The tremendous pressure that Maethion felt finally dissipated after he endured it for a few seconds. He let out a long sigh of relief.
"What was that?" Maethion asked.
"I don't know either. This is the first time I've experienced this," Clyde replied. His face bore an anxious expression, and his eyes darted around, checking their surroundings.
"Pele!" Clyde yelled, calling for the Celestial. But she didn't respond. 'Don't tell me she's done something to trap me again.'
Clyde was on the verge of drawing his swords to unleash his power to destroy this place when Goddess Pele arrived just in time.
"I'm here. I had to check this place first to make sure there were no other Celestials here," Goddess Pele said, her voice tinged with panic.
Clyde observed the Goddess for a few seconds before deciding to trust her. Clyde nodded. "And you didn't see them here?"
"No," Goddess Pele shook her head. "But we need to hurry."
"Alright, show us the way," Clyde said, then turned to Maethion.
The Elf was on his knees, grimacing in pain. Clyde asked, "You good?"
"Yeah," Maethion nodded, then stood up. "I didn't expect to feel a power this strong."
"You probably thought you'd be strong enough because you're a member of the Senior Council, didn't you?" Clyde asked, grinning.
Maethion replied with a brief nod, feeling helpless.
"That's why I thought it wasn't a good idea for you to come here," Clyde said. "Now it's too late to turn back. Let's follow the Goddess."
Finally, Clyde and Maethion followed Goddess Pele, who had been waiting for them. Maethion wanted to ask how Clyde could make the Goddess obey him like that.
But he resisted his curiosity, knowing that Clyde wouldn't answer. He had noticed these signs before they came here; Clyde had told him that there were things he couldn't reveal.
They ventured deeper into the strange place. Goddess Pele walked with confidence and at a precise pace as if she knew exactly where she needed to go.
While Clyde, who was behind her, continued to cast suspicious glances at her. He wouldn't allow anything to take advantage and sneak up on them. Even if Goddess Pele no longer intended to betray him, there could be other Celestials who wanted to attack when they entered this place.
Another vortex appeared in front of them. Goddess Pele placed both her hands on the vortex, with about half of her hands disappearing into it. Not long after, the vortex began to rotate in the opposite direction.
"We can go in now," Goddess Pele said, looking at Clyde. She completely ignored Maethion, as if his presence meant nothing, which Maethion noted.
"You first. We'll follow right after you. I'll remind you again, don't do anything funny," Clyde said firmly to her.
Goddess Pele nodded, then walked into the vortex.
Clyde waited for a few moments before deciding to enter as well. Maethion followed from behind, ready to fight, never letting his guard down, because he never knew what could happen in this Celestial territory.
They entered a short tunnel. At the end of the tunnel, there was something that looked like swirling dust.
"That is the Nexus of Creation. It's where we were all created," Goddess Pele said.
Clyde and Maethion stared ahead. Their hearts raced in their chests. Although Clyde knew he would enter the Nexus of Creation, when he was actually in front of it, he couldn't help but feel both amazed and anxious. Maethion, standing beside him, felt emotions much stronger than Clyde's.
Meanwhile, Goddess Pele watched anxiously from the side. In her heart, she hoped that Clyde wouldn't decide to approach the Nexus. She didn't know what he could do, but she knew it would be terrible for them, the Celestials.
"Alright," Clyde suddenly said, breaking the silence and making Goddess Pele involuntarily swallow hard.
"Let's go there and see it," Clyde continued.
"Are you sure? That place contains an incredibly high concentration of Mana. Something might happen to you if you get too close," Goddess Pele cautioned.
***
"We're here. Of course, we have to proceed," Clyde said. "Besides, if something bad happens to me, it could benefit you, right? You should have taken us there directly."
Goddess Pele gritted her teeth but didn't say anything. She spun on her heels and walked ahead toward the end of the tunnel.
Clyde sighed, then turned to Maethion. "You okay?"
"I don't know," Maethion shook his head. "There might be something bad happening there, Clyde."
"Maybe," Clyde admitted. "But as I've said before, I've come this far, so I won't back down."
