Death… And Me

Chapter 4459: Nothing Left Behind

The Magma Lake took a very long time to drain away. As Roan had predicted, breaking the outer walls alone wasn’t enough. The group had to continue creating new breaches as the lava level gradually dropped, allowing the molten rock to carve several fiery rivers through the ancient ruins. Entire streets disappeared beneath the flowing magma while the surrounding ground remained unbearably hot for a long time afterward. Even so, gravity eventually won.

A day and a half later, most of the enormous lake had emptied, revealing the vast bottom that had remained hidden for countless years. The oppressive heat had weakened considerably, although the ground still glowed faintly in many places.

There was only one exception. At the very center of the dried lake remained a much smaller pool of lava. Unlike the rest, this one sat lower than the surrounding terrain, occupying what looked like a natural depression in the ground. Since it no longer stood above the nearby land, creating more openings would no longer drain it.

Fortunately, as Roan and the others observed it from afar, they noticed something else. The terrifying heat that had nearly burned Kentucky alive had weakened tremendously. The remaining pool was still incredibly hot, easily surpassing the rest of the lava that had already flowed away, but it no longer gave them the feeling that merely approaching it would melt their defenses.

”What now?” Celis asked while staring at the small pool.

Roan didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he raised one hand as Godly Energy surged around his arm before he swung it toward the remaining lava. A violent blast of compressed air crashed into the surface, sending a large amount of molten rock flying toward the opposite side of the basin.

”It’s this simple,” he explained while watching another portion of lava splash away. ”We don’t need to drain it anymore. We simply force it out ourselves from a distance. It will take a while, but we’ll eventually expose the bottom.”

Kentucky immediately understood. Godly Energy gathered beneath his wings as he gave them a tremendous flap, creating a gale that swept even more lava out of the depression than Roan’s attack had managed. ”Oh! Seems like it works!”

Seeing the method succeed, Celis and Lukay quickly joined in. Soon, blasts of wind arrived one after another from every direction, gradually reducing the amount of lava left inside the depression. As the level continued dropping, they noticed something encouraging. Little by little, they were able to stand closer.

The unbearable heat that had once forced Kentucky to retreat dozens of meters no longer reached them with the same intensity. Whatever had produced that monstrous temperature was steadily losing its influence.

Even so, Roan hadn’t been exaggerating. Clearing that final pool still took another half day of continuous effort before the last layers of lava were finally blown aside.

Only then did they see what had been hidden beneath.

It wasn’t a treasure chest, nor was it some ancient weapon. Instead, resting at the bottom of the depression was a large crimson-and-golden mass. At first glance, it resembled an enormous boulder whose surface constantly shimmered with heat. Yet that impression quickly disappeared. When another gust of wind struck it, the surface visibly deformed for a brief instant before slowly returning to its previous shape.

”It... isn’t stone,” Kentucky muttered, staring at the strange object. ”So... is this what we were looking for? Honestly, it doesn’t look very impressive.”

Roan didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he carefully examined the object before flying several meters to one side. There, resting near the first one, lay another piece made from exactly the same material.

He descended while keeping some distance and watched the fractured surface. Some sections of the split were surprisingly smooth while others looked violently torn apart, as though something had burst through it from within. More importantly, there were no signs of weathering.

After comparing both pieces for a few moments, Roan finally stood up. ”These weren’t originally two objects; they were one.”

Kentucky blinked in surprise.

”They broke apart?”

Roan nodded. ”The fracture is fresh. I’d say it happened at most a few days ago.”

Finally, he created another powerful gust of wind, toppling one of the crimson masses onto its side. As soon as it rolled over, everyone noticed several translucent streams of energy stretching downward into the earth. They resembled tubes at first glance, yet their outlines constantly fluctuated, making them appear almost ethereal instead of physical.

Lukay floated closer, carefully examining them. ”They aren’t physical. It looks more like guided energy than actual objects. The energy is coming from underground. As for how deep... I have no idea.”

Celis, however, slowly shook his head.

