Scott stared at the notification, frozen. The oppressive presence of the Wanderer had vanished, yet his body remained rigid. The administrator’s interference was expected, but Hastur reaching out to him—that was unexpected.

  He never contacted me before. Why now? Scott mused, his gaze lingering on the message.

  Seconds passed. He readjusted his stance, occasionally glancing at the skid marks left behind by the mysterious figure. Without a word, he vanished, reappearing beside the remains of the invaders. As soon as he arrived, the red strings binding the dismembered corpses snapped. Mutilated limbs and shattered wood scattered, slamming against the ground in a chaotic spray of debris.

  The longer I stay here, the more I’m convinced the Endless Bridge is more dangerous than any timeline out there, Scott thought, shifting his gaze away from the remains.

  Now that my rank has increased, will the examiners reveal more information about this place? He pondered, his gaze drifting.

  I only skimmed the map earlier. Besides me and those Amazonians, there must be a reason why people keep invading this territory.

  With a thought, he summoned the map. The glistening projection materialized in his mind, displaying the vast landscape once more. His brows furrowed as he analyzed the shifting symbols.

  Are you kidding me? His lips parted slightly as he noticed sigils appearing and disappearing near neighboring territories. Is there some kind of war happening?

  Some regions had sigils that barely lasted a minute before being replaced, while others saw multiple sigils appear within seconds.

  This place is more unstable than I thought. How did those Vikings manage to hold this territory for so long? And those women—how far did they travel to get here?

  With another thought, tendrils formed the sigil of the Amazonian territory. The map adjusted, displaying all lands controlled by their faction.

  Oh. Scott stroked his chin, studying the numerous territories under the territorial lord’s command. Not bad. This is beyond my expectations. But how did they locate the Vikings and get here so quickly?

  More than a hundred territories, both claimed and unclaimed, separated the nearest Amazonian stronghold from his current position. By foot, the journey would take years, yet the women had arrived even before him.

  His attention shifted to a new sigil—one of a tombstone—that had suddenly manifested in three neighboring territories. He racked his memory but didn’t recall seeing it during the conference of lords. Three territories weren’t much, but the same sigil had simultaneously claimed them all.

  Scott kept watching, waiting to see if the territories would change hands like the others. Seconds turned into minutes. Instead of shifting ownership, the tombstone-marked territories grew from three to ten, mostly consuming previously unclaimed land.

  Some kind of war-fueled expansion is happening. Most of these territorial lords must be Dominion-class or stronger, Scott concluded, shifting his gaze back to the minced remains.

  He stretched out his hand, dismissing the projection. The map returned to his inventory. At the same moment, nihilistic portals tore open at random points. Instantly, the Amazonian champions were expelled from the void, their trembling forms collapsing onto the ground.

  Scott stepped forward, his movements deliberate. He ignored the women’s shivering bodies and approached their leader, who lay twitching, fear distorting her face.

  Sensing him, she turned and instinctively crawled backward on her knees. “Stay back, demon!” she pleaded, terror gleaming in her eyes.

  Scott continued his advance, unfazed. Within moments, he stood over her, his shadow engulfing her form.

  “Hand them over,” he commanded, his voice cold.

  The territorial lord averted her gaze, struggling to compose herself. Neither she nor her warriors had spent even an hour in the nihilistic zone, but none of them wished to ever return.

  Her trembling eyes darted to the shattered crosses and the butchered remains of the invaders—the very ones who had tormented her subordinates. Her mouth opened in shock, disbelief widening her eyes.

  She looked back at Scott, her fear intensifying.

  “Well?” Scott pressed.

  He knew she had misunderstood the situation, but he had no intention of explaining. He watched as she summoned her system interface, her hands unsteady. Her voice quivered as she spoke.

  “I can give you everything but the headquarters,” she managed. “Kill me if you must, but I swore to protect my people. Please... leave us that one territory,” she begged.

  “No,” Scott replied flatly. “Hand everything over.”

  The territorial lord opened her mouth to protest, but Scott cut her off. “I’m only interested in acquiring the territories. I have no intention of managing them. You and your people can continue living and defending them as you wish.”

  “Should you prove incompetent, I’ll send my summons to defend them instead. But if it comes to that, you’ll have only yourselves to blame.” His tone was final. “Now, I won’t repeat myself again. Hand them over.”

  The system notification echoed in Scott’s ears, followed by a sharp gasp from the kneeling warrior as she lifted her head toward him.

