Shhhhhhh!
In the midst of a torrential downpour stood a somber gray temple. It wasn't an ancient structure.
Baek Yu-Seol examined the temple's exterior and quickly deduced when it was built.
'The enchantment techniques on the front gates suggest it's about 70 years old. At the time, the defensive statues equipped with autonomous activation were considered groundbreaking.'
Scanning the magical runes etched into the temple's walls and surrounding area, Baek Yu-Seol remarked,
"Nothing here seems particularly threatening."
"Really?"
Panallet was wearing a waterproof hood and standing cautiously. She glanced at Syclen, who had already walked ahead.
Even after crossing the temple's defensive boundary, there was no reaction from the temple itself as if it were completely abandoned.
Splash!
Every step Syclen took sent water droplets scattering across the marble-like floor.
Baek Yu-Seol observed the temple with a curious expression. While the magical barriers and arrays didn't seem noteworthy, something about the place felt off.
'It feels like they overdid the interior design.'
Walking down the perfectly straight path leading to the temple, Baek Yu-Seol found himself tilting his head in confusion.
"Excuse me, this is a straight path, right?"
"Of course, it's straight. Can't you see?"
"Then why does it feel like I'm walking sideways?"
"What are you talking about...? Wait, what the—?"
While Baek Yu-Seol was busy studying the ground beneath his feet, Panallet suddenly sensed something amiss.
"Where did that crazy woman go?"
"What?"
Snapping his head up at Panallet's words, Baek Yu-Seol quickly looked around.
Syclen, who had been walking ahead just moments ago, had vanished without a trace.
Given her pace, she should have still been far from the temple entrance. But now, she was nowhere to be seen.
There was no indication of magic being used. If magic had been involved, the flow of mana would have— 'Wait, hold on.'
Baek Yu-Seol abruptly stopped, causing Panallet to pause as well.
"What now? Why are you stopping too?"
"Hold on a moment."
Baek Yu-Seol pushed his hood back, letting the rain soak his hair. Ignoring the discomfort, he tilted his head back and closed his eyes.
Shhhhhhh!
The sound and sensation of the torrential rain filled the air, but he pushed it all away, expanding his spatial awareness to its limits.
[Sixth Sense]
His Nature's Heavenly Energy Body trait allowed him to perceive his surroundings with absolute clarity, regardless of heavy rain or even a typhoon.
However, fully expanding this sense came with a price: it made ordinary daily activities impossible.
While he usually suppressed this ability, he could unleash its full potential in emergencies.
And then—
Flash!
Baek Yu-Seol opened his eyes, now calm and focused, as he gazed at the temple.
"I take back what I said earlier."
"Huh?"
"These aren't ordinary people."
Instead of looking down the straight path to the temple, Baek Yu-Seol turned his gaze to the side, toward a patch of uneven terrain filled with pebbles and stones. It wasn't even a path at all.
"The space around here is completely distorted."
"Like that crazy woman's mansion in the forest?"
"No. This is on a different level. Syclen only used illusions to make the space appear twisted... but this is real. They've actually warped the space itself, shaping it into a labyrinth."
The entire area had been bent and twisted, the space itself meticulously reshaped into a maze-like structure.
Such advanced manipulation of space was something even Eltman Eltwin couldn't accomplish.
'This is starting to get really interesting...'
Though his goal had been to find Scarlet, Baek Yu-Seol couldn't help but feel curious. To encounter someone capable of wielding the techniques of the Twelve Divine Moons to this extent was an opportunity too intriguing to ignore.
Fawn Prevernal Moon was destined to be the most powerful adversary Baek Yu-Seol would face in the future.
But above all, what piqued his curiosity was why such a group, with such advanced technology, had kept themselves hidden from the outside world.
'From what I've heard, they've been very careful about concealing their identity…'
According to the information extracted from the human-trafficking mercenaries earlier, this temple wasn't directly tied to the Gray Divine Moon Church. Rather, it seemed to function as a kind of mafia hub.
They were described as intermediaries for all illegal transactions in the region. They protected criminals from law enforcement and hunted down those who broke deals or tried to escape.
