After the Burial, Moving Forward
Kayla's blood ran cold the moment she saw the Imperial Legion badge.
"No… it can't be… Could it be Father? Or one of his lieutenants?" Kayla's voice trembled with disbelief, dry and rasping like sandpaper scraping against stone. Like a berserk wild bull, she charged forward without a care, her massive frame whipping up a gust of wind. She dropped to one knee, her thunder claws quivering with emotion as she carefully brushed away the thick layer of dust coating the armband. The rough yet incredibly resilient texture of the metal, the roaring wolf-head emblem etched deep into her soul… in that instant, it shattered the last sliver of hope she had clung to! She recognized this armband! It belonged to **Nates**, one of her father's most valiant and loyal vice-commanders!
Her gaze quickly swept to the other two skeletons nearby. A shattered handle from a standard Imperial Beastman battle-axe and a severely worn name pendant engraved with ancient beastman script mercilessly confirmed her worst fears.
"This… this is Nates! And Malto and Liam! Father's lieutenants! They… they all…" Kayla's voice caught in her throat. A colossal wave of grief and blazing fury clashed violently in her amber beast eyes. She recognized them! These three were among the six most trusted confidants who had visited her home with her father ten years ago! Back then, they were the Empire's most elite warriors, her father's right and left hands, the terrifying generals who made enemies tremble on the battlefield! And now, they had been reduced to cold, lifeless bones, left exposed in this cursed wasteland!
The rest of the party quickly gathered around, the atmosphere so heavy it felt like lead pressing down on their chests. The only sound left in the air was the monotonous hissing of chaotic energy currents.
TISK gripped his **Earthshaker Warhammer** tightly, his beard trembling. His deep voice carried the solemn mourning unique to dwarves:
"Nates, brother… Malto… Liam… May the flames of the forge warm your journey home."
He gently tapped the head of his warhammer against the ground—**thump, thump**—producing a muffled yet dignified sound. This was the highest dwarven rite of farewell to fallen warriors.
Rhea Medusa also stepped forward and crouched down to examine the skeletons closely. She brushed away the accumulated dust and carefully studied the fracture marks on the weapons and the scattered remnants of magical beast corpses around them. After a moment, a rare glint of admiration flashed through her amber eyes.
"Hm. These three had some real skill. Look at the wounds on the bones and all this 'trash' around them," she said, jerking her chin toward the beast remains. "They took down at least a dozen mid-tier magical beasts, and even left traces of two high-tier ones—that half-broken fang over there belongs to an **Abyssal Ice Python**, and that twisted piece of metal is a fragment of a **Lava Burrower**'s carapace. Out in the normal world, any one of them could have stood alone against a thousand. Top-tier vice-commanders."
Her tone shifted to one of faint regret.
"Too bad they died in this damned place. The magical beasts of **Starfall Abyss** don't play by the rules. Spatial distortions amplify their attacks in unpredictable ways. These three were probably ambushed or caught off-guard by a sudden energy surge, leaving them vulnerable."
Kayla clutched Nates' cold armband so tightly that the hard metal nearly dug into her palm, her knuckles turning white from the force. She said nothing. Silently, with utmost care, she began gathering the remains of the three vice-commanders, along with every broken relic that proved their identities.
Lin Ya stepped forward without a word. He simply placed his bark-textured hands gently on the cold black crystal platform. A surge of vibrant green natural life-force poured from his palms. Miraculously, the impossibly hard rock softened like rippling water, rising and shaping itself. In the end, three simple yet profoundly solemn stone cairns took form.
Kayla reverently placed the remains and relics of the three vice-commanders into the cairns. Lin Ya guided the stone to slowly close over them, then adorned the tops with clusters of tough, faintly starlit moss that stubbornly grew in the cracks of the crystal rock—adding a touch of life's comfort to these cold graves.