Without waiting for a response from Maethion, Clyde walked after Goddess Pele. Maethion sighed. Although he was anxious, what Clyde said was true.
"I don't want to go back after coming this far either."
Finally, after a long period of guesswork, he could see the Nexus of Creation for himself. His feelings were a mix of excitement and anxiety.
They stepped out of the tunnel and arrived in an open space. The tunnel they had entered was, in fact, situated on a floating piece of land in the middle of the void. Several other floating land masses were scattered around them, their numbers countless.
Clyde looked forward after scanning the area. He saw an enormous vortex of Mana spinning at a moderate speed, almost resembling a Mana twister. The beginning and end of the vortex were invisible as it merged with the void. All the land pieces around them, including the one they were standing on, revolved around the vortex as its center.
Maethion fell to his knees. Beads of sweat formed on his suddenly pale face.
"Hey," Clyde approached him. "You alright?"
"I'm..." Maethion swallowed hard. "I'm fine."
Clyde turned to Goddess Pele. "Do something for him."
"I can't do anything right now. Everything here is under the control of the Nexus."
Hearing this, Clyde had no choice but to escort Maethion back into the tunnel. There, the pressure that had caused Maethion to collapse faded away.
"You should wait here for now," Clyde suggested, then stood up and walked back out of the tunnel.
Maethion wanted to protest and follow him. However, his body felt powerless, and even making a sound seemed incredibly difficult.
In the end, Maethion could only watch as Clyde walked out of the tunnel and approached the Nexus of Creation.
"I'm not strong enough to get closer..." Clyde walked casually to the edge of the landpiece where they stood, with Goddess Pele standing anxiously behind him.
"I want to go in there. How do I do it?" Clyde asked.
"You can't enter there. You're not a Celestial," Goddess Pele replied.
"Are you sure?" Clyde turned to her and gave her a flat look.
Goddess Pele just furrowed her brow, unsure of what Clyde meant.
"I've gained power from God Kane. A Celestial."
Finally, she heard him. Goddess Pele's anger suddenly surged upon hearing this. Clyde had killed God Kane and now possessed his power, which made him one of the Celestials.
Goddess Pele wasn't sure how that worked. She had never heard of anyone being able to take a Celestial's power and be counted as one of them, as no one had ever killed a Celestial before him.
However, what Clyde was saying seemed to be true. Goddess Pele could see it in his eyes.
"Take me inside," Clyde said again, this time more like giving an order.
So Goddess Pele had no choice but to comply. She began to step toward the edge of this floating landpiece. Not long after her feet touched the void, a path instantly formed beneath her.
"Follow me," Goddess Pele said.
Clyde followed her from behind. Every time Goddess Pele stepped into the void, a new path would immediately form, as if not letting her fall.
As they ascended toward the Mana vortex, Clyde felt the Mana pressure intensify.
"If Maethion had decided to come with me, he would have already fallen into this void," Clyde thought.
Goddess Pele seemed unfazed. Clyde figured he was feeling the pressure because he hadn't fully absorbed the power of the Celestial God Kane, so technically, he wasn't yet a complete Celestial.
A few moments later, they reached the pinnacle of the path. Goddess Pele nonchalantly stepped into the wall of the Mana twister, and Clyde followed suit.
Inside the twister of Mana, there was another incredibly vast room. There were hundreds of translucent orbs floating around them that had been shattered on one side by something, but their forms still stayed.
Clyde furrowed his brow while scanning the room.
Goddess Pele, seeing his puzzled expression, provided an explanation. "These are the orbs where Celestials are born."
Clyde nodded. "I see."
"Now that you're here, what do you want to do?" Goddess Pele asked.
"This place is simpler than I thought," Clyde commented. "Where is the primary source of your power?"
"We don't know," Goddess Pele replied promptly, knowing that Clyde would ask, so she answered quickly.
"I don't believe you."
"I'm elling the truth. We don't know how we're born or how we obtain our power."
Clyde sighed. He still didn't believe that answer.
~~~
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