Chapter32-The Gaze

"It's not showing any hostility... Could it be observing me?"

Owen swallowed hard, finally calming down, but he found himself in a dilemma.

Should he continue crossing the spatial currents?

This giant eye that had suddenly appeared—Owen couldn't even sense its power. It had emerged out of nowhere, without any warning!

What on earth was this? A creature? A projection of some entity? Or perhaps a manifestation of pure malice?

Owen's mind raced, but he couldn't find any answers.

"In any case... I should return to the dimension first."

With that thought, Owen prepared to continue crossing the spatial currents. But in the next moment, the eye seemed to lock onto him, its pale iris emitting a dangerous red glow!

Owen froze on the spot, feeling as if his body had plunged into an icy abyss, unable to move.

There was no doubt about it!

Whatever this thing was, Owen was certain of one thing: with his current level, he absolutely couldn't afford to provoke this bizarre existence.

Run! He had to run!

Owen fled frantically through the spatial currents, the red glow from the eye growing more menacing, as if it intended to consume everything around it!

"Just one more step!"

The exit back to the dimension appeared before him. Owen, with every ounce of his strength, kept pushing his mana to propel himself forward, finally crashing through the exit just a split second before the red light could touch him!

Reappearing outside the Tower, Owen collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath, his heart pounding with fear as he stared at the slowly closing fragment of space, cold sweat dripping from his forehead.

What was that thing?

What secrets did the Beyond Dimension hold?

Owen could only curse under his breath.

He had never read about anything like this in the original work, and with so many people traversing the Beyond Dimension, why did he have to be the one to encounter such a disaster?

Rubbing his temples, Owen felt his legs trembling. After resting for a while, he finally struggled to his feet.

A number of people had gathered nearby, but Owen had already used Absolute Stealth to conceal his presence, so no one noticed him.

Owen wandered around the area, but he didn't see any of the Crossbridge Academy students, nor the academy's airship, which had already departed.

This puzzled Owen.

Andrew would never agree to leave Owen behind while the rest of the group returned to the academy.

Before the Tower was opened, even though Catalina had rejected Felix's proposal, each mentor had still given their students an order: if they encountered a situation that even Owen couldn't handle, their mission was to sacrifice themselves to buy Owen time to survive.

It might sound extreme, but that was the reality.

"Phew... Something is definitely strange about this dimension. I'll ask the mentor when I get back."

The giant eye in the Beyond Dimension was too bizarre to ignore.

As Owen mulled over his thoughts and was about to leave, he froze at the sight before him.

The once-towering Tower had collapsed into rubble without him noticing, and the people gathered nearby seemed to be investigators sent by various academies to uncover the truth.

After a long moment of stunned silence, Owen realized something, and his expression changed drastically.

Releasing Absolute Stealth, Owen stepped forward and stopped one of the investigators, speaking in a deep tone, "What happened here?"

"You're... Wait, you're Owen from Crossbridge Academy!"

The investigator quickly recognized Owen, exclaiming in shock, "How... how is this possible?"

"What do you mean? What are you talking about?"

"No, this can't be right! Crossbridge Academy announced your death! It's been a month since you disappeared. How are you suddenly here?"

"I died? How is that possible? I'm standing right here! Wait, did you say it's been a month? A whole month?"

"Yes! A month ago, the Tower suddenly shattered, and everyone escaped, except for Fenrir Academy's Chief Claire and Crossbridge Academy's Chief Owen, who both vanished. After an investigation, you and Claire were declared dead."

Listening to the investigator's explanation, Owen found it absurd.

He had only stayed in the Beyond Dimension for less than ten minutes, yet a whole month had passed in the outside world. It was ridiculous!

But...

Looking at the expressions of those around him—like they had seen a ghost—Owen had no choice but to believe it.

At that moment, Owen suddenly noticed that he was holding a staff that had appeared out of nowhere.

The staff was jet-black, as if covered in countless writhing worms, constantly squirming and coiling around each other. It felt almost weightless in his hand, cold and slimy.

And at the top of the staff was embedded the shrunken, pale eye!

The moment Owen locked eyes with it, a chill ran down his spine, as if something was watching him, making him shudder.

"When did this..."

"Owen? Is that really you?"

Just as Owen was trying to make sense of the situation, Catalina's voice rang out from behind him. Owen turned around, only to be pulled into a tight embrace by her.

Feeling the warmth and strong heartbeat against his body, Catalina finally breathed a sigh of relief, the hope she had clung to becoming a reality, bringing tears to her eyes.

"You nearly scared me to death! How could you disappear for a whole month? What on earth happened?"

"I... I don't know."

Owen shook his head in a daze, noticing out of the corner of his eye that the staff in his hand had vanished, as if everything that had just happened was a hallucination.

After finally calming down, Catalina took a deep breath and stepped back a few paces, a trace of shyness flashing in her eyes before she quickly regained her usual composure.

"In any case, let's return to the academy first. We'll conduct a thorough examination of your body, and you can explain what happened slowly. There's no need to rush."

"Wait, mentor..."

Owen stopped in his tracks, hesitated for a moment, and then asked Catalina the question that had been troubling him.

"Mentor, have you ever encountered anything strange while traversing the Beyond Dimension?"

"Something strange? What do you mean?"

"I'm not sure how to describe it... Maybe a monster, like an enormous fish, or perhaps a giant eye? Of course, I'm just giving examples."

Catalina didn't hesitate for a moment and immediately replied, "Owen, after extensive research by countless scholars, it has been confirmed that life cannot survive in the Beyond Dimension. I don't know what you've experienced over the past month, but it doesn't matter now. Don't be afraid; I'm here for you."

"...I understand."

Owen nodded. This answer was expected, so it wasn't surprising.

If the Beyond Dimension was generally known for such anomalies, it would have been widely reported long ago, and no one would have kept silent about it.

"In any case, let's go back for now. By the way, do you know where Claire is?"

"No, I haven't seen him. Did he disappear too?"

"Just like you, after the Tower collapsed, he didn't manage to escape. Could it be... Hmm, this might be an anomaly affecting diamond-tier mages. The exact reason will need further investigation. In the meantime, you should rest."

With that, Catalina reached out and gently touched Owen's forehead. The next moment, Owen felt increasingly drowsy, his surroundings growing darker until he lost consciousness completely.

In his sleep, he saw that giant eye again, even larger than when he had encountered it in the Beyond Dimension. Standing before it, Owen felt as insignificant as a speck of dust.

In the next instant, the eye suddenly emitted a strange glow, and this time, Owen couldn't escape. The light engulfed him in an instant!

A cold, slimy liquid enveloped him as if he were being absorbed into the eye, his body sinking deeper until he was suffocating!

"No!"

Owen jolted awake, gasping for air like a drowning man, sweat dripping from his forehead, his clothes soaked and clinging to his skin.

Looking around at the familiar surroundings, Owen swallowed nervously.

"This is... the Chief Mansion?"