Chapter 1019 The Sunstone Tree
-----
"Failed experiment… Soul crystallization… Harvest… Demon… King?"
Those words…
Could it be?
Ding!
[You have found one of the clues!]
[Clues: 4/5]
I guess the clue is filled up the moment I realize it or find it out, we don't even need to address it verbally, huh?
But those words that Pyuku said… I think I can guess what they're about.
"We can already guess a few clues with this…" I said. "We would assume that the people trapped here were turned into crystals through the Curse of the Sun, which causes Soul Crystallization?"
"Does that mean that… the Gods, or whoever was controlling these ruins, wanted the Sunstones?" Wondered Aquarina.
"It makes sense I guess…" Nephilim said. "Those stones are incredibly high quality, even a god could find some value to them, perhaps even to enhance their own growth and power."
"And they were harvesting them here…" Pyuku gritted his teeth. "Ugh, this is disgusting! I… Sigh…"
"Calm down, this happened thousands of years ago." I shrugged. "We couldn't do anything even if we wanted, so-"
FLAAASH!
Suddenly, for a second time, I felt it.
That presence, a blinding light coming from the summit.
It felt as if it was calling me…
"What was that?"
I looked again to the summit, but there was nothing again…
"Did you have another vision?" Alice wondered, sitting at my other shoulder.
"This is the second one, no?" Yggdra asked. "This is worrying… Could there be a possibility that whatever is in those ruins, might be trying to communicate with you, Sylphy?"
"So there's something alive there?" Wondered Pyuku.
"Maybe a monster?" Aquarina asked. "It is not uncommon for ancient ruins of the gods to turn into Wild Dungeons. The one back home is also one of those."
"I don't know but I feel weird whenever it calls me or something…" I said. "It feels… like a distress call?"
"Hmm…" Nephilim thought about it. "Well, calm down, master. There's nothing we can do right now. Once we reach the summit, we'll be able to investigate further."
"I guess you're right." I sighed. "Let's go for the last one before grouping back with everyone else. I can tell they're already moving back together."
"Alright!" Aquarina nodded, holding my hand tightly.
I guess she did that because she saw me getting a bit unease about the flashing light… Even though I'm strong, it was so weird and out of nowhere that it made me slightly afraid.
"Let's go!" She smiled.
"Yeah, let's go." I smiled back at her.
With her at my side, I suppose I can muster all the strength I want…
…
We looked for a while, until we found the last unexplored piece of ruins in the area, it was hanging by a cliff, so we had to get there flying using our dragon wings.
Aquarina could fly using wind magic, but I carried her to make it quickly. Princess carrying her was really nice, and she didn't mind it.
"Here we are… This one was quite well hidden." I said, as Aquarina didn't wanted to let go of my arms. "A-Aquarina?"
"Come on, carry me a bit more~ I'm your princess, right?" She giggled teasingly. "You once called me like that, hehe."
"T-That's…" I felt embarrassed. "Come on now, don't get too spoiled…!"
She quickly walked out of my arms, as we explored the cave.
This one was larger than any of the previous ones because it led deeper into the plateau interior.
Still, it was just a long corridor leading to a larger cave, filled of sunstones.
However, at the center, there was another striking formation of sunstones.
This time, there were several skeletons and bones inside of this much larger "Sunstone Tree" as I'll call it.
And there were at least several screaming faces growing out of the black stone and the sunstone too…
"T-This must be the largest one here. So much evidence of the horrors they committed in the past." Sighed Aquarina.
"That's a lot of bones…" I said. "Ahem! Anyways, this is… I guess another of those places too. This might have been another room where these people were forced to become sunstones…"
"Master, there's something over there." Nephilim kept calling me master, it was a bit tiring, even though I've told her to just call me Sylphy.
"Just call me Sylphy!" I told her. "Or at least Lady Sylphy if you really want to use formalities…" I crossed my arms.
"Sorry, Lady Sylphy. Over there." Nephilim pointed at the distance.
There was a large formation of crimson sunstones to the right area of the caves, behind the huge tree.
It was almost hidden behind! And it had something inside, something silver and metallic.
Perhaps another tablet?
We moved over there, and Pyuku helped us to get the tablet out of the red stone by gently opening it without destroying it.
The little fragments that dropped, which were still the size of my fingers, were saved inside my inventory.
This crimson sunstone was called "Nova Sunstone" and was a version of it which was supercharged with fire element.
"The tablet has some words!" Pyuku said. "Let me see…"
As he started to read, we looked around the cave curiously. I picked up some mushrooms and herbs growing here, and a few more tiny pieces of Sunstone.
We left the Sunstone Tree alone though, as Aquarina made another little ritual to wish these souls a good rest in the afterlife.
And as we explored the area, Pyuku recited what he was able to decipher.
"It says… False sun… Desperate… Mass-Destruction… Failure… And… Abomination."
"Abomination?" I wondered, raising an eyebrow. "Wait, those words… False Sun, Desperate, Mass Destruction, Failure, Abomination…"
"Could it be?" Wondered Aquarina. "Were they trying to make a new sun out of this sunstone? But why?"
"I don't think it was a false sun…" Nephilim commented. "Most likely, a weapon of mass destruction. They wanted something to fight the Demon King, perhaps? Or something to raise their ranks among the Gods before they left…"
"But what is the Abomination?" I wondered, looking at the Sunstone Tree.
RUMBLE!
"Huh?!"
And in that moment, the caves started to tremble.
FLUOSH!
The Sunstone Tree started overflowing with a powerful Aura of Sunlight and Flames, corrupted by Miasma, turning deep black!
"OOOOHHHH…!"
And several grotesque, phantasmal beings, surged from within!
-----
The most uptodate nove𝙡s are published on fr(e)𝒆webnov(e)l.com