In other words, very few people knew their true identity as the Gray Divine Moon Church. Even Baek Yu-Seol wouldn't have noticed if he hadn't come here himself and expanded his spatial awareness.
"So, what do we do now?"
"They don't seem particularly aggressive. If they were, they would've already tried something using this warped space. The fact that they're merely blocking entry suggests..."
"...That they're like that crazy woman, Syclen?"
"It would be nice if that were the case, but judging by the mafia-related rumors, it's probably more about keeping their identity hidden."
"What kind of identity would they be hiding...?"
"Probably something shady."
The level of spatial distortion here was so advanced that even a high-ranking mage wouldn't be able to break through it.
In fact, according to the human traffickers, only a select few could even reach this area, let alone advance any further.
That Baek Yu-Seol and his group had made it this far was largely thanks to Syclen, a former witch hunter.
'This just makes it even more suspicious.'
As a smirk crept onto Baek Yu-Seol's face, Panallet recoiled in alarm. Despite the pouring rain, she still clutched her liquor bottle. But sensing the gravity of the situation, she tucked the bottle into her waistband.
"They're resisting us, so..."
"We're turning back, right?"
"No, we're going to force our way through."
"What?! I don't like danger!"
"Stop complaining and follow me."
Baek Yu-Seol didn't walk straight but instead veered to the side, navigating the maze of spatial distortions. To break through the warped space, he had to follow a winding, seemingly nonsensical path rather than walking in a straight line.
As he twisted and turned, gradually moving forward, Panallet watched in amazement.
"How do you even know where to walk?"
Baek Yu-Seol smiled in response.
"I can just see it."
***
At the same time, inside the temple.
"How does that kid know how to navigate this path?"
Someone else had the same question as Panallet.
Unlike its dull exterior, the interior of the temple was surprisingly vibrant, decorated in a riot of colors. It wasn't beautiful, but rather chaotic, as if the designers had forcefully added color with no sense of harmony.
In this garish and overly elaborate chamber, three men and one woman sat together, watching a large screen displayed through a crystal orb.
"...Well, he is a peculiar boy."
Somehow, Syclen had already entered the temple and was being treated as a guest by the priests.
"Tch, it'll be a problem if you don't tell us clearly."
"I've already earned plenty of their resentment just by leaving them outside. Sharing more information would only make things worse for me."
"Resentment? Resentment? A witch hunter afraid of being hated by humans? What a joke. Just stop with the boring excuses."
Syclen smiled softly at the remark.
"I'd recommend you stop provoking me further. I don't know what I might do if I lose my temper."
"Tch, you're ridiculous."
The man in clerical robes scoffed and pulled back the hood covering his head, revealing a pair of crimson horns growing from his forehead.
Exactly.
The true identity of the priests was none other than demons.
In modern terms... they were dark mages.
"Demons masquerading as priests of the Divine Moon Church. If people knew about this, they'd be shocked."
The screen showed Baek Yu-Seol and Panallet navigating the maze. Surprisingly, they weren't really lost… they were advancing so effortlessly that even the priests found it astonishing.
The first condition to enter the temple was simple yet daunting:
'Forge your own path.'
The labyrinth, a class 9 level challenge, could technically be overcome by anyone… not just powerful mages. If someone possessed the courage and determination to move forward, the wisdom to find the way, and the insight not to be deceived by what appeared in front of them, they could pass.
Of course, it was exceedingly rare for ordinary people to meet all these conditions.
Even grand mages often found themselves lost and had to retreat.
But for those who managed to traverse the maze on their own, the Gray Divine Moon Church welcomed them with hospitality, no matter who they were… even if it was Baek Yu-Seol, the infamous dark mage hunter known across the continent.
"A dark mage hunter is coming. Aren't you afraid?"
"Not really. We're not weak enough to be killed by a kid like that."
"Heh, plenty of dark mages have died underestimating their opponents like you."
"Tch. You're insufferable, you know that?"
Syclen, though she had entered the temple ahead of Baek Yu-Seol, hadn't forgotten her original purpose.
