Chapter 392: Luke is high

"What they did," the man finally began, his voice carrying none of the anger one should expect, "is definitely unforgivable."

"A single man’s fault doesn’t make an entire race criminal," Luke countered.

"Yes, but humans have always been infamous for their savagery. The only reason I survived was because they were in a state of panic, and I was their only hope of survival. That was until I revealed to them that there was, in fact, no hope left."

Luke hummed thoughtfully. "So you’re saying that if you had appeared under any other circumstances, they would have killed you as well?"

"If under some circumstances I don’t fight back then yes." The owl-faced man responded calmly before leaning back in his seat.

Luke crossed his arms and studied him for a moment. "So am I to understand that you never believed humanity deserved a chance, yet you still took the risk of entering that dangerous zone filled with savages and wildlings just to inform them of their inevitable doom?"

The man fell silent.

His sharp golden eyes remained fixed on Luke, their gaze carrying a weight that made the silence between them feel almost deliberate.

He seemed to be examining Luke again, searching for the intention behind every word rather than merely listening to what was being said.

Luke leaned forward slightly. "Wrong. Unlike what the others think of humans, you actually understand their importance to this world as much as I do."

The other man tilted his head. "Why wouldn’t you? You are human as well."

"Yeah, but the moment I wish to, I can leave this world and let humanity face whatever disaster it has brought upon itself."

The golden light in his eyes briefly intensified again, as though he were once more probing the truth behind Luke’s words.

Luke did not flinch.

"But I won’t leave until I get justice. And what those fire breathers are aiming for?" His expression hardened. "That’s not justice. It’s tyranny."

The owl-faced man stared at him for a few seconds before asking, "Do you truly think they care about your opinion, or anyone else’s? A dormant dragon may be indifferent, but an enraged one is another matter entirely. You would be wise not to say anything other than what they want to hear."

Luke snickered. "If I could simply talk some sense into them or find a way to deal with them myself, I wouldn’t be sitting here having this conversation with you."

The older man released a weary sigh. "Then what do you wish of me? Despite my status, I am merely a messenger of this realm, someone with little more than the hope of preserving this world until my final breath."

Luke shook his head. "With those beings on their way to break the Ritual? I don’t think you’ll be able to keep that oath for very long."

For the first time, a trace of annoyance crossed the man’s face.

"Then tell me what you want me to do."

Luke shrugged. "Find me a way to reach someone who might be able to talk some sense into those enraged dragons. There must be someone capable of that, right?"

The owl-faced man slowly shook his head. "No creature other than the Almighty One stands above those apex predators. And humanity has incurred their ra..."

He suddenly stopped.

The feathers around his face flickered almost imperceptibly, while his golden eyes widened for the briefest moment. It was such a subtle reaction that another person might have missed it entirely.

Luke didn’t.

"What?" he asked immediately. "Something you remembered that might help us?"

The man turned his attention back to him, his expression considerably more thoughtful than before.

"There is a slim hope." He paused, hesitation carrying his next words. "I know someone who might have enough influence in this matter to make a difference. Though whether she would even hear you out entirely depends on her mood."

Luke chuckled. "Just a few minutes ago, you considered humanity a doomed race. This is already better than that."

The man sighed, silently conceding the point. Yet the concern in his expression remained.

"This person... Lady Agatha is rather eccentric. She has a loud mouth and an even louder personality. More importantly, she is a woman of action, the sort who rarely sits still when there is something she believes needs to be done. Long ago, I helped her find her children in the Lost Forest of Octaram. Because of that, I have enough standing with her to appear before her."

Luke hummed.

"A wild woman, huh? I’ve dealt with that type before, so don’t worry. As long as you can introduce me to her, I think I can handle myself."

The owl-faced man remained unconvinced.

There was still plenty that could go wrong, and he knew better than most how unpredictable Lady Agatha could be. Yet he could not deny what had changed during this conversation.

Until only a few moments ago, there had been nothing waiting for humanity except devastation.

Now, at the very least, there was a faint flicker of hope.

....

"Whoa, you can use teleportation?" Luke exclaimed as the scenery around them shifted the moment his hand touched the old man’s talon.

"Yes. And that’s precisely why I asked why you bothered climbing the wall when you’re supposed to be the savior of this realm." A faint trace of amusement colored his voice.

Luke barely heard him.

Right now, his entire body was undergoing a strange transformation.

"What... is this sensation?" he murmured, asking no one in particular.

Whatever was happening, it made him feel lighter.

Higher.

Luke had experienced plenty of strange things throughout his life. He had consumed substances and inhaled things that would have killed an ordinary person long before their natural lifespan was anywhere near its end. He had endured pain, pleasure, exhaustion, and sensations that should have been enough to overwhelm the senses.

Yet none of them came close to this.

A strange exhilaration coursed through his body, leaving him feeling almost weightless. Happiness and excitement mingled together until he could no longer suppress the smile spreading across his face behind the mask.

"Are you all right, kid?" the old man asked.

Luke had been staring silently at the sky for nearly half a minute, apparently so absorbed in what he was experiencing that he had completely forgotten about his surroundings.

"Why... are there two moons here?" he finally asked, raising a finger toward the two enormous lunar orbs suspended in the night sky.

The old man followed his gaze and sighed.

"Well, the Ritual doesn’t merely separate the realms. It divides them into two different realities as well."

"Oh..." Luke’s eyes remained fixed on the moons. Then he chuckled softly. "Hohoho. Sounds nice."

He interwined his fingers behind his head and leaned back, gazing at the unfamiliar sky with all the leisure of a man who had nowhere else to be.

The older man, however, was far less relaxed.

"We can’t stand here all day. We need to get moving and reach the castle before they mistake us for ambushers."

Luke hummed and turned toward the imposing structure rising in the far south.

"Oh wow, that’s a fucking huge Disneyland palace to live in. What exactly do they do with all those vacant rooms? Dry their undies?"

The older man stared at him in silence, clearly unable to understand what had suddenly gotten into the human. Whatever it was, however, he was certain it had something to do with this place.

Shaking his head, he decided it would be better not to waste any more time trying to understand him. He reached out toward the fox-masked human and prepared to teleport them both.

"Come on..."

"Tch."

The instant the teleportation took effect, Luke slipped away.

The next moment, the owl-faced man found himself standing alone near the entrance.

He stared at the empty space beside him.

Grumbling under his breath, he turned around and teleported back to where they had been standing moments earlier.

"Huh?"

Luke was gone.

"Where did he go?"

The man’s expression tightened as he scanned the surrounding area. His vision sharpened, extending far beyond the limits of an ordinary creature’s sight as he searched the distant landscape for even the slightest trace of the fox-masked human.

Nothing.

Then his gaze shifted toward the castle.

His eyes widened.

For a moment, he simply stood there, unable to make sense of what he was seeing.

The human was standing at the very top of one of the castle’s towers, casually waving at him from a distance that should have been impossible to cross so quickly.

"When..." The old man stared at him in disbelief. "When did he become so fast?"

~~~

A/N:- Thanks for reading. We are unveiling the secrets of the world and knowing more about Luke here. I hope the pacing is fine since this is a little long arc. I am sparing unnecessary filler or scene change to keep the plot going.