Leon was high up in the sky, floating directly above the Supreme Court building where Isabella was currently having a complete emotional breakdown—though he was entirely unaware of her suffering below.

He had teleported himself in rapid succession to reach this altitude, each jump carrying him higher until he broke free of the city's skyline.

Now he hovered effortlessly by using his elemental control—primarily wind affinity to create lift, with subtle applications of fire for additional propulsion and light element for stability.

This is getting easier with practice. The mechanics are becoming intuitive.

Leon glanced back in the direction from which he'd originally come—toward Conan City, where this entire chaotic sequence of events had started with Bunbun's frantic message.

Then he deliberately turned to look the opposite way, toward unexplored horizons stretching endlessly before him.

I'm not going back there. My thought process is clear—I have nothing left to accomplish in that city.

He didn't know exactly where his destination was, but he began flying fast ahead anyway, steadily gaining even more refined control over aerial movement with each passing moment.

The skill was coming together nicely through practical application of his various affinities—wind for primary lift and maneuverability, light element for speed enhancement, and he'd just started experimenting with minimal fire manipulation to create tiny thrust vectors for course corrections.

Simultaneously, he maintained his illusion affinity wrapped around himself like an invisible cloak to avoid causing any commotion if anyone below happened to notice a person flying through the sky.

I don't like unnecessary attention when I don't want it. Better to remain unnoticed.

Leon's maximum speed was steadily increasing as he mastered the nuances of flight. Constant optimization was being made—adjusting wind currents for efficiency, reducing drag through better body positioning, coordinating multiple elements in perfect harmony.

Mental notes were being taken and filed away for future reference.

Angle the body fifteen degrees forward. Compress wind beneath rather than pushing from behind. Use light element pulses for acceleration bursts rather than constant application.

Destination: none specifically.

Time passed. Two hours had passed in what felt like mere minutes, and he genuinely didn't even know where he currently was anymore—far beyond any maps or territory markers he'd encountered.

During his extended travel, he noticed diverse geography passing beneath him—dense forests with canopies like green oceans, vast open plains that stretched to every horizon, and crystalline lakes that reflected the sky like mirrors.

But nothing particularly attracted his serious attention or made him want to stop and investigate.

That is, until he arrived at a place whose architecture looked distinctly different—made entirely of strange stone that seemed to glow faintly in the afternoon light.

What is this?

For quite a while during his flight, he hadn't noticed any civilization whatsoever—just wilderness and untamed nature.

But this place was clearly different.

The structures didn't look like ruins despite obviously being ancient. The robust and impressive architecture spoke of master craftsmen and deliberate, purposeful construction. This massive city spread out below him had many stories waiting to be discovered just by looking at its layout and design.

This is the second time I'm discovering an abandoned ghost town like this.

They looked the world apart, but the last of civilization in a built city was the common ground.

The first had been in the lower domain, where disturbing statues of frozen people filled the palace, and only one mysterious woman had been present inside a grand palace at the city's center.

He still felt genuine unease as he remembered how his spatial abilities—normally so reliable—had been completely unable to detect her presence until she chose to reveal herself.

That was deeply unsettling. My detection should work on everything.

Leon made up his mind immediately to investigate this abandoned city properly. Previously, when he'd discovered that first ghost town, he'd been too excited about reaching the middle domain. That place hadn't shown any obvious promise of treasure or advancement opportunities, so he'd simply bypassed it entirely without thorough exploration.

But this time is different. I want to explore properly and discover what secrets this place might be hiding.

Leon descended smoothly and landed on the half-dome roof of a tall building positioned at the very edge of the city. Based on its elevated position and clear sightlines, it appeared to have served as a watchtower in previous times.

TAP!

His feet touched down on the ancient stone surface.

There were no disturbing frozen rock statues in sight as he carefully looked down into the city streets below. Even more tellingly, there was no horrible stench of decay or death that came from the abyssal monster that would have been an immediate giveaway if those horrific things were present.

Which means I'm currently nowhere near those abominations. Good.

He called them abominations not because of their strength but the gagging stench.

He remembered from his previous experience that those terrible statues had been discovered concentrated in the center of that abandoned city, particularly around the royal palace area.

