"Ah!" Igor felt like his head was going to explode.

What is going on? So here, time is measured by this, by the cycle of energy?

"When the energy in your body can be freely released, and you feel the energy can overflow, that's one hour."

Nonoa explained these details to Igor.

"Wait a minute, why are you so sure it's an hour and not a day or a year?"

"This is our experience!" Nonoa was a bit exasperated. Although Igor had found this time standard, he still zeroed in on the comparative unit of time. Indeed, it was a problem since Nonoa didn't discover this comparative unit himself; he heard about it from others.

"How can I trust your experience? Just because you say so?" Igor started getting stubborn, feeling that something was off about this method.

"This is precisely the choice I mentioned earlier. You should know that you can only trust us if you stand on the same side with us."

Only then did Igor realize the meaning behind Nonoa's earlier statement about an internal decision.

Sincerely trusting someone takes effort, and this effort is often unconditional.

"Alright, I trust you. I just feel you're not bad people, but can you tell me how exactly you figured out this experience!" Igor decided not to dwell on the choice issue and now only wanted to know how this comparative unit of time was discovered.

"Well, to be precise, it was Tobin who discovered it. We all trust Tobin!"

Nonoa's words left Igor a bit speechless.

True unconditional trust indeed!

Igor now realized that people like Nonoa didn't even need to consider these details. They had no way to return to the world with their physical forms, so why bother with these things?

The comparative unit of time was completely redundant for people like Nonoa. They just needed to gauge the time standard here at the Border Realm.

However, Igor stopped thinking about these things too, as he considered himself to have gained something.

Although he couldn't trust someone unconditionally like Nonoa, he did have confidence in Tobin Sol.

Since Tobin managed to calculate the time standard here, he must have his system of comparative units. Igor decided he would ask Tobin about it when he met him, but for now, he could set it aside.

"I understand now, Tobin is really important to you."

"Of course, he's the leader we elected. He's like a flag for us!" Nonoa said.

They were hiding like this, constantly running, and frequently changing their coordinates to prevent the Soul Devourers from finding them.

"You were once devoured by the Soul Devourers, so why are you avoiding them now? Look, after being devoured, you're still yourself. Besides, you can't return to your physical form anyway, and they will spit you out after replenishing their energy. What are you worried about?" Igor suddenly questioned Nonoa about this.

Igor felt the Soul Devourers' motives were strange.

He could understand occupying someone else's body, but why would these Soul Devourers want to devour disembodied spirits like Nonoa?

If it were for gaining energy, Igor considered that reason flimsy, as the methods of acquiring energy in the Border Realm weren't all that complex. It was the release and control of energy that were challenging.

So Igor now thought things were not so simple; there must be another reason why the Soul Devourers were devouring these disembodied spirits.

What were those reasons?

Was Nonoa intentionally not saying, or did he genuinely not know?

These were questions Igor pondered.

"Don't think about these things now. Control your energy. We might have to fight a tough battle next."

Just as Igor was puzzled by why Nonoa said this, he suddenly saw dust rising ahead, and it looked like someone was coming after them.

"Let's turn and run to avoid them," Igor suggested. "Looking at such a big dust cloud, is it Vajra again?"

"No, Vajra won't come again. Your previous strike has deterred Vajra. Those coming must be the Soul Devourers," Nonoa was firm in his logic, having spent a long time understanding the habits of creatures in the Border Realm.

Igor didn't argue since he noticed dust rising in other directions too. It seemed they were surrounded.

Nonoa stopped running because the scale of the dust clouds was massive, and he sensed that a large number of Combat Soul Devourers must have been dispatched.

If he hadn't exhausted energy twice before, he could handle whatever number of Soul Devourers with ease. But now his energy reserve wasn't enough to combat so many Soul Devourers...

Nonoa gazed back at Igor—there was something distinct about this young man. He managed to trigger such a large wave of Soul Devourers all at once in the Border Realm, which was astonishing!

What on earth was happening!

This boy's arrival had drawn the Flame Demon, awakened Vajra, and now provoked all these Soul Devourers. Did this mean the boy's essence had a significant allure?

If so, Nonoa felt even more obliged to protect Igor, though he feared this battle might lead to his annihilation.

Nonoa closed his eyes, bent his legs, and exerted a little force as he prepared to draw his sword. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

No matter where the enemy emerged, this sword strike would carry immense power!

"Nonoa... There are too many of them!" Igor stopped, watching the dust clouds rise in the distance, feeling a bit panicked.

However, Nonoa stayed focused, still concentrating on brewing his sword technique...

The dust clouds had risen so high that they could no longer mask the ragged figures. The tattered-clothed Soul Devourers were closing in on Igor and Nonoa, moving swiftly on all fours. From afar, Igor estimated there were at least a hundred Soul Devourers in that single direction.

These oddly running Soul Devourers bared their teeth, appearing particularly excited, as if whoever was the first to bite Igor could return to another world...

"Nonoa!" Feeling unsure about what to do, Igor called out to Nonoa repeatedly, never imagining he'd be chased by a hundred Soul Devourers alone!