After the battle was won by Kamui, Yeru and Akira both proceeded to go after the ring. Eventually, they had made it and saw a crystal-like gate as the entrance to the jade.
From there, there were tens of people who were cursed to stone.
One of them appeared to be a merchant who tried to see the ring up close and was turned to stone. And a thief, who attempted to steal the ring but was turned to stone. Their stone-like bodies were covered in moss, indicating that they had been like this for ages.
Akira looked perplexed by the jade's radioactivity, considering there was no trace of harmful gas that he had smelled or seen. He assumed the ring was to blame for all that had happened. Akira asked Yeru to step away while he did some research.
Akira summoned his scythe and approached the jade with caution. The blade of Akira's scythe turned to stone in a matter of seconds.
Akira took a step back and determined that it stretched out around 7-8 meters, similar to how gas spreads out. Akira smashed his scythe by removing the stone that had been covering it.
"Damn it! We can't get through, we need something of protection to get in!" Akira felt helpless since the jade was impenetrable; if they weren't careful, the magic radiation would turn them both into statues.
They started brainstorming to get in. They created a plan as quickly as possible due to a trail of a human odor that had lately entered the jade.
The ring had a massive spread concerning its magic radiation, according to the information Yeru had read, and it couldn't be touched because it only made things worse and created contagious effects. Unless they could just remove the ring's curse with a seal, in which case they might presumably enter without harm.
The curse could be sealed away with sealing magic, but those who were caught before the seal could not be removed.
Yeru had no knowledge of sealing magic; all he knew was that they could only protect themselves with mana armor and could not touch the ring.
Akira, on the other hand, had no experience with mana armor. Yeru then went on to explain that using mana armor was the same as using mana coating.
To properly apply it, Akira had to coat every portion of his body, leaving no point uncoated. His skin, as well as the rest of his body, would turn to stone in an instant if one location wasn't protected. Akira focused on coating his body with mana and he succeeded.
From what he felt, it was like wearing light armor, as there was some added weight to his body.
Akira took one step close to where they shouldn't pass. His feet did not react to the radiation and remained safe. He proceeded to enter the jade along with Yeru.
Once inside, a growing number of humans and even animals were transformed into stone. The petrification captured rats, moose, birds, and insects.
These folks were quite ancient compared to the outside of the jade, and they were missing limbs from being cracked and smashed on the ground.
Their faces were filled with anxiety and fear as if they were all in a frenzy. When the animals were petrified to stone and opened their mouths, they felt the same way.
They continued for the ring, which was silver in color and featured an intriguing diamond that shone yellow.
Following that, a group of people was etched beneath the ring, depicting the ring's history. It displayed ancient writing dating back millennia.
They only needed to remain away from the ring; even if they had advanced mana armor, they might still be petrified by it with a single contact.
After Akira inquired about the ring's origins, Yeru was stumped as to how to describe the ring's history.
Yeru moved closer and examined the Ring's potency with a stick. It turned to stone when it got near 7cm. Even though he had mana-coated the wooden stick.
The ring possessed incredible magical power, capable of penetrating any magic or object. They couldn't grab the ring without harming themselves because they didn't have a seal. Akira seized the ring without hesitation, ignoring Yeru's warning.
It didn't work on Akira because he was fine. Yeru was taken aback by Akira's ability to remain normal after touching the ring.
The ring only affects the terrified, according to Akira while explaining, yet his bravery allowed him to touch it. Akira quickly deduced from the carved wall that a female was standing near the throne.
The fearful were readily turned to stone since a man was shown to be terrified and his body progressively turned to stone.
Fear, greed, anger, and any other negative emotions would be cursed for the rest of their lives.
When the ring was touched by a negative-hearted individual, the ring's magic would activate, having a significant impact on their surroundings if they didn't keep their thoughts and intentions in check.
Akira attempted to put the ring on out of curiosity. It clung to him once it was fastened.
"Huh! What the?!" Because the ring was stuck, it felt as though his ring finger had been turned to stone. After summoning a knight's sword from his weapon summoning (medium), Akira had no choice but to chop his finger.
