Chapter 483 Tempest Ferments (1/2)
CHAPTER 483
TEMPEST FERMENTS
Redstone pillars pierced the ground, over a hundred of them, crisscrossing over a winding road that led up a slight slope. Each was rectangular in shape, the signs of time's wear lighting their surfaces. There was a strange pattern to them, one that an untrained eye was unable to see -- but one that even the trained ones would have some difficulty with.
Lux and Ard, both clad in their respective colors -- silver and black-crimson -- were walking up the path, occasionally stopping and inspecting the pillars. They had rather flattened expressions, their brows occasionally scrounging up, though otherwise remaining straight.
The two were currently four or so miles into the Arid Expanse, a stretch of the burning desert with only a few break-ups of terrain -- such as this one. Though their job was to locate the headquarters of the Great Descent, rumored to be someplace in the Arid Expanse, it was also to map out all the landmarks so it would be easier to orient in the desert.
”... what do you think?” Lux asked, her voice strangely melodic. ”Natural or manmade?”
”... hmm, hard to say,” Ard mumbled, his voice rough and low. ”Their texture and rate of erosion seem natural, but shape and positioning... not as much.”
”Chart it, either way,” Lux nodded, taking out a wide canvas and letting it float in front of her, scribbling the section near the border and indicating the distance with a flat line. ”What should we name it?”
”Red Pillars.”
”Haii, your sense of naming should really be improved...”
”Why?” Ard frowned. ”They're pillar-like, and they are red. Hence, Red Pillars.”
”... Red Pillars it is,” Lux chuckled lightly, inscribing the name onto the canvas and putting it away. ”That's the fourth one. I didn't expect the border regions to be as diverse.”
”We should be more careful,” Ard added. ”Move less during the day.”
”The world is too occupied at the moment to care about us,” Lux rolled her eyes at her companion's paranoia. ”We should hurry up instead. How's your status?”
”... still the same,” Ard replied, sighing. ”If I don't exert myself too much, I should be able to keep the Curse at bay for another hundred years or so.”
”It's not a curse,” Lux said. ”Not really.”
”Whatever it is, it's debilitating nonetheless. We can only hope Empyrean's research yields good results.”
”It will,” Lux said optimistically as the two began moving toward the exit. ”His army is strained as it is, he knows it. Losing us would cripple him too much.”
”... hm,” Ard nodded, glancing toward the high-skies that were currently lit up in a stretch of colors, forming a Formation. ”I can't believe he managed to actually kill the Devil. We may have underestimated him still, despite all.”
”... let's get a move on,” Lux said after pausing and glancing up at the sky as well. ”Lots of ground to cover.”
**