Chapter 328: Fate

Aldric’s strange behavior left Noan puzzled.

"What’s wrong with him?" Noan frowned and asked.

Malrik stroked his chin, looked at Aldric, and chuckled mockingly, "Kekeke... that kid tried to use a divination spell to glimpse the fate of this place."

"How foolish—his confidence is almost unbelievable, Master. Just how overconfident does one have to be to dare use a divination spell here and try to link one’s fate with this place? Even at my peak, I wouldn’t have dared use divination in a place like this."

"Thinking back to my glory days, I—"

"That’s enough!" Noan sighed, holding his forehead, and said, "Just explain it clearly. What exactly is divination, and what’s happening to him?"

"Ah!" Malrik slapped his own forehead, grinning sheepishly. "Kekeke... apologies, Master. I was just lost in my glorious memories and forgot about what’s happening now."

"In reality..." Malrik began to explain, "What he just did was use a divination spell."

"Divination spells have two main effects: the first is to foresee the trajectory of fate, and the second—which few people know about—is to mark one’s fate."

Hearing this, Noan felt somewhat bewildered, his face clearly showing his confusion.

Malrik scratched his head and said, "To put it simply, he was predicting the direction his fate would take, so he could tell whether there’s any danger in this place that might affect his destiny."

"Of course, he can’t know the specifics of what will happen—he can only know whether his path of fate will remain unchanged."

"In addition, he used the second function, which is to mark his fate. If this place doesn’t negatively influence his fate, he’ll mark it."

"That allows the trajectory of his fate to intersect with the fate of this place. Even if this place isn’t his destined opportunity, he’ll still be able to reap many rewards."

"This guy is deliberately trying to alter the direction of his fate to create his own opportunities."

Hearing this, Noan frowned—he had never imagined that such a strange kind of magic could even exist in this world.

But thinking again, this was a world of magic, and Aldric was the protagonist—of course, it was normal for him to be able to accomplish the impossible.

Still... altering the entire trajectory of fate like this was excessive. Even with his SSS-ranked talent, Noan couldn’t do something like that, so why could Aldric?

At that moment, Noan realized that his own SSS-ranked talent seemed to have more limitations and was not as overpowered as he’d once believed.

"However, he’s just put himself in danger," Malrik continued. "This place doesn’t belong to him, and its fate is rejecting his."

"That kid is far too arrogant. If he hadn’t meddled, maybe he could have gained something here. But now, this place’s fate is actively trying to expel him."

As soon as Malrik finished, the space around them suddenly brightened.

No, it wasn’t because the black clouds had dispersed, but because countless bolts of lightning were moving through those clouds, making everything brighter.

A destructive energy surged forth, making Noan shudder in fear.

"This is bad!" Noan shouted. "Malrik, let’s move somewhere else—this place isn’t safe."

But Malrik suddenly said, "Master! This is your opportunity."

"Heh?! What do you mean—"

Whump!

"You—" Noan’s eyes widened in disbelief as Malrik shoved him out of the corridor and into the surrounding black clouds.

Noan looked back at Malrik, his face full of shock, as if asking what on earth he was doing.

Then... Noan’s body was swallowed by the black clouds, vanishing completely.

At that moment, Malrik let out a long sigh and said, "Master, I hope you can seize the opportunity here, kekekeke..."

He laughed mischievously, the flames in his eye sockets burning fiercely, clearly excited.

"Damn it!" Aldric suddenly shouted.

He gritted his teeth through the pain, wiped the blood from his mouth with his sleeve, and gripped his weapons tightly as if something terrifying was about to descend.

BAM!

A bolt of lightning shot out, streaking straight toward Aldric.

He seemed to have prepared himself in advance, so he wasn’t caught off guard.

However, even with his mental preparation, the speed of the lightning bolt was simply too fast. He couldn’t dodge in time and could only raise his sword and spear to block the strike.

BAM!

A deafening explosion echoed out, a blinding light bursting forth as the lightning struck Aldric’s weapons.

"AGH!!!" Aldric suddenly roared in pain and agony, his body enveloped by lightning, radiating a dazzling brilliance.

The pain he endured was so excruciating that even a level 8 Lord like him was forced to scream, his face twisted in an unnatural grimace.

After several seconds, the lightning faded. Aldric knelt on the ground, using his spear and sword to support himself and try to steady his balance.

From his body, thick black smoke billowed upward as if he were a lump of charcoal doused in cold water.

"Damn it!" Aldric gritted his teeth, eyes glaring into the distance as if he could see something lurking behind the black clouds.

He took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down, and then sheathed his weapons.

Aldric’s demeanor suddenly changed. His face grew solemn, and he clasped his hands together in a respectful gesture: "I have come here to reinforce the seal of the Insect Kingdom, to save humanity. I have no ill intentions and beg you to forgive my ignorance."

"What I have done is only to ensure that there are no mistakes in this mission. After all, the task of saving humanity weighs heavily on my shoulders—I cannot afford to fail."

"I hope you can help me fulfill this sacred mission."

Aldric spoke, his eyes fixed on that spot as if waiting for something to happen.

However, a minute passed... two minutes... five minutes went by, but there was still no response.

Aldric frowned and continued, "If you do not respond, that means I can..."

Tik! Tik! Tik!

Before Aldric could finish his sentence, a bolt of lightning suddenly appeared and struck toward him.

He gritted his teeth, trying to raise his spear and sword to block, but it was too late.

His speed simply couldn’t compare to that of the lightning.

There was only a flash of light and then—

BAM!

The lightning struck Aldric with a thunderous explosion, and once again, he turned into a high-powered light bulb, illuminating the entire space around him.

He could no longer stand steady, staggering as he walked. Malrik saw this and laughed wickedly, "Kekekeke... let me give you a hand."

Malrik waved his hand, sending a gust of wind that blew the nearly-unconscious Aldric right off the hallway, causing him to fall into the dense black clouds below, like sinking into an ocean.

"Ah!" After he finished, Malrik stretched lazily and looked toward the tower, mumbling, "That’s as much as I can do. The rest... you’re on your own."

With that, his body transformed into countless blue-green flames and vanished, leaving the space to return to its original silence.

...

Noan slowly opened his eyes, realizing he was in a strange place. His body ached, but fortunately, he still had his ’Immortal’ talent and could recover quickly.

He stood up, looking around.

The place where Noan was standing was incredibly vast. The floor was paved with a strange kind of granite, covered with magical runes that emitted a gloomy light.

The surface was circular, surrounded on all sides by water, making it seem as if this was truly an oasis.

Strangely, when Noan looked up, the sky above was completely shrouded in black clouds, blocking out any view beyond.

He walked closer to the river that encircled the area, bent down, and looked below.

Inside the river, there were no creatures at all, but Noan seemed to catch sight of something.

He reached out his hand, intending to touch the water, when suddenly a loud noise rang out.

BAM!

Startled, Noan turned around and saw a dark figure fall hard onto the ground.

"Aldric?" Noan was a little puzzled, but as he saw Aldric seriously injured—his entire body covered in burns, some places charred black—a wicked thought crossed his mind.

The Abyss Cube instantly transformed into a bow, and an arrow formed from space compressed to an unimaginable degree.

Noan drew the bowstring taut, the space around him warping like a piece of fabric.

And then—

Whoosh!