Because something had happened to Lucas Reeve,
Jessica and everyone else were incredibly worried, terrified that something might happen to him. So, after confirming that Lucas Reeve was in Sargon, almost everyone immediately boarded the aircraft that Lucas Reeve had parked on the roof of the villa.
However,
this aircraft had been modified by Lucas Reeve, and its operating methods were completely different from conventional aircraft. Fortunately, the High Priest and the medical cart both knew how to fly it. Even Zumama, who was in school, nearly flipped her desk in the classroom after learning that Lucas Reeve might be in trouble and immediately ran towards Jessica's house.
"Don't worry, he'll be fine."
The High Priest flapped his wings and landed on top of the medical cart.
He hadn't expected that in the short time he hadn't visited Jessica, there would be three more deities, and one of them wasn't even a fragment, but a complete one.
"Deities possess immortality. They generally won't run into any problems. Even if something really does happen, it's just a deep sleep. At most, they'll wake up after a few thousand years."
The High Priest chattered on nonstop.
A few thousand years?!!
Those words fell like a rock, crashing down hard on Jessica's head.
"Waaah!! A few thousand years!!"
Jessica's tears, which she had just managed to stop, started flowing again as she sobbed.
"I'll be long gone in a few thousand years... I'm not a god...."
"It's okay," the High Priest flapped his wings, about to say more.
"Don't talk nonsense!"
However, Nian's icy voice cut in unexpectedly. The temperature inside the aircraft instantly rose by an unknown number of degrees.
After learning that Lucas Reeve might be in trouble, Nian was the one whose emotions had changed the most, aside from Jessica, Surtr, Franka, and the others.
The Nian of the past was lively, cheerful, and confident, a true energetic girl. However, at this moment, she couldn't smile at all. In fact, upon seeing the High Priest making a joke, the anger in Nian's heart instantly erupted.
Although Nian seemed carefree and friendly with many people,
in reality, only Nian herself knew that she didn't have many friends. Besides her younger sister Dusk, in all the years she had been in this world, there seemed to be no one else she could have a proper conversation with. As for her older sister Ling, Nian had never considered her a friend, but rather a family member, like an elder sister, and she even had a slight fear of Ling.
For Nian,
in all these years,
the only person she could call a close friend was Lucas Reeve.
That was why she was so angry.
It was as if your only friend was in trouble, and you were feeling extremely down, but then your friend's other friends were there laughing and joking. Not resorting to violence was already showing restraint. If it had been a stranger making such thoughtless remarks, Nian wouldn't have minded cutting them down.
"It's okay, don't worry."
Dusk, seeing her sister so angry for the first time, quickly comforted her.
The High Priest also seemed to realize he had said the wrong thing in this situation and fell silent, focusing on piloting the aircraft.
Sargon was quite far from Columbia.
But the speed of Lucas Reeve's modified aircraft far surpassed that of any other country's aircraft at the time. So, in just four and a half hours, the group had already reached the skies above Sargon. Since the aircraft's altitude exceeded the limits of current detection technology, there was no need to take a detour; they flew directly over Sargon's urban territory.
"It's just ahead."
Nine-Colored Deer pointed forward, based on the location she had pinpointed.
"Are you sure, young lady?"
The High Priest pushed up his glasses with a wing.
"Ahead lies the Foehn Hotlands."
"I'm sure."
Nine-Colored Deer nodded.
After getting the confirmation, the highly intelligent medical cart continued to pilot the aircraft towards the Foehn Hotlands.
The Foehn Hotlands were quite famous throughout Terra, their fame not inferior to Earth's Bermuda Triangle. Even though 99.99% of people had never been there, they had more or less seen it mentioned in many books or ancient records.
Legend had it
that the Foehn Hotlands were known as an impassable land.
In the past, countless people, adventurers, or professional teams organized by large corporations had attempted to cross this area, but all had ended in failure. These incredibly experienced adventurers had almost all disappeared within the Foehn Hotlands, with only a few lucky ones returning.
Some had also tried to use aircraft to fly over the entire Foehn Hotlands at high altitude.
However, after flying for a while, there seemed to be a very special power within the Foehn Hotlands. This power could cause aircraft to automatically lose control and crash to the ground. Furthermore, it was rumored that a legendary monster existed in the depths of the Foehn Hotlands. The few lucky people who had managed to travel far ended up dying in the mouths of these monsters.
Of course,
this legend was for ordinary people.
The people in this aircraft were anything but ordinary.
Four deities, one immortal, and one of them was even a complete deity. If a team like this couldn't handle it, then the Foehn Hotlands truly was a forbidden land.
The aircraft continued to fly deeper under Miss Nine-Colored Deer's direction.
The general temperature inside the Foehn Hotlands was much higher than outside.
The ground was completely desert, without a single speck of green vegetation. Not even cacti, plants that specialized in growing in arid places, could be seen. The entire place felt like a dead land, with no signs of life whatsoever.
Suddenly,
a special will descended, seemingly to punish this aircraft for attempting to cross its boundary.
Just as the aircraft briefly malfunctioned,
the four women in the cabin all snorted coldly at the same time.
Instantly,
four completely different powers intertwined and shot up into the sky, enveloping the aircraft and completely crushing the descending will in one go. The aircraft returned to normal.
"What was that just now?"
Jessica, still sniffling, wiped away her tears and tried her best to be strong. She believed in Lucas Reeve, believed that absolutely nothing would happen to him.
"Just the will of a god descending."
Dusk explained, "These wills are instinctual. It's not that the god is intentionally targeting us, but rather it imposes its will on anyone who attempts to cross the Foehn Hotlands."
"Are there really gods in the Foehn Hotlands?"
Franka asked curiously. She knew the legends of the Foehn Hotlands, of course, but had previously treated them as mere entertainment. As a typical materialist back then, she didn't believe in the existence of gods at all, thinking they were just made-up stories. Of course, she believed now.
"There are..."
Nian nodded.
"More than one."
"However, most of them have already been shattered, and the few that are luckily complete have chosen to keep a low profile. Other than not allowing outsiders to pass through the Foehn Hotlands, they won't proactively do anything."
After successfully repelling one of the divine wills,
finally,
in a certain place deep within the Foehn Hotlands, Nine-Colored Deer had the medical cart stop the aircraft.
Everyone quickly disembarked from the cabin.
The moment the door opened,
a scorching heatwave washed over them. Compared to the cold, this dry heat was even more uncomfortable.
"Is Mr. Reeve... nearby?"
Jessica and the others were extremely nervous and quickly asked Nine-Colored Deer.
"He should be."
Nine-Colored Deer nodded.
Suddenly,
Nian seemed to sense something. She turned her head and looked at a small sand dune not far behind them, a strange light flashing in her eyes.
Immediately, the divine power in her body surged, and a terrifying pressure surpassing that of any human descended. This was the power of a god, something a mortal could never match in their entire life.
With a single gesture from Nian,
a large, crimson greatsword, almost as big as Nian herself, appeared out of thin air in her hand. The divine intent within the sword seemed capable of tearing the sky apart. This sword was very special, as if it were pieced together from countless fragments. The pieces weren't even connected, as if an invisible thread was holding the fragments together to form a complete sword.
Nian grabbed the greatsword and casually swung it at the sand dune in front of her.
It was just a casual strike.
However, the force of the wind it kicked up directly sliced off the top of the small sand dune not far away.
This terrifying power left Franka and the others so shocked they couldn't speak.
*Terrifying...*
*Is this the power of a god?*
A casual strike was enough to alter the terrain.
After the top of the sand dune was sliced off,
the group finally noticed that within the dune, something resembling a statue was buried in the sand, looking as if it had endured countless years of wind and rain.
"!!!"
Jessica and the others' eyes widened, and they immediately tried to run towards the statue, but were stopped by Nian and the others.
With the top of the dune gone, the statue only revealed a head and a small part of its body.
The statue's face had no expression at all, not because it had been eroded by the wind and rain, but because this statue had no facial features to begin with. Its face was completely bare.
A typical humanoid form...
However,
this kind of statue made Nian and Nine-Colored Deer frown.
Ordinary people might think it was normal, after all, Nian, Dusk, or Nine-Colored Deer all appeared as humans in their daily lives.
In reality, that was not the case.
'Human' was just a unified form.
For example, Nian's true form was a pure white giant dragon with flame patterns, while Dusk's true form was an azure dragon. Nine-Colored Deer's true form, as her name suggested, was a divine deer.
Even Sui had the complete form of a true dragon. Even Laevatain, who looked the most human, was only human-like in appearance; in reality, she had no connection to humanity at all.
And this purely human-looking statue...
was rare.
Even Nian or Nine-Colored Deer had never seen anything like it. As for Dusk, she had certainly never seen it. Nian had at least been out and about and was knowledgeable, but Dusk was a complete shut-in. If Nian didn't know something, Dusk most likely wouldn't know either, except, of course, when it came to video games.
"This is it."
Nine-Colored Deer pointed at the humanoid statue in front of them.
Jessica and the others were too nervous to speak.
"This is Mr. Reeve?"
"Mmm-hmm."
Nine-Colored Deer nodded.
Immediately,
she walked over, took the necklace that Lucas Reeve usually stayed in from Jessica, held it in her hand, and pressed her other hand onto the statue. As a brilliant light, like sunshine, emerged, both the surface of the statue and the necklace began to glow simultaneously.
Jessica, Franka, Zumama, Little Ceobe, and the others all stared nervously at Nine-Colored Deer, who was casting her power not far away.
The next second, a phantom-like figure slowly floated out of the necklace.
This figure seemed to be sleeping. After being summoned, it let out a big yawn.
"Oh man.... Who's looking for me? I was sleeping."
After Lucas Reeve complained, he saw that there seemed to be many people in front of him, including the teary-eyed Jessica and the others, as well as a greatly relieved Nian, Dusk, Surtr, and Nine-Colored Deer.
"Huh, this soul of mine woke up? Didn't it already become extremely small and weak?"
Lucas Reeve didn't know what had happened. After realizing he couldn't get out for the time being, he had habitually prepared to take a nap. He hadn't expected to suddenly be woken up after such a short time.
When he looked around, the surrounding scenery was somewhat familiar.
"Huh? Where is this?"
Lucas Reeve's question went unanswered.
Jessica, overjoyed, rushed forward and hugged the necklace tightly in her arms. Franka, Liskarm, Little Ceobe, Ifrit, Rosmontis, and Shamare also came over, surrounding Lucas Reeve. The news that something might have happened to Lucas Reeve had truly terrified everyone. Now, seeing that he was okay, everyone let out a huge sigh of relief.
Lucas Reeve: "???"
On the way back to Columbia, Lucas Reeve finally understood the gist of what had happened from Jessica's explanation.
"So you guys actually came all the way over here."
Jessica said, a little unhappily, "Because we were worried!"
Seeing Lucas Reeve return safely, Nian finally returned from her earlier coldness to her usual lively and energetic personality.
"Hehe, Lucas Reeve, you have no idea. At the beginning, Jessica was so scared she almost fainted. Before you came out, Jessica was still wiping away her tears."
"Ahhh! Don't say it, Miss Nian!!"
Jessica covered her face in embarrassment.
"So, what happened to you?"
Nine-Colored Deer asked Lucas Reeve with curiosity.
Lucas Reeve explained, "One of my abilities has recovered. The main body needed a lot of power, so it absorbed most of the soul power from my various soul fragments."
"What ability?"
Nian asked happily.
Lucas Reeve didn't plan to hide it, since everyone here was on his side.
"A kind of Rule. I call it 'Originium'. I haven't tried it yet, but when I get back, I'll practice with it a bit. Maybe I can completely cure Oripathy."
Everyone: "???"