Zron let out an angry cry and used his divine energy to make everything around him come to a standstill. His divine energy finally stopped dissipating now that the curtain had shattered into countless pieces.
The crumbling structure of the cave and underground chamber came to a pause and the rocks and debris that were falling stopped mid-air.
Alec gasped as the tip of a sharp boulder halted just inches from his shoulder. He took a deep breath and steadied his racing heart. As he looked around, he noticed that everyone around him was badly injured.
Ray dragged his injured leg and stared at the place where the curtain scattered into countless pieces with bated breath.
"Kyle!"
He cried out with a horrified expression. Noen also stared at the place where, just a little more than a minute ago, he stood with Kyle, but now the silver-haired man had vanished.
Sinon let out an angry shout as he repeatedly punched his fists into the ground. Kyle, Bia, and Jian were swallowed up by the curtain right before his eyes, and he couldn't do anything.
Regius quickly stopped him. He was feeling the same way, but he couldn't let Sinon harm himself even more when his clothes were already dripping with blood.
But before anyone could fully comprehend just what the hell had transpired in front of their very eyes and what they should do next, a faint ripple formed in the air.
In the next second, a gem rolled out from beneath the place where once the stone platform was present.
Carcel looked at the gem's pure white surface as it stopped in front of him. He hesitantly reached out to pick it up when everyone's attention shifted to the gem. However, as soon as his fingers touched it, ripples appeared on its surface and it exploded into many white particles.
The particles gathered to form a buzzing screen. In an instant, the screen flickered with countless colors as they merged and showed an image of a man with grey pupils staring back at all of them.
Zron's eyes turned red when he saw the man in the image. He knew who it was!
But how was the man alive when his body was destroyed a long time ago?
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})"You bastard!"
Zron wanted to rip apart the screen created by the resonite gem, something he didn't even possess.
However, when he attempted to touch the screen, his hand simply passed through because it was just a recording.
The man on the screen snickered and ran his hand through his jet-black hair. He let out a menacing chuckle as everyone stared at the screen, holding their breath.
"Yo, yo!? I wonder how much damage the little gift I left behind caused?"
"Hehe, it's a pity I can't see it! However, I'm sure I took my revenge very brutally. Did the ethereal tunnel's entrance blast? Haha, I really want to know how many of the tower's guardians died and how many were forcefully sucked into the curtain, only to be tossed into the vast universe?"
The man's grey pupils widened with amusement. Even though it was just a recording, his expression made it clear that if someone was seeing him on the screen, they had received his gift.
"Tsk tsk, I know many would have survived. But don't worry, I'll come back even stronger to eliminate the remaining guardians! This is my revenge now. Odiak should regret the time he ordered a group of pseudo-divine rank individuals to team up and kill me!"
The man smirked as the screen cracked and scattered into thin air. Zron clenched his fists.
"Darn it!"
He cursed under his breath, but he knew the person he wanted to kill so badly right now had already left through the ethereal tunnel. The man even messed up everything before leaving to ensure that if any of the tower's guardians ever stepped into this space, they would suffer the consequences.
Alec glanced at Zron as he stood up. His throat felt dry as he spoke up and asked the question that everyone wanted to ask.
"Now... what would happen to them? The man on the screen said they would be tossed into the vast universe? But where...?"
He clenched his fists and stared at the dwarf who glanced back at everyone with an unreadable expression.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})Zron couldn't tell the truth to the kids, not now at least, because he knew if he did, all of them would blame themselves and it would hinder their growth.
"I know the entrance of the ethereal tunnel has been destroyed, but its path is made of pure divine energy. It's not something anyone can mess up easily."
He paused for a moment.
"The kids are strong, and all of them have reached the pseudo-divine rank. I'm sure they can handle the forces pulling them from every direction and they would go to the sacred land."
Ray dropped to his knees and let out the breath he was holding. So, Kyle would be fine, right? Han approached him and gave him a healing potion before holding his shoulder tightly.