”Not exactly.” He immediately extended his senses deep underground, his roots following shortly after. ”My perception of energy is much better than yours. They only look like tubes near the surface because countless streams gather together before entering these two masses.”

”Deeper underground, they split apart again into an enormous network. I’m a World Swallowing Cedar. I’ve spread my roots across an entire planet before. I can tell these energy strands extend incredibly far in every direction, especially downward.”

He continued observing the countless streams for a few more moments before his expression changed ever so slightly.

”Fire Element is constantly rising from the depths. Godly Pressure is mixed with it, together with Celestial Energy... and Yang Energy.” He paused briefly before adding, ”But...”

”But what?” Lukay immediately asked.

”They’re disappearing,” Celis answered while continuing to observe the countless strands beneath the ground. ”It isn’t happening quickly, but I can see it clearly. Fire Element, Yang Energy, Godly Pressure, and Celestial Energy... every one of them is gradually fading away. Whatever these soft masses were doing to draw those energies here is no longer happening.”

”No wonder we can stand this close now,” Kentucky commented as he looked at the two crimson masses. ”Could we have broken this thing somehow? These two pieces fit together perfectly, and the fracture definitely looks recent.”

Roan crossed his arms before looking down at the countless strands of energy beneath the earth. ”Maybe. In that case, let’s speed the process up. Celis, can you sever the connection between these masses and the energy below?”

”Leave it to me.”

Celis immediately rooted himself into the ground. His roots carefully avoided the remaining hot areas while extending ever deeper until they reached the countless streams of energy. After locating the point where they converged beneath the surface, he controlled his roots to interrupt every connection at once.

The result was immediate.

The translucent streams rising from beneath the two crimson masses vanished completely.

”It’s done,” Celis announced as he retracted part of his roots.

Without their source of energy, the two mysterious masses began cooling at a noticeably faster pace. Even so, everyone remained patient until Celis finally confirmed it was safe enough to approach.

Kentucky cautiously stepped forward before poking one of them with the tip of a feather.

”It’s really soft...” He looked back at the others. ”So what exactly is this thing?”

Silence answered him.

No one had the slightest idea.

Celis placed one of his vines against the surface for a moment. ”Whatever these things are, they’re becoming inert. The Fire Element, Yang Energy, Godly Pressure, and Celestial Energy inside them are dissipating rapidly. If they possess any special properties, those properties are disappearing together with the energies.”

Roan examined the fractured surface one last time. Near its center was a tiny cavity, barely large enough to fit a finger, yet there was nothing inside it. Whatever had once occupied that space was gone. Or maybe there wasn’t anything to start with, and it was just a natural depression.

”We’re wasting time trying to guess,” Roan finally said as he stepped back. ”Take both pieces with us. The Godly Subjugation Guild, the Array Guild, or even the Blacksmith Guild will probably learn more from them than we can.”

”I agree,” Lukay said before storing both crimson masses inside his Spatial Ring. Since neither object resisted, they disappeared without issue.

Kentucky looked around the dried lake one final time. ”So... are we done here?”

Lukay slowly rotated his core while inspecting the surroundings. ”I’d love to discover why this thing split apart, where it came from, or what purpose it served. Unfortunately, I don’t see anything that could answer those questions.”

”Neither do I,” Roan agreed. ”If there were any clues, they’re probably long gone by now. In any case, we’ve accomplished everything we came here to do. It’s time to head back to Besgol.”

Everyone jumped onto Kentucky’s back, and he immediately spread his wings before taking flight. The trip back didn’t take very long, and before long the airplane came into view, still parked where Rean had left it.

Sure enough, they found Rean working on the damaged vessel. Several panels still lay open around the engines and other parts while numerous runes floated before him, constantly changing positions as he repaired and replaced the damaged formations.

However...

He wasn’t alone.

Sitting calmly beside the airplane with its two fluffy tails wrapped around its body was the same white fox. It happily chewed on another piece of meat while occasionally looking up at Rean, almost as if the two had become companions during the past two days.