Chapter 223 New World (1/2)

CHAPTER 223

NEW WORLD

Both Hannah and Lino were currently standing beneath a cracked statue, yet one still so tall even craning their necks wasn't enough to see the top. The two of them together added up not even to the toe's height, to say nothing of anything else. The cracked statue wasn't alone as it was just one of many scattered about a city-like structure whose walls were as tall as the mountains.

The world the two walked into after crossing the wedge between the two dimension was a completely new one, practically the furthest thing from everything they were familiar with. They felt like small ants in the presence of giants, and even dead and gone, it seemed as though the spirits of such greatness still dwelt in the air.

One thing Lino immediately noticed was the density of Qi -- or, rather, that it wasn't as diluted as it is in the outside world. Over the course of eons, the basic components broke up further to form many new elements, Lino had learned; just a few billion years ago, for instance, there was no Shadow Qi as it was yet to be naturally formed.

Inside the Titan Realm, most-importantly for Lino, the presence of Chaos was far more prominent than on the outside. He could practically catch a whiff of it every few minutes, which was impossible to do on the outside. The two had remained rooted in their spots for nearly a whole hour now, unable to move even an inch whilst taking in the grandeur of everything around them.

”... damn, now I kind of wish I was born a Titan...” Hannah mumbled, sucking in a cold breath.

”Maybe we could find someone really good in the Law of Time to send us back.” Lino said.

”Although that'd be cool, it'd also be impossible. You can't go back into the past, Lino,” she said. ”You can only look at it.”

”... well, that's lame.”

”Not really,” Hannah shrugged. ”Chronomancers are pretty much impossible to kill, you know? The only records of them dying are either due to suicide, or because an Empyrean killed them. So I suppose you do stand a chance.”

”Why's that?” Lino asked, glancing curiously at her.

”Because they're a lot like Fate,” Hannah said. ”Except with the ability to manipulate time in small increments. You should already know that even half a second is sometimes enough to decide the battle's outcome. If you had the ability to turn that half a second into a full second, or even more, you can always prevent any attack from actually reaching you.”

”... damn. I only ever keep hearing about the cool Laws,” Lino sighed. ”And I'm stuck with this moron whose only ability is to send me straight into the inferno and wish upon a star that I live.”

”Oh, shut up,” Hannah groaned, hitting his shoulder lightly as the two finally began walking. ”You're like an anti... anti-fucking-everything. Why else do you think Empyrean lineage survived on for so many generations, in addition to practically everyone fearing your ass?”

”... yeah, that's cool and all, but what of it? I can't bend time,” Lino sighed even deeper, lamenting. ”I can't bend space or void, can't shoot flames out of my eyes, can't create stuff out of thin air and throw it at people, can't freeze an entire ocean, can't cause continental earthquake... all I've got is this lame body that can't be killed. Which, you know, is cool and all... but just not cool enough.”

”God, you sound like a fucking rich kid who has everything except just one thing and then believes his life is just garbage because of it.”

”... yup, I heard it. Can't believe I sounded that whiny actually. Anyway, this place is amazing...” he exclaimed in awe as he saw a massive, decked spire rise in front of him, broken off into sections still upheld by faintly shimmering arrays of light. ”I literally feel like an ant...”

”... yeah,” Hannah assented, looking around and up, still unable to truly comprehend the actual scale of the place. Even the smallest of buildings were at least a hundred meters tall. ”There's a good reason why Titans were unrivaled during their Era...”

”What happened to them anyway?” Lino asked.

”... nobody's quite sure,” Hannah replied, frowning slightly. ”All records about them dating to the last 40 million years of their existence are just... well, non-existent. The best we got are assumptions of those who've lived underground and later formed the Four Clans Era. According to them, the most-likely scenario was that they were wiped out by the Origin Prime.”

”... you keep throwing around all these terms and expect me to know them. I'm not even sure whether you're doing it intentionally at this point just to hurt me.”

”Oh, I am.”

”... good, good, yeah, good to know. Anyway, what's the Origin Prime?”

”Eh, it's just a fancy name for the First Prime to ever be created,” Hannah explained. ”Why don't you just ask Ataxia if you're that curious?”