Chapter 1982: Bait

A fleeting smile cracked at the edge of Rui's mouth as expression softened. "You know me well, Kane."

"Answer the question," Kane sternly demanded, narrowing his eyes.

"...How do I plan to trick a dungeon that there is a threat?" Rui's voice grew macabre. "How I've always done."

He calmly met Kane's powerful gaze. "...By making myself bait with a Master-level Mind Mask."

"I knew it." Kane huffed bitterly. "There are easier ways to commit suicide if that's your intention."

"It isn't."

"Yeah, well, that's even worse because then you'll die without wanting to," Kane scoffed. "A Martial Senior cannot defeat a Master-level beast."

"I don't need to defeat it," Rui replied softly. "I just need to survive long enough."

"Long enough for what?"

"For you and the Divine Doctor to break us out of the dungeon while the core is unguarded, of course."

"There's no way you're lasting that long." Kane stared at him in disbelief.

"Not in a random encounter, no, but..." Rui's eyes grew more steely. "...when I'm prepared for my opponent, you know how strong I can be."

Kane's expression grew complicated.

He had to admit that the things that Rui had pulled off over the years were truly incredible. He recalled how Rui fought the Root, a quasi-Senior-level opponent, as a high-mid grade Senior with just preparation alone. When Rui had the opportunity to study his opponent and adaptively evolve ahead of time, he could accomplish things thought to be impossible.

"...What if you're wrong?"

Rui shrugged nonchalantly. "Then I die."

Kane stared at him, speechless.

"The risk is hardly anything new," Rui impassively stated. "We've been in the Beast Domain for more than three years now."

"...I mean, I guess." Kane heaved a severe sigh as he thought about the plan. "You're putting a lot of faith in the two of us."

"Faith?" Rui stared at Kane in a detached manner. "I don't do faith. I have strong reason to believe that the two of you are collectively capable of this feat. The Divine Doctor may be a madman, but he is a brilliant genius who cured death by freeing the soul from the body that has been around for the better half of a century. I have no doubt that he will know exactly how to incapacitate the source of the dungeon. The reason he hasn't done it thus far is because he is lacking in power. That's where you come in."

Kane grew serious. "What is my role?"

"Your role is to escort the Divine Doctor to the core of the Mellow Dungeon while I distract and ensure the Master-level beast remains as far as away from the center as possible," Rui replied. "And aid him with the operation of incapacitating the source of the Mellow Manifold. It is quite likely that while he will know how to incapacitate it, he won't have the physical power needed to do so. In that case, make sure to follow his instructions carefully."

"Gotcha." Kane nodded solemnly.

"Your current level of power won't be enough," Rui informed him. "Over two years, you will have to become stronger. Much stronger than you are now. You will need to become a high- grade Martial Senior."

At the current stage, Rui estimated that Kane was a high-mid- grade Martial Senior, probably not too far from becoming a high-grade Martial Senior. Rui had reached the threshold seven years ago, but Kane's progress was astonishing compared to anybody other than Rui and Ieyasu.

Not only was he a genius, but he also possessed a powerful drive and an extremely good influence on him in the form of Rui. Rui was confident that with a few more years, he would cross the threshold to enter the high grades.

"I'll do my best," Kane nodded. "What about you? What preparations are you going to make over the span of two years?"

"...I will probably elevate the Yggdrasil System and reduce the gap between it and the Tree of Life," Rui softly replied.

Kane frowned. "Aren't you going to focus on creating more systems of thought? That is the path to the Master Realm."

Rui shook his head. "I have completed all my efforts in that regard. The greatest thing I can do in the direction of adaptive evolution at the moment is to increase the versatility of my domains to suit well against the beasts and monsters. Obviously, I won't be able to create a technique for all possible antithetical environments that the Tree of Life shows me."

What he intended to do was create domains to construct the most frequent and common kinds of antithetical environments that the Tree of Life enlightenment yielded.

"I'll especially do that for the most powerful species of this dungeon," Rui remarked as eagerness lit up in his eyes. "I'll have finally taken the final steps needed to eradicate my weakness to the beasts of the Beast Domain."

He had initially thought he could improve his domains in peace in the Kandrian Empire after returning home with the Divine Doctor and finally putting the mess of the succession behind him. However, it was clear to him now that it was something that he would need additional to stall the Master- level beast long enough for Kane and the Divine Doctor to incapacitate the source of the Mellow Manifold.

Rather than pursuing more distant possibilities, he decided to go for the lowest-hanging fruit that had very recently ripened. In hindsight, it was actually the most ideal timing. He didn't think that there was a better moment to embark on domains than in circumstances that actually required them.

"Necessity is the strongest driving force of adaptive evolution." Rui's tone grew more energetic. "Any result born purely out of idle endeavor within the safety of a nation like the Kandrian Empire will be subpar compared to what I can achieve in these perilous circumstances."

His eyes sparked with life and energy at the thought of finally fulfilling the ambition of making the Yggdrasil System a force against all life.