Chapter 1413 - The Departure of Ertos (1/2)
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The gemstone that Ertos mentioned was right beneath the Grand Temple. The old priests of the day apparently attached great importance to the object. They had drilled a shaft of a few hundred meters deep in the bone foundation below the city. They built a secret chamber and sealed it with molten metal. It was because of this ridiculous storage method that the gemstone escaped the destruction caused by the battle between Hao Ren and the Malevolence, as well as the rebellion that occurred in the Grand Temple thousands of years ago.
However, a shaft of a few hundred meters and a layer of metal were not a much a problem for Hao Ren’s autonomous robots. The robots bored a sloping passage next to the high ground and extracted the gemstone.
Just as Hao Ren and Vivian had expected, the gemstone was a blood crystal.
A mysterious radiance flowed from the clear, blood-red gemstone. Each facet of the gem reflected the turbulent vortex at the dimensional boundary. It looked beautiful and mysterious. Vivian held the gem in her hand and gently caressed it. “A Malevolence not only lived sanely for nearly a hundred years but also created such a blood spar before it completely went crazy. Hao Ren, what do you think is inside?”
“Perhaps the Malevolence’s message,” Hao Ren said with a frown. “But I do not recommend that you absorb this thing. This Malevolence is too unusual. She was even divine. The bloodstone that she left behind is definitely different from what you have in the past.”
“I will think about it,” Vivian said, shaking the gemstone in her hand with a smile. “But you know me, if knowing that there was no bad energy in the blood-red crystal, I will surely absorb it. After all, every piece of blood spar contains my lost memories or precious information. I cannot turn a blind eye to it.”
Hao Ren knew Vivian well enough that he knew he could not easily change her mind. He said no more but just nodded gently. “Then be careful. If you decided to absorb it, do inform me beforehand.”
“Of course I will,” Vivian said with a smile and a nod. But just before she continued, a rumble suddenly came from afar, accompanied by a series of bursting sound. The ground under the feet began to shake slightly.
“What happened?” Y’zaks quickly looked up and into the distance. A cloud of dust gradually rose up in his vision.
A vast expanse of dust clouds rose from the edge of the city. Buildings in the dust shook and collapsed. While the dust clouds rose, it twisted as if being stirred by an unseen force. The dust clouds gradually formed into a terrible vortex as if a tornado and almost became one with the sand vortex at the dimensional boundary.
Hao Ren knew what it was with just a glance. “The collapse of the alien dimension has accelerated!”
Hessiana was shocked. “How could this be? Is it not there are still a few days before the total collapse?”
“During the battle with the Malevolence, I have detonated at least several dozens of nuclear warheads with more than half of the destructive energy reaching the dimensional boundary,” Hao Ren said. “Not to mention, there was Lily’s Doggoblast, Vivian’s Lighting Storm, and a bloody sea of the Malevolence. With so many things exploding at the same time, would you still think that this place would hold up?”
Hessiana looked at Hao Ren and froze. After a long while, she said, “Since you know that you are the culprit, why do you still sound so blunt?”
“What choice did I have in that situation?” Hao Ren rolled his eyes at the little bat and then turned to look at the transparent ‘jellyfish’ that was slowly drifting in the sky. “Ertos, this place is going to fall apart. You have to get out of here!”
“I know, I know this day will come sooner or later,” Ertos said. Its voice was still calm despite the rumbling of the collapsing dimension. “No need to worry about me, this kind of dimensional collapse won’t kill a chaotic wanderer. You should leave now, the city would not hold up.”
More violent earthquakes in the distance. The dimensional collapse had accelerated further. It was like an activated chain reaction; when the reaction had not yet started, the structure of space-time was still stable, but once it reached a tipping point, the disintegration would be as quick as sea wave hitting a sandcastle. It would be unstoppable. In just a matter of a few words, Hao Ren saw smoke and dust rose in all sides of the city. In the most severely disintegrating places, the entire land rolled up with buildings and broken boulders floating like foams. They whirled in the air into a spiral and then plunged into the drifting sand vortex at the chaotic boundary.
The entire lost city was falling into the vortex at the dimensional boundary with an accelerated speed.
“What are you going to do?” Vivian asked aloud. “Are you sure you can get out?”
Ertos did not answer directly but sighed. “I have been stranded in this place for too long. Now, the master has died, and the city has come to an end. It is time to say goodbye to this place. Go! While you still can.”