[Fallen Zone, Longevity Isle]
After listening to Tendo's words, the mysterious elder gazed at Tendo with deep contemplation for a long time before finally speaking slowly.
"It seems you are far more unique than I thought. If that is the case, then you must be careful."
The mysterious elder removed his monocle, which was already slightly cracked, and carefully placed it into his breast pocket. This revealed his peculiar pupils, which churned with dark green light, and the whites of his eyes were faintly traced with pale purple vine patterns.
Clearly, these were not the 'eyes' an ordinary person should possess.
Not long after the mysterious elder put away his monocle, the flower sea surrounding him suddenly erupted with a deafening roar.
Subsequently, the vines that had previously covered the beach seemed to go mad, pulling themselves out of the ground and instantly growing into white giant vines over ten meters tall, enveloping Tendo.
The surface of these vines was not only covered in sharp thorns, but the tips of the thorns also glowed with a faint, dark green 'cold light.'
However, more frightening than these were the white flowers growing on the vines.
They all spread their petals, exposing dense, dark red stamens inside, and sprayed out clusters of dark green spores.
The spores quickly gathered in the air, forming a thick, peculiar poisonous mist. Wherever the mist passed, even the air was corroded with a sharp, 'sizzling' sound.
Tendo looked at the overwhelming vines and poisonous mist and slowly raised his right hand.
Star Energy Technique – Black Azure!
A black sphere of light flew out, and the airflow generated by its high-speed rotation caused visible currents to swirl around it as it traveled.
Boom!
The moment Black Azure collided with the white vines, a piercing metallic grinding sound abruptly occurred.
The white vines, which could easily shred S-grade Star Energy metal, now seemed as fragile as reeds, and were effortlessly crushed by Tendo's 'Black Azure,' snapping more than ten main vines.
As the vines broke, copious amounts of dark green sap splashed onto the beach like heavy rain, causing plumes of white smoke to rise.
At the same time, the airflow inherent to Black Azure forcefully twisted the oncoming poisonous mist, making it sweep towards the elder's location along with Black Azure.
On the beach, the mysterious elder showed no sign of panic as he watched Black Azure and the surrounding poisonous mist attack him.
He pushed his cane into the sand, and the shaft instantly lit up with milky white patterns.
"Rose. Bloom."
As the words fell, the sand in front of the elder suddenly bulged.
Countless white vines again burst from the earth, constantly intertwining and instantly condensing into a five-meter-high vine barrier.
Simultaneously, the roses growing on the vines bloomed sequentially at a speed visible to the naked eye during this process.
Petal after petal piled up, quickly building a special 'hard outer wall' upon the original vine barrier.
Shortly after the elder raised the 'Rose Flower Wall,' Black Azure violently crashed into the center of this flower wall.
First came a deafening explosion, immediately followed by fierce air currents.
Amidst the swirling currents, the blue-gray sand and white rose petals on the beach shot into the sky together, forming a strange mushroom cloud.
The commotion was so massive that even Caroline and the others, who had retreated a thousand meters away to the edge of the jungle, felt the ground beneath their feet tremble violently.
However, before the dimensional audience on Site 13 could clearly see the mysterious elder's condition within the smoke and dust, a giant flower blade, over ten meters long, suddenly burst through the mist and slashed down towards Tendo's head.
The blade itself was tightly pieced together from countless white petals, radiating a soft white light.
The spine and handle of the blade were formed by intertwined vines.
The combination gave the gigantic blade astonishing power while also exuding a unique natural aesthetic—it was truly a work of art.
Without giving the dimensional audience more time to admire it, the wind pressure created by the gigantic flower blade before it even landed had already pressed a long trench into the sand, indicating its immense power.
However, facing the fiercely incoming giant flower blade, Tendo's expression remained calm, and he showed no sign of defense. He simply raised his head in silence.
Following a flash of azure light across Tendo's eyes, the grain pattern of every petal of the giant flower blade, the flow trajectory of every wisp of Star Energy within the vines, and even the vibration frequency of the vine cells—nothing could escape Tendo's gaze.
"Vector. Reversal."
As Tendo spoke the single sentence, the giant flower blade, which was originally slashing down, was suddenly and strangely frozen in mid-air.
Immediately after, cracks appeared on the giant flower blade, emitting a crisp sound similar to breaking porcelain.
Bang!
When the numerous cracks covered the entire body of the giant flower blade, it quickly disintegrated completely in mid-air.
White petals mixed with purple vine fragments scattered everywhere. Dozens of these petals even acquired the same high-speed rotation characteristic as 'Black Azure,' shooting toward the elder, who was still maintaining the barrier, at a speed indistinguishable to the naked eye.
This was a 'gift' Tendo sent by leveraging the momentum, a small 'repayment' to the mysterious elder.
The elder's pupils shrank, and he instinctively dodged sideways.
Yet, despite his efforts, a petal carrying vine thorns still grazed his right arm, leaving a hideous wound.
Strangely, the fluid flowing from the mysterious elder's wound was not blood at all, but a milky white, gel-like liquid similar to tree sap.
And this 'blood,' dripping onto the beach, quickly solidified into translucent 'amber' beads, emitting a faint, peculiar woody scent.
"As expected..."
Tendo watched the mysterious elder's peculiar 'blood' and the corner of his mouth curved slightly.
"...I was thinking earlier: what kind of place could allow a person who should have died long ago to regain vitality and appear openly in an era that does not belong to him?"
"And that question now has an answer."
While speaking, Tendo looked at the mysterious elder.
"Monocle, gentleman's suit, cane... and that signature rose flower."
"If my memory serves me correctly, in the barbaric period at the dawn of the Star Source, there was one person who fit this description perfectly."
"What do you think, Mr. Wilfred, the man known as the 'Rose Gentleman'?"
Hearing Tendo's words, the mysterious elder on the beach suddenly fell into a strange silence.
At the same time, the look in his eyes when he gazed at Tendo became incredibly complicated.
After an unknown duration, the mysterious elder stood up straight, his expression solemn as he looked at Tendo and asked, "When did you find out?"
To this question, Tendo gave an answer that utterly surprised the mysterious elder.
"From the moment you appeared."
"After all, the person capable of seeing through the mist of time to the past and the future is not just the 'Ancient God' you mentioned."