He pushed deeper. Settling at about fifty-meter mark. It was more uncomfortable for him. But the vibrations were less chaotic. More like a continuous, terrifying drum beat.
He navigated past veins of iron ore. And compressed layers of shale. He was maintaining a stealthy non-existent presence that felt absolute. No shadow. No sound. No heat signature. And negligible magical residue. He was a perfect ghost operating in a realm of extreme powerhouses.
Jack realized that the sheer intensity of the battle was paradoxically protecting him. The Illuminated Beings were locked in a brutal conflict. Focusing every strand of their awareness on killing their counterparts.
Their powers were too massive, too loud, and too distracted by the need for survival to notice him. To notice the almost non-existent energy displacement caused by a single, lower-tier spectral entity. Phasing sixty meters below them.
The battle still raged on above. He could almost visualize the terrible clashes. The Arch Inquisitor Oakstake carved swaths of destructive purification through the darkness. countered by the primal, elemental power of the Night Salvation's elite.
Some distance passed. The heat intensified.
A fresh surge of power struck the surface directly above him. Heavier and darker than anything he had felt before. The bedrock immediately began to liquefy. Jack felt the stone structure around him strain. And the liquefied rock tried to flow into the space he occupied.
"Damn it!" Jack muttered inwardly. Though his spectral voice made no sound.
This wasn't just collateral damage. This was a focused area of immense magical energy. He had stumbled directly under the point where either the Night Salvation or the Purity Cult had anchored a significant power surge. Perhaps a ritual circle or a dimensional anchor point.
The energy field was toxic. Even to his ethereal body. It seemed to be designed to shred anything that approached. Including spiritual entity like him.
Warning! Jack could imagine Rune's colors if she was there with him. It would be dark crimson. He felt a phantom pulse of danger.
Jack accelerated his subterranean movement. He couldn't phase through this focused energy core. It would rip apart his spectral cohesion. He had to dodge it. Further deep inside the earth.
He pushed his telekinetic abilities outward. Using the surrounding, still-solid granite as a momentary shield. Diverting the worst of the energy flow around his spectral form.
He felt the grinding, abrasive texture of the superheated liquid rock. Just a few centimeters above him as he maneuvered. Moving like a shadow across the bottom of a volcanic ocean.
The movement was agonizingly slow and meticulous. Demanding a level of focus Jack rarely needed in his spectral form. Usually, he simply phased through things easily. Here, he was performing controlled, subterranean surgery to keep himself intact.
Finally, he was through. The blazing core subsided. The rock was cooling rapidly as the fighting shifted a few hundred meters away. Jack paused. Stabilizing his spectral coherence.
If he were corporeal, he would be drenched by sweat. As it was, he just felt the draining sting of using his energy too much to resist a higher-tier dimensional tearing.
He resumed his advance. Even more cautious now. Passing through the edges of the established fight zones.
He began ascending slowly. Fifty meters... Forty meters... Thirty meters... He needed to be closer to the surface to sense the portal clearly. And pinpoint the least contested entry point.
At the twenty-meter mark, he was close enough to sense the portal. But, it was also too close that the sound of the fighting was very clear, too clear in his ears.
He could distinguish the shouts. The metallic ring of enchanted weapons clashing. And the desperate screams of the few Enhanced Transcendent Beings getiing injured by the fight.
He could imagine that the scene above would be extremely terrifying. The flat ground would be gone. Replaced by a jagged landscape of shattered earth and steaming, scorched rocks. The air would be too deadly to breathe in.
He could feel the portal itself. He could see it in his mind. Like a tear in the sky. Ragged and irregular. Shimmering with conflicting energies. Pulsing irregularly. Inhaling and exhaling reality. Slowly opening wider.
Jack located his possible entry point. A small circular gap opening around the portal. Surrounded by the massive, swirling clashes of energy. Yet, still untouched by their destructive force.
He pushed the final distance slowly. Emerging from the ground. Completely invisible. Right next to the half-opened portal.
The Illuminated Transcendent Beings were still too focused on their own opponents and the imminent threat of their attacks. They failed to notice the invisible spectral appearance right next to the object they were contesting for.