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  Scott ignored the transformation prompt, noting the realization dawning in the territorial lord’s eyes.

  Without hesitation, he selected [Yes].

  Scott’s sigil flared to life, darting toward the woman like a phantom. She barely had time to react before the illusionary sigil slammed into her. A groan escaped her lips, and a new system notification appeared before her, confirming the transfer.

  “As you can see, I’ve upheld my end of the bargain,” Scott said, offering a thin smile. “Now, I’m curious—how did you and your companions find this place?”

  “We got the information from the Tower Trader,” she answered without hesitation.

  Scott furrowed his brows. I should have known he was involved.

  “And how did you get here?”

  The woman hesitated, then looked at Scott with mild confusion. “Do you not know about transfer arrays?”

  Transfer arrays? Scott frowned, recalling the mysterious steps that had sent him out of the chained expanse.

  “Explain.”

  “They were discovered by a few territorial lords in an unclaimed territory,” she said. “I don’t know the specifics, but a guardian oversees them, and only territorial lords can use them. You can be transported anywhere, no matter the distance or the size of your party.”

  “At what cost?” Scott asked.

  “None,” she replied, meeting his skeptical gaze. “At least, not that I know of.”

  Scott remained unconvinced. Nothing here is free. There must be a tradeoff they haven’t realized yet.

  “How do you plan to return to your headquarters?”

  She retrieved a strange runestone from her inventory. Scott’s eyes narrowed.

  Is that what I think it is?

  “The guardian gave this to me,” she said. “I assume any lord who’s used the array has one.”

  “Hand it over. I want to see it.”

  She hesitated, then reluctantly extended the stone. Scott reached for it as a system notification appeared.

  Scott read through the message, new questions brewing in his mind. What exactly are these temples? He glanced at the kneeling woman. Didn’t she say there were no catches related to the transfer? His gaze lingered on the second limitation.

  His expression darkened. “Why didn’t you mention that an offering would be presented to Yopi’s temple when the activation limit reaches zero?”

  The woman blinked in confusion. “What?” she muttered. “I’m sorry, but I have no idea who or what Yopi is. And… activation limit?”

  Scott frowned. Is she for real right now? He studied her carefully, searching for any trace of deception—but she seemed genuinely lost. Wait… could it be that I’m the only one who can see this?

  Without a word, he tossed the runestone back to her. “What do you see when you hold it?”

  “Nothing,” she replied, still perplexed. “Am I supposed to see something?”

  Scott didn’t answer immediately. He observed closely—no system notification manifested when she held the runestone. He motioned toward the floating blue screen that detailed Yopi’s Runestone.

  “Do you see this?”

  She nodded.

  “Get up and read it.”

  Suppressing her trepidation, the woman rose to her feet. Though confusion flickered across her face, she obeyed, peering at the text.

  “What do you see?” Scott asked, his curiosity sharpening.

  She didn’t answer right away. Instead, her features turned serious as she squinted, straining her eyes.

  “Well?” Scott pressed.

  “Pardon me,” she muttered, shaking her head. “I don’t know if this is some kind of test, but… how am I supposed to read it if the words keep jumping around?”

  Scott stared at her, stunned. Is she fucking with me? He searched for any hint of deceit—but found none.

  “Bring one of your subordinates over here. Have them read it,” he ordered.

  She opened her mouth as if to protest, then sighed and turned to fetch someone. Moments later, another woman stepped forward, her gaze landing on the blue screen.

  “I’m sorry,” she admitted, unable to meet Scott’s eyes, “but the words—if those even are words—aren’t something I can decipher.”

  Scott’s brow furrowed. One after another, more of her subordinates came forward, each attempting to read the notification. Their experiences varied slightly—some saw shifting symbols, others nothing at all—but the result remained the same.

  This can’t be a fucking coincidence. Scott’s grip on the runestone tightened. Why am I the only one who can see it? His mind raced. Is this Hastur’s doing? He had no proof, but the thought gnawed at him.

  Does that mean the champions in the Chained Expanse couldn’t read it either? He shook his head. He could still vividly recall their excitement when the system announced their runestone rewards.

  To test his theory, he withdrew another artifact from his inventory—Akas’ Runestone. “Take a look at this,” he said, handing it to the territorial lord.

  Scott watched closely. As he suspected, no system message manifested. He opened his mouth to speak—

  Then, the system cut him off.