Ryan grit his teeth and continued to run.
His head throbbed with increasing agony as a torrent of information continued to pour inside.
But this time was different.
Having completed the ritual, he could now withstand a portion of the Glory.
Though he still trembled from the pain, he did not immediately lose control.
At the same time, he suddenly noticed the floating glimmers around him beginning to actively draw closer.
Wherever he ran, the Glory was drawn to him, flooding directly into his body.
His forehead grew hotter and hotter.
The “Lantern lore” in his mind also became increasingly clear.
Behind him, the white figure's movements suddenly slowed for a fraction of a second.
The Glory surrounding it was diminishing.
Because as Ryan ran, he absorbed it all.
He was continuously draining the Glory of the entire Wood.
A few seconds later, Ryan suddenly understood.
The white figure was not hunting him.
It was expelling him.
It was trying to stop him from continuing to plunder the Glory of the Wood.
Ryan grit his teeth and dashed toward the outskirts of the Wood. Dead branches snapped beneath his feet. The white figure remained hot on his heels, drawing closer and closer.
The Glory in the air fell into complete chaos. A massive amount of white light specks rose from the forest, all surging toward him.
His forehead burned, and the information in his mind churned frantically. Some of it even began to “comprehend itself.”
He suddenly knew—which trees not to step on, which Glory could be absorbed, and which areas were currently collapsing.
But the more he knew, the more his head throbbed.
Suddenly.
The white figure raised its hand.
Its movement was sluggish, yet it felt as though it had suppressed the entire space.
In the next instant.
Boom!
A sharp buzzing sound exploded in his ears.
A massive influx of unfamiliar characters and structures rushed directly into his mind.
Ryan's legs buckled, and he nearly fell to his knees.
A dense, spinning network of Glory instantly unfolded before his eyes.
Nosebleed dripped down, and a metallic taste of blood rose in his throat.
The white figure continued to approach.
It Glory around its body expanded.
Ryan finally realized—
This thing was not a physical entity at all.
It was more like a residual structure fixed in place by the “Lantern aspect.”
It had no fists, no weapons.
Its attack method was unique:
Making a person “know too much.”
If an ordinary person were touched by it, their consciousness would instantly collapse.
Ryan forced his breathing to steady, but he was already nearing his limit.
His head felt bloated, and golden cracks even began to appear at the edges of his vision.
Just then, he noticed something unusual.
The Glory grew brighter.
It was no longer just drifting; it was actively converging.
With every step the white figure took closer, the Glory in the Wood grew more violent.
Ryan whipped his head around, staring intently at the white figure.
In the next instant.
His forehead flared with heat.
It was as if a valve had been opened.
Boom!
The white figure's movements came to a halt.
The Glory surged backward against it.
Ryan was stunned.
He wasn't the one controlling this.
Rather, it was a natural consequence of completing the ritual—a Glory attraction.
For the first time, the white figure stopped.
The white structure inside its body began to turn chaotic.
Seizing this split second, Ryan forced the Glory within his body to mobilize and pointed his hand at it.
The air vibrated.
Buzz!
The Glory crashed down with a roar.
The white figure distorted, and the grey fog churned.
But in the next second—
Boom!!!
A backlash erupted.
Ryan was sent flying, crashing into the muddy ground as his mind instantly went blank.
A massive torrent of information surged out of control.
The massive silhouette of Glory deep within the Wood, broken paths, and blurry figures in the distance flashed by before instantly shattering.
The excruciating pain nearly made him lose consciousness.
Yet, the white figure was already walking toward him again.
Its cracks mended, and the Glory gathered once more.
Ryan grit his teeth and pushed himself up.
He finally understood.
Even though he had completed the First Stage, his current self was far from being a match for this entity.
The strike just now was already his limit.
The white figure continued to close in.
The burning heat on Ryan's forehead did not subside, as the Glory was still continuously pouring in.
If this continued—
He wouldn't be killed.
He would be burst apart by “knowledge.”
At this very moment, the world changed.
