Asking Mok Jun-Seo to stay back up, Ayo and his generals gently slide down the slope to the depth of the hill where the strange energy was coming from.
'I hope he will be fine...'
Mok Jun-Seo wondered as he looked down as they went and before long had blended with the darker parts of the depth. Even with his beast eyes, he couldn't see them.
He stayed a few more seconds but the cold only got worse. There was a limit to which his magnificent body could take and he had to respect that limit. If he didn't want to die then he should be on his way to the airport where he can receive accurate treatment.
That must have been Raith's thought when he insisted that Mok Jun-Seo should stay. That or the fact that he was just going to get in the way.
He looked for one last time and turned around, finding his way back to King George Airport.
—
The depth as Raith thought was darker than usual. It was a bit hard to see when he first got there but everything got better with time.
[Darkvision] proficiency went up and received two level-ups as he strained his eyes to see through the darkness. It wasn't an active skill but this proved to Raith that it was a skill that was likely to gain proficiency when used despite the difficulty.
The depth was not just the depth of the supposed mountain, Raith looked around and what filled this place were vines and trees–
'No...'
He paused before concluding, took a step further, and touched the nearest supposed tree that was closest to him. Its structure didn't look like a tree, it was too curly and not large enough to be one, and other ones just like the one Raith was examining filled the depth. Each of them entertained each other with spaces large enough for even a bulky man like Mok Jun-Seo to pass through.
Raith had to take a few more looks at the rest before he came to a vivid realization.
This was the roots of the colossal tree that he was seeing. It made sense if that was the case, that explained why they were so fat, almost could be equalized to a tree itself if not for their unconventional spiraling and sprawling.
The tree's roots were grander than any earthly tree, any tree that Raith has seen so far, they were like dregs of some ancient guardians.
Raith looked up but even his eyes couldn't capture how Marge the tree was. At what point did the root spread out, and how far did the root go?
And most of all...
'What is this?'
Raith was left contemplating the source of this lucid energy he could feel. He felt it the first time he touched the root, it was almost like it was renewing his energy, his strength.
There should be nothing capable of renewing his energy because he has an energy that can never be traced to a worldly source. Energy whose source is the abyss and the abyss alone.
At least that was how Raith thought things to be.
He furrowed his brows as he threaded deeper, slowly passing through the spaces between the roots, with very scrupulous steps.
The four of them gently and silently followed him.
As he stepped into the tree, it got darker but it also got more cold. At this point, he began to feel it.
Insects glowing with blue light gathered around him and the death soldiers and fluttered around them. Although Crimson tried to shoo them away, they went for a while and came back as they went further, weaving their way through the intertwining roots.
Raith followed the path and went deeper, the deeper he went the lower the slope was, and he was aware of it.
He finally reached a point where he stopped.
Firstly, unlike what he had thought, they had not encountered a single monster which was very strange. But if indeed there was a monster here as insinuated, it made sense as to why monsters were not here.
'They are all probably scared?'
Raith scrunched up his gaze.
'It'd be a good idea not to jump to conclusions too.'
He exhaled before walking towards the tunnel opening in front of him.
Vines had sprawled all over the tunnel and very little opening was what was left of the entrance.
He opened his hand to materialize Bal but stopped halfway and folded his palms back, like someone reluctant to collect something.
"Master?"
Crimson said with concern tainting his voice. Someone of his caliber could understand what Raith was feeling. Because he was equally feeling the purity of the energy surrounding the tree.
The rest of them felt it too. But putting a smart meaning to it was something only three of them could do.
Antares knew purely by instincts.
Jarvis knew was smart enough to put the puzzles together, and so was Crimson.
Kortopi however, was pretty clueless. He exchanged glances between the three of them, wondering what was wrong, and then finally ignored and looked at the magnificent back of his master.
"I suppose it was you all along?"
Raith's voice was soft and full of sympathy. He gently touched the vines of the tree.
"If you would allow me..."
He hadn't spoken his intention finish when the vines began to retreat and in a moment, the entrance to the cave tunnel was wide open before them.
"So it was as I guessed... you are the one crying for help."
It altogether was a strange occurrence. Raith had never heard of a tree with life... life so vivid that it could communicate.
This tree was different from every tree he had met, it wasn't green but white, and its vines were white and pristine. It was charming such that Raith felt like cutting it would hurt.
'What am I doing, did I just speak to a tree?'
Raith asked himself these questions, was he being delusional but he couldn't put a word to what exactly he was feeling? He could understand the feelings of this tree purely by its energy.
'Argh, I'm crazy.'
He sighed and walked into the towel.
Crimson and the rest hurried up behind him, catching his pace as it got faster.
As before, there was no single monster in the cave tunnel, except creeping insects that were either too scared to come at them or did not care at all. They did make whistling sounds that made the whole place eerie.
But eerie did not matter to four generals of the death army. They were the peak of eerieness.
The air got more chilly as they went deeper and Raith was now beginning to receive warnings.
[Natural effects nullification failed]
[Cold nