God of Tricksters

"Anyway, I'll leave this matter to you, Felix," said Theo with a smile.

"Understood. I'll complete the mission as soon as possible. At least they won't die until the reinforcement arrives. Taking care of more than a million people is impossible, but I can manage if there are only a few thousand." Felix nodded with a serious expression.

"Good." Theo then went separate ways, heading straight to the Shadow King to handle the other matter.

"Anyway, it seems that you have another plan in mind." Surprisingly, the Shadow King emerged from Theo's shoulder.

"Haha." Theo chuckled as he was the only one who could feel the Shadow King since she was utilizing her Order this whole time.

"Do you have a thought of going to live on this side instead of with those humans? I think that you've given up on humanities."

"Who knows? I haven't given up on them. I just don't care about most people in the world. I can help them, but I don't care if they choose to die." Theo shrugged. "Anyway, where is the structure?"

"It's not far from here. Only one hour away."

"Should we speed up then?"

"Sure."

Both of them nodded as Theo used his fastest speed to decrease the travel time while the Shadow King easily followed his speed.

The two arrived in just forty minutes as a white-colored structure stunned Theo.

The structure had four big pillars on the outside and a star above each of them. Beyond the star was a small platform that connected the four pillars together. A human could stand on top of this platform, but Theo could see a pure white crystal hovering above the platform.

On the bottom of the pillars was a white pentagram made of two rectangles with different angles. Each pillar stood on top of each side.

Although it was faint, Theo could see a white translucent protective barrier.

"The size seems to be around thirty feet in radius." Theo narrowed his eyes while assessing whatever he could find from this structure.

Still, he could clearly see the cracks on the pillar. One of them was worse than the others as a part of them fell to the ground. It meant that the pillar didn't support the platform above them anymore.

"This is…" Theo sucked a cold breath. "I can see the protective barrier, but I don't feel anything from it."

"That's right. The saint had investigated this structure, but he couldn't find anything, only this protective barrier. He tried to use his Authority to pry the barrier open, but he got a huge resistance from it. In the end, a part of that pillar fell."

"Hmm?" Theo narrowed his eyes. "Then, doesn't this mean the Frost Saint was the culprit?"

"What do you mean?"

"Remember when the humans cracked it?"

"Yes."

"What if the humans actually cracked it and caused that phenomenon? And due to the Frost Saint breaking the pillar, the phenomenon fully manifested?"

"That's…" She lowered her head, contemplating. "That might be true, but we need more proof."

"That's true. Humans are the first to cause this problem, so I don't want to blame anyone." Theo shrugged. "In that case, doesn't this mean we just need to fix this pillar?"

"If your assumption is correct, then yes. But can you even do that? Although it isn't emitting anything, I can see that it's a magical structure from the barrier alone. Can you even fix something like this?"

"Only humans can enter, right? How about letting the human artisans do it?"

"But if they do anything to the structure, we can't do anything to them. And if it's truly the cause, leaving this to a human is a bad move."

"That is something I can absolutely agree with." Theo nodded in agreement. "What should I do then?"

"Can you learn about it and fix this structure?" She asked.

"Impossible. Do you know how long I need to learn something like that? I can't afford to do it. And even if I do it, I will need at least a few years to reach the level of a master that can repair this stuff. By that time…" Theo sighed.

"The humans would have discovered it, huh." The Shadow King thought for a moment.

"That's right. There are too many risks if we wait too long to repair it. By the time we repair this, the humans might have discovered more stuff from that distortion. Of course, there is going to be an invasion."

"Hmm. I think I should consult with the saint first." The Shadow King thought for a moment. "But there is no proof that this is the reason."

"There is no proof this is not the reason either."

"Yeah. Even if it's just a suspect… Hmm, I don't know whether the saint will be angry or not." The Shadow King contemplated hard, not wanting to make a bad decision.

"By the way, can I enter this place to test it?" Theo asked. "Maybe if I enter and inspect it more closely, I can find something more?"

"That's true." The Shadow King nodded in agreement. "I can't enter, so I can only leave it to you."

"Good. Now that I have your permission." Theo smiled and approached the barrier carefully. Before entering the barrier, he extended his hand so he could see what effect it would cause upon contact.

"Any attack and other creatures will be repelled, so…" The Shadow King warned him.

However, it turned out to be unnecessary because she saw Theo's fingers entering the protective barrier.

"No, I think it's true that this place can only be reached by humans."

"Then, I'm going." Theo nodded with a serious expression as he gradually moved inside the barrier. There was no restriction or weird feeling either.

"This is…" Theo suddenly gasped because the environment inside the barrier was vastly different. At the same time, he got another shock from the God of Mischief as if he was awakened by the environment.

[How in the world did this structure come above the ground?]

'Huh? Do you know about this structure? Wait a minute. Why do you respond so late? I've been discussing this matter with the Shadow King for a while, and you just came out now? Or were you asleep this whole time?'

[That doesn't matter. This structure is one of the keys that maintain the existence of the two realms. This thing is called Star Sacred Stone.]