Is There a Master Among Us

After stepping through the door, the familiar infinite expanse appeared beneath Luo Wei's feet once again.

But this time, compared to his previous encounter with Tilis, Luo Wei made his choice exceptionally quickly.

He didn't need to traverse time; he was extremely averse to any "changes" other than his own [Rewind]. He feared interfering with history.

However, if he had the ability to teleport, the problem became much simpler. Luo Wei intended to resolve the main and side quests all at once.

He swiftly selected a coordinate, a spot not far from his current position, which also happened to be in close proximity to the outside world—his destination.

Behind him, he heard the squirming sounds of the president, its many eyes eagerly observing this miraculous scene.

Luo Wei glanced back at it, letting out a derisive snort.

The president immediately let out a terrified roar.

It had only just entered and hadn't yet grasped what was happening when it was once again enveloped in blinding white light alongside Luo Wei.

Space shifted rapidly, and countless light spots stretched into long lines. Luo Wei's consciousness nearly faded.

When he opened his eyes again, the underground environment had disappeared, and Luo Wei was finally seeing daylight once more.

Above the murky horizon, thunderstorms were faintly visible over the ocean, but compared to the dreadful weather, the sea of black bugs covering the ground was far more distressing.

"Luo Wei!?"

A familiar voice sounded beside him.

Luo Wei turned his gaze toward Evelyn, whose expression was one of astonishment.

"You! How did you suddenly appear? How did you get here? Did you learn teleportation magic?"

"Evelyn, teacher..." Luo Wei felt a sense of déjà vu upon seeing her again.

In reality, not much time had passed, but the repeated reloads, coupled with the time spent with Tilis in the Dreamlands, gave him a disorienting sense of time distortion.

At this point in time, Evelyn had just escaped from the town and was preparing to return the way she came to seek reinforcements. The rugged path beneath their feet was the only route to the next town.

And it was at this moment, at this very spot, that Luo Wei unexpectedly appeared before her.

Watching Evelyn's wide-eyed expression, both bewildered and endearingly cute, Luo Wei couldn't help but raise the corners of his mouth.

"I know you miss me, teacher, but you don't have to be so excited, do you?"

Evelyn closed her mouth in surprise, giving him an annoyed look.

"You brat! Do you have any idea what's going on? And you still have the nerve to joke around!"

"Are you here to help? Why are you alone? Where are the others?"

As she spoke, she continued to use her blood magic to clear away the black bugs steadily approaching them.

Luo Wei surveyed their surroundings. The endless tide of black monster bugs surged toward them like a tidal wave, their rustling sounds sending shivers down his spine.

Throughout their escape, Evelyn had fended off countless of these creatures.

Her strength was nearly depleted, and she was panting heavily, her steps growing slower and slower.

"Don't just stand there... Help me, quick!"

"No need to run anymore..." Luo Wei quickly pulled her back.

"Ah! No, we can't!" Evelyn anxiously looked behind her, "Hurry up, Luo Wei! That thing is catching up again!"

Luo Wei turned around to see a human-shaped figure gradually taking form within the black tide of bugs.

The Great Elder, who had become a terrifying hybrid of man and bug due to magical backlash, appeared before them.

The half-human, half-bug Great Elder, seeing another prey, opened its mouth full of blackened ichor and let out a sinister cackle.

"Another one! Good! Die together!!"

A burst of foul black energy suddenly exploded.

Evelyn, nervously pulling on Luo Wei's hand, tried to get him to run, but her exhaustion made her barely able to move.

"Why are you just standing there? With this move, we can't possibly survive! Run!"

"Trust me, teacher, we really don't need to run..."

"Luo Wei! What are you—?"

Seeing Luo Wei remain unfazed, Evelyn became increasingly frustrated.

But just as she was about to reprimand him, the scene that unfolded next left her stunned.

A flash of white light streaked across, and a massive creature suddenly descended from the sky, crashing straight into the black bug swarm.

"What... What is that?"

Not only was Evelyn astonished, but the Great Elder of the Hermit Order was even more so.

"Truth... Truth!!"

"Ahhh—! Truth!!"

The president's enraged roars echoed through the ravine. Just after landing, it instantly crushed a large portion of the bug swarm.

However, the remaining bugs were still endless, as the president's size had shrunk considerably due to passing through that gate—making it appear like a delicious feast in the eyes of the bugs.

The massive flesh mass was quickly swarmed by the black bugs, which began ravenously devouring it, causing the president to tremble in agony as its flesh was torn apart.

"Ahhhhhh—!"

But the president obviously wouldn't sit idly by. Its trump card was its enormous size.

Soon, the president's body began to swell again, the mass rapidly multiplying. Once its size had regained its peak as a flesh mountain, all its eyes turned menacingly toward the Great Elder.

The Great Elder was dumbfounded.

"Devour! Devour!!"

A massive, sky-blotting flesh palm, like a mountain, smashed down upon the Great Elder, crushing its human-bug hybrid body into a puddle of black liquid.

The Great Elder's body quickly reformed in another location, but this time, even the mentally unstable elder's gaze betrayed a hint of fear.

Watching these two titans clash, Luo Wei pulled Evelyn's hand and sat down with her on a large rock, resting on the spot.

"I told you, teacher, didn't I say we didn't need to run?"

Evelyn stared at him in bewilderment, "Do you really have backup?"

Luo Wei blinked, his expression oddly mysterious, "There's more than one."

---

At the same time, in the Antaeus Dragon Tomb.

Grime-covered and utterly disheveled, Ophelia met Tilis once again.

Ophelia's eyes had turned blood-red. Though enemies meeting could provoke intense emotions, her current state wasn't solely due to Tilis.

The entire underground palace was violently shaking, and that massive black shadow relentlessly pursued them, haunting their every step. Ophelia couldn't fathom how, after being so kind to her earlier, her ancestor had suddenly turned against her.

"Hungry... Hungry..."

"Hungry!!"

Such ominous chants reverberated throughout the palace.

Tilis, annoyed, glanced back, "Is your ancestor still hungry? He just keeps moaning. Can't you make him shut up?"

Ophelia sneered, "Why don't you go and fill its belly? Then it might stop complaining."

Tilis rolled her eyes, "With just me? You'd need more than that to satisfy a beast like it."

"Then why ask?" Ophelia irritably turned back. As her gaze swept past, the Dreamland's reality shifted, and the damaged stone walls were restored, blocking Antaeus's path.

"Your Highness! What does she want here?" Caroline, closely following behind, vigilantly watched Tilis's every move.

Her vigilance, rather than seeing Tilis as a savior, stemmed from...

the fact that her previous teleportation spell had nearly killed the princess and everyone else!

If not for the princess's Dreamland abilities, they wouldn't have even needed the royal ancestor to hunt them down; they would have died in the dragon tomb first!