The Devil Does Not Need to Be Defeated

Chapter 593: “This is a Cliché.”

Having made his plans for the day, Shien didn’t delay. As soon as he left the room, he teleported out of the Bigusler residence.

He still wore his cloak.

Although the image of a mysterious person in a cloak was definitely very suspicious in the current Imperial Capital, Shien didn’t plan to operate within the city, so it didn’t matter.

The secret location Harvis investigated wasn’t in the Imperial Capital, but in the wilderness some distance away.

Riding Yulin, it would probably only take a few minutes to arrive. Using teleportation would be even faster, probably taking less than a minute round trip.

Therefore, Shien didn’t hesitate, using teleportation as his means of transportation, like a true ghost, constantly teleporting towards the location marked on the map.

Soon, Shien arrived at his destination.

“This is it, right?”

Shien appeared in a barren land, took out the map, glanced at it, and confirmed his location.

This was a desolate plain with little vegetation, rocks everywhere, and dry air, as if it hadn’t rained in a long time.

Such terrain wasn’t uncommon in the Ragna Empire.

Located in the north, the Ragna Empire had a dry climate, the opposite of the fertile Mitra Kingdom. This was why the Ragna Empire had always coveted the Mitra Kingdom’s territory.

Of course, in such wilderness, there was no shortage of monsters.

With the perception ability of [Outer Awareness of Heaven’s Decree], Shien detected many monster reactions, including several monster groups wandering around.

However, the levels of these monsters weren’t very high, at most seventy, far inferior to the monsters in the Tegor Forest.

But that was to be expected.

The Tegor Forest was the largest monster forest in the human world, even inhabited by many extinct ancient monsters, and there were quite a few Legendary-level monsters. It was far from comparable to other places.

Shien estimated that there were probably no Legendary-level monsters here.

This place was too desolate.

If it weren’t for the one or two magic power sources here, there wouldn’t be any monsters living here.

But at the same time, there clearly wouldn’t be any humans here either.

“Without any precious natural treasures or abundant magic power resources, the only ones who would come here are probably adventurers seeking monster materials and material gathering teams hired by workshops, right?”

Shien made this assessment.

This would undoubtedly be much more convenient.

“As long as I can find some traces of human activity here, it might be a clue to the so-called secret location.”

Shien put away the map.

The map provided by Harvis only pointed to this area, without any further information.

After all, the people he sent here all disappeared without a trace, probably annihilated, so naturally, there was no concrete information sent back.

“How should I search next?”

Shien pondered.

After a while, he soared into the sky, ignoring his cloak fluttering in the wind, closed his eyes, and focused his mind.

The perception ability of [Outer Awareness of Heaven’s Decree] was infinitely enhanced and spread out.

Shien also actively released his magic power, but not like before, recklessly wasting it. Instead, like radar, he transformed his magic power into faint ripples, scanning in all directions.

This was something only possible with extraordinary magic control.

Shien’s [Inner Vision of Heaven’s Decree] possessed absolute control over magic power. Altering the nature of magic power and making it function like this was feasible.

The ripples of magic power spread through the wilderness. Once they touched another magic power reaction, they would immediately bounce back, providing feedback to Shien.

This way, Shien could clearly sense the strength and amount of magic power reactions in various locations in this wilderness.

Combined with the perception ability of [Outer Awareness of Heaven’s Decree], Shien was like a radar searching for magic power, accurately sensing the magic power in the entire wilderness.

Even the maxed-out [Magic Perception] skill probably couldn’t achieve this level of sensing, right?

Thanks to this, Shien noticed many things.

“There are two very large monster groups in the east, seemingly in a standoff, each occupying their own territory, frequently engaging in small-scale conflicts.”

“There are scattered monster reactions in the west, no large groups, but there is a level eighty-eight monster occupying a medium-sized magic power source, probably the ruler of this area.”

“There’s only one monster group in the north, and they seem to be hunting.”

“As for the south…”

Shien frowned.

“Why are there so few monsters in the south?”

Shien sensed something unusual.