Jack felt the rush of the open portal. It was like standing next to a monstrous vacuum cleaner. One that seemed to draw in ambient energy, air, and even light.
He focused all his spectral energy and control to stay invisible. And then, he plunged himself into the still opening portal. Using his non-corporeality to its absolute limit to survive spatial twist.
Jack Mystery had slipped into the portal.
...
The external chaos of the battlefield vanished. The air pressure was equalized violently. And the smells of scorched earth and destruction were replaced by the scent of decay, and something heavily metallic... like old, drying blood.
Jack floated, still spectral and invisible, above the floor of a massive, echoing cavern.
Everything here was strangely still. Saturated with a heavy, dormant magical presence that felt both divine and deeply corrupted. It was excessively oppressive. A silence that felt heavier than any noise.
It felt like Songstress Village during twilight hours. When it was still terrorized by the Deep Silence.
He looked back at the portal entrance he had just slipped through. It was not the massive, shimmering tear of energy he had seen outside. From the inside, it was a much more stable, circular gateway. Currently flickering as the external forces fought over its stabilization keys.
Jack knew... he wouldn't the only one here forever. The people outside would come in immediately once the portal gateway was stabilized. But, looking at the flickering portal, it might need a few more hours to be stable enough for humans to pass. He had time.
He took a slow, spectral breath. Assessing the cavern. It was huge. Carved from a dark, unfamiliar stone. But it was not dark. Gloomy light pierced in from the wide cracks of the stone ceilings above.
He looked down. The floor was rough. But smooth in patches. It was clear that water had flowed there once. Pooling in depressions.
He scanned the immediate vicinity. Searching desperately. He needed a reflective surface quickly. To access his Mirror Space.
His spectral eyes locked onto the floor barely ten meters away. In a deep, wide depression in the cavern floor, a pool of water had collected. It was green, thick, and menacing. Definitely poisonous. But it was still reflective.
Jack moved immediately. He floated over the surface. Steadying himself above the pool of still water. He reached out with his sensory focus. Activating his [Mysterious Mirror World] ability.
Immediately, he disappeared. Entering his Mirror Space. Only for a few seconds. The reflective surface flared again and he was back there. But he was not alone.
Reina Night was pulled out of the Mirror Space. Landing lightly on the cave floor beside the water. The Lightning Hoverbike appeared next to her. Coalesced from shimmering smoke.
Rune also materialized instantly. Hovering above Reina's shoulder. Blinking a fast, relieved emerald green.
Reina immediately dropped into a defensive stance. Mystic fog was swirling around her hands. Assessing the new environment.
"We made it, Love!" Jack announced. His spectral form appeared from invisibility.
Reina looked at the flickering portal. "Impressive entry, Dear. How long until they manage to enter this place?"
"Hours, probably. For now, we are sealed inside the Valley of Despair, alone. Just us, and whatever horrors were here. Let's use the time well."
Jack shifted his focus to the task at hand. Finding the artifact. But, he needed to be human to be able to use his class, Treasure Hunter, properly.
With a soundless ripple of energy, the spectral mist gathered and compressed. Hardening into the tall frame of Jack Night. The hulking Steamrune Engineer.
His heavy boots hit the stone floor with a solid, echoing thud. The familiar weight of his enchanted coat and steamrune gears settled upon him. Restoring the tangible connection to his transcendent human power.
Jack flexed his hands. "Alright, Love. This place is called Valley of Despair for a reason. We need to be careful and avoid unnecessary clash. Use your illusion to blanket us."
Reina nodded. Thin fog immediately appeared and covered them.
Jack didn't see anything different other than the fog. He was immune to illusion after all. But he knew Reina's power was camouflaging them.
It won't work that well against intelligent opponents. But, most creatures in this spatial realm were just mindless undead creatures. It should work well enough.
"The chalice is sealed somewhere deep in this labyrinth." Jack continued. "Very likely in the central part of the valley. Since we entered through the back gate, we're likely far from the main area. We need to find the heart of the Valley, and find the Forbidden Chalice."
He rode on the Hoverbike. "Mount up, Love. Let's see what this Valley has in store for us."
Reina smiled and sat behind him. "Let's go."
Jack turned to the mechanical fairy whose glow was now deep golden. "Lead the way, Rune..."