"Don't worry, I know they will be fine. All of them know how to protect themselves."
Alec clenched his fists and glanced at everyone around him with a solemn expression.
"Guys, let's quickly do what we need to because we need to leave the planet as soon as possible! We can't let Kyle, Jian, and Bia get into any danger, no way!"
He turned his gaze towards Zron and pointed towards the chamber where the entrance of the ethereal tunnel was destroyed.
"Zron, you can restore the ethereal tunnel, right? Please do whatever it takes to fix it because instead of searching for them aimlessly, it would be better if we all took the same path as Kyle, Jian, and Bia."
Zron nodded with a serious expression, and Carcel stepped towards Susan.
"What are you waiting for? Create a portal because we don't have much time."
Susan glanced at Zron. He knew the dwarf was hiding something as he formed a portal, and everyone quickly left the cave. In the end, only the three tower's guardians and Zron were left in the space, surrounded by an eerie silence.
Susan's expression turned grim as Zron stepped toward him. The rocks and debris that had been suspended in mid-air began to move away to clear the dwarf's path, but he paused when Yon's voice sounded from behind Susan.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})"Just spill it, would you? What's going to happen to the kids?"
"Will they really go to the sacred land?"
Zron closed his eyes and took a deep breath to calm his nerves.
"I don't know. The path of the ethereal tunnel is stronger than its entrance, but... I know that bastard pretty well. Even if he couldn't destroy it completely, he would have damaged a major part of it."
"I can just hope the kids don't get separated or end up on a planet that has already been conquered by the shadow generals..."
Susan massaged his temples as he sat down on his heels.
"But how many planets out there are safe right now, apart from the ones that are hidden from the outside world?"
No one replied to his question as Jordan and Yon started checking the chamber to see how much resources and manpower they needed to restore the ethereal tunnel to its original state.
Zron glanced at Susan, who had a solemn expression on his face, almost as if he was thinking about something really important.
"Hey, old man, are you worried about that silver-haired boy?"
Susan held his knees and stood up.
"I am, I am, even though he annoyed me a lot but I still am. Not to mention, he has something very precious inside his body, and if a greedy person sensed it, he would be in grave danger."
Zron furrowed his brows.
"What? He has something else inside his body? But I didn't sense anything except for that soul-eating artifact, and he had gotten rid of that artifact, hadn't he?"
Susan let out a dry chuckle and shook Zron's shoulder.
"I wonder why as well? Maybe it's because you are greedy? Anyway, now I know what I want to do. I'm going to leave the planet with the other kids to find him, or else my heart won't be at ease."
.....
A while back, after Kyle was sucked into the see-through curtain with Bia and Jian.
It was downright painful, and the thought kept echoing in his head as he fought to figure out where the heck his body was being pulled into.
His green eyes shimmered brightly amidst the vast darkness that surrounded him from all sides. He tried his darnedest to stop himself from being dragged further into the abyss.
And he was certain that he had broken a few bones in the process, but he simply was not able to withstand the powerful force that pulled him body.
His pupils shook as he heard Bia's voice in his head, crying out in confusion about what the heck was going on. But with all the chaos in that dark space, he couldn't quite pinpoint where the phoenix was.
After a minute, numerous bright, sizable holes appeared in the darkness.
Those holes were the ones generating the suction force. In that moment, when the brightness cleared up Kyle's vision a little, he finally saw Bia and Jian being sucked into one of the holes. The red-haired man was holding onto the phoenix tightly, shouting words that Kyle couldn't understand.
Kyle wanted to use his skills to grab Bia too, but it didn't work out because his mana and divine energy were sucked in by the dark space around him.
Nonetheless, he reached out his hand toward the phoenix's body, and he swore his fingers touched her feathers.
However, he just couldn't grasp them because all the bright holes in the darkness let out screeching sounds that made his head ring.
His eyes started to close due to the horrible sounds, and he lost consciousness, even though he tried his best not to.
