Re: Tales of the Rune-Tech Sage

Chapter 549: Red Truth Seeker

CH549 Red Truth Seeker

***

Red Truth Seeker

Mogal didn’t falter in the face of the vitality-type berserk human’s seeming invincibility. Facing the charging creature, he stepped forward to meet the threat head-on.

Like a broken record, the berserk human lunged again, trying to catch him. Each time, Mogal evaded using a different method— sidestep, pivot, retreat, leap.

Then Mogal noticed Kavakan had finished off his final opponent.

His eyes sharpened, conviction hardening. It was time to put this one down.

Mogal feinted to the side. The berserk human fell for it and lunged— but experience from previous failed attempts caused it to halt mid-motion. It twisted awkwardly, turning toward Mogal’s true position and preparing another strike.

Unfortunately for it, Mogal had already read the movement.

Boom!

The instant the creature completed that awkward turn, Mogal’s hook crashed into its jaw, rattling whatever remained of its brain inside its skull and disorienting it for a split second.

A split second was all Mogal needed.

[One Heart Punch]!

BOOM!

The devastating strike tore through the air and connected cleanly. The berserk human’s head didn’t simply detach— it was smashed into pulp that splattered across the ground.

[Purification]!

Eleanore reacted immediately, burning away the corrupted flesh that had splashed across Mogal’s face and body.

Even though the manifested Dune Croc scales likely protected him, she took no chances.

It was, after all, only a small amount of mana.

When the fighting ended, several party members realised Alex and Sugud hadn’t been paying much attention to the battle.

Instead —Sugud especially— their focus lay elsewhere.

Just like before, outside the formation, Sugud had sketched complex diagrams on the ground, and Alex stood beside him analysing them.

Sugud predicted six possible paths forward.

Alex compared those paths with the thin thread of Providence visible in his vision— and, impressively, found that one of Sugud’s six routes aligned perfectly with it.

Alex was genuinely impressed.

While arriving at six possible paths forward might not seem impressive on its own —considering only one was the true path— it should be noted that, based on Alex and Sugud’s deductions, there were tens of possible routes they could take to leave the illusionary space they were currently trapped in.

Each of those possibilities led to exit points that would transfer them into other sections of the Grand Formation’s maze.

In other words, with limited information, Sugud had narrowed tens of potential paths down to just six. And if the line indicated by Providence was to be trusted, one of those six was the correct route.

Correct, at least, for them.

”My guess is that one of these six paths leads to the right exit from this space. I should be able to narrow things down further as we approach each one,” Sugud said. ”Of course... that’s as long as you can still see the mana distortion above, Young Mast— err, leader.”

Alex nodded.

”In that case, let’s head in this direction.”

He pointed —seemingly at random— to a section of the doodled map that corresponded to four of Sugud’s predicted exit points.

’Since I already have an exit point in mind, I might as well use this chance to let him feel out the others. Who knows— he might develop a sense for this and serve as a contingency if we lose the Providence thread.’ Alex reasoned internally.

As they moved, Alex continued observing the mana distortion in the sky —visible only to him— and relayed details to Sugud, who kept performing mental calculations while tracking their route.

Alex deliberately guided the group toward the other paths first, avoiding the one pointed out by Daddy Golden Energy. Each time they approached a route, Sugud shook his head.

It wasn’t that the dwarf-elf hybrid was certain— or that he had mathematically proven the paths wrong. After narrowing the possibilities down to six, further deduction became exponentially harder.

Instead, what remained was intuition.

An instinct —perhaps born from dwarven craftsmanship, elven sensitivity... or both— quietly warning him not to go that way.

While Sugud was glad to be honing the sensitivities born from his twin racial heritages, he was still disappointed that he couldn’t empirically calculate the correct path using his knowledge alone.

He didn’t like that all he had to rely on was instinct— something that felt dangerously close to luck.

”Don’t beat yourself up. Even the mightiest individuals in the universe rely on gut feeling and luck,” Alex said, patting Sugud’s shoulder.

”In fact, good fortune is an important ’skill’ for anyone who hopes to reach the peak of their pursuits.”

Sugud smiled wryly, unsure how to feel about being encouraged like a junior by someone clearly younger than him.

Eventually, Alex guided them toward the path indicated by Daddy Golden Energy.

He glanced at Sugud.

”I don’t feel anything amiss,” Sugud said after a moment. ”This is probably the right path... but I can’t be certain.”

”Do you want to examine it first?” Alex asked, pointing at the glowing portal door.

Sugud considered briefly, then nodded.

”Alright.”

He began directing Alex to stand at specific positions while describing what he saw.

Alex was in the middle of relaying another observation when Eleanore suddenly cried out—

”Alex, stop!”

He tilted his head, confused by the urgency in her voice.

The party —especially his wives— hurried over.

”What’s wrong?” he asked.

”Can you tell you’re bleeding from your eyes?!” Zora said sharply.

Alex instinctively touched his face.

”Bleeding? What do you mea—”

His words died as he looked at his bloodstained fingers.

Zora conjured a mirror of ice before him.

In the reflection, Alex saw his face.

More importantly... he saw his eyes.

They had turned completely red.

Not just the iris or pupils— even the sclera had become a deep crimson, threaded with faint golden vein-like patterns.

Tears of red blood streaked with gold flowed from the corners of his eyes, as if he were crying blood and liquid providence.

”What the—?”

Before he could finish the thought, the world tilted.

Darkness swallowed his vision.

”Alex! Alex!!”

The last thing he saw was his wives rushing toward him, their voices filled with fear as they called his name.

***