Chapter 776: Fairy Realm
Aisa, with her sharp, commanding presence, also found herself unable to meet Orion’s gaze. Her hands tightened into fists at her sides, the tension in her posture betraying the emotions she struggled to keep in check. Her head dipped slightly, her light blue hair cascading around her face, as she took a moment to collect herself.
Luna, normally so confident and self-assured, stood quietly, her piercing dark purple eyes softened as she stared at the ground. The usually vibrant and lively energy around her seemed subdued, replaced by a quiet reflection of everything they had been through. Her long pink hair fell forward, framing her face as she let the reality of the situation sink in.
"I wish I could give you all a nice long break. And if I’m gonna be honest, I need one as well... but, we have something to do. I think we’ve kept a little girl waiting for quite a while. In fact, she probably thinks we’re all dead," Orion lightly chuckled.
"Are you talking about Adele?" Luna asked upon raising her head, the skin around her eyes a burning red.
"Yeah. Once we meet up with her, we will figure out what to do from there."
...
(A few minutes later)
"Okay... now where to go from here..." Cy scratched his chin.
Everybody was currently sitting in a circle, except for Bella who was brushing Orion’s long hair, joyfully smiling to herself. Orion protested at the idea at first, but after Bella’s continuous nagging, he gave in.
"So what we need is to know where we are, where we need to go, and what year it is..." Orion explained, deadpanning at their lack of information. "Do we have any useful information right now?"
"How about we just rest for today~" Bella smiled, joyous about something else.
"What’s got you so happy," Cy remarked.
"All the scars I previously had on my body are gone."
"That’s wonderful Bella, but we can’t just rest right now. We have absolutely no information," Luna sighed. "I propose we start exploring right now. If we find any signs of wildlife me and Orion could maybe piece together what country we’re in or... at the worst, what continent we’re on."
"Hey, I can identify wildlife as well-" Findir commented yet didn’t finish it as everybody including him felt a swell of dread wash over them.
As they sat in a circle, discussing their next move, an unsettling silence fell over the group. The air grew still, the subtle rustling of leaves and the distant echoes of the canyon’s waterfall abruptly ceasing. The sudden absence of sound sent a shiver through them, a primal instinct warning of something immense approaching.
Bella paused mid-brush, her hand freezing in Orion’s hair as her eyes widened. "Do you... feel that?" she whispered, her voice barely audible over the pounding of her heart.
Orion’s gaze snapped upwards, his delicate features tightening with concern. "What the hell is that...?" he murmured, more to himself than to anyone else.
The others followed his gaze, and their eyes widened in collective horror. The sky, once a vast expanse of rolling clouds, was now consumed by an enormous shadow that slowly blotted out the sun. The light dimmed, casting the canyon in an eerie twilight as the shadow grew larger, more oppressive, and more terrifying by the second.
A massive, six-winged creature loomed above them, its presence so vast and overwhelming that it seemed to stretch across the horizon. The creature’s underbelly was a pristine white, contrasting sharply with its graceful, sky-blue scales that shimmered in the dimming light. The wings, spread wide on either side of its elongated body, spanned such a colossal distance that the first set alone could have covered small countries, their size diminishing slightly towards the back.
Its body, long and sinuous, resembled a mountain range in its sheer scale. Crescent-shaped, wispy horns lined its back and head, each one adding to the creature’s otherworldly and regal appearance. But the most terrifying feature of all was its head—a gaping, abyssal mouth that seemed to devour the very light around it. The mouth was an endless void, an open maw that threatened to swallow anything and everything that dared to cross its path.
The beast glided through the sky with an unsettling grace, its monumental wings not even flapping. It made no sound as it moved, no roar or rumble to announce its presence, only the suffocating silence of its shadow and the overwhelming dread that accompanied it. The air felt heavy, thick with a sense of impending doom as if the creature’s very existence was a harbinger of something far beyond their comprehension.
The group sat in absolute silence, their eyes locked on the behemoth that slowly drifted across the sky. Time seemed to stretch, each second dragging on as they watched the creature’s massive form blot out the sun. The shadow it cast was so vast, so all-encompassing, that it felt as though the very world had been plunged into an endless twilight.
None of them dared to speak, not even a whisper escaping their lips. The weight of the creature’s presence was oppressive, pressing down on them like a heavy shroud. They could feel the tremble in the air, the way it seemed to hum with a strange, almost alien energy. But even that was drowned out by the sheer size and scale of the entity above them.
As the creature continued its silent passage, the sun remained hidden, its light swallowed entirely by the beast’s enormous body. Minutes passed, each one filled with the tense, breathless anticipation of when—if—the light would return. The seconds ticked by, marked only by the pounding of their hearts and the faint rustling of the wind as it dared to move once again.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the creature’s immense tail began to pass, the last segment of its body revealing the sun once more. The light returned in a slow, creeping wave, the sky gradually brightening as the monstrous shadow finally receded. The canyon, once bathed in the creature’s eerie twilight, was now filled with the warmth and brightness of the sun once again.
Only then did they dare to breathe, their collective sigh of relief breaking the heavy silence that had gripped them. Yet, no one spoke, the enormity of what they had just witnessed still sinking in. The creature had taken literal minutes to pass, a testament to its unimaginable size. It was a sight that none of them would ever forget—a reminder of the vast, untamed forces that existed in the world, far beyond their control.
"Is this even earth?" Aisa muttered, looking down at her trembling hands.
"Yes..." Findir’s fearful expression shifted into a small smile. "Yes, we are."
"It seems you know something," Aisa followed up.
"We are technically on earth, just on the flip side of it. I had only heard tales of this place, but... we’re in the fairy realm. Apparently, my people, the dark elves, came from here. Same thing with all of the other races besides humans."
"What?!" Orion exclaimed as this was clearly a breach in his contract with the sin of gluttony. He had used a loophole that sent him back to earth quite not like his own. "How do we get to the original earth?"
"Simple really. We just need to find the Mage Tower Association," Findir explained.
"They exist here?" Luna blurted out.
"Yes. I had also heard that the mage tower is the only group of people that have free access to the fairy world. They can jump between both realms effortlessly because the Tower Master apparently has a deal with the fairy king."
"Do they have a base of operations in the fairy world?" Orion asked.
"I would presume so, but I’m not 100% sure."
As the group began to rise, shaking off the lingering unease from the earlier encounter, another chill gripped them. The hairs on the back of their necks stood on end, an instinctual warning that something else was coming. They turned slowly, eyes wide with trepidation, as a low rumble began to fill the air.
Behind them, opposite from the cliff they had been perched next to, the once-still terrain had come alive. The rocky and grassy ground shifted and heaved, a sight that was as mesmerizing as it was terrifying. Massive boulders, each one easily the size of a large tree in both height and width, began to roll toward them, gaining momentum with every second. The ground beneath their feet vibrated with the sheer weight and force of the approaching stones, sending waves of anxiety through the group.
These boulders were enormous, dwarfing even the towering figures of the group, whose average height was seven feet tall. The stones hurtled forward with a crushing inevitability, their surfaces rough and covered in thick moss, making them look like ancient sentinels of the earth itself. The group braced themselves, prepared to face whatever force was driving these monstrous rocks toward them, but just as quickly as the boulders had started, they came to a sudden, jarring stop—mere feet away from where they stood.
For a moment, all was silent, the boulders looming over them like ancient titans. Then, in a slow, deliberate motion, the boulders began to unfurl. Massive limbs extended from the moss-covered stone, and the boulders revealed themselves to be something far more dangerous. The rocky exteriors split and shifted, revealing towering figures of stone trolls, their bodies covered in patches of thick moss and lichen.
Each troll stood as tall as a large tree, their eyes glowing faintly with an ancient, earthen light. Their limbs were thick and powerful, hewn from the same stone that made up their bodies, and their movements were slow, but filled with an undeniable strength. The trolls’ faces, rough and angular, were expressionless, yet there was a primal intelligence in their gaze as they regarded the group.
"What the hell..." Orion muttered.