There were no lengthy eulogies, no anguished wails. Only a deep, guttural beast roar erupted from the depths of Kayla's throat—suppressed to the extreme, carrying years of pent-up grief and towering rage. The sound was low, hoarse, yet possessed an earth-shaking power. It pierced through the surrounding chaotic energy storms and echoed across this land of death, solemn and tragic.
The party stood in silent vigil, paying their deepest respects and mourning to these warriors who had fought to their last breath in a foreign land.
Once the burial was complete, the group's mood grew even heavier, as though the very air had solidified. But the fire in Kayla's eyes, tempered by grief and fury, burned brighter than ever—like molten iron boiling in a forge. She tightly bound Nates' armband to her own thunder-claw bracer. The cold metal pressed against her skin, as if carrying the unyielding will and unfinished mission of her fallen comrades.
"Move out!" Kayla shot to her feet, her voice resolute as steel, her beast eyes filled only with rock-hard determination.
"My father is still alive! He's waiting for us!"
The party set off once more, but this time, an unshakable shadow hung over every heart. The scattered bones everywhere served as silent warning signs, constantly reminding them: this cursed land had devoured countless beings far stronger than they. One misstep could mean eternal damnation.
The Gate of the Abyss
Under Rhea Medusa's slightly impatient guidance, the group traversed another perilous stretch of terrain—walking as if on the edge of blades. The sensation of spatial distortion had grown so intense it could drive one mad: upside-down floating islands hung overhead, mirrored images overlapped left and right until reality blurred, and it felt as though invisible forces might tear their bodies apart at any moment.
Finally, they arrived at a strangely calm area. The violent energy currents had miraculously subsided, forming a relatively stable "entrance" that rippled like water. The space at the threshold undulated like a lake struck by a stone, sending out layers of dreamy, iridescent halos—bizarre and completely opaque.
"Ha! We're finally here!" Rhea Medusa's eyes lit up instantly. A childlike, mischievous grin spread across her face as she turned back to Fa and the others—especially Kayla. Her amber eyes sparkled with undisguised mischief, the corners of her mouth curling slyly.
"Little ones, are you ready? Once we go in, I guarantee you'll be **'greatly enlightened'**—a 'big surprise' you could never imagine even if you racked your brains out here! Try not to wet yourselves in fear, okay?"
Before anyone could respond, she stepped forward lightly. Her figure vanished into the rippling spatial waves like a stone sinking into water, leaving only slowly expanding rings of multicolored light.
Fa and her companions exchanged a quick glance. Each saw deep wariness and gravity in the others' eyes. Rhea's "surprises" were often accompanied by devastating "shocks." Taking a deep breath to suppress their unease, they gritted their teeth and followed her, plunging one after another into the ever-shifting halo.
The instant they crossed the spatial ripple, a violent wave of dizziness and weightlessness crashed over them like a tsunami! It felt as though they had been thrown into a madly spinning drum—their five senses completely scrambled. When the intense spatial disturbance finally subsided and they felt solid ground beneath their feet (though the sense of direction remained utterly confused), their vision refocused—and the sight before them made everyone, even the knowledgeable and wise **Yuyuer** and the eternally calm, machine-like **Rex**, suck in a sharp, bone-chilling breath! Their pupils contracted sharply from sheer shock!
This was **not** a cave existing in the material world! It was more like a piece of the cosmic canvas violently torn away by some savage force, crumpled, folded, and haphazardly stitched back together—an **otherdimensional domain** that completely overturned common sense and challenged the limits of cognition! A **mad space** of utter insanity!
• **The Ultimate Carnival of Elements**
The entire space had been brutally divided by an invisible, domineering law into twelve distinctly separated yet chaotically intermingling regions! Everywhere the eye could see was the raw, primal collision and roar of elemental origins:
- A scorching crimson river of flowing lava (**Fire**) pressed right up against a vast plain of eternal, absolute-zero blue-black ice (**Ice**). At their border, sky-obscuring clouds of searing steam rose with shrill hissing!