Akira chopped his ring finger and the ring was dismantled while Yeru stood there looking at him, his curiosity had taken over him. Akira snatched the ring and knelt.
He became aware of someone's presence all of a sudden. The ring dropped off to a strange portal just as he was about to grasp it.
He smelled the woman almost as soon as he saw her. He didn't see her until she emerged out of nowhere.
The woman thanked Akira for saving her the hassle because she now had the ring and understand how to wield it.
"Now, with this in my hand, I shall thank you for your generosity in explaining how to touch the ring." The woman thanked Akira for saving her the hassle because she now had the ring, beginning to understand how to wield it.
"Ya are welcome." As soon as she said her gratitude, Yeru teleported behind her.
The woman quickly reacted and used her portal to avoid Yeru's attack.
Akira quickly assisted Yeru by jumping toward the woman with his scythe already having been summoned before launching himself.
The woman reacted in surprise at these fast warriors that caught her from behind and flashed right in front of her..
As his eyes were up close to the woman, he swung his scythe at her head and she swiftly portaled herself away from them.
She couldn't portaled far from what Akira saw since from what he learned that most spatial portal users were only capable of traveling of what they see or where they marked.
On the contrary, they were untouchable.
Akira used Yeru's assistance to teleport close by constantly and force her to repeatedly use her portal to drain her mana until it was all gone.
Yeru agreed and teleported to try to slice her down while she was distracted.
The speed at which Yeru could teleport at such a breakneck pace alarmed the woman. She couldn't take the chance of misusing her portal and risk dying.
Then, under pressure from Yeru, she was forced to shield her entire body with her portal.
Yeru started snickering and unleashed his space magic to cut down her entire portal. Her terrified face expressed her end as Yeru pointed her with his blade.
"I find yar face rather amusing. Ya must be new to this, aren't ya?" She remained silent while her eyes made a shape like a black dot.
Yeru mercilessly stabbed her in the chest, impaling her heart in the process. Akira was taken aback by the fact that Yeru had slain someone right in front of his eyes.
"Hey! That woman was in fear, she already admitted her defeat. Don't you see that she didn't use her portal?" Akira questioned Yeru whether he realized what he'd done, but Yeru said that everyone was allowed to kill until the task was completed
"Akira, what yis best yis what follows, if ya yasked me, yit was mercy. If ya didn't think twice yit'll lead tons of regrets."
After fighting the Mikadzukis, Yeru noticed that Akira had never killed a single person. He chastised him for being naive and making rash decisions.
They would all use the opportunity to finish them off if they didn't kill them, and they would regret not killing them. It was more of a life-or-death situation.
Even knocking them out or defeating them would not change their behavior and they would persist till their day came. While staring at the woman's body, Akira finally fell silent.
"Calibrating..."
Akira heard a voice in his head and heard someone say...
"Calibrating ".
Akira looked around the jade and saw nothing was whispering to him.
Because the blood was still on Akira's finger, Yeru snatched the finger with distaste. Their work was accomplished, so he took his small bag out and put it in, and they went out from the jade.
Kamui and the others had arrived outside the jade. As Kamui had already wrapped his entire arm, Akira noticed that it had been drained dry by something.
After the battle, they summoned the Soldiers to secure the entire area.
Akira was on the beach 5 hours later, gazing out at the water. After he tried to call for his system, the system began to buzz out of nowhere.
The longer it was, the worse it got, and the system produced even more errors than before.
It didn't affect him from using his skill, but it affect him from seeing his skills while trying to unlock a new one.
He only remembered anything about...
"Calibrating."
He fell silent as a result of his befuddlement, having no idea what was wrong with his system.
It started to alter from where he was fighting Kirayashi and the Metamorian. After losing his wits fighting the Metamorian, he began to notice certain changes.
"Hey, on board! The ship is ready!" Akira overheard a warrior announcing the ship's readiness. Akira finally stood up and proceeded towards the ship, exhaling. But first, he asked Hakku to provide him with a device that would help him reduce his sickness.