Passerby Villain In A Wizard World

"Hey, it is almost closing, just a little more."

As Ian felt the dread, Ignysyl, on the other hand, suddenly felt the pressure around him decrease significantly, which he attributed to the closing portal. So, he was quite happy and used more of his power to get this issue done.

Unfortunately, however, Ian didn't feel the same way, as it seemed he had really jinxed himself.

'The fuck, they can really see me.'

Ian realized that after noticing his figure, all the skeleton figures suddenly paused in their place, even forgetting to stop the portal that was slowly closing, as if they were as surprised as he was.

And weirdly, all the crying and howling noises bombarding his senses suddenly went silent as if they had never been there to begin with.

'What the fuck am I supposed to do?'

Ian was confused with an unsettling feeling in this impasse when suddenly the first skeleton that looked in his direction moved its bony jaw and opened it wide as if talking to him.

And what it said made Ian speechless.

"Human... you can see me?"

Although there were no vocal cords, nor was there any indication that the skeleton was talking at all, Ian still heard the question loud and clear directly in his mind.

'Hey, that was my line.'

Ian thought bitterly in his mind, but outwardly, he tried to act as if he hadn't heard the voice of the skeleton.

Nothing wrong with acting dumb when you don't know the situation, right?

But it seemed his acting wasn't up to par as the skeleton once again opened its bony maw and crackled,

"No need to act, human. I can already feel that you can see me, and you can touch me too. Haha... how long has it been... hahah..."

'When did I touch you? This sounds so wrong.'

Hearing the creepy voice in his mind, Ian was speechless. He didn't seem to have touched it, did he?

However, Ian did notice that its voice was appearing in his mind just like when he had heard the voice of Monarch Ulthera before. But fortunately, he didn't sense any danger.

'Whatever, just a little more, and the portal will be closed.'

Although he had many suspicions, Ian didn't care and was happy that the skeleton was busy laughing, so Ignysyl could close it in time.

As long as it was closed, everything should be alright.

"No need to look at the gate. I won't arrive in time anyway... Treading through such a long way is so tedious..."@@novelbin@@

But as if it could read Ian's thoughts, the skeleton once again replied and then began to complain, acting tired.

Although the voice inside was colorful, the appearance of the skeleton was not. It still looked the same as before, only its mouth moving up and down.

"Anyway, I'm happy that I found someone more interesting than that girl."

The voice seemed intrigued and asked Ian as if wanting to converse with him,

"Human, do you know why you can see me?"

Then, it asked Ian again, completely forgetting about the portal.

Ian even saw many scattered skeletons already disintegrating into nothingness as the gate began to close as if the connection was slowly being lost.

'How do I know? Why don't you tell me how you can see me instead?'

Ian rolled his eyes but still refused to answer, only standing in the air atop the skeleton arm. Fortunately, this one was still as solid as ever and hadn't disintegrated yet.

"Hm, you may not know since you are too weak."

But the voice seemed unperturbed, talking to itself.

"The only ones who can see me are those abandoned by Destiny or those untouched by its threads—outcasts of fate, anomalies unshackled by its design, or those who walk a path unseen by the heavens."

"So...."

"...which one are you?"

The voice asked, and without giving Ian a chance to reply, it once again blabbered to itself,

"...Well, to be honest, it doesn't matter who you are as long as you can see my true existence. ...Knowing about these things isn't good for me anyway..."

The voice was mumbling non-stop when the sudden voice stopped it in its tracks.

"What is destiny anyway?"

At first, Ian was bent on not talking to the skeleton or whoever was behind controlling it, but he couldn't stop himself from asking after finally finding someone who seemed to know this destiny and whatnot.

He was still confused by the "Destiny" tag in his status panel.

Not to mention, he hadn't forgotten about the Starwell, the one that seemed to require some form of destiny to enter.

"Hm?"

The skeleton didn't seem to expect Ian to talk, so it acted a little surprised and then answered cryptically as if it was also confused,

"Destiny, huh?..."

"...It is complicated. Let's say... For mortals, it might be a protection; for the strong, a chain; and for those beyond, merely a plaything—who knows?"

The answer the voice gave made Ian almost puke blood. Why was he even asking this?

If the answer was like this, he better not ask.

