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Three days later, we were back on track. It was time to move on. Not only Oro was there to say farewells, but a lot of guards, and most of the entire population of the Kingdom. There were all sorts of faces we remember, and well, some that we didn't. Nonetheless, these people seem to have developed an immense sense of gratefulness to us for all we've done.
"It is a farewell for now, Kireina." Oro said with a smile. "If one day you ever feel like coming back, please do so, we'll be happy to greet you once more."
"Kireina, please take care!"
"Lord Luminous, be safe!"
"We've opened a church for you!"
"I hope you take care of the Demon King!"
"Crush him!"
"Have a nice travel!"
As the people waved their hands and wished us a good travel, we moved out of the city and into the skies. Of course we weren't going to freaking walk to where we wanted to go.
Luminous did the courtesy of bringing us over his back, and immediately, we flew into the skies. Now that Elfina was finally with us once more, it felt like when we started this journey in the desert.
Though, to reach the Genie's place, we had to move to the end of the Ankh Desert, leaving behind all of the places we visited through this adventure.
"Luminous, can you sense it?" I asked him. "Follow those patches of purple color."
"Yeah, I can feel the bastard, it feels like he's inviting us in." Said Luminous with a roar, flapping his wings rapidly as we flew across the desert's skies.
FLAAAASH!
The beautiful golden desert slowly started to change, turning gold to gray, and then purple. All the sand was purple, and strange, eldritch-looking plants started appearing everywhere. At the distance, we saw an enormous pyramid-shaped labyrinth, an ancient Ruin left behind by the Old Gods.
"That is the Old God's Tomb." Said Ariant.
"We've only heard legends about that, but it seems its real…" Eriant was just as surprised.
"Isn't that… the place where many of the Old Gods bodies rests?!" Brunhild was surprised.
"Indeed." Luminous nodded. "I can feel their bodies there, and also, cosmic energy."
"Some of the Cosmic Shards lay there too, I might as well pick them up." Frank smiled.
The Old God's tomb was overflowing with an enormous quantity of Darkness and Miasma coming out of it, resembling an enormous stream of chaos reaching the skies and darkening everything.
Surrounding the tomb there was a gigantic jungle made up of red, black, and purple plants of shapes and sizes nobody here had ever seen before, they looked aberrant and alien, some even alive.
FLAAAASH!
CLAAAAASSSHHH!!!
However, before we could reach the top of the Black Pyramid, a gigantic barrier stopped us, making Luminous clash against and bounce back.
"W-What?! A barrier that can resist my own powers? Ridiculous!" Luminous roared with frustration, opening his jaws. "I'll open it forcefully if I have to!"
TRUUUUMMM…!
A gigantic Dragon Breath of Heavenly Primordial Light was shoot from his jaws, impacting the Chaotic Barrier with immense power. We imbued our Mana and Divinity into his attack… however.
RUMBLE!
FLUOOOSH!
The barrier simply reflected the attack and sent it straight into the skies, completely unaffected. I could probably try it out using my own powers, or maybe using Ouroboros and Defiance but I would be wasting that one time use every 24 hours… and who knows if the barrier won't just be created again.
"This is no simple barrier though." I sighed. "It is a special Formation Domain, and one at the level of Supreme Gods of the highest ranks. I can tell the Genie has employed the bodies of the Old Gods as the pillars, and because they're all buried inside the ruins, we cannot break through easily."
"He's combining them with the Cosmic Shards as well, how annoying." Frank sighed. "But these things usually have Nodes. If we can break the Nodes creating the barrier, we'll be able to get through."
"But could the Nodes be outside?" Sighed Brunhild. "Wouldn't it be too dumb to leave them outside?"
"They're not obvious to begin with. Nodes can vary from giant crystals, to pillars, underground labyrinths, magic circles, or even monsters…" I said. "And by merely using my Starlight Eyes, I can already see them."
FLASH! FLASH! FLASH!
Three gigantic and powerful monsters roamed the Eldritch Miasma Jungles, they were the nodes. These guys were perhaps the Genie's last line of defense before we could reach him. He probably wanted to buy time. I explained this to everyone, as they nodded.
"Alright, I can sense them too. If we have to do this, then let's descend and see what's up down there. [Primordial Light Veils]!" Luminous said, conjuring veils of primordial light that protected us from the Miasma. I didn't need the protection, but someone like Elfina, the twins, and Fiere who were not that resistant would use it well.
BAAAM!
We descended, as we jumped off his back and then Luminous turned into a smaller, more compact, and energy-saving form, resembling a tall white and silver-scaled lizardman with golden eyes.
The jungle was simply enormous, the more we looked around, the more overwhelmed we felt by our surroundings. Though unlike I imagined, the plants weren't attacking us.
Ding!
[The [Appraisal: Lv10] Skill Effect has been Activated.]
[You've entered the [Haunt: Miasmic Jungles of Jath-hu]
[Description: An ancient jungle that has been infected by the Miasma of the Old Gods from ancient times. A tribe of Demons have called this jungle their home for generations, until the Genie took over their temple as his throne and sent beasts to eliminate them.]
[Three Powerful Jungle Kings are roaming the Miasmic Jungles of Jath-hu, defeat all three of them for the Miasmic Barrier Formation to temporarily disappear.]
[Special Tip: It might be easier to defeat them and locate them with the help of the Jath-hu, the Demon Tribe that lives in these Jungles.]
Hoh, so Appraisal can even do this now?! Interesting.
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