He didn't feel any excessive heat from the burning outer wall, but Su'er didn't feel relieved because of it.
He only had to slightly tilt his head to see his lover, Think, slowly exhaling. Large beads of sweat were flowing down her forehead, and her usually flowing pale golden hair was tangled into a few strands from the sweat.
She had given her all.
Maintaining Su'er's vitality required her spirits, and controlling the seed's escape also required her spirits. Even though Think's own spirit quantity was far higher than her clansmen's, it was nothing in the face of such consumption.
"...Almost... there..." Perhaps sensing Su'er's gaze, Think suddenly turned her head and showed a forced smile. "...Just wait a little longer."
He didn't say anything, or rather, he didn't have time to say anything. A throbbing sensation, as if a huge hammer was hitting his chest, suddenly beat rapidly in Su'er's chest. His heart, which had been beating slowly from weakness, suddenly pumped, his pupils instantly enlarged, and there was an intangible yet substantial warning!
"Hurry! Think!!!"
In a hurry, he could only desperately shout these words. Even though there was no substantial content, Su'er believed that Think would definitely understand what he meant.
Without any hesitation, Think immediately let go of the control of the entire seed, and her actions were even faster than her thoughts. She put all her spirits on Su'er and herself. A thick green light screen stained the space around the two of them like ink.
Even though it took less than a thousandth of a second, both Think and Su'er still felt that the speed was not enough. Almost as soon as the green light screen appeared, the already familiar pure white light covered the entire vision of the two, and even the entire world.
Blank.
A blank where even sound disappeared.
Everything existed, yet it was as if nothing existed.
It only lasted for a few seconds, like a meteor flashing by, a gap of less than half a breath. The pure white world disappeared again, and so did the green protective wall that shattered like glass.
"...Pfft... cough, cough, cough, cough, cough, idiot, stupid! Go-gophers... die! Cough, cough, cough, cough!!" She coughed to the point that the muscles in her chest, abdomen, and back were twitching. It was a rejection reaction from being connected to the Spirit Corridor and having the excessive spirits squeezed out of her body in an instant. Think pounded the ground with her fist and cursed intermittently.
Undoubtedly, the white light that engulfed the entire world was the Dwarfs' proudest weapon—the core explosion.
Why would those gophers suddenly release this kind of attack on this empty area where there were no troops?!!
Countless possibilities flashed through her mind in an instant, from a traitor to a pursuer who had witnessed the two of them escaping. Think's lungs were burning with pain, but more than this small matter, what she cared about more at the moment was Su'er's condition.
"...Cough, cough, it's, I'm fine, cough, cough, cough, cough—"
He couldn't speak. In Think's vision, which was blurred by the tears she coughed out, what stopped her from continuing to speak was Su'er's moving hand on her arm and the man's slow shaking of his head.
The Ancient Infinite Blessing—this magical formula that was developed to protect and extend Su'er's life had fulfilled its mission perfectly. There was nothing wrong with this powerful magical formula. The only thing that was wrong was Think—her spirit quantity was not enough to use such a powerful magical formula alone for a long time.
But even so, this magic, which was released for protection, had still protected the lives of the two of them the moment the fire of the core explosion spread.
The seed that had lost control had fallen to the ground. The momentum brought by inertia had nailed it to the ground, which was as smooth as a mirror after being smeared by the expanding energy. It was already incomplete.
More than half of the vines and roots had disappeared. The last part had a chance to survive because it was close to Su'er and Think. The glowing orange-yellow color on the twisted cross-sections had not completely dissipated, and there were even a few drops of golden liquid slowly dripping from the tips, but they disappeared in mid-air before they could even reach the ground.
The life-sustaining plant had suffered such a huge amount of damage. Su'er could even clearly feel that some life-sustaining particles were quietly disappearing from his body, slowly and surely, but more than these subtle feelings, what he could not ignore was the blue ocean.
It was bright, far from comparable to the dark ocean where the Siren lived. It was like an infinitely burning flame, spreading from a distance to right in front of him, and it was also like a overturned bottle, with the water inside flowing on the table. What was flowing was a crystal blue flame.
It was burning, but it didn't bring any temperature. The only thing that entered his senses was the process of burning. When he closed his eyes, there was nothing but the oppressive feeling on his body caused by the excessive spirits. The world in front of him was like a hollow where nothing existed—or it had everything.
"...We're here," Even though he was so weak that even breathing was difficult, Su'er became uncontrollably excited. All the hardships he had endured, all the pain he had suffered, all the hope of ending those endless torments were all here.
The God's Core that had exploded again in the existing fissure ignited the perpetually burning sea of spirits to a boiling point, making it burn more fiercely and spread more widely, even reaching the desolate land where there should have only been dry rocks.
"Ah, we're here," Think also looked at the spectacular sight with a complicated expression. She finally calmed down from the abnormal state of a large loss of spirits in her body.
Su'er tried to support himself, but his once strong and powerful arms couldn't even manage to prop up his body. Su'er's struggle only made a Useless sound—he wanted to crawl out of the huge root that had become a part of his body for more than ten years, but he failed.
Think slowly walked to Su'er's front with a swaying body. Seeing the man raising his head and smiling awkwardly at her, Think inexplicably curled her lips and leaned down to lightly kiss his forehead.
She put Su'er's arm over her shoulder and half-crouched beside the huge root that was half-buried in the ground. The pale-golden-haired Elf was about to use her strength to drag Su'er out, but she suddenly turned her head to look at the sky in the distance.
Sensing Think's unusual state, Su'er also followed her gaze, but with his eyesight, he could only see the crimson sky. It was no different from the past, but Think saw it—a flying ship, as flat as a withered leaf, was floating at the end of her sight.
It was thin and small. In this great war with frequent fire exchanges, you wouldn't even notice it if you didn't look closely.
It was heading towards this place.