Chapter 36: Death Zones

“This separates us from the Death Zones.”

The professor pointed to the rest of the map, beyond the Green Area, where there were several regions colored in four shades:

YellowOrangeRedAnd Black

The yellow and orange regions were closest to the Empires, while the red and black regions were further away, on the opposite half of the continent.

The professor pointed to one of the yellow regions:”The yellow color indicates the beginning of danger. These areas contain monsters up to Rank 4… still manageable, but it’s recommended to be Rank 3 or higher to roam there.”

He then looked toward another orange area:”Here, things change drastically. Rank 5 monsters will start to appear… and I assume you know that at Rank 5, the rules change completely.”

He looked at us and adjusted his glasses:”I’ll give you a summary of monster classifications.”

What he said next was information I already knew.

There… in the Death Zones and monster territories, ancient horrors lived, older than humanity by several eras.

Some were fast and strong, others were enough to be seen once to give nightmares, while some were enormous beyond any human measurement.

Yet… all of these did not exceed the first four ranks:

Rank 1: InfantRank 2: ChildRank 3: LesserRank 4: Greater

But beyond Rank 4, everything changes.

Monsters beyond this rank combine the traits of all: stronger, faster, larger…Yet the true danger lies in what cannot be seen.

Creatures beyond Rank 4 possess strange, unpredictable powers.Some cannot be confronted physically, as they do not exist on the same level.Some exist on the spiritual plane, some inhabit minds, and some feed within dreams.

Fortunately… these creatures are rare.

Unfortunately… soon, our paths will cross with one, one of the most cunning Rank 5 creatures:

[Dream Demon]

But there is still about a month and a half before that happens.

The professor continued:

“And there are the last two ranks:Rank 6: AncientRank 7: Great

And believe me, you don’t need to know more about these creatures for now… Alright, let’s return to our main topic.”

He looked at the red areas before asking:”Based on your knowledge, what distinguishes the red regions from the others?”

He pointed to one of the girls who raised her hand to answer:”Because they are domains of Ancient and Great monsters, and the lands they rule.”

The professor nodded in agreement:”But that’s not all… each red area is a different world, with its own laws and phenomena.”

He pointed to a small red section:”Take this place as an example.”

“This region is called the Tears of Angels. It was named so because it rains continuously there… but the rain is not water.”

He paused for a moment, and his tone carried a hint of awe:”There is no sun there… no night… only a sky of white radiance.The rain falls as drops of light, dissolving anything it touches, as if the sky declared war on the earth thousands of years ago… and won.In that place, there is no ground to walk on, only an endless abyss of white mist.”

Silence filled the hall.

Then someone asked:”If light rain dissolves everything, is that area devoid of life?”

The professor smiled and shook his head:”Good question… creatures of flame live there, feeding and surviving on the light and heat of the sky. Their ranks range from 4 to 6… and they are ruled by a Rank 7 creature called the Eternal Flame.”

Most of those present were nobles, so they knew this information, but there were still some commoners, and astonishment was clear on their faces, like Kyle Astro.

As for me, I already knew these things from the game.

The professor clapped his hands to bring the others out of their imagination:”As for the black areas, they are places not yet explored by humans, and they remain a mystery to this day.”

He walked across the map and touched a small black area:”For example, this one is called the Spacetime Maze. As its name suggests, it is a maze that no one has been able to enter.”

“It consists of massive black cubes with fantastical dimensions, covering a vast area, rising tens of kilometers into the sky… instant teleportation or space manipulation cannot be used near it.”

The professor paused slightly, fiddling with his glasses as if recalling an old memory:”Several decades ago, a famous explorer decided to enter the maze to investigate the secrets it concealed… so he took supplies sufficient for decades and entered the maze.”

“He was a confident man; after all, he had reached the peak of Rank 6 before entering the maze.”

A look of pain appeared on the professor’s face, and it seemed he struggled to continue:”He was extremely talented. When he entered, he was only thirty-seven years old, which is nothing for someone of Rank 6 who can easily live for several centuries.He entered at five in the morning, and his team bid him farewell at the entrance. They stayed for a few hours before deciding to return to the Empire… after all, he was supposed to remain for several years.

But when they packed their belongings to return, they saw something approaching them from among the cubes… and as it came closer, they recognized it… it was their companion whom they had bid farewell just hours earlier.”

He paused briefly, and I could see the sadness in his voice.

“But he was no longer himself… instead of the strong and confident man who entered, he returned as a mere skeleton.All his hair had fallen out, his skin clinging to his bones and wrinkled… there was no life in his eyes, only a silent void… he was dead.”

“His body, however, moved on its own somehow… all that was with him was a black card made of strange metal, the size of a hand, and a message of a few broken words, as if written in madness.”

“Seven hundred thirty-two years… wandered… this place was built… for him alone… he alone is allowed… to witness… the truth…”

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