"The First Calamity will begin soon."
A voice only heard in Luxurion prophesized the Holy Light Realm's belligerent future.
Elena felt the change from within the Tomb of Ayakashi and only became more solemn as she got closer and closer to its exit.
However, not many were like her.
Regardless of their position, these geniuses didn't quite notice the slight darkening of the sky.
The atmosphere heated up only a few degrees at first, but in a single instant…
VOOM!
A terrifying heat swept through the realm.
Flames burned through Heaven and Earth, and the sky was covered in a thick black smog.
"W-what's happening?!"
"Fuck, run!"
"Someone help!"
The geniuses on Holy Light Star were abruptly wrapped within those flames, their yells of panic drowned in the blaze.
The first and second banquet halls were met with an influx of hundreds of geniuses in that moment, as they were burned and expelled from the realm by the disaster.
As for those who remained, they ran, scattering in every direction. They desperately searched for shelter from the flames that could burn even them in just a few seconds.
Some tried to fight back, but that wasn't as easy as expected. Because…
"This flame burns through mana," Su Ren realized with interest.
He observed the spherical forcefield he'd placed around himself and Xiao Yue to protect them and watched as tongues of flame devoured it piece by piece, breaking it down to nothingness.
"Senior Brother, what's happening?!" Xiao Yue cried, evident fear in her voice.
Su Ren turned around calmly and responded, "Nothing special. It seems this realm is more complex than we originally expected, but it isn't anything I can't handle."
"Really?" Xiao Yue asked, clutching his sleeve.
Su Ren clearly felt her shaking hands. He sighed and placed his own hand on her head warmly.
"Have I ever lied to you?" He asked comfortingly.
"No…"
"Exactly."
Su Ren smiled inwardly as he felt her calming down.
He turned his attention back to the disaster outside, his eyes slightly narrowing.
'This shouldn't be an original mechanism of the realm. If it was, the experts outside wouldn't have allowed their geniuses to enter.'
The flames were incredibly powerful, and those early and middle stage 4th class geniuses had no way of surviving more than one or two seconds inside it.
'Nevertheless, since it is already here, there is nothing to do but survive it.'
With Su Ren's strength, which could match Damien at his power level that surpassed the 4th revolution, making it through this calamity was not that hard of a task.
However, not everyone could enjoy this same relaxed attitude…
***
VOOM!
WHOOSH!
The roaring inferno was almost nonsensically loud.
Rose rushed through its embers, her skin red and peeling from the heat attacking her.
'Dammit!' She yelled inwardly.
She swept her hand through the air, affecting a large area with her mana and pushing Illusion Laws into that space.
Whoosh!
The flames immediately quieted down. Their material blaze had been turned into an illusion, removing any effects it had on reality.
Rose didn't wait to admire her handiwork. After clearing the area, she shot back into the firestorm, her eyes constantly searching for any signs of shelter.
BOOM!
From behind her, the terrifying sound of tides of flame clashing against each other as they rushed to fill the space she cleared resounded.
It didn't even take a single second for this to occur.
'I can only use illusions to create momentary respite. If I want to survive this, I need to find something to shield myself!'
Haa!
With a sharp battle cry, she leaped into the air and summoned a massive scythe from her spatial ring.
She twirled it through the air, her every movement attracting tongues of flame like a snake whisperer with his flute.
However, what she controlled was not flame, but wind!
WHOOSH!
A tornado formed around her body. With the nature of fire, this tornado only served as an attractive force. The swirling winds drew in the surrounding flames and instantly transformed into a small firestorm within its greater counterpart.
'Hoo…'
Rose's eyes sharpened as she stood in its center.
'I can't keep going like this. I'll run out of mana sooner or later, and I don't want to waste pills unnecessarily.'
Even if she could avoid the fire, she couldn't avoid the mana-burning heat. Her skin was blistered madly, and she could feel its ability to protect her internal body dwindling.
'There's no other choice.'
She gritted her teeth and shot down to the ground.
Boom!
The impact created a crater and disrupted the tornado she'd created, but Rose didn't care. Her scythe tore through the ground, digging the crater deeper and deeper.
Vam!
She freed one arm and threw it in the air, controlling her Illusion Laws to fill in the space above her head.
'The illusion will break in 3 seconds.'
She'd bought herself this short amount of time by tunneling into the ground, and now that she was away from immediate danger, she rapidly spread her awareness in every direction, looking for a subterranean tunnel or any sort of isolated area that could shield her from the disaster.
'There…!'
In a realm densely packed with hidden areas and fortuitous encounters, her awareness that spread over ten thousand kilometers easily found a place for her.
'Illusory Shift.'
She gently tapped her foot on the ground and glided forward, straight into the wall before her.
And mysteriously enough…she passed right through it!
Rose's body became incorporeal, which allowed her to travel through solid rock for several hundred meters until she reached the open area she found.
BOOOOOOOM!
BANG! BANG! BANG!
The faint sound of her illusion breaking and the storm invading her original hiding spot resonated through the rock and vibrated against Rose's back as she made the final push and rematerialized in reality.
"Fuwah…!"
She let go of the breath she'd been holding and leaned against the wall, taking a few pills out of her spatial ring and eating them.
Her scarred and blistered skin began to heal, and even her muscles saw some slight readjustment.
Her mana recovered as well, but only to half of her full capacity. After all, she wasn't trying to waste pills.
"Phew…now that that's over with, let's find out where I am."
She glanced up at the damp ceiling, through which she could still hear the roaring flames above.
"I'm not too deep underground, but I'm deep enough to be safe. As for this location…"
Honestly, she didn't pay much attention to where she was going due to the time constraint, but she was hoping it would be the location of a lucky chance.
Compared to the rest of the group, Rose rarely received such chances.
It wasn't a matter of luck nor was it a matter of talent. In fact, Rose's ability to keep up with the rest despite this fact was a testament to her great talent.
Merely, she studied Illusion Laws. Her Wind Laws were entirely secondary, and she only ever practiced them when she had free time, which was hardly ever.
Illusion Laws in the way Rose used them were rare on a universal scale, as she was essentially learning to manipulate reality itself.
How could it be easy to find chances for such a Law?
'Rather, because I'm studying something so heaven-defying, I'm being denied chances I would've received otherwise.'
Rose sighed wryly as she explored the dark cave around her.
"Whether it's through awareness or regular perception, I can't find anything wrong with this place, both in a good way and a bad way," she muttered.
"Haa, a curse is a curse, I guess."
She sat down once more, planning to simply wait in the empty cave and recover until the firestorm passed.
She leaned back against a nearby wall and placed her hands on the ground to her sides, entering a relaxed state until—
Click!
"What the hell?!"
Rose's right hand sunk a few inches along with a square portion of the ground around it.
"This is…secret mechanism?!" Rose exclaimed excitedly.
Her smile only widened when she felt the ground dropping out below her.
"Haha, this is classic!"
She eagerly gazed into the darkness below as she fell several thousand meters and slammed into the ground.
BANG!
Her expression soured the moment she felt flat ground.
She sighed once again.
"Haa…a curse really is a curse, I guess."
She drew her scythe and took a battle stance…
…facing several tens of thousands of hostile beasts that occupied the massive abyss she'd fallen into.
