To chase after the cultist, Tris had to run through a long, dark tunnel.
The darkness itself was no problem—he could easily overcome it with the magic "Eye From Nothingness".
The real nuisance came from the countless traps scattered throughout the tunnel, both physical and magical, designed to hinder anyone daring to follow.
As a result, Tris spent quite some time dismantling traps and sprinting through the passage.
When he finally emerged outside, all he saw was a quiet forest bathed in sunlight and wind.
Even when he tried to track traces with Space magic, Tris found no clue of the cultist.
No footprints, no bent blades of grass—nothing at all to indicate a direction.
It was as if the man had vanished into thin air the moment he left the escape tunnel.
'His ability to shake off pursuit is this strong?'
Tris was surprised, even a little impressed.
After carefully checking the surroundings again, he still found nothing.
At last, when Tris was about to admit defeat and leave, an unexpected event occurred.
Without warning, a tremor rippled through the space around him.
It was subtle, undetectable by ordinary eyes or senses. Tris noticed only because he was still using Space magic to scan the area.
Before he could react, a figure in a dark red cloak materialized out of nothingness.
The hood concealed his face in shadow, and a gray-white mask covered the upper half. Behind it gleamed two crimson eyes, like rubies, staring at Tris—hidden inside the puppet "Berserker"—with keen interest.
The instant he saw this figure, Tris did not hesitate. He spun around and fled at full speed. Flash Steps, Space magic, every skill he had—he used them all to escape as fast as possible. One glance was enough to know he could not win. His instincts screamed danger at the cloaked stranger.
'Teleport? No… the spatial tremor wasn't like that. It felt less like someone arriving from elsewhere, and more like he had always been here.'
Even while running, Tris analyzed what he had seen. He knew information was one of the strongest weapons—whoever held it held the advantage, in battle or in life.
'Is there magic that hides someone inside a space itself?' He searched through all his knowledge of Space magic.
By luck—or misfortune—his knowledge was limited. That meant he quickly found the one fitting example.
"Domain," Tris whispered.
A Domain: the ability to create and control a special space, with countless uses—concealment, imprisonment, amplification of magic, etc.
In essence, a Domain was a powerful Mageic intervention over the surrounding space. To Tris, it always felt akin to the dominion of a god.
It was so complex that Tris himself had never learned it, nor even grasped the basics of how to form one. The only thing he knew was that Domains existed—and that they were immensely powerful.
If the red-cloaked figure could wield it, that explained perfectly why Tris's instincts screamed danger.
"Surely I'm not that unlucky…" he prayed, hoping the sudden appearance was due to something else.
But in life, anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.
"Domain of Red Sea."
A voice spoke behind him—unnatural, impossible to tell male or female, young or old—like when Tris used "Echo" to distort his own voice.
Immediately, the scenery changed. No more forest, sunlight, or wind. Everything was red, stretching endlessly—from the sky to the ground beneath his feet.
'It's over. Joker card drawn. 〒▽〒'
Tris thought bitterly, stopped running, and turned around.
In his mind, curses flew nonstop at this wretched situation.
If this were a video game, it would be like the Hero stepping out of the village gate only to meet the Demon Lord instead of slimes. A trash game anyone would want to refund.
Unfortunately, Tris could not refund the garbage game he was forced to play, nor burn down the house of the scriptwriter.
To escape a Domain, running was useless. As far as he knew, there were only three ways:
First, possess Space magic strong enough to tear apart the Domain itself. But if one were that strong, there would be no need to flee.
Second, to use another Domain to contest control, like two Mages clashing over territory. Sadly, Tris couldn't even form a Domain.
And the last, kill the one that is using Domain, causing the Domain to collapse.
Cornered, Tris had only his own abilities left.
"Forgive me, perhaps I can be of service?" Despite the grotesque exterior of the "Berserker" puppet, it bowed humbly, rubbing its hands together in a show of deference.
Tris chose a fourth option: hope the Domain's master would release him.
'At times like this, who the f*ck needs dignity (╯▔皿▔)╯' he cursed inwardly at anyone who thought him shameless.
In life, peaceful solutions should always come first. If words could solve a problem, why resort to violence?