Chapter 538 - Illusory Barrier
Even before finding their destination, Ryan already knew a few things about that army of monsters that was heading West. First of all, the Werewolves were tier two monsters. That being said, Ryan couldn't underestimate them. Given the fact that he never heard of them, they weren't ordinary monsters, and also, given their skills, he couldn't attack them. If he does that, Ryan won't find their dungeon. He tried to find anything that resembled their dungeon, but he didn't find anything.
Second of all, it was obvious that those dogs were working for a few dungeon masters that decided to make an alliance. It was weird to make an alliance when they were on Earth, but it wasn't made to wipe out the remaining humans. If that were their goal, they wouldn't move toward a location in the opposite direction of the only human settlement in the country. They would split and attack from all sides.
In the end, Ryan decided to quietly follow them from very far away while using Clairvoyance. Thanks to it, he was never discovered, and the army of dogs proceeded at a steady pace for a full day. Only to suddenly disappear out of nowhere when they crossed the borders between Colorado and Utah.
"As expected, they have a few tricks up their sleeve…" Ryan furrowed his eyebrows and then decided to use Teleport.
After activating Silent Movement, Ryan flew around the area where all the monsters suddenly disappeared. From above, he didn't find anything ordinary, only the overgrown grass of the last seven months and the destruction that was caused by the monsters. Fortunately, it was getting late, so Ryan decided to investigate once the darkness of the night covers everything.
"It looks like you found something interesting to keep you occupied," Femradiel said. "You shouldn't waste time here; they are only tier two monsters. They are probably playing war against other species."
"Now you are interested, huh," Ryan frowned. "Well, they will have to find another place to play. I will probably fail many times, but I will try really hard to prevent those fuckers from destroying even more this land."
"You are sometimes so stubborn when it comes to certain things…" Femradiel said and then sighed. "I am finishing the details of my new body, so I am going to be busy for the next week. That being said, I will give you a hand here."
"You know, as of late, I have a feel that I am more helping you than you are helping me," Ryan said.
"I feel the same way," Femradiel said. "But it can't be helped since you are really looking forward to having three familiars that are as strong as my former self. Anyway, an illusory barrier is probably the thing that is preventing you from finding what you want. Some real troublesome sorcerers are in the area. So, you will be found immediately if you try to enter or even touch the barrier."
"I figured that myself," Ryan said.
"Did you also figure that this type of barrier has certain demerits?" Femradiel asked. "They can fool your eyes, but they won't fool you if you don't look directly at them. Considering that, they can only work while they aren't obstructed."
"Obstruction… So, I can enter the barrier by using an underground route?" Ryan rubbed his chin thoughtfully and then asked.
"That is right, illusions are only used to keep the enemies away from the caster," Femradiel explained. "Given their high cost, it wouldn't make any sense to make them fool everything in certain directions. Anyway, I am going to focus on my job, I will try not inform you too late if something unexpected happens."
Ryan sighed. Femradiel was becoming more and more relaxed as of late. While she has yet to fail on anything, maybe it was time for Ryan to find some sort of punishment to make her walk on the line.
After waiting for a while, Ryan decided to infiltrate the place. Despite the fact that such a job was something new for him, he didn't feel that worried or nervous. Maybe it was due to the fact that he fought more terrifying enemies in worse situations, or perhaps he wasn't bothered by the enemies this time.
In any case, Ryan began to dig a tunnel, all the skills that granted him some control over the ground. Much to his surprise, digging had become considerably easier if compared to the last time he did it. The last time he had to work quite a lot on his first battle against the Reptilians.
After a couple of minutes, Ryan felt that he has passed below the boundaries of the barrier. Still, in the end, he decided to proceed a little more since some guards probably were stationed in the borders. After digging for a mile or so, he finally decided to check things on the surface. Fortunately, Ryan didn't feel any presence nearby with Radar.
Before using Clairvoyance, Ryan had to open a hole above him. Even that skill had some demerits. Ryan couldn't see things in confined spaces he had never been, after all. However, once Ryan opened the hole, things went as smoothly as possible, even though the hole was thinner than a finger.
After using Clairvoyance and his vision moved and left the underground, Ryan could finally see the illusionary barrier's interior. Still, he had a hard time believing in what he was seeing. He didn't know much about the area where he was, but he was fairly sure that there wasn't a single big city in dozens of miles, but he could see one.
Despite the fact that it had been built by monsters, the place was quite organized and complex. Since the wolves were fairly big, everything looked two times bigger than usual. At first, Ryan thought that some buildings looked like extremely large dog houses, but in fact, they were just hangar-like buildings where the monsters could use to rest and practice. At least that was what Ryan saw happening in there.