With no trees to defend himself, Amon felt that his journey here had finally come to an end. His breathing was ragged, his steps uneven, and just as despair began to settle in his chest, he suddenly spotted something.

His gaze locked onto a familiar stretch of water ahead.

'This… is similar to the part of the lake we used to enter this star gate?!'

Amon's eyes widened. There was no time to hesitate, no time to doubt whether his guess was right or wrong. Drawing out every last bit of strength left in his body, he burst forward and dove straight into the pond.

The moment he entered the water, his perception twisted violently.

Up and down lost their meaning. Distance warped. Even the passage of time seemed to blur as a strange pressure squeezed in from all sides.

And just as Amon felt his body was about to be torn apart piece by piece, the mysterious coin he had created suddenly reacted.

It was as if it had gained a life of its own.

Golden engravings shimmered faintly as the two fish carved within them began to move, swimming in endless circles as though chasing one another.

The pressure eased.

Subconsciously, Amon opened his eyes.

His vision cleared almost instantly, and what greeted him made his breath hitch.

"Is this the… real world?"

Amon's eyes snapped fully open as he rose to his feet, instinctively scanning his surroundings.

The sky was different. The air felt heavier, richer somehow. Before he could process it all, his gaze landed on a group of women standing not far away, with a strikingly mature woman at their head.

She was dressed in grey fur that clung to her body in a way that did very little to hide the inappropriate areas of her clothing.

Amon coughed lightly, forcing his expression to remain neutral as he stood upright and looked around with deliberate caution.

"Where am I?" he muttered.

Yet even as the words left his mouth, he knew the answer was not simple. This place did not feel like the real world at all.

The mature woman stepped forward.

She had short black hair, and across her face ran a black and red tattoo that intersected sharply, giving her an oddly intimidating presence.

On her left chest was an image of two intersecting fish.

It was almost identical to the engraving on the coin.

Amon's pupils constricted slightly as he took in the detail.

"Are you the one he sent?"

The woman spoke in a strange language, and the sound of it made Amon feel slightly dizzy, a dull ache pulsing behind his temples.

Yet despite that, he could understand her words clearly.

'Am I the one who sent?'

Amon was extremely curious, but he did not let it show.

Instead, he nodded slowly, putting on a respectful expression.

He still remembered the words his father had drilled into him years ago.

To truly survive in the world of the gifted, one had to be shameless.

Shameless to the point where even the heavens would be left speechless.

"Yes. I am the one."

The moment those words left his mouth, reverence bloomed across their faces.

Without hesitation, all the women dropped to their knees.

"O reverent disciple of the great unfettered one. Thank you for gracing us with your presence!"

They remained bowed, unmoving, waiting for his response. Due to their awkward posture, some of them revealed far more cleavage than was probably appropriate.

Amon stared down at them, his thoughts completely frozen.

'Reverent disciple of the great unfettered one?'

His heart thumped violently in his chest.

Who was the unfettered one?

Fragments of old memories surfaced.

He still remembered the writings he had read from Instructor Damien many years ago.

The writings of the unfettered one.

The man who stood at the pinnacle of the world.

The very first person to obtain a gift.

He had been here?

'And did he leave something behind… something meant for his disciple who would be brought here in the future?'

Amon's eyes widened as realization crashed into him all at once.

At the same time, another thought surfaced.

So this was why Helena wanted to come here.

'Is she the unfettered one's disciple? Or does she simply know about the treasures hidden here and wants to steal them?'

'But how does she know?'

A dull headache formed as Amon frowned internally.

Helena had always been mysterious.

Unreadable. Calculating. And somehow, she always seemed to possess information she should not have known, like details involving a rank 7 star gate and many other secrets.

It felt as though someone was feeding her knowledge from the shadows.

'A ring grandpa?'

The thought made Amon pause, but he quickly dismissed it. He had never seen a ring on her fingers.

Letting out a slow, exaggerated sigh, Amon forced those thoughts aside and refocused on the women kneeling before him.

'What do I do now? If I deny it, there's no guarantee they won't kill me on the spot.'

His gaze flicked over their calm yet reverent expressions.

'Better to play along for now…'

Another realization struck him then.

Helena had not arrived yet.

That alone surprised him. She had left long before he did.

Still, it gave him a clear advantage.

If he could take everything before Helena arrived, the look on her face when she realized what happened would be absolutely priceless.

Straightening his posture, Amon adopted a commanding stance.

"Stand."

Relief washed over the women's faces as they rose to their feet, smiles spreading naturally.

"Please follow along. Would you like to rest for a few days before heading towards—"

"I cannot relax when it comes to matters of my master," Amon said solemnly.

Internally, he nearly laughed.

'I'm truly too good at this…'

"Yes, lord," the leader replied respectfully.

She held the coin in her palm, rubbing her thumb across its surface with reverence, then turned and led the way.

They entered a deep cave, and along the path, Amon noticed dwellings that resembled thatched huts. However, instead of straw, they were crafted from tightly stretched animal skins.

Soft whispers followed him as he walked.

"Who is that young man? He feels so different from us."

"Indeed. His presence is imposing… almost majestic."

Several women glanced at him with bright eyes, as though they had just laid eyes on a long-admired crush.

This only stirred irritation among the men of the village.

Some stared at Amon with poorly concealed jealousy, but none dared approach him.

Amon felt their gazes, but paid them no mind.

They soon passed beyond the village, the leader remaining silent, and entered farmland where Amon spotted crops unlike any he had seen before.

Carrots as thick as a youth's arm.

Watermelons the size of small rocks.

Several other oddly shaped fruits that made him pause more than once.

Feeling mildly stupefied, he continued following until they reached a towering mountain.

It spiraled upward into the sky, piercing the clouds and vanishing into obscurity.

"We're here," the woman said. "The master said he would tell you the method to enter the place before sending you here…"

She stepped back, distancing herself from the mountain.

Amon froze.

His expression remained calm, but inside, his mind screamed.

How was he supposed to enter?

He was not the unfettered one's disciple. He had no idea what the method was.

For a moment, he wanted to claw at his head.

But he did not dare show it.

Feeling their eyes on him, Amon stepped forward.

'Here goes nothing.'

He placed his hand against the mountain.

Instantly, electricity surged through his body.

'This feeling…'

His heart shook.

It was not coming from him.

It was coming from the primordial dragon.

Deep within the primordial core, Aegon slowly opened his black eyes. His gaze seemed to pierce through time and space itself before settling on the mountain.

Rumble! Rumble! Rumble!

The mountain trembled violently.

Before Amon could react, he was dragged inside without the slightest resistance.

As his vision darkened, the women's voices echoed faintly behind him.

"Sighs. Thankfully it's not an impostor. I would have skinned him bit by bit before slicing his head off into multiple parts."

"Sister, that's too ruthless. Just cutting off his limbs and leaving him to bleed to death would have been enough…"

'…damnation.'

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