Isaac was satisfied. He was sure, Falanx had a control system like the one in the garden. However, he didn't seem to have access to it, or only partially.

As he pondered, the window continued to fill.

[System] Source: Isaac Ioane

[System] DX scenario confirmed

Please confirm you want to destroy this area: [Y / N]

A map appeared in front of him with a red area drawn in the shape of a circle over a large area about 20 kilometers in diameter. In the center was a blue dot with "You" written above it.

Suddenly, the air around Isaac's aura stiffened before white filaments formed before surrounding his aura, forming a huge net.

He jumped slightly when he saw the filaments. He had a bad presentiment. These filaments were not harmless, they had a strange energy that reminded him a lot of his own aura.

After checking that the filaments wouldn't make any further movement, he turned his head to the window.

"Did he set up defense scenarios?" Isaac thought.

It seemed logical. After all, the former Administrator had told him he could do whatever he wanted, but he had also warned him that he had the power to destroy the world.

If Isaac was to ever attempt an experiment that would risk destroying the world, then would the system take over to prevent this from happening unintentionally?

So he pressed "No".

[System] DX-1 scenario confirmed

[System] Would you like help? [Y / N]

It was true that he had gotten into a big mess for his experimentation. He knew how to dissipate the energy, he couldn't release it all at once in a ray towards space without risking a titanic recoil.

Radiation and energy would surely be able to shave the surface for a few miles despite the distance if he were to free the sphere here.

So as not to take any risks, Isaac decided to press "Yes", curious to know what kind of help the system would give him.

[System] Error 404: The manual page you want to view does not exist or is unavailable. Try again later or contact an Administrator.

- "Seriously?" he simply said.

As if things were going to be that simple. So he decided to take matters into his own hands. His experiment was over.

He began to slowly release the energy in small pieces at first. He had to be extremely vigilant. The slightest crack could cause the sphere to explode and he would die the next moment, taking part of the surface with him probably a few tens of kilometers below.

He couldn't make any mistakes. However, his mind calmed down slightly when he caught a glimpse of a strange phenomenon in his peripheral vision.

By releasing energy from the sphere, the latter was immediately dissipated by the aura of Isaac. However, once out, it made contact with the net of white filaments surrounding him and was absorbed.

The energy immediately disappeared from existence. Isaac didn't know what was happening and right now he didn't want to know. He was glad the system had given him some semblance of a solution.

A good three hours passed until the sphere reached an acceptable level of energy concentration at about three times that of the golden ray.

Even though it was an energy capable of destroying the garden and the surrounding cliffs, it was something Isaac could handle right now.

He increased his personal barrier to the maximum before redirecting the sphere and boosted the containment barriers. Once done, a sequence of three runes appeared on the surface of the containment chamber before a golden filament came out from the energy sphere.

In the upper atmosphere, the filament flew in an instant and then collided with the net. The energy discharge caused fairly weak gusts due to the small amount of air.

All around, the net suddenly began to glow as the energy was dispersed before being "digested". Several tens of minutes passed before all the energy of the sphere was evacuated.

Immediately, the window in front of Isaac disappeared as did the northern lights. The net suddenly dissipated and then disappeared completely without leaving a single trace.

- "Not even a goodbye" Isaac said before beginning his descent to the surface.

He had been able to confirm the presence of a planetary system. He had also been able to confirm that this system did not seem able to harm him or limit him or prevent him from doing anything.

After all, the system had asked for his consent. Although he didn't know what would have happened if he had decided to press "Yes", he didn't want to know. Not for the moment.

As he descended, something suddenly caught his attention. Isaac looked up at the sky from which intense waves of natural energy were coming before his eyes widened.

Several tens of kilometers far beyond the atmosphere was a huge black starry snake motionless. The creature easily measured a kilometer in length and about twenty meters in thickness.

Isaac felt himself observed by the creature with the blank, dark gaze. It gave off a strange presence. So, he decided to go back up to observe it more closely while keeping a safe distance.

"A boss?" he wondered.

