Luke was fucked.
The very person he had been pretending to be, a Guardian with the authority to cross the realms, was standing right in front of him. And judging by the way the other two immediately stepped aside and lowered their heads, they clearly knew exactly who he was.
Royally fucked, he was.
Staring at the owl-faced man for a moment, he finally said, "I came to meet you."
The man hummed softly. "I will speak with you and give you the answer you came searching for, but only under one condition."
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"Tell me, how did you bypass the Ritual?"
Luke drew a slow breath. There was no point trying to come up with another elaborate excuse. He had already committed himself to the lie, so all he could do now was make it sound convincing.
Not to talk about the system warning.
"Because I am beyond the Ritual's comprehension. As far as it is concerned, I don't exist. I have no place in this world. Just understand that."
