With a sense of awe, Mira stared at the light, her eyes widening in amazement as she felt waves of unbelievable power emanating from the large glowing orb in the center of the small underground room. And as she gazed upon it, she felt that power brush past, hitting her in the face like a strong gust of wind.
The Core continuously pulsed with energy, forming countless tiny tendrils and sending them into the ground in all directions. It was like it was generating something.
"Wh-What is that?" Mira asked.
She had never felt something so… unique before! The energy this object exuded wasn't like anything she'd felt before, yet it was so powerful that just being in its presence was suffocating.
"It's the core of this place," Huoyan answered while staring at the object with an equal amount of awe, "I knew there'd be something like this, but I didn't expect to find it so quickly. If this was the real Hell, I doubt I'd be able to break the ground, much less find this place."
"Is that what you talked about earlier? A World Core?" Mira asked, stepping a bit closer to the orb.
Huoyon shook his head and shrugged, "I don't know. Like I said, I've never seen a World Core before. I just know that in most worlds and Secret Realms, there is an object in the center that provides power to the world. I never bothered to check before, as it wouldn't make much difference even if I found it, but maybe it'll be useful for you."
His answer confused Mira, "How would it not be helpful for you? You might be able to escape if you could control it!"
Huoyan glanced at Mira, and seeing the genuinely puzzled expression in her eyes, he scoffed.
"Hmph! Let me show you why!" The Ashura raised his fist, jumped inside the room, and smashed it into the orb!
"Wha-?!" Mira's eyes almost bulged out of their sockets, and she wanted to stop him, but it was too late!
*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!*
The ground trembled, and the small room caved in. Mira watched in horror as she expected this world to start crumbling apart, taking her along with it. She cursed the giant brute for his thoughtless actions and prepared herself for what was to come.
However, after a few seconds, nothing happened, puzzling Mira.
'Did he miss?' She thought and waited for the dust to clear to see what had happened.
Once all the dust cleared, it revealed Huoyan's figure and a completely unharmed orb. In fact, it hadn't even moved from its position.
Huoyan stared at it momentarily before returning his attention to Mira.
"Anything that can create these chains isn't something I can destroy," He jingled the chains attached to his body while also trying to rip them out, but they didn't budge, "Not to mention, I'm already dead. I can't use my soul or Qi, nor is this my real body. While this body looks very close to how I looked when I was alive, it's not real. What am I going to do with this core? Look at it? I'd rather continue to believe this place was Hell."
Once again, Mira was stunned by this guy's intelligence. It's as if he just needs a glance to see through everything!
'No wonder the Heavens killed this man. He's too overpowered! I thought that only those Ancient Beasts like Dragons and Phoenixes could be so strong, but I guess I was too naive.' Mira thought and stored this information away in her Mind Palace, placing it in a higher priority room so that she would keep this knowledge in mind when she returned to her world.
"But, why'd you bring me here?" Mira asked while walking toward the core.
"Isn't that obvious? I want you to gain ownership over it and control it!" Huoyan scoffed.
"Yeah, I understand that. But why?" As soon as she understood that this was the core of this place, she figured that Huoyan wanted her to do something with it, but she couldn't understand his motive.
'Shouldn't he want out of this place? He's been dead, trapped here for who knows how long. Shouldn't he at least try to escape?'
Mira knew she would. As long as there was a chance at survival, she wouldn't hesitate to do what was required.
Huoyan could see through Mira's thoughts and shrugged his shoulders, "Even if I escaped, then what? It's not like I can take over someone else's body. My soul is too strong for that. Maybe I could if they were in the Ascension Realm, but the chances of me dying is infinitely close to 100% if I do that."
"Now, more than anything, I'd just like to move onto the afterlife. And if in the process, I can help a talented young beauty like yourself get stronger, then I can say I've done my duty as a man of the Ashura Tribe! Kahahaha!" Huoyan burst out laughing.
Mira stared at him from the side, dumbfounded by his nonsensical answer. However, he didn't seem to be lying. He looked like a man who wanted to move on with his life, and if he could help someone in the process, he might as well do so.
Truthfully, ever since she faced Huoyan, everything afterward happened so fast that she could hardly keep up. It was like the man knew exactly what she needed to do before she did! Even now, as they stared at the orb in the center of the room, Mira felt like the man wasn't just planning for the next step.
'No, I get the feeling that he already knows what's going to happen, not just to him, but to me as well.'
A shroud of mystery seemed to be cast over Huoyan, which sent danger signals through her body. As such an intelligent man, it was impossible for him not to know how to control his emotions.
Mira studied his body language from the side, searching for inconsistencies while examining his aura, but even she couldn't find anything wrong. It was like the man truly was happy to die trying to help her!
'Is this real? Is there really such a benevolent person in the world? Or is all of this just a ruse to take over my soul? Can I even stop him if that's the case?' Mira wondered, but she couldn't come to a conclusion, causing her instincts to flare as, in her mind, the situation worsened by the second.
However, she didn't want to alert Huoyan that she was suspicious of him, so she controlled her facial expressions, body language, and aura to make sure no thoughts leaked past her mind.
After Ryuu helped her when she had gone crazy, the nasty emotions that weighed on her mind settled down, and she started to open up with people a bit more. Ryuu was the first person she had decided to put a little more trust in, besides Maria, and this man was the second.
However, it's been so long since she's trusted another person that she didn't even know if she could trust herself in this kind of scenario!
'What if he tries to kill me after I've taken over the core? What if he was lying about his soul being too strong? What if everything up until this point was a-' Her mind rambled on, but she was interrupted by Huoyan nudging her shoulder.
"Well, since we're here, you might as well start trying to gain control over it now. I don't know how many more attacks from the Gates of Heaven your body can take, after all!" He chuckled and backed away from the core while pushing Mira toward it.
Mira snapped out of her thoughts, and although she was still extremely skeptical of the situation, he was right. Even while underground, lightning and fire still rained down on her body.
Huoyan still needed to die so she could absorb his soul, and she still needed to overcome this trial.
'Ah! Fuck it! If this cunning brute is going to take over my body in my moment of weakness, then I can only say it's fate!' Mira removed all useless thoughts from her mind and focused on the task in front of her.
She stepped toward the core and placed her hand on top of it.
'I don't know how I gain control over something like this, but if it's like most other things in this world, then I either need to inject my Qi into it or my blood.'
So, Mira did both! She cut open a slit on her hands and slammed them onto the orb, injecting both her Qi and blood into it!
"...."
*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!*
As soon as she did, the loudest and most apocalyptic explosion Mira had ever experienced occurred, and a deep sense of foreboding and danger flooded her senses.
The world shook as if it was about to be destroyed, causing Mira to nearly fall to the ground, but she felt a pair of massive arms hold her up!
"Don't stop what you're doing, woman! Just focus on taking control of the core! I'll deal with the rest!"