He didn't know what it was. Maybe something to protect the world or to prevent people from leaving the planet? Or, a simple space monster. He wasn't sure.

Isaac continued to climb, slowly and steadily before suddenly being stopped by an invisible wall.

The surface of the wall was soft, like jelly, but able to push him away from a certain point. Isaac looked up at the monster half a mile away.

- "Is it blocked by the same wall?" he thought.

As he pondered, a book he hadn't seen in a while suddenly came out of nowhere before opening on a page.

[Entry: World Border]

The familiar message gave him chills just thinking of the pain he had felt the first time he tried to decrypt something.

He didn't feel close but above all, if he failed he would be unable to maintain his floating aura and would fall. He would probably die.

He looked at the creature one last time before sighing to regain the surface. "A mystery for another day" he thought.

As Isaac floated quietly back to the shrine, several hundred kilometers away, a beardless, slender man sat on a massive golden throne.

He looked to be in his twenties, almost thirties, his facial features were sharp and prominent but his skin was soft and white. His hair was almost as golden as the gold that decorated his seat.

His red clothes were luxurious and adorned with numerous decorations in gold and emerald colored threads, detailing designs of a magnificent landscape with plains overlooking a blazing rising sun. Inscriptions were drawing flowers and legendary animals of all kinds: Phoenix, dragon or scarlet lion.

The man had a calm and serene expression, his hand stroking his chin slowly, his gaze fixed on another man below.

The centered towering throne on which he was seated rested twenty steps above at the end of what appeared to be a huge throne room almost 100 meters in length and width. Huge windows on the sides overlooked a sunny blue sky with tall pillars supporting a ceiling adorned with paintings of all kinds.

In the center was unfolding a fiery red carpet between the throne and the front door guarded by a series of ten soldiers in golden armor. About thirty soldiers were also positioned in line in front of the throne, forming a line ten steps below.

At the very bottom, a man in a black cape was bowed, one knee on the ground with his head bowed. He was constantly watched by soldiers whose hands rested on their swords.

- "My King, one of our agents intercepted a message leaving Erivia bound for the Viscount of the region" suddenly announced the man in black without moving.

The King of course also had his spy network extending over the royal domain but also over the border duchies. With his last decrees and his many political movements, he had attracted many enemies among the nobles.

In particular, he had made enemies with the Duchies of the North and the East who were both allied. Unlike the other two Duchies who were loyal to the Royalty, at least for the time being, the North and the East had publicly denigrated the King's decisions.

To avoid any escalating tensions and also to prepare against possible movements, he had to install agents in the cities of importance including that of the Duke, his Counts and Viscounts.

This network coupled with a magical communication system developed by the Magus of the court, it was much more efficient and faster than any other.

- "Show it to me" he asked, sitting on the throne.

Immediately, he lifted his cloak and held out a blue ball in front of him and raised it above his head without raising his gaze for a single moment. A soldier came out of formation and grabbed the ball then, after a brief inspection, held it out to the King before returning in line.

Inside the ball was a faint vision of a sheet of paper with text written on it. The King then began to read before arching an eyebrow.

- "An Archmage?" he said aloud, arousing the interest of the soldiers. "What would an Archmage do in a lost pla--"

The King suddenly stopped in his words. Indeed, what would an Archmage do in a remote corner such as Erivia or the plains of Fray'r. There had to be something important to elicit such a presence.

He suddenly pressed the stone of a ring he wore on his index finger before a glow came out. Moments later, inscriptions began to glow to the right of the throne before a flash enveloped the location.

The next moment a figure appeared. It was a man in his twenties dressed in a white robe adorned as beautifully as that of the King, if not for the magical inscriptions on the robe.

- "Kylis, did you ask for me?" the man asked.

- "Zachary, do you know another Archmage who would be in the plains of Fray'r?" Kylis asked.

The Magus arched an eyebrow slightly, bewildered and confused before starting to search his memory if he had heard of it. Once sure he lifted his head and shook his head negatively.

- "Do you know a strategic site over there?"