Logically, the terrain and environment in the south were better than the other three directions in this wilderness, and there was also a magic power source, albeit a small one. There shouldn’t be so few monsters.

Monsters could enhance their strength and grow by directly absorbing magic power. Therefore, the existence of a magic power source was crucial for them.

Like that level eighty-eight monster, it directly occupied a medium-sized magic power source to monopolize the magic power and continuously enhance itself.

Since there was also a magic power source in the south, even if it was small, it should still attract many monsters to compete for it.

Unless…

“Is there something wrong there?”

As this thought flashed through Shien’s mind, he focused all his magic power and perception towards the south.

Instantly, the feedback of magic power reactions and various situations in the south became clearer.

“Roar…”

“Howl…”

As a result, many sensitive monsters seemed to detect Shien’s magic power and his prying, letting out roars and howls.

This search method had such a drawback. If the released magic power was too obvious, there was a possibility of being detected.

“Reduce the magic power and change its nature, making it more subtle.”

Shien thought as he continuously adjusted his magic power and perception, making his search more covert and difficult to detect.

If Nadue were here and saw this scene, she would definitely be greatly surprised, right?

Because if Shien’s search ability could be made even more covert, then besides its range being far inferior, it would be no different from her own ability to pry into nature.

Just like that, Shien continuously adjusted his search method, enhancing his search ability, and spreading it towards the south of the wilderness.

Finally, at a certain moment, Shien made a discovery.

“This is…?”

Shien abruptly opened his eyes and smiled.

Just now, at a certain location in the south, his magic power was blocked.

What did this mean?

It meant that there was something there that could block prying and perception.

“A barrier?”

Without a doubt, this wasn’t something a monster could do.

“Swoosh!”

In the next second, Shien vanished without a trace, teleporting away.

…

This was a remote mountainous area.

There was water in the mountains, like a clear spring, converging into a stream, flowing slowly down, throughout the entire mountain.

Shien’s figure suddenly appeared here, and he saw the mountainous area before him.

“There really is a barrier.”

Shien looked around and found a faint film flickering in the air.

The magic power on it was very subtle. Without a high-level [Magic Perception] skill and close proximity, it would be impossible to detect the barrier’s existence.

The barrier’s function was also very simple.

“Interfering with perception, blocking prying, and having effects like confusion and detection.”

Shien easily discerned the barrier’s function.

“There’s no isolation or defensive effect, so it seems they don’t want people passing by to discover the anomaly here.”

If someone came here and was inexplicably blocked, unable to advance, then the existence of a barrier and something hidden here would be obvious.

And the only people who would come here were usually adventurers hunting monsters.

If these adventurers accidentally discovered the barrier, they would definitely think there was a big secret here, even some ancient treasure, and would try to enter and explore.

If that happened, it would be a big problem.

Therefore, the barrier here didn’t have any isolation or defensive effects, but it did have detection capabilities.

In other words, once someone unknowingly passed through the barrier and entered, they would be immediately discovered by the people inside.

“Now I can be sure there’s something wrong here.”

If it weren’t for such an obvious design, Shien wouldn’t be sure if there was really an anomaly here, or if it was just an adventurer team resting here and setting up a barrier to prevent monster attacks.

Now it seemed that there was indeed a problem here.

“Swoosh!”

Shien teleported, directly ignoring the barrier and entering.

This way, without touching the barrier, it wouldn’t react and alert the people inside.

Not everyone was like the Elven Queen Sophie, who had the Queen’s Palace to observe the surrounding magic power reactions.

Therefore, Shien entered the barrier silently using teleportation, without causing any commotion.

And after entering, Shien discovered a different world.

“Rumble…!”

This was the sound of a torrent of water crashing down from the sky.

“There’s a waterfall?”

Shien saw a waterfall and a world filled with mist.

Shien didn’t look anywhere else, just staring at the waterfall before him.

There was no helping it.

“According to the usual plot development, there must be an entrance or something behind this waterfall.”

Shien said, indicating that he had seen through everything.

There was really no helping it.

“This is a cliché.”