The chaotic Glory began to exhibit a pattern.
It was like a river, like pathways, like a massive network blanketing the entire Wood.
And the white figure was right in the middle of it.
Ryan stared intently at it.
His eyes ached more and more.
He even began to weep tears of blood.
Yet, he still saw it.
Inside the white figure's body.
There existed a constantly cycling structure.
Countless specks of Glory operated along a fixed trajectory.
Over and over again.
Like a pendulum that would never stop.
That was not life.
That was not a soul.
It could not even be considered a truly living thing. It was more like some sort of residue sustained by the Glory until now.
A thing that had died long ago.
It simply hadn't fully dissipated yet, and the only reason it existed...
...was because this cycling structure was still running.
The white figure continued forward, drawing closer and closer.
Ten paces.
Nine paces.
Eight paces.
Ryan clenched his teeth.
His head felt as though it were about to split open.
But he did not run.
Instead, he stared unblinkingly at that structure.
Finally.
At the intersection where countless lines of Glory met.
He saw a tiny gap.
Like a missing piece of a puzzle.
Or a crack on a clock's gear.
In the next second.
Ryan raised his hand.
He channeled the Glory inside him, which was already on the verge of going out of control, toward that gap.
Boom—
A massive amount of Glory surged through the gap.
The white figure's body jolted violently.
For the first time, its movements came to a visible standstill.
The surrounding grey fog churned tempestuously.
Sharp whispers instantly rang in Ryan's ears.
The pain in his head was so intense he nearly lost consciousness.
But he did not stop.
Instead, he continued to direct the Glory constantly flooding into his body toward that gap.
One second.
Two seconds.
Three seconds.
Finally.
Something snapped.
Crack.
The sound was faint yet incredibly clear, as if the structure that had been maintained for countless years had finally reached its limit.
The white figure stood frozen in place, and its body began to disintegrate bit by bit.
There was no scream.
There was no anger.
There were only countless tiny specks of Glory drifting out of its body.
Like ashes scattered by the wind.
In the blink of an eye, the figure vanished completely.
The Wood fell silent once more.
Ryan staggered back a few steps and fell heavily to his knees.
He panted heavily, cold sweat dripping continuously from his forehead.
He had won, but there was not a shred of joy in him.
Because the moment the white figure dissipated, the dispersing Glory suddenly drifted toward him.
Only a few specks at first.
Then more and more. Ryan instinctively wanted to dodge.
But it was far too late; the Glory merged directly into his consciousness.
In the next second.
Countless unfamiliar images exploded in his mind.
He saw an unfamiliar man.
Wearing an old-fashioned coat from decades ago.
Entering the Wood by mistake for the first time.
Panic.
Excitement.
Greed.
Constantly chasing those floating glimmers of Glory.
Then venturing deeper and deeper.
Deeper and deeper.
Until he was completely lost.
Finally.
The man stood in the center of the greyish-white forest.
His body dissolved into Glory bit by bit.
His consciousness was completely washed away.
Leaving behind nothing but a constantly repeating residual structure.
Ryan snapped his eyes open.
He gasped for air.
His entire body was drenched in cold sweat.
The white figure was not a monster.
At least, it hadn't been one once.
It was just like him.
Both were simply people who had wandered in here by mistake.
Except.
The other had failed.
That was all.
The Wood returned to silence.
The surrounding Glory drifted slowly.
Ryan stood up.
He found that his perception seemed to have become sharper.
The flow of Glory in the air.
The dangerous zones in the distant forest.
Even some of the paths hidden in the fog.
All of them had faintly become clearer.
It wasn't a sudden surge of power.
It felt more like a layer of his vision had been peeled away.
He knew more now.
And because of that, he understood his own insignificance even better.
Deep within the distant Wood.
Those even brighter glimmers of Glory still suspended silently.
Like stars in the night.
Only now did he truly count as having completed the ritual.
Ryan fell silent for a moment.
He understood that the most dangerous thing here was never monsters.
It was knowledge itself.
Rate on N.U.
