Re: Tales of the Rune-Tech Sage-Chapter 543: Wildlands Grand Formation II

CH543 Wildlands Grand Formation II

***

"What’s wrong?" Alex asked.

Sugud swallowed.

"If my calculations are correct... then a Maze Grand Formation surrounds the mountain."

Alex’s gaze sharpened.

Sugud continued carefully.

"Contrary to what we’re seeing, the berserk humans aren’t simply standing there out of their own volition. They’re likely trapped within a layered composite array."

He pointed to overlapping formation symbols.

"A combination of illusion, continuous spatial displacement, spatial confinement... and possibly even temporal distortion... amongst others"

He exhaled.

"In other words... from their perspective they may be moving. It is only from ours that they remain exactly where they appear to be."

Alex’s eyes narrowed.

He frowned with scepticism clear in his eyes.

"That can’t be right. None of the formations you mentioned are easy to construct—never mind combining them into a single Grand Formation. For that to be possible, this array would have to be pushing—"

"The peak of Tier V... if not Tier VI," Sugud cut in quietly.

The two men locked eyes.

Grave understanding passed between them.

It was one thing if a potential Tier VI Grand Formation had been erected around the mountain.

The true problem was that this suspected Tier VI formation appeared to be merely a component—just one part—of something vastly larger.

If Sugud’s deduction was correct, then the Grand Formation spanning the entire Wildlands might itself be a peak Tier VI... or even Tier VII.

Tier VII formations—never mind Grand Formations—were little more than myths even on Pangea.

The sheer quantity of resources required to establish such an array would bankrupt even the greatest superpowers of the plane.

As for the expertise needed to construct it...

Alex couldn’t think of anyone capable of such a feat.

Well, there was one.

A single being he suspected might possess both the knowledge and the means.

His master, an Elder of this universe’s Dragon Race... the Ancient Dragon, Uthvaazgol.

Alex pushed that thought aside.

"So," he said, refocusing, "how do we break through it?"

Sugud shook his head immediately.

"We can’t break it. That’s impossible."

He gestured to the formation scribbles beneath them.

"Our only option is to move through the formation the way its creator intended."

Alex’s brows furrowed slightly.

Sugud continued.

"From what little I can infer—and I emphasise little—this formation does not appear to contain a dedicated killing array."

"It is designed primarily for containment."

"Perpetual containment," he clarified. "At least... for an indeterminate duration."

Alex’s gaze drifted briefly toward the trapped berserk humans below.

"So it isn’t meant to kill intruders?"

"Not directly," Sugud answered. "Which means the lethality comes from circumstance, not design."

He tapped the diagram again.

"That implies its intent."

Alex narrowed his eyes.

"Explain."

"If the formation isn’t meant to eradicate everything that enters it," Sugud said slowly, "then it likely serves a screening function."

"A test."

"It traps intruders... while allows a specific individual to pass through."

He looked up at Alex.

"In other words... it isn’t built to kill everyone."

"It’s built to filter."

Alex nodded slowly.

’If the creator could establish such a complex trapping array,’ he mused inwardly, ’then setting up a killing formation would have been far simpler—and far more energy efficient.’

Killing arrays were straightforward in comparison. Brutal, direct and highly efficient in their purpose.

’Which means Sugud is likely right. This formation isn’t meant to indiscriminately kill.’

He folded his arms.

"Even if I agree with you," Alex said calmly, "that doesn’t mean we should step into it blindly."

Sugud waited.

"We need to understand how to pass through it," Alex continued. "Otherwise, whether it’s designed as a killing formation or not becomes irrelevant."

He gestured toward the berserk humans below.

"You mentioned spatial confinement."

Sugud nodded.

"Then we can reasonably assume each of those berserk humans is trapped within an isolated spatial partition."

Sugud’s expression darkened.

"If we’re careless," Alex continued, "we might step into one of those partitions and find ourselves sharing a confined space with a Class 4 berserk human."

’Or worse, multiple.’ Alex intentionally left that unsaid.

That would make the formation effectively lethal, even if it wasn’t designed that way.

Alex closed his eyes briefly and began modelling the formation in his mind.

If Sugud’s deduction was accurate, then the visible terrain was an illusion layered over a structured confinement system.

He imagined it as a massive maze superimposed over a checkered board.

The maze represented the illusion and pathfinding component.

The checkered board represented spatial confinement—each square an independent pocket of space.

Now add spatial distortion.

Those squares weren’t static. They shifted and repositioned constantly.

Which meant navigating it wasn’t simply a matter of finding the correct path—it was about timing movement between shifting confinement grids.

A moving maze on a dynamic board.

To advance, they would likely have to transition from one confinement square to another. And each transition carried risk.

They might enter an empty square.

Or—

They might enter into the same confined partition as one—or several—berserk humans.

Alex exhaled slowly.

’It’s like a two-dimensional Rubik’s Cube,’ he muttered to himself, eyes sharpening.

"Except every wrong turn could put us face to face with something that wants to tear us apart."

Just imagining being trapped within a spatial confinement partition alongside a Class 4 berserk human was enough to make Alex’s spine prickle.

He exhaled slowly.

"Our only option," Sugud said with a weary sigh, "is to understand the theme of the formation."

Alex glanced at him. "And how do you propose we do that?"

Sugud gave a helpless smile. "I don’t know."

Alex raised an eyebrow.

"These kinds of large-scale formations," Sugud continued, "especially Grand Formations of this magnitude, are rarely random. They are usually constructed with a specific intent or purpose."

He gestured toward the mountain.

"If we can understand the creator’s rationale—why this place exists, what it was meant to do—then we might be able to deduce a key. A guiding principle. Something that allows safe traversal."

"A logic embedded within the maze," Alex murmured.

"Yes," Sugud nodded. "No matter how complex the mechanism, there is always a core concept holding it together."

Alex fell silent.

"What do we know about this place?" he muttered to himself.

A mountain surrounded by a distortion field.

A suspected peak Tier V—if not Tier VI—Grand Formation.

Berserk humans drawn here like moths to flame. Yet none is able to advance.

Not by choice.

Or perhaps... not without permission.

"What do we actually know...?" he repeated softly.

-

While Alex and Sugud wrestled with the mystery of the suspected maze formation, change was quietly unfolding elsewhere.

The Fortuna party believed they were the only sane humans present near the Formation-Eye Mountain.

They were wrong.

On the opposite side of the mountain—far beyond Alex’s current perception range—another group stood upon a cliff overlooking the same congregation of berserk humans.

Where Fortuna had approached from the south, this group had arrived from the northeast.

Ten figures in total.

Among them were two individuals the Fortuna party would have recognised immediately—had they seen them.

They were the two sorcerers who had stood atop Dragonstone Oasis’ gate during the beast tide.

Around them stood others dressed in similar robes, their attire marked with intricate arcane embroidery that denoted their affiliation without words.

Sorcerers!

But unlike Alex, Sugud and the Fortuna party, they did not look confused.

They looked... prepared.

***