So there might be the same pattern here—if there's anything dangerous, it'll be at the core, not the periphery.

However, instead of immediately taking flight again and heading directly toward whatever castle or central structure might exist, Leon noticed something interesting.

The half-dome structure he was standing on had open archways on its sides, and through them he could clearly see stairs leading downward into the building's interior.

Hmm.

His adventurous spirit arose suddenly, and curiosity got the better of his initial caution.

Why not? Let's see what's down there.

Leon walked through one of the archways and started descending the spiral staircase carefully, his senses on high alert.

Each step echoed with a hollow resonance, as if the stone had swallowed sound and now mourned its absence.

As he proceeded downward, he couldn't help but think about how many stairs there were—hundreds, probably even more, spiraling down into darkness.

This tower must go incredibly deep. Much deeper than it appeared from the outside.

There was no direct source of light, so he was using a ball of light, using his light affinity, always in front, floating.

Spatial awareness gives him every detail, but that encounter from before had made him not trust his ability fully, so he remained cautious and used light.

His guard remained up despite the place appearing completely non-threatening from a visual perspective.

There was substantial dust coating every surface, but strangely, there were absolutely no cobwebs anywhere. No insects scuttled away from his footsteps. No signs of any living creatures whatsoever.

When his fingers grazed the stone railing, the fine dust clung to his skin like static—dry, brittle, and strangely warm.

And now that he actively thought about it and reviewed his recent observations, he realized he hadn't seen any birds flying around in the sky above this entire area during his approach.

And there were definitely no animals visible on the ground from my aerial view. Not even small ones.

Really strange. Unnaturally empty.

He searched through his perfect memory as he continued descending the endless stairs, reviewing every detail of his previous ghost city experience.

If he remembered correctly—and with his xerox-quality memory, he definitely did—there had been at least some birds flying in the sky above that previous abandoned city in the lower domain.

That much I'm absolutely certain of. My enhanced memory doesn't lie.

There was not even a speck of doubt in his recollection.

STEP... STEP... STEP...

Finally, he arrived at ground level and walked out of the watchtower's base entrance, emerging onto an ancient street paved with the same light brownish stone.

But that wasn't the only color of the stone; there was some other color, but they were shades of brown.

The air smelled faintly of dry minerals and something else... like pages from a sealed library, untouched for centuries.

Leon began investigating deeper inside the city proper, exploring with systematic thoroughness. He examined different types of buildings—some clearly resembled various shops based on their layout, others were obviously residential homes, and a few had more specialized purposes he couldn't immediately identify.

One broken window had decorative stone curtains carved into the frame—still fluttering in place as if mimicking a wind that no longer existed.

Even the objects inside the houses—cutlery, furniture, decorative items—were all made from the same type of stone, though these interior items were much more polished and smooth compared to the rough structural materials.

Fascinating craftsmanship.

And as his investigation continued, Leon discovered that these stones were far from simple or ordinary materials.

He tried to break a spoon with his finger as an experiment, applying gradually increasing pressure.

CRACK!

It did eventually break, but the amount of force required was far too much for what should have been a simple, polished stone utensil.

That required the strength that would bend a steel rod. What kind of stone is this?

He genuinely wondered how the original inhabitants had created such complicated shapes and intricate designs. The hollow decorative patterns carved into walls acting as windows were works of genuine art—delicate, precise, mathematically perfect.

In a certain sense, this abandoned city is quite artistic. Everything here was crafted with incredible care and skill.

Leon continued exploring the silent streets, examining building after building, piecing together clues about what this civilization might have been like.

Until suddenly, without any warning, he felt something profoundly strange—a sensation completely unknown to him, unlike anything he'd ever experienced before in either of his lives.

A tightness crawled across his chest, like invisible threads pulling taut from every direction. His breath slowed—controlled, instinctive.

It wasn't quite dangerous, but it wasn't safe either. It felt... unknown. Watching. Aware.

His entire body went rigid with alertness.

"Who's there? Show yourself!"

His voice echoed through the empty stone streets, but no answer came.

Only silence.

And that terrible, inexplicable feeling of being observed by something that shouldn't exist.

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