The only thing to be thankful for, was the fact that no one on the battlefield was slow enough to actually be caught by the searing sea of scorching death.
Even with a boiling, unstable footing, the weakest Master around could race out of the range of the disaster with medium difficulty. However, the problem was that Curses were unlikely to give up their pursuit of them.
The gold, as everyone had noticed, would recover even when damaged, which meant travel by ship was impossible as long as the Curses were still alive. At the end of the day, the real threat wouldn't be neutralised by escaping.
The current flood of Scorching Tears could very well be replaced by another one in an unending sky, and as evidenced by the past half a day's worth of voyage, they were no nectar from the heavens.
In the heat of the moment (pun intended), most of the Faction members and their leaders – those that weren't incapacitated – looked to the most optimal place to flee and secure some form of advantage.
The tall crack in space which had been spewing the vibrant golden hue.
A moment later, those that hadn't recovered their ships from the trap of solid gold did so, and then flashed into through the crack hurriedly.
The Ardent Curses curiously didn't make any substantial attempts at stopping them. They all didn't seem bothered by idea of the falling Scorching Tears at all.
Thrill, who had caused their descent, was guffawing while gazing up. His inexplicable sight met the fierce reddish yellow that had dyed all things with its colour and heat... as well as the odd cloud nestled just below the torrent of destruction.
Upon this cloud, Skullius, who had amassed a massive amount of mana worked quickly.
While expelling this mana, such that it encompassed his subordinates within its grace, he activated [Classic Storm Striding] – the ability that allowed him to hop from cloud to cloud as a bolt of Levin – and in the next inch of time, everyone, including himself turned stark bright and quick, violently pierced through the rigid space and crossed the distance to one of the clouds Replicus had made to appear around the area, then another and another and another!
Silently, the streaking flash zipped away from the last cloud which was closest to the Cluster and penetrated it before carefully rushing upwards!
Before long, another cloud appeared, harbouring the figures of the Penetrator and his group.
Allora buckled with a "Whoa!"
She wasn't used this yet.
Grim and Pherdanta were quite fine. They had accolades in keeping their insides intact from trips like this, and Baddan wasn't too surprised.
In any case, the feelings of shock and awe didn't have much room for sustenance, after all, the new venue the group had arrived in nearly took their breath away.
Gold.
It was all blinding gold.
Beyond the large, oddly placed tear in space, came a rugged land of gold that stretched as far as the eye could see.
Hills, mountains, soil, trees, shrubs, fruits.
Everything had a blinding golden sheen that soon caused those that had infiltrated the Cluster to squint, whether they were Incandescent Stagers or Masters.
It was too bright in this world, so much so that it barely made any sense whatsoever.
The longer one looked, the more... uneasy they felt, with their bodies – more aptly, their brains – having a rather aggressive reaction to receiving the light through the eyes.
Right beside the crack into the Cluster – where most of the Faction members and their leaders ended up – was a great ravine, both its tall edges predictably glowing with a right shade of slightly less prickly gold.
Several plants grew from them, but were hard to give detail to because they almost seemed merged with the walls.
Astoundingly, a river of what looked like liquid diamond flowed in between the rises, barely making a sound, which made it clear that its thickness was certainly not the sort a mere river of water would have.
A mere glance trapped several greedy eyes into its mesmerising allure, moreso than the abundant gold. Amidst the incredible value of everything here, it seemed even the most anxious of combatants were able to appreciate anything that broke out of the norm of gold.
The only other natural thing without the curse of being likened to egg yolk, was the clear, blue sky, but there wasn't much value in it, unfortunately. Its rainbow-like aurora cast a sprinkle of diversity over select gold landforms, a harsh, silver sun planted on it filtering its moon-like glow over everything.
'What is this? Is there any living thing here at all?' Replicus thought darkly.
He half-expected to see the corpses of millions of Ardent Curses or at least their graves.
There were traces of massive settlements in the distance though. Cities and towns of gold.
The dozens of Factions darting here and there seemed to be questioning the same as they felt the rough and slippery surfaces of serrated gold grass, lanky mud and flowers under their feet.
How could everything be made of gold?
And what about this gold was so irritating to the eye?
At that moment, a shuddering boom with a moist quality to it sounded from the gateway into the Cluster, followed by a surge of heat, smoke and steam that leaked through.
The heat represented by the plumes was so intense that the heavy mirage they carried made the crack into the Cluster look as though it was spinning.
Bits of charred, molten gold spat into the Cluster as well in mini-waves, making some of the weaker combatants here imagine what would have happened if they were still standing anywhere near the fallen Scorching Tears which had just fallen.
Whatever was going on outside wasn't good.
Several moments later, the Ardent Curses – those that hadn't already followed the Faction members – marched in, led by Thrill, Dander and Musing.
As soon as they all came in, something several had expected, happened.
The crack to the Cluster was sealed off.
Thrill raised his wand, and a dark blockade was slapped onto the entrance, masking it as though it didn't exist an instant after its visually warped form was closed off.
Replicus' sockets flashed.
'I'm guessing they really were hoping to have us all in here,' he thought, recalling that Thrill had invited Eaniss in. 'That confirms what I imagined. This Cluster was already open before, and these beasts pretended as though it wasn't, in order to sell us their – probably false – story. That's why they knew about the Reverse Clusters, the poisonous water and the Scorching Tears.'
Replicus was sure most of the Faction leaders who urged their subordinates in, were not oblivious to this fact. At least the former one rather than the latter.
The stinging of the eyes from the gold may have been one reason for this, and perhaps there was another.
However...
'Even if they have some kind of advantage in here, we do too,' the Penetrator thought as he made the cloud they were standing on float a little lower. 'Space is stable here. We have an advantage here rather than out there.'
The tension between the Curses and the Factions seemed to deepen.
Thrill only made it worse.
Donning a double grin, he raised all four of his arms beneath his pristine, lettery cloak while welcoming everyone.
"Thank you for accepting our invitation after all, despite your earlier reluctance. We were told you serve us all well, and I'm glad so far you do not disappoint..."
'Told?' Replicus thought.
"There is no escape, unfortunately. You must understand, everyone must take care of their own. This is all in the name of tradition and safety. Our safety."
Right then, the wands of all the Ardent Curses began to spew out of cords of scintillating light which rose and curved into the distance over the ravine.
Hundreds in all, they sped and vanished just as soon as they appeared.
Those who could trace where they were going turned to see.
Replicus and company who were best positioned, were the first to perceive it.
Somewhere far off, tens of miles away, was a large triangular crystal that looked much like the diamond river flowing in the ravine. It was nestled in what looked like a fancy, ancient gazebo with its entire face removed so as to show the crystal inside it.
While perched on a conical hill that had colourful veins visibly dipping into its core, it wasn't all that difficult to see. In fact, as soon as one spotted it, it was easy to get reeled in.
'What in the world...?' Replicus felt a dreadful uneasiness while looking at the crystal in particular.
Something was trapped within it.
Something that looked quite similar to an Ardent Curse, yet all the more terrifying.
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