Lust System: Conquering the World Beauties

Irina kept her hands close to Liam’s side, the faint white-blue glow of her ice magic still surrounding her fingers. The wound had been frozen for the moment, the edges sealed beneath a thin layer of ice that prevented any more blood from escaping. It was not healing the injury, but at least it had stopped the bleeding, and judging from the way Liam was standing there without collapsing, it was enough to keep him moving for now.

"How is it?" Irina asked, her eyes fixed on the frozen wound. "Is it better?"

Liam glanced down at his side. The ice had covered the terrible claw mark that stretched across his ribs, turning the blood around the wound into a dark red stain beneath the translucent layer. He carefully touched the area with two fingers and immediately pulled them away.

"It hurts like hell," he admitted. "But I’ll manage."

Irina sighed.

"That is not exactly reassuring."

Liam gave her a small smile.

"You asked."

He slowly straightened himself, making sure not to move too quickly. The moment his torso shifted, a sharp pain shot through his side and his expression tightened for half a second. He quickly hid it before anyone could react.

Tatiana noticed anyway.

Her eyes narrowed.

"You’re still in pain."

"Yeah."

"You should rest."

"We don’t have time."

The casual way he said it made everyone look at him.

Liam turned toward the narrow passage they had just escaped from. The mountain walls stood silently on either side of them, their massive surfaces stretching toward the sky. The pathway behind them was still dark, and the distant sound of rocks settling could occasionally be heard from somewhere within.

Liam looked ahead.

"We need to get ready for the next challenge."

The words immediately caught everyone’s attention.

Agatha frowned.

"Next challenge?"

Liam nodded.

"What are you talking about?"

"I don’t think those Gargoyles were the real guardians of this place."

Silence.

Everyone looked at him.

Leonid, who had been examining the wounds on his own clothes, slowly lifted his head.

"What?"

Liam looked at the others.

"I felt another presence after I killed them."

That statement immediately caused several expressions to change.

Agatha stared at him.

"You felt another presence?"

"Yes."

Mary looked toward the mountains.

"I didn’t feel anything."

"Neither did I," Gregor added.

Agatha remained silent for a moment before shaking her head.

"I felt nothing either."

Liam frowned.

That was strange.

Very strange.

The truth was, he hadn’t actually felt anything either.

Not with his Aether Sense.

Not with his instincts.

Not even with the strange sixth sense he had developed since obtaining the system.

He had simply received a message.

A message that had appeared immediately after the final Gargoyle had fallen.

Liam remembered the words perfectly.

[Warning.]

[The defeated Gargoyles are not the true guardians of the passage.]

[Their presence is merely the outermost defense.]

[Host has entered a region classified as...]

[Unknown.]

Those words had appeared in his mind immediately after the battle.

And the final line had bothered him more than anything else.

Unknown.

Liam had already encountered things his System couldn’t identify, but this was different.

The System had specifically classified the area itself.

That meant this wasn’t simply another location.

There was something about this place that existed outside what his System currently understood.

"I think we’re in some sort of region," Liam finally said.

Everyone looked even more confused.

"A region?" Agatha repeated.

"Yeah."

"What does that mean?"

"I don’t know yet."

That answer surprised them.

Liam usually spoke with absolute confidence, even when he didn’t have all the information. But this time there was something different in his expression.

He genuinely didn’t know.

And that was enough to make Agatha uneasy.

Liam turned toward his horse.

The distance wasn’t far, but the walk suddenly felt longer than it should have. He moved carefully, keeping one hand near his side as he approached the animal. Every step caused a dull ache to travel through his body, and the frozen wound made his movements stiff.

Irina noticed.

"Here."

She stepped beside him and offered her arm.

Liam looked at her.

"You don’t have to."

"I know."

He smiled faintly.

"Thanks."

He leaned against her just enough to steady himself as they walked toward the horses. The others followed behind them, still trying to understand what Liam had just said.

When they reached his horse, Liam slowly released Irina and opened one of the bags attached to the saddle.

He pulled out another black shirt.

Liam slipped the fresh shirt over his head and carefully lowered it over his torso, making sure the fabric didn’t rub too hard against the frozen wound.

Once he was dressed, he reached for the saddle.

Agatha finally broke the silence.

"How can you know there is another presence when none of us sensed anything?"

Liam looked toward her.

She continued.

"You said you felt something, but Mary, Gregor and I have spent years studying magical creatures and dark regions. If something powerful enough to be the guardian of this place is nearby, we should have sensed at least something."

Liam opened his mouth.

He was about to answer.

Then he stopped.

A strange feeling suddenly settled over the area.

Not fear.

Not killing intent.

Something else.

Something that felt almost amused.

The wind stopped.

The horses became restless.

Liam’s eyes narrowed.

Everyone noticed the change.

Tatiana immediately turned her head.

Agatha looked around.

"What was that?"

Nobody answered.

Then a sound came from somewhere.

At first, it was faint.

Almost distant.

A low chuckle.

"Ahahahah..."

Everyone froze.

The laughter echoed across the landscape.

But there was something deeply unnatural about it.

There was no obvious direction.

It seemed to come from the mountains.

Then from behind them.

Then from above.

Then somehow from directly beneath their feet.

The sound traveled through the open air as though the entire region itself had become a mouth.

"Ahahahah..."

Agatha’s face turned pale.

Mary instinctively stepped closer to Gregor.

Tatiana moved toward Liam.

Liam remained completely still.

His eyes scanned the empty field.

There were no walls here.

No buildings.

No cave ceiling.

Nothing that should have been capable of producing an echo like this.

Yet the voice continued to bounce around them as if they were trapped inside a massive chamber.

"Ahahahah..."

Then the laughter stopped.

Silence returned.

For several seconds, nobody moved.

Liam’s fingers tightened around the reins.

His eyes remained fixed on the empty space ahead.

Whatever was speaking to them had not shown itself.

And somehow, that was far more disturbing than seeing another army of Gargoyles.

Then the voice returned.

This time, it was much clearer.

Much closer.

And whoever it belonged to sounded genuinely entertained.

"Well done..."

A pause.

"You made it this far."

Liam’s expression hardened.

Everyone looked around frantically, trying to find the source.

But there was nothing.

Only the mountains.

The open field.

The horses.

And the strange silence that had settled over everything.

Liam slowly raised his head.

A faint smile appeared on his face.

"So..."

His eyes sharpened.

"This is the real guardian."

The unseen being laughed again.

"Ahahahah..."

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