"Is this where we have to enter?" A three-horned woman asked, gazing at the tunnel that went deep into the ground.
"I can show you the entire route and destination first if you want," Grisha said calmly.
"What about those ants?" The three-horned woman asked, entering the tunnel without any sense of fear.
"They're under my control. So, they are harmless." Grisha replied, "Though, that's true only for this batch of ants. Anything beyond that is an enemy."
"Makes sense." The three-horned woman said as she accompanied Grisha, reaching the end of the flight of stairs before noticing a trolley of sorts placed before her, asking, "What's this?"
"Oh, this is for us to travel," Grisha said, climbing into it, motioning for the three-horned woman to be seated beside her. When she did so, a group of two-horned ants tugged at a rope attached to the trolley, beginning to pull it, causing it to move at a moderate pace.
"This is faster than our walking speed. So, it's pretty convenient." Grisha continued.
The three-horned woman looked around, noticing the smoothness of the tunnel, "They've done a great job at digging it through."
She then thought of something, asking, "Why are you helping us though? I don't see any reason to do that since at this point, you could argue that we aren't humans anymore."
"It's my Lord that wishes to help you. I'm just following his orders." Grisha said, "You'll see him at the end of this tunnel."
Five hours spanned in this journey before they reached the end of the tunnel. The two ladies climbed the flight of stairs and reached the ground, noticing that the floor itself seemed to be made from a pearl.
And seated cross-legged on the floor was Compass Carburettor, calmly opening his eyes upon their arrival, "You're here."
"My Lord," Grisha bowed, pointing at the three-horned woman, "She's the leader of the horned men."
Of course, they had already conversed beforehand to enact this as Compass Carburettor slowly nodded after she was done speaking.
He then got up and condensed a Spydragon. And strapped to its bottom was a large platform with three seats for them to be seated upon.
The Spydragon flapped its wings and stably hovered in the air as he took the seat in the front. There were two seats behind him, positioned next to one another in which Grisha and the three-horned woman took a seat.
The three-horned woman gazed in shock upon seeing them take off into the air, asking in surprise, "What's this ability? How is this possible?"
"I'm not a human though." Compass Carburettor smiled slowly, stating with a tone of absolute calm and serenity, "You could say that I'm the deity of this region. So, I've been helping the people suffering here after hearing their prayers."
"Deity?" The three-horned woman's eyes widened in shock before gradually calming down, surprisingly accepting his claims.
She was silent for a good ten minutes before stating slowly, "Gahrat?"
"It seems you've heard about me." Compass Carburettor smiled as if it wasn't anything surprising.
"I've seen some people move around rescuing other humans. I heard them praying to an entity addressed as Gahrat." The three-horned woman said, "Though, when they came to our settlement, they were afraid upon seeing out horns and didn't wish to interact with us beyond that point."
"Though, it's nothing surprising for us, since we're no different from monsters at this point to them." She smiled wryly.
"In the past, I was revered as a deity by the people that lived in this land. But in our current world, I too am nothing but a monster." Compass Carburettor laughed, "Just a monster with some special powers, nothing else."
The rest of the journey was in silence as the Spydragon continued to fly, travelling for almost a day before arriving in the middle of the desert, landing on a flat piece of land that was covered by the pearl surface.
With a snap of his finger, the Spydragon vanished as Compass Carburettor motioned for the two ladies to follow him, climbing the dune nearby that resembled a hill in size. When they reached the peak, no words escaped their mouths.
Even Grisha was awed by the scenery before her, thinking, 'He's become stronger once again. It seems that setback had only strengthened him further.'
Massive dome-shaped structures jutted out of the desert sand, resembling a Qubba in design. They were all translucent in nature, allowing the sunlight to seep into it, highlighting the lush green grass growing within, creating a painterly scene.
There were hundreds of such domes, with the radius of each dome spanning 50 metres. And, not all of the domes displayed a layer of grass growing within. Some were empty, displaying moving roads underneath.
"I'll give you a basic tour." Saying so, Compass Carburettor arrived before a cylindrical tower, opening the door there, revealing a helical flight of stairs that they took to head underground.
"T-This is…?" The three-horned woman was flabbergasted the moment they reached the end of the helical flight of stairs, gazing at the wide road that spanned ten metres in breadth, traversing a pretty long distance.
There were houses on both sides, the textures of all resembling pearl, opaque. There were transparent windows attached to them all, emitting a gentle yellowish-white hue. They were solidified Darlac energy blades.
The houses ranged from all shapes and sizes, meant for different purposes and people to live within. There was provision for schools, hospitals, etc.
And, the domes captured the sunlight cast on their circular surfaces and emitted them within, keeping the entire underground place brightly lit. Moreover, despite the blazing sun outside, the interiors were only bright.
It wasn't hot but was rather comfortable. Also, the air wasn't mouldy either as the three-horned woman even felt a mild breeze spanning past.
Seeing her expression, Compass Carburettor said, "I've installed many towers that filter out the dust but allow the air to enter inside, due to the layout of the domes that peek out of the sands. So, the air inside would always be fresh and stay in circulation."
He then pointed at a dome, "I've planted the grass of our region here. Their vitality allowed them to adapt to this place. They'll suck in the nutrients from the ground and regulate the moisture content in this place, not to mention collect them in small pools that would serve as your water reservoir."
"There are also designated places where you can plant other trees too." Compass Carburettor gave her a general gist of things, asking in the end, "Well, how's this?"
"Is this good enough to be called the home of your race?"
