Chapter 318 -: 317 Threat.
Julius stepped out from the spatial tear with Rosalina still cradled securely in his arms.
The distorted space behind them slowly sealed itself as though nothing had ever happened, leaving only the quiet wilderness stretching endlessly before them.
He didn’t stop for even a single second. The moment his feet touched the ground, he accelerated toward the east with all the speed he could muster.
The teleportation had barely covered a kilometer, nowhere near enough to place them beyond danger. More importantly, he had only until midnight before everything he had delayed through Event Horizon came crashing down upon him.
Once that happened, simply remaining conscious would become a challenge, let alone continuing their escape.
"...Fuck."
The curse escaped his lips as he glanced down at Rosalina resting in his arms. She had lost consciousness the instant they entered the spatial tear, her breathing faint but steady as her body remained completely limp against him.
It seemed maintaining that spell, the one she had casually named Purgatory, had demanded far more from her than even Julius had anticipated.
She had sustained it for barely five minutes, yet those few minutes had exhausted her to the point of complete collapse.
The amount of mana, mental strength, and concentration required to continuously maintain such a terrifying spell was beyond ordinary comprehension.
Even so, Julius couldn’t help feeling astonished every time he recalled what he had just witnessed.
Before today, Rosalina had already explained the principles behind the spell, describing how it combined the second ability of her Rose Petal Eyes with her Color Path.
He had understood the theory well enough, yet understanding something and witnessing it firsthand were two entirely different experiences.
Watching an entire world lose its colors, seeing manifestations born from imagination step into reality, and feeling the overwhelming pressure that even deceived someone as powerful as Magnus had left Julius genuinely speechless.
For several moments, he found himself unable to think of anything else.
’Just how terrifying will she become after reaching the Infinite Core...?’
That single thought lingered inside his mind.
Her Rose Petal Eyes already possessed the ability to blur the boundary between imagination and reality.
Once she reached the final stage, would those limitations disappear altogether? Julius honestly couldn’t imagine the answer.
Even he, someone who had stood beside Rosalina for years and understood her abilities better than anyone else, couldn’t predict where her power would eventually stop.
Five years ago, while they were still within the Three Floating Continents, both of them had awakened the second ability of their eyes.
Julius had Awakened when Miasma had attempted to seize Rosalina’s body, forcing him beyond his limits and triggering the evolution of the All-Seeing Eyes.
The second ability granted by those eyes allowed him to interfere with the future itself. A strike performed in the present could be shifted forward in time, remaining invisible until the exact moment Julius chose to release it.
An ordinary sword slash could suddenly appear seconds later, or even much longer afterward, striking an opponent who believed the attack had already been avoided. It was an absurd ability, one Julius readily admitted bordered on cheating.
The third ability was even more unreasonable.
Every time he remembered it, Julius found himself cursing inwardly.
No wonder that bastard received a cheat system.
Without such an advantage, defeating either him or Rosalina would border on impossible.
Even if Crypian Thorne somehow experienced a thousand reincarnations, endlessly accumulating knowledge and experience, Julius doubted the man could ever overcome the two of them after they fully matured.
Compared to the All-Seeing Eyes, however, Rosalina’s second ability was somehow even more outrageous.
Before awakening it, her first ability had been little more than creating convincing illusions, useful in certain situations but far from overwhelming.
Everything changed the moment her eyes evolved. The boundary between illusion and reality became frighteningly thin.
Whatever Rosalina imagined could be manifested into existence, provided it remained within the limits her current strength allowed.
Those manifestations weren’t truly alive, nor were they capable of exceeding her own power, yet even those restrictions failed to diminish how terrifying the ability truly was.
’Seriously... just how broken is my wife?’
The thought made Julius shake his head despite the danger surrounding them.
’And what happens when she reaches the Infinite Core? I honestly don’t know... but I genuinely pity anyone who has to stand against her. Especially the Velentina Clan themselves.’
A faint smile unconsciously formed across his lips before quickly disappearing. Humming quietly to himself, Julius continued sprinting toward the eastern horizon.
According to the map he had memorized, an enormous forest lay in that direction.
Normally it would be filled with dangerous beasts capable of threatening even experienced spell casters, yet at this particular moment it was ironically the safest destination available.
Hidden among countless monsters, they could avoid pursuit long enough for the coming storm to pass, though Julius himself would spend the next three weeks paying the unbearable price demanded by Event Horizon.
’Rose is unconscious...’
He tightened his grip around her slightly to prevent her from slipping.
’I just hope she wakes up before midnight...’
A weary sigh escaped him.
Suddenly, every instinct within his body exploded into warning.
An overwhelming sense of danger assaulted his mind without the slightest hint of preparation. It wasn’t vague unease or simple caution.
It was the unmistakable certainty that death itself had arrived. The hairs across Julius’ body stood upright as his pupils contracted sharply.
Almost simultaneously, the air directly before his throat split apart, a razor-thin distortion slicing silently toward his neck as though an invisible blade had torn through space itself.
Julius immediately threw himself backward, narrowly avoiding the attack, yet before he could regain his footing another invisible slash descended from behind.
A third followed from his left, then another from above, each one arriving from a completely different direction without revealing its source.
His expression darkened.
Someone was hiding nearby.
Not only had they concealed their presence perfectly, but even their killing intent had been suppressed to an astonishing degree.
If not for the instinctive warning granted by the All-Seeing Eyes, Julius doubted he would have realized the ambush before his head had already left his shoulders.
Golden light burst from his eyes, illuminating the surrounding like twin stars piercing through the darkness.
Without the slightest hesitation, Julius shifted Rosalina onto his left shoulder before summoning a sword into his right hand.
The instant the weapon materialized, he lunged forward at full speed, refusing to waste even a heartbeat searching for the hidden attackers.
He already knew exactly who they were.
The elite guards of the Sun Clan.
They had most likely been assigned to protect Salena from the shadows throughout the tournament, only revealing themselves now that Julius and Rosalina had escaped the arena.
Their timing couldn’t have been worse.
Julius let out an irritated groan while cutting through the forest at top speed, his sword effortlessly clearing every obstacle that stood in his path.
"It’ll be incredibly annoying," he muttered under his breath, "if I end up being delayed by a few mere Spirit Core experts."