"So... can you find the Witch Queen?"
"The last time a witch hunter requested something like this was 400 years ago. The records say it wasn't particularly difficult if done correctly... but for that to even happen, you know Baek Yu-Seol has to arrive here first, right?"
"Of course."
"To locate a witch, we need the most cherished item owned by the person who shared the deepest bond with her. If Baek Yu-Seol doesn't pass the trial, we won't be able to help him."
For an ordinary person, the mention of a "trial" might have sounded intimidating. But Syclen, with her confident smile, remained unshaken.
"That doesn't sound difficult at all."
As she watched Baek Yu-Seol confidently making his way toward the temple without hesitation, she spoke, and the priests clicked their tongues.
"Every one of these people who comes here is nothing but trouble..."
If they simply waited, Baek Yu-Seol would arrive in as little as an hour or as long as three hours. They decided to relax and wait, certain of his arrival.
But then—
"Wait a second. What's that kid doing?"
"What?"
Something unexpected was happening.
"He... pulled out a sword?"
Sure enough, on the screen, Baek Yu-Seol had drawn Ethereal Wind and Moonlight and was pointing it at empty space.
One of the priests, observing this, muttered nervously.
"Hey, is that kid... no way..."
Another priest continued the thought.
"He's not actually trying to cut through space, is he...?"
It sounded absurd.
But no one in the room could dismiss the idea outright. There was no other plausible explanation for Baek Yu-Seol's actions.
"Turn up the sound."
As another pressed the button, Panallet's voice came through loud and clear:
— Hey, hey! You crazy idiot! What the hell are you doing?!
— Wait a second. Why should I bother following this ridiculously convoluted path someone set up to annoy me?
— Huh? That's true...
— And if you think about it, spatial distortion is ultimately just magic, right?
— That... makes sense, I guess...
— So, let's just cut through everything. I don't have time for this nonsense. Who puts annoying gimmicks like this in the way anyway?
— W-wait, stop!
As their worst fears were confirmed, the priests jumped up from their seats in a panic.
That spatial distortion barrier had been passed down for hundreds of years… a device steeped in history!
"If that thing gets destroyed, it'll be such a pain to deal with...!"
But their cries of protest came too late.
Baek Yu-Seol swung his sword effortlessly, slicing through the distorted space in front of him. The entire area split apart, revealing the true path hidden behind the illusion, as if parting like the Red Sea in a miracle.
Thud!
One of the priests collapsed to the floor in disbelief.
Fixing that barrier would require an unimaginable amount of effort and labor.
Thud! Another priest dropped to his knees.
Even Syclen, who had been watching silently, couldn't help but stare in stunned disbelief.
'...He cut through space?'
Her eyebrows twitched.
She had always known Baek Yu-Seol was extraordinary.
But this was on a completely different level.
The boy had just turned the 'impossible' into reality.
Many spatial magicians existed in the world, but never had anyone heard of someone destroying the magic of space itself.
Space magic wasn't like the standard elemental attributes; it was a higher-dimensional form of magic, one that not even those who specialized in it fully understood.
In other words, what Baek Yu-Seol had just accomplished was...
He had effortlessly achieved what no one else ever could.
'Was this even possible...?'
Even Syclen, who usually remained composed, felt her heart race with tension. On the screen, however, Baek Yu-Seol's behavior became even more peculiar.
"Hey, Baek Yu-Seol, why are you just standing there all of a sudden? Baek Yu-Seol?"
He was frozen in the exact posture he had been in when swinging his sword.
"What's going on, Baek Yu-Seol...?"
Panallet called out to him urgently, but her voice didn't reach him at all.
Because...
— Stop right there, Baek Yu-Seol!
A voice resounded in his mind.
It was a voice both familiar and unfamiliar.
Baek Yu-Seol immediately recognized its owner.
'...You're... could it be...?'
The voice belonged to none other than himself—
His own consciousness, yet not entirely his.
It was another version of him, from another dimension.
— Yes, it's me!
It was another Baek Yu-Seol.