Spacecraft,
Surya was practicing with his sword.
Ganari was preparing food for everyone.
Nini was working on the communication devices.
Ganari stepped out of the spacecraft where Surya was training.
[Ganari]: What would you like to eat, my child?
[Surya]: Anything is fine.
He replied with a small smile.
Surprisingly, despite being from entirely different species, there was something resembling a mother-son bond between Ganari and Surya.
Surya (thinking): I am sensing something strange. A threat? Enemies?In that case, I shall protect the spacecraft.And then Nini will marry me.
Surya thought while making a smug face.
He kept a sharp eye on the surroundings.
Clink.
Swords clashed.
[Surya]: I knew it.
A woman stood before him, wielding a seemingly powerful blade.
[Tigera]: My name is Tigera. Nice to meet you.
She said with a smirk.
[Surya]: This isn't exactly a pleasant meeting though.
Surya pushed her back.
[Surya]: Enemy attack!
He shouted as a warning.
The gigantic spacecraft immediately sealed its doors.
[Surya]: How do you even know about the spacecraft? We were using stealth mode.
[Tigera]: Does it matter when you're going to die anyway?
She replied with a giggle.
Then Surya saw them.
A parade of monsters.
An entire army of monsters accompanied by Asen soldiers marching toward them.
The swords clashed again.
The ground trembled beneath every exchange.
Surya (thinking): Damn it.
I can't take her down while dealing with all those puppets too.
[Tigera]: Are you really willing to hit a lady as beautiful as me?
She giggled again.
[Surya]: Not my type.
He replied while pushing her aside.
Just as he prepared to launch a decisive strike—
Something grabbed his leg.
A hand.
A hand emerging from the ground itself.
Surya's attention shifted for a split second.
That was enough.
Tigera reappeared and slashed across his torso.
I think I missed.
Soldiers immediately swarmed toward Surya.
Meanwhile, Tigera calmly walked toward the spacecraft, releasing a menacing aura.
Then—
Bonk.
Something crashed into Tigera and buried her straight into the ground.
An elephant?
No.
A Gana.
Sitting on the Gana's back was Yash.
[Yash]: That was certainly an adventurous ride.
[Gana]: That's pleasant to hear.
The Gana and Yash immediately moved toward the army, completely unaware of Tigera's fate.
She was still buried underground.
[Tigera]: What was that just now?
That was the only thought in her mind.
The Gana suddenly threw Yash high into the sky while simultaneously creating a powerful three-layer barrier around the spacecraft.
The spacecraft itself already possessed several defensive barriers.
The Gana and Surya retreated inside them.
As soon as Yash reached a height of around one hundred and fifty meters, gravity reclaimed him.
He began falling.
[Yash]: Iron Maxima.
His kick vaporized nearby demons and soldiers.
The impact shattered several distant structures.
[Yash]: Let's get the spacecraft moving immediately!
Just then—
A hand emerged from the ground.
It grabbed Yash's leg and dragged him below.
The earth behaved like water.
Yash disappeared beneath the surface.
[Surya]: Take the spacecraft and get everyone back.
I'll return with that pretty face.
He said before diving into the liquefied ground.
The unnamed Gana quickly boarded the spacecraft.
Within moments, it vanished into the distance.
Surya (thinking): The deeper I go, the harder it becomes to move.
Almost like swimming through increasingly dense water.
At least breathing doesn't seem to be affected.
After some time, Surya crashed into a cavern.
An underground cave?
It was enormous.
Far larger than he had expected.
Surya began moving deeper.
Soon he noticed paintings covering the walls.
It looked as though an ancient civilization had once existed here.
The paintings were disturbing.
A ritual.
A sacrifice.
A failure.
Something monstrous being born.
That was what one of them depicted.
The others were even stranger.
Three entities.
Beings that clearly did not belong to this world.
They observed the entire Living Verse from above.
The paintings made it seem as though the world itself rested upon their fingertips.
In the next painting, those entities were fighting three people.
Surya narrowed his eyes.
The three figures appeared human.
Something felt wrong.
This wasn't history.
At least not this particular painting.
He could tell.
All the other paintings contained ancient clothing, architecture, and symbols.
Yet the clothes worn by those three humans were modern.
Very modern.
They resembled the attire used by the royal families of the Gretoling Empire.
More specifically...
Royal Gretoling and Royal Terracoling garments.
Surya frowned.
Does this mean...
It's a prophecy?
A cold feeling crept down his spine.
He shook his head.
No.
He couldn't waste time thinking about this.
Yash was still missing.
That was what mattered.
Soon he noticed footprints on the ground.
Fresh ones.
He immediately began following them.
The cave stretched endlessly.
More paintings lined the walls.
Countless paintings.
Some depicted wars.
Others depicted creatures Surya had never seen before.
A few looked so unsettling that simply glancing at them left an uncomfortable feeling in his chest.
Yet Surya ignored them all.
He had something far more important to do.
He sprinted deeper into the darkness.
Toward the innermost section of the cave.
Toward Yash.
The painting he ignored depicted a trial.
A trial created by those three mysterious entities.
A trial meant for a man standing on the brink of death.
The man in the painting...
Resembled Surya.
A lot.
To be continued...