RE: LORD OF TIME

Chapter 23: Titan Ape (Part 1)

While secretly following the three people from the Abyss, William also thought about what might have happened to this trio in his previous life.

’From their earlier conversation, I can confirm that this Lord Garan they are working for doesn’t have much influence. If he did, he wouldn’t have warned these three to retrieve the Rift Core as soon as possible before news of this rift spread.’

According to William’s guess, just like him, this Lord Garan had also discovered this Astral Rift before anyone else.

After finding this rift, he sent his people inside it to retrieve its core before news of its existence spread and other high-ranking figures of the Abyss found out about it.

Once the other people of the Abyss learned about this rift, it would become difficult for him to gain any benefits from it because his influence wasn’t great enough.

Another point that made William believe Lord Garan didn’t have much influence was the strength of the three people he had sent to retrieve the core.

Among the three, only Roran was at the Star Warrior level, and he was merely at the early stage of the realm.

If Lord Garan truly had enough influence, instead of sending two unranked warriors and one early-stage Star Warrior, he would have definitely sent much stronger people to retrieve the Rift Core for him.

’So it must be like this. In my previous life, these three failed to retrieve the core, and after they failed, Lord Garan never got another chance to obtain it because by then, news of this Astral Rift had reached the other influential figures of the Abyss, and those people had no intention of removing the core and destroying this rift.’

William felt that his guess was most likely correct, and his heart settled slightly.

After all, the most dangerous thing was the unknown, and now that he had a rough idea of the situation, he could plan accordingly.

Around half an hour later, the three people reached the southeastern area of the rift, the only region they had yet to search.

The southeastern area was the tall mountain range that William had seen when he first entered the rift.

As soon as they arrived in the area, the expressions of Roran and the others changed.

They looked at the compass in Roran’s hand and saw that it was trembling while its needle pointed toward the towering mountain.

A look of excitement appeared on their faces as they looked at one another.

"The core is located somewhere within these mountains."

Without hesitation, all three of them increased their speed and rushed toward the mountains.

Hiding behind the rocks, William silently followed after them, his eyes gleaming faintly.

As he climbed the mountain, William also got a better view of the Astral Rift.

When he looked toward the forest where he had been earlier, he could now see beyond it.

And just as he had expected, beyond the forest lay a vast desert.

’That Desert Hunter must have come from there,’ He muttered inwardly before suddenly noticing that the trio had stopped.

The three people from the Abyss were standing some distance away from a cave, staring at the compass, whose needle was pointing directly at the cave’s entrance.

"The core is inside this cave," Roran said in a deep voice, but none of the three made any move to enter it.

After seeing that no one was moving, Roran looked at Crol and spoke in a low voice.

"How about you go in and scout the situation?"

Crol’s face immediately turned ugly when he heard Roran’s words, and he was about to retort.

However, when he met Roran’s cold gaze, the words died in his throat, and he gritted his teeth.

’Damn it. Just because he is stronger than me, he is using me as a scapegoat,’ Crol cursed inwardly, but there was nothing he could do about it.

The Abyss Realm was a place where the strong preyed upon the weak. Even if Roran killed him here, no one would say anything.

His only option was to obediently scout the cave. Otherwise, Roran might simply break his legs and throw him inside to learn what was waiting there.

Taking a deep breath, Crol looked at the cave entrance and after hesitating for a while, finally stepped forward.

Moru, the third Abyssal being sighed in relief when he realized he had avoided the task.

Crol reached the entrance of the cave and, upon looking inside, saw that it was completely dark.

However, darkness wasn’t a concern for the people of the Abyss because one of their innate abilities was Dark Vision, which allowed them to see clearly even in the darkest environments.

Crol took a step inside, and immediately, the stench of flesh assaulted his nostrils, confirming that something was living inside this cave and that it had hunted its prey not long ago.

William, who was hiding farther back also looked at the cave with a frown on his face.

He activated Eyes of Insight and immediately noticed a deep golden aura lingering within the cave.

What made his expression turn solemn was that this aura seemed even stronger than that of the Iron Pig he had hunted earlier.

’Well, it’s only natural that there is something powerful inside the cave. If there wasn’t, wouldn’t these guys have succeeded in taking away the Rift Core in my previous life?’ William thought before deactivating Eyes of Insight to conserve his Aether Energy.

Just a minute after Crol entered the cave—

ROOOAR!

A roar filled with tyranny suddenly echoed throughout the mountain range, shaking the entire cave.

The faces of Roran and Moru turned pale upon hearing the roar because, just from its sound alone, they could tell that the creature inside was far stronger than them.

Just then, they saw a figure running out of the cave with a look of horror on his face.

"Run! There is a—"

Crol wasn’t able to finish his sentence before a golden flash suddenly appeared behind him, and a massive fist slammed into his back.

Bang!

Crol was sent flying nearly ten meters by the impact and coughed up a mouthful of blood mixed with pieces of his internal organs, his life or death unknown.

At the same time, a tall figure slowly walked out of the cave.

When William, who was hiding in the distance saw this figure, his face filled with shock, and he immediately had the urge to turn around and run as far away as possible.