- Glittering golden veins of metal (**Metal**) snaked like dragon skeletons, strangely suspended above a lush yet lethally poisonous crystal forest (**Wood/Poison**) spewing purple toxic mist and explosive spores. Cold metallic light clashed with eerie violet poison glow!
- A howling **gale of destruction** (**Wind**) filled with razor-sharp black sand, entwined with countless leaping, roaring bolts of lightning (**Thunder**), slammed against a massive barrier—one half radiating soft healing white light (**Light**), the other half an all-devouring pure darkness (**Dark**) from which even sight could not escape. At the border of light and dark, space twisted and writhed like living flesh in combat!
- Massive cracked earth-yellow continental plates (**Earth**) floated like broken islands in midair. Below them flowed not ordinary water, but a deep, azure-glowing pool (**Water/Mind**) whose surface rippled with invisible psychic waves and an eerie, seductive aura!
Twelve primal elements coexisted, collided, annihilated, and were reborn here in their most extreme, chaotic forms—composing a bizarre, apocalyptic symphony of destructive beauty and endless danger!
• **The Mad Labyrinth of Space**
Even more mind-shattering was the spatial orientation! There was no eternal up, down, left, or right! The "ground" they stood on could become the "ceiling" or "cliff wall" in the next second! A tumbling river of lava might roar overhead, blasting scorching heat into their faces. A plain of softly glowing crystal clusters might stand vertically before them—only for gravity to suddenly reverse when they tried to approach, making it feel like they were scaling a ten-thousand-foot cliff! Space here was wantonly folded, flipped, compressed, and stretched—forming a three-dimensional nightmare labyrinth that defied all physical intuition and guaranteed disorientation!
• **Chaotic Abyssal Beasts**
And roaming, roaring, and tearing at each other within this elemental hell were precisely the "warm and welcoming" **surprises** Rhea Medusa had promised—**Abyssal Elemental Magical Beasts**! Their forms were bizarre and perfectly embodied the violent elements they inhabited:
- Lava Giant Lizards (**Fire**) rolling in molten rivers, clad in crimson crystal armor and spiked along their backs.
- Six-legged Ice Crystal Direwolves (**Ice**) charging across the ice plains, exhaling breaths that could freeze souls.
- Pure high-density metal scorpions (**Metal**) whose joints screeched piercingly, tails flashing with energy blades.
- Giant chameleon venom dragons (**Poison/Wood**) lurking in toxic mist forests, bodies dripping corrosive slime, perfectly blending into the poison fog.
- Lightning Wind Rays (**Wind/Thunder**) gliding ghost-like through thunder-sandstorms, flat like manta rays, crackling with arcs of annihilation.
- Amorphous Light-Dark Amalgams (**Light/Dark**) writhing on the twisted light-dark barrier, one half radiating holy radiance, the other half grotesquely demonic.
- Shadow Wraiths (**Mind/Water**) rising from the psychic pool, forcibly stitched together from countless screaming soul fragments, radiating intense psychic pollution.
- Rock-armored Burrower Behemoths (**Earth**) leaping like cannonballs between floating earth islands, covered in sharp rock spikes, heads like battering rams!
Without exception, they exuded an aura of extreme ferocity, chaos, and primal destruction! Their scarlet, turbid, or elementally glowing eyes held only the purest lust for slaughter and greedy instinct to devour fresh flesh and energy! Here there was no hunting cunning, no fearful retreat—only the most primitive, frenzied impulse to attack!
"How is it? Spectacular, isn't it? Utterly fascinating?" Rhea Medusa's delighted voice rang out. At some point she had appeared on a relatively stable floating obsidian platform, arms crossed, leisurely enjoying the party's expressions—mixtures of extreme shock, bewilderment, and momentary stupor.
