

Luke finally understood why he had kept crashing into them.

The trees were growing almost unnaturally close together, with small clusters forming every few steps and leaving narrow passages between them. Even a slight miscalculation at his speed could cause him to stumble and fall.

’No wonder I kept crashing into them.’

As a hunter who regularly operated in forests, Luke found himself genuinely ashamed of his performance during the escape. Blaming the trees would be convenient, but it would not solve the real problem.

He needed to learn how to read his surroundings better.

More importantly, he needed to rely on his senses even when the moon was unavailable.

’The Lunar Domain has made me a little too dependent on it.’

The realization came with an unexpected surge of motivation.

’I’ll have to train more once I get back.’

Seeing how naturally powerful these people were had reminded him of something he had nearly forgotten.

He was still a frog in the well.

Soon, almost without warning, a small sitting area appeared in the middle of the forest.

A massive tree stood above it like a natural canopy, its broad branches spreading overhead while its roots pushed through the earth and spread outward before the shelter like a welcoming carpet. The arrangement looked almost deliberate, as though the forest itself had created a place for conversation.

They walked toward it together, and Luke suddenly noticed something that made his attention sharpen.

’This tree has Gamma...’

He could sense it clearly. The energy flowed through the tree with a profound presence that stood out even among the countless sources surrounding them.

This was the first time Luke had sensed magic coming directly from a tree.

He found himself staring.

There was something almost tranquil about the way the energy moved through its roots, trunk, and branches. It was nothing like the chaotic bursts of power he had encountered in battle. The magic seemed to exist as naturally as the tree itself, circulating through it without any visible beginning or end

Luke could not help but feel a little awed.

"A Green Knor tree isn’t something you usually see beyond the Wall. I am not surprised to see you staring."

The owl-faced man was already seated when he spoke.

Luke pulled out the seat opposite him and sat down, though his curiosity quickly got the better of him.

"How do they grow with magic inside them? Or is the magic infused into them later?"

The man leaned back and rested his taloned hands on the table.

"Save your questions, young man. I believe this isn’t the time for you to be worrying about that."

Luke rolled his eyes.

’Yeah, because half a minute of conversation would surely have brought about the end of the world.’

Still, he decided not to press the matter.

He had more important questions.

"What are your intentions toward humanity?"

He asked the question before bringing up anything else he had come here to learn.

Luke watched the owl-faced man carefully Before choosing his next question, he wanted to understand exactly what kind of person he was dealing with. The answer would tell him far more than any information the man could simply recite.

"It doesn’t matter what I think of them, considering their fates are sealed now." The man sighed in resignation and gave a slight shrug. Well, he wasn’t wrong to believe that considering what was coming.

Luke hummed thoughtfully.

"That is for me to decide. First, clarify something. What are your thoughts on this war?"

The owl-faced man fell silent.

For the first time, he contemplated what to say next.

~~~~

A/N:- Thanks for reading. This arc would end on a very sweet and anticipated note.