We finally walked out of the stretching forest, but the landscape in front of us was shattered. Massive and small rocks of all sizes floated ahead, and they were not still.
Rocks that looked like they were moving slowly were constantly bumping together and bubbling up from somewhere below like a slow-moving fountain. There was no way that we were going to pass through this area.
"What is the plan now? Is there some way around this broken fountain or landscape?" I asked Mex, but he didn't look back at me and walked to the edge instead.
"We need to eat, and the only edible thing is on the other side of this. It is far worse than it seems, look," Mex said and then pointed at two huge rocks about to collide, and they did, but the effect was not what I had expected.
They just bounced off each other and didn't even chip. I walked up to the edge and stuck my hand out to touch one of the passing rocks.
My hand instantly felt lighter, and the rock was hard, but I pushed it like nothing. I let myself relax, but that was when Mex spoke up again.
"The one thing that we need to worry about is the top. The trip across will take us very little time, but the closer that we get to the center of the force that is driving it up, it gets a lot stronger. You need to make sure that you are constantly going down and not let yourself get to the top," Mex explained as he turned to me.
"The top? What's wrong with going up there?" I asked, and Mex shook his head.
"I don't think that there is anyone that could survive it, even the Source would be killed, and he is an A Ranked Demon. If you are pushed up to the top, you will be forced into a tunnel in the center. If you are sucked in, that will slam you down to the ground and all the rocks with you. If you somehow survive that fall, the constant hammering of rocks will turn you into a paste for about an hour, and then your remains will start to float back up," Mex explained to me with more detail than I needed.
Well, on the one hand, it shouldn't be that hard, but it looked like it was going to be very easy to get disorientated. I was concerned about how we would do this and not get messed up and killed.
"So then, what is the plan to get across this?" I asked Mex with concern edging into my voice, but Mex laughed.
"You can fly us through as I bat everything away from us. Normally, this would be dangerous and difficult, but since you still have Fireden and Wataluga with you, it should be no problem, but I am curious to know why you came here with only two of them? I can't feel Windorf or Grovel with you," Mex said to me, and I nodded.
"This is because I sent them with Kali and Hanna to escort them back to the castle, so everyone there will be safe. Didn't think that you were the type to pick a fight though, even over a woman," I said as I backed up from the edge and turned back to the stretching forest that we had just left, but it looked normal from the side.
I knew that all it would take was one step inside, and the stretching distortion would retake hold of me. That was something that I did not want any part of again, and I hoped that we would have to come this way on our way back.
"I don't do it just because they are women; I choose to help others because they need it. Makes me feel better about the first world I was in and how horrible I had been. I had acted like every other Demon, but the races in the world had been weak, and something the hero asked me, but never gave me an answer to make me stop and think about what I was doing," Mex told me, and I turned back to him.
"Something that someone said to you? Another person like me?" I asked, now more curious, and Mex nodded.
"Maybe not the exact same, but he was a hero like you, but far less assertive, and not the same kind of personality as you. After trying to defeat the Scourge with a surprise attack, he almost did it but lost in the end. He had asked me if I didn't need to be myself, who would I be? This was with a blade to my neck, and then before I could answer, he vanished and let me live," Mex explained to me, and I sighed.
While this person probably wasn't the same, it was still a reminder of Mark's betrayal. The question was interesting, and I could see how it might make someone in Mex's position question what he was doing.
"So then what? You came to the next world and started being good?" I asked, and Mex laughed but then stopped, and his face fell.
"No, Scourge killed all my family and kids rule, stripped me down, and put me under Dao's control. I spent that world trying to figure out where I had gone wrong, but it was just a culling Dao had done to make room for more, and I had been in favor of his greatest rival, my wife, Spania. I was Transranked with her, and because of it, I could not stop the Scourge from doing what he did. After that, I lost my fire, and my energy was no longer useful to Spenia," Mex explained, but I put up a hand to stop him.
"Wait, you had more family before this? And the Demon King killed them all for fun?" I asked in confusion, and Mex shrugged.
"I was never able to find out exactly what happened, but from that point, I left the capital went out on my own. I helped the ones that I could, and vowed that I wouldn't be a Demon anymore.. Even though I tried to stay away from them, I was sucked into the next world, and then after this one, Nixi Found me and forced me with Clesh," Mex explained to me, and I just stared at him.
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