"Once you leave this island, you'll never see such a 'magnificent' sight again in your lifetime! And more importantly," she pointed toward the restless beast hordes in their respective elemental domains—occasionally roaring challenges at neighboring territories or outright charging to tear and devour—"these 'little friends' of mine are all **'passionately enthusiastic'**. Their brains only have two modes: 'rip you apart' or 'eat you alive.' They won't cower and hide like those cowardly things outside! Look how **'innocent and adorable'** they are, how **'full of vitality'**! Isn't it wonderful?"
"**Innocent and adorable?!**" TISK stared at a nearby Metal Giant Scorpion that casually crushed the edge of a drifting floating island with one massive pincer—producing a teeth-grinding screech of tearing metal. His mouth twitched uncontrollably as he repeated her words.
As if responding to Rhea's "praise" and welcoming these "uninvited guests," the moment her voice fell—the edge of the nearest poison-mist forest erupted! A **Deep Abyssal Venom Crystal Dragon Beast** over five meters long, covered in ink-green highly toxic crystal scales, its back bristling with flickering ghostly venomous spines, resembling a giant lizard yet grotesquely sporting a pair of rotting bat wings—let out a hoarse, piercing roar! Its turbid yellow vertical pupils instantly locked onto this group radiating the scent of "fresh life"! Its thick hind legs stomped violently on the toxin-moss-covered crystal ground, kicking up a huge cloud of foul-smelling corrosive sludge! Its massive body shot forward like a siege crossbow bolt, wrapped in thick, impenetrable purple-black deadly poison fog, charging straight at the party with ferocious intent! Its gaping maw flashed with ominous light from razor-sharp venom fangs. Deep in its throat, a highly condensed orb of ink-green venom missile pulsed with powerful energy fluctuations, rapidly taking shape!
"Ha! The appetizer arrives right on time!" Rhea Medusa stood leisurely with arms crossed, showing no intention of intervening. Instead, she stepped back slightly, fully yielding the "stage," her face brimming with anticipation for a good show. "This little lizard will warm you up. Let me see how well you've digested the **Star Essence** these past few days. Remember," she added teasingly, "make it look good—don't dirty my 'garden'!"
"Kayla, Zhamisi—meet it head-on! Lin Ya, control the ground, restrict its movement, purify the poison mist! Yuyuer, focus on purification support! Everyone else, stay alert for ambushes!"
Fa snapped out of her shock in an instant. Her star eyes locked onto the target like the most precise targeting array. Calm, swift commands poured from her lips. No matter how bizarre the environment or how ferocious the enemy, the battle instincts engraved into her very bones had already banished all hesitation.
"**ROAR! Leave it to me!**" Kayla unleashed a heaven-shaking war cry. Her **Fifth Stage Transformation: Beast Soul Titan** activated instantly! A colossal thunder soul giant rose from the ground, wreathed in raging lightning and the newly comprehended **Star Thunder Swiftness**. With claws tearing the air with shrieks, it fearlessly charged to meet the Venom Crystal Dragon Beast! Its speed was more than twice what it had been before!
"**Deep Current Venom Fang • Barrier!**" Zhamisi whipped her snake tail, transforming into a streak of ink-green lightning as she dashed to the flank. Her venom-fang scimitars did not strike directly—instead, they carved two sinister arcs. Thick, even purer ink-green venom fog erupted from her, not to attack, but to rapidly interweave in front, forming a rolling, highly toxic barrier that met the enemy's sprayed poison fog head-on—attempting to block, neutralize, and dilute it!
Lin Ya slammed both palms onto the "ground" littered with crystal shards and toxic moss. A surging tide of emerald natural life-force poured into the earth. Though the environment's elements were wildly chaotic, the newly acquired **Star Essence** within him seemed to resonate wondrously with his ancient natural power. Countless incredibly resilient vines sparkling with faint golden starlight burst from the ground! Ignoring the corrosive poison mist, they lashed out like living chains, madly entangling the Venom Crystal Dragon Beast's thick limbs and long tail! At the same time, the vines released powerful purifying natural energy—like countless tiny purification vortexes desperately neutralizing and dispersing the deadly toxins in the air!
Yuyuer raised her dragon-bone gem staff high. The crystal orb in her hand erupted with deep azure radiance:
"**Purification Tide!**"
A powerful, gentle yet unstoppable surge of water infused with **Star Water Power** appeared out of nowhere! This was no ordinary water—its core sparkled with starlight, as though drawing on stellar force, forming a tidal wave that precisely engulfed the highly concentrated venom missile spewing from the beast's throat and the surrounding purple-black poison fog! Wherever the tide passed, the venom hissed and dissolved; the fog was forcefully washed away, broken down, and purified!
**BOOM! PSHHH! ZZZZ—!**
Raging thunder and churning poison fog collided violently, exploding in blinding energy sparks!
Resilient starlit vines scraped fiercely against hard venom crystal scales, producing teeth-grinding grinding sounds!
The star-glowing purification tide clashed head-on with the highly corrosive condensed venom, vaporizing huge clouds of bizarre gas!
In this chaotic, insane elemental space, a desperate close-quarters battle erupted!
Rhea Medusa, like the pickiest spectator, reclined on the obsidian, occasionally offering commentary:
"Left side! You were half a beat slow!"
"Oh? That poison resistance is actually decent!"
"Tsk, nice timing on those vine bindings—now that's interesting!"
After a heart-pounding, life-or-death struggle, thanks to the power enhanced by **Star Essence**, perfect teamwork, and rapid adaptation to the environment, the party finally slew the ferocious Deep Abyssal Venom Crystal Dragon Beast! Its massive body crashed to the ground. Its hard venom crystal scales were shattered inch by inch by Kayla's frenzied thunder claws and TISK's perfectly timed, ice-and-fire-infused **Earthshaker** hammer! The lethal venom sac was precisely pierced by Zhamisi's twin blades and forcibly neutralized and dissolved by her even more domineering venom! The air filled with the smell of charred flesh, acidic rot, and the slightly salty freshness left by the purification tide—a bizarre, indescribable mixture.
"Hm. Passable, I suppose—just barely watchable."
Rhea Medusa gave her "fair and balanced" evaluation, as though they had just passed a barely acceptable entrance exam. She lazily raised a hand and pointed toward a faintly visible cavern entrance deep in the space, glowing with dim red light.
"The 'sky' here has no sun or moon… let's just call it 'nighttime' for now. Go rest in that cave. There's natural geothermal fire inside—no need to bother starting one."
She paused, then flashed that mischievous grin again.
"I'll go fetch you some local 'specialty' for dinner. Guaranteed fresh!"
With that, her figure flickered and vanished into the surrounding elemental chaos without a trace, leaving the party facing this bizarre, danger-filled "campsite" and the eerie red-glowing cavern entrance in stunned silence.
The interior of the cavern was far more spacious than it appeared from outside, and the environment was relatively "stable"—at least gravity consistently pointed downward. The walls were not stone but semi-transparent deep-blue ice crystals. Strangely, the geothermal fire burning inside the crystals did not melt the ice. Fire and ice—two violently opposing elements—were forcibly imprisoned together, creating a bizarre and gorgeous light source that bathed the entire cavern in ever-shifting, dreamlike colors.
In one corner, sure enough, was a natural geothermal vent. Steady crimson flames burned, radiating endless warmth that just barely countered the bone-chilling cold from the ice-crystal walls, forming a relatively comfortable zone.
The weary party sat down, tending to the minor injuries from battle—mainly the stinging pain from poison mist corrosion and the concussive discomfort from elemental shocks. Sharing their limited water and dry rations, silence enveloped the small camp. Though the environment was strange and eerie, the temporary sense of safety, the warmth of the fire, and the exhaustion after fierce combat finally allowed their taut nerves to relax, if only a little.