- "Not as far as I know, maybe the elders will know something. I haven't had time to devote myself to border area affairs" he said simply before noticing the worried expression on the face of the King. "Is something bothering you?"

The King sighed lightly. He had a slight presentiment, but he wasn't sure if that was a good omen or a bad omen.

- "I'm going to ask them…" he said before noticing the man still kneeling with one hand raised in front of him.

It was a simple sign to allow the peasants to ask the King to speak so as not to cut him off.

- "Speak" Kylis said, turning to the man.

Zachary also turned, puzzled.

- "We also received another report on strange rumors in the surroundings of Erivia" he began.

- "What kinds of rumors?" asked the Magus.

He knew full well that rumors were common in the villages among the lower classes. However, if a rumor had managed to get to the point of attracting the attention of their agents, it must have had some substance of truth.

- "An ancient sanctuary that is several millennia old" continued the man.

The two interlocutors above the steps were surprised. A thousand-year-old sanctuary? They would have learned of its existence if it were to have any value. So why didn't they know? So they waited so that the man could continue.

The latter was not long and continued.

- "Your Majesty is probably not aware of it because it is about a very old place that your ancestors tried to conquer a long time ago without success" resumed the man before stopping.

He was slightly afraid his words might offend the King and wanted to make sure he was allowed to speak.

The King for his part did nothing, his ancestors had made many conquests, some successful and others not. One defeat among many. Although he had been able to receive an education on the history of his kingdom, he had surely already forgotten it.

Nevertheless, the sanctuary intrigued him slightly.

- "And the reason for these defeats is?" asked the King.

The man in the cloak felt much better seeing that the King didn't seem to be affected by his words.

- "A protective barrier has been cast there, Majesty," he replied.

- "What do you mean ?"

It was the Magus' turn to be surprised. He who was the Archmage of the kingdom was not aware of the presence of a thousand-year-old barrier?

- "According to the archives, the last expedition dates back about four hundred years. An army corps of forty official mages and three Archimages has been dispatched" stated the man.

"Kilguana's golden years" thought Zachary upon hearing these words. It was four hundred years ago that Kilguana managed to reach a new golden centenary, according to records the third in its millennia-long history.

Each golden centenary was distinctive in relation to the wealth of the kingdom, and somewhat directly from a great upsurge in magic and practitioners of the latter.

However, what shocked him the most was that despite the three Archmages probably all as gifted as him, perhaps even better, the barrier had not given way? It was just amazing.

- "With time, the aristocracy and royalty quite simply abandoned the idea of ​​trying to conquer it and the Royalty delegated the charge of keeping an eye on it to the Duchy of the East" finalized the agent.

Kylis could see his friend Archmage's eyes shining with interest but didn't pay much attention and resumed.

- "So what? What does this have to do with these rumors?"

- "We investigated and sent men under the cover of merchants and found a village not far from where the rumors seemed to come from" continued the man.

He made a slight gesture of his hand in the direction of the ball, raising his eyes slightly upwards without looking directly at the King. He didn't want to, after all he was just a spy agent.

He had no right to be able to look at the person of His Majesty. It was what he thought and what everyone else in the spy corps was thinking.

The image on the ball suddenly changed and the image of a villager appeared, visibly in his twenties, before the latter began to speak.

- "The shrine? No, never heard of it…"

The sound of coins was faintly heard in the recording before the man resumed.

- "I tell you that I’ve never ..." resumed the voice before new coins were poured, more numerous this time.

After a while, the man resumed.

- "You tell no one, eh?" he said before pausing. "The barrier has been broken" announced the voice.

Zachary frowned a little before moving forward to approach the ball and the man projected inside.

- "But that's not all ..." said the villager approaching before whispering very softly. "Something huge happened!" he said with a big smile on his face. "An elf! There is an elf who dwells there!" he intoned.

Everyone in the room suddenly widened their eyes, mouths open. Silence fell in the room before two voices rang out.

- "An elf ?!" said the King and the Magus in chorus.