"There are also some like him who are favored by destiny. Better not touch them when you are weak."

And as if it noticed something, the skeleton pointed its elongated arm toward a certain position in the hall while warning Ian.

"Hm?"

Ian was regretting asking the question, cursing the voice for its vague answers, when he suddenly heard its words and followed its gesture—only to see Carl.

That bastard was completely ignoring his surroundings and the unconscious Ron on the ground, focused solely on fighting the injured demon that had escaped the portal.

'So, you were hiding all along for this demon, huh.'

Of course, Ian had already found Carl when he entered this hall. However, he didn't have the time to take care of him before.

Now, after seeing Carl fighting tooth and nail with the demon he had thrown away from the portal just now, Ian already understood what he was planning.

"Why? Can't I kill him? He seems too weak."

Ian asked, intrigued, as this entity seemed to be able to see something in Carl, even calling him favored by destiny.

In fact, he indeed had that idea—if not for the feelings he had gotten before in the Gravethorne Continent.

"Of course, you can. But it just isn't worth it. Anyway,..."

The voice didn't seem to want to talk about it further.

"It is time for me to leave. That dragon of yours is applying everything in his power to close the portal. He seems quite afraid of me, I don't know why."

The skeleton's empty socket casually looked toward where Ignysyl was and then returned its gaze to Ian.

"But anyhow, this trip was worth it. I never thought I would meet someone as unique as you here. Too bad I can't see you in person. Welp, I remember your aura, though. I should be able to recognize you when you enter the Abyss."

With its words, the skeleton crackled as if it couldn't maintain its form any longer. Even the one under Ian was beginning to crack and disintegrate slowly.

"So, don't forget to meet me when you enter the Abyss. My name is GraveKeeper. You just need to recite my name, and I will find you."

The voice advised him like a good friend parting ways temporarily and inviting him into his home.

'Do you think I am crazy enough to meet you?'

Ian thought, finding this entity too talkative. Who in their right mind would recite his name while in the Abyss? Did he have a death wish?

But he was still curious about something after the voice invited him and asked, raising his eyebrow,

"Why do you think I will enter the Abyss in the first place?"

After all, Ian had no plans for that, at least not now. So why did it seem like this GraveKeeper was sure he would definitely enter in the future, inviting him already?

"Hm? Of course, you will enter. After all, it is the only way out."

The voice answered matter of factly and without giving Ian a chance to react it suddenly laughed,

"Haha... I know what you are thinking. Don't worry, I'm genuinely only interested in you. We can be a friend too."

The entity chuckled before adding,

"Hmm... I'll give you a little gift, and for your sake, I won't pursue that girl either. A small price for a simple visit, don't you think?"

The voice seemed to know what he was thinking and laughed hard, causing the skeleton to be torn apart since it was already on the verge of getting disintegrating.

"Gift?"

Ian called out, his eyes full of confusion.

"It is just a little method for you to use your Nether Sight correctly. Well, since the connection with the Abyss is now faint, I can't stay here much longer. Let's meet again next ti—"

'....'

Before the voice could complete its sentence, it was cut off abruptly, followed by the proud laugh of Ignysyl.

"Haha, finally closed. Damn, it was so hard."

"Hey, what did you do just now? The resistance just suddenly vanished. Why don't I know you have such methods?"

After laughing, Ignysyl suddenly teleported to Ian's shoulder, who was using the feather fall spell to land on the ground steadily, and asked with a curious look.

No matter how many times he saw Ian in action, he always seemed to surprise him with something.

'Sovereign is a sovereign after all.'

Ignysyl thought although he didn't know what that actually meant in the truest sense.

"It was just some trick. Don't fret over it. We still have something else to do."

Ian replied while once again reverting the Life Core to a blue streak and rubbing his head, which was aching slightly due to the sudden flow of information left by that voice.

"Hm? What else is there to do again? Didn't we close the portal, and this guy is already as good as dead?"

Ignysyl asked, confused while pointing at Ron who was unconscious.

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"Look there. We still have to stop that bastard, don't we?"

Ian pointed at Carl, who seemed to have already dealt with the demon and was fiddling with something.

He hadn't forgotten that one of the conditions for completing the Quest was to stop Carl from getting what he wanted. So, there was no way he was going to let him go.

"Let's go and have some fun."