"The Greater Ruler of Weakness?"
Asahi muttered, feeling the earth shudder beneath his feet.
Instinctively, he drew his sword, his gray eyes scanning the surroundings.
He knew of The Greater Ruler of Power, a formidable force—the one who fought Kendra and summoned the Vortex of Living Things: The Guardian.
Yet the Greater Ruler of Weakness, cloaked in enigma, wielded a silent force that slipped into souls, unraveling courage with slow, suffocating despair and the hiss of doubt.
But with Treach crippled by the Orb of Immortality's curse, Asahi slid his sword back into his sheathe, fighting to keep his mind from fracturing.
(All I have to do is get back to the surface and...)
Visions of the past entered his mind. Asahi had pressed on through corridors and caverns littered with skeletons, each of his steps echoing with the memory of those who had fallen before him.
(On second thought.)
Memories of old battles warred inside him: the first defeat to the monsters, then the lingering cries of his sisters, and the raw sound of his own voice in terror.
He craved no solace. Instead, he vowed to become a shield for his trembling followers, standing firm against the terror inching ever nearer, resolved to keep the darkness at bay.
He steadied himself and faced the unknown threat. "I don't know who you are... but if you dare touch the skin of one of my followers, you will be done for."
Treach's eyes flickered as he responded, his soul straining to exit Trid's body. "Did you forget that I am..." he said, the words heavy with sacrifice. "...an immortal?"
Bound by an ancient pact, even immortality had its price—a secret shared only by a few, including Asahi.
With a swift motion, five shining knives flashed and drove into the frozen circle below. This was no ordinary pit; it was a gateway, a luminous threshold, a portal that called out to the unknown...
"The center of the world," Treach said as he left Trid's body, descending into the innermost darkness.
They scrambled away from the fracturing ice, dodging shards breaking beneath their feet as they fled.
Cliffs collapsed into ruin as darkness surged, devouring the final traces of light and engulfing Asahi.
. . .
(Hours Later...)
(THUMP THUMP)
(THUMP THUMP)
A relentless, deep thrum pounded in his ears, echoing like the pulse of some ancient beast.
(THUMP THUMP)
Crimson light flared, flooding his vision as his eyes fluttered open to the roar of churning energy.
(THUMP THUMP)
"Why weep in the midst of echoing chaos?"
A soft yet commanding voice reverberated in Asahi's mind as he saw only Trid's body, Primrose, and Grandpa, all kneeling before the vast sphere of crimson energy. Black fissures and rings twisted around the red orb, pulsing blue before vanishing into shadow. The voice pressed on.
"Oh, members of The Black Flood, why become a host when you can be a devourer?"
Asahi stood mute beneath the voice's command, feeling his body grow harder and stronger with each pulse radiating from the Orb.
" The Almighty Devouring Prince has been teleported to the deepest depths of the world. Unable to escape in echoing turmoil. The immortals rest present under our presence and shall kneel to us as we are the source of the world's health."
"World's health? Devouring prince?" Asahi questioned. "What do you mean?"
"Haven't you known, Devouring Prince, the truth about your family? The truth about The Black Flood?"
Staggered by the voice's revelation and the Orb's overwhelming force, Asahi's legs gave way, and he collapsed to his knees.
(What's happening to me? Why can't I control?)
"Oh, dear Prince, if only you had known the truth about your wretched family. Using our power as a source to heal this discrepancy before our very eyes."
Sparks and wild energies erupted from the Orb, fracturing as it pulsed like a living heart. Lost and desperate, Asahi summoned his courage and stepped forward to confront the Almighty Orb.
"Who are you?"
The Orb let out a low chuckle as black tendrils coiled around Primrose, Trid, and Grandpa.
"Who are we? We are The Orb of Destruction. A powerful incarnate that keeps this world alive. A potent product of your parents' baffling creations."
"Parents?" Asahi said with absolute disbelief. "What about my parents?"
"Your... parents... yes, they are responsible for the..."
Before Asahi could hear the answer, a surge of energy tore through the cavern—sharp and electric.
Primrose lunged, grabbing Asahi and pushing him aside as the air warped with the Orb's power.
The cavern shuddered; the Orb of Destruction throbbed, sending shockwaves through stone.
Crackling filled the air, tinged with a metallic bite.
The force lifted Asahi, Primrose, Trid, and Grandpa from the ground, hurling them skyward as the voice vanished, leaving only deepening mystery.
Chiara's voice trembled as she approached Asahi. "Asahi, who are you talking to? Wait, what is that giant ball? T...This place is giving me the creeps."
He tried to explain, but before he could finish,
Trid and Grandpa tumbled down the hill and floated upward with Asahi.
"Asahi! Stay put! Whatever you do... DO NOT touch The Orb of Destruction!"
Following their desperate cries, as The Orb charged, Asahi, Primrose, Grandpa, and Trid floated and were teleported back to...
. . .
Sheets of ice blanketed the endless glacier plain. Asahi, Primrose, Grandpa, and Trid coughed up red light, stunned by the impossible sight before them. It was none other than...
"Did we just see... The Orb of Destruction?" According to his speculations, Asahi realized that after he fell into the pit, he was transported to the deepest depths of his world.
It had already seemed bottomless, but now, as he plunged what felt like thousands of kilometers underground, he wondered just how far the rabbit hole of his world truly went.
Another thing, his followers were left abandoned, even...
"Asahi? Is that you?"
A blonde-haired, purple-eyed girl sprinted over to Asahi, with five of the followers behind her. Chiara.
This shocked Asahi quickly, recalling what had happened back in the Depths of Linuxinia.
A law that states that no one from the depths is supposed to see the surface was strictly enforced to protect the balance between the two realms.
Asahi knew that this transgression could carry severe penalties, not just for those who had witnessed the surface but for the entire community in the depths.
And yet, despite that fundamental law, it seemed as if not only the trio had been warped back but also a few of his followers.
It's as if they had transgressed a law.
(Is this the Orb's doing?) Asahi wondered.
Then, voices came from the distance.
"Lord Asahi, is this heaven?"
"Is this what you meant by a world beyond?"
Of course, Asahi realized that his followers had not actually seen the surface.
In fact, they thought the sparkling icicles of the underground frozen world were stars, which made sense since the prophecy states that a prince shall return and bring an end to eternal winter.
Now, with the silver-haired old woman, Chiara, and a few other boys and men, Asahi had escaped the cavern they tried to discover; it was almost as if the light seemed distant now.
. . .
Asahi quickly opened his map and saw that he wasn't located in Sleepy Serpent Shores, but instead...
"Frolicking Factories?"
Smog billowed from the factories, rising beneath the looming shadow of Brittlefrost Peak.
Glaciers had splintered between the smokestacks, melting snow into treacherous, swirling waters.
The air was heavy with the acrid scent of burning coal, mingling with the sharp tang of icy wind.
Asahi's ears buzzed with the hum and clatter of machinery echoing off the frozen landscape. He stepped back twice, startled by the scene before him.
He realized that Frolicking Factories was more than just a bleak industrial site; its location beneath Brittlefrost Peak held strategic significance. It was a hub of innovation and despair, their influences intertwined.
Emotional weight bore down on Asahi as he walked with Grandpa and Primrose, feeling the despair of those who labored here, woven into the very scenery.
Trid, moving alongside them, began his explanation as they passed snow-covered hills.
"These factories are rumored to harness the ancient energies of the peak to fuel their enigmatic creations, a fact not lost on anyone seeking power over the realm's resources."
Trid said, his breath visible in the cold air.
To Asahi, it felt like a pivotal crossroads where industry clashed with the mystical; understanding its purpose, he sensed, could reveal secrets entwined with his world's fate.
After his lengthy explanation, Chiara dared to ask.
"What are they? And what are they making?"
Trid, after brushing snow off his coat, began his second explanation,
"I believe what you're seeing, Asahi, is the product of Wrailezan creations. Factories that belonged to both Astait and Wraileza,"
Trid continued, meeting Asahi's eyes.
"A sector belongs to robots, while other sectors are trying to manipulate and change the Resurrection Magic into soil canisters. Highly Illegal, mind you."
Asahi listened, trying to process the scope of what Trid described."
After brushing snow from his coat and hiding in one of the snow-covered bushes, Trid concluded,
"It's a dangerous project. That's why making these factories took so long."
After the followers and Chiara replied, they left and returned to the forest, hiding from the sentinels lurking in the snow.
"I don't understand their true motives."
After settling back, Asahi asked.
"Do you remember someone else invading your body?"
"Invading my body?" Trid said with a chuckle. "Yeah, but I didn't get harmed. Some spirit had invaded me, head to toe. I felt my body being controlled, and I couldn't do anything about it."
"But that's in the past,"
Trid said as they continued to progress deeper into the factories.
"Now that I, my daughter, and grandpa are immortal, thanks to you shattering the Orb of Immortality, we can pass through easily. Immortality has not only preserved us but also amplified our strengths, linking us in an unbreakable bond."
He turned to Asahi...
"I'll rely on your fighting skills, while we now offer the strength and resilience of shields. You shall be the bone of my sword, while we are the shields."
With no reason to deter, Asahi, his followers, and others progressed onward.
But just before he took a step, a memory flickered in Asahi's vision.
. . .
"She can't stand her power to destroy worlds— to watch civilizations rot in her own hands." A voice from an unknown time mentioned that as the void of darkness expanded and shrank, it became a speck of light.
"She never wanted to be the villain, but to be a hero. Nonetheless, to preserve her kingdom of (redacted), (redacted) was forced to (redacted)
Censored and forbidden, the name of that woman was shrouded in mystery.
This soft yet powerful voice didn't belong to any of the voices Asahi had heard so far.
This voice was slow and articulate. Cold and ceremonious.
"Multiple partners. Several children. What has our dear (redacted) and (redacted) been up to these past millennia, defiled by The Creators' wishes?"
Flashing silhouettes. Dark hair and violet eyes. Cryptic as they can be, they showed a woman wrapped only in ice. Snow fell in thick amounts.
"Is there more to the Adtraic than meets the eye?
With that, the memory faded as soon as it came, bringing and anchoring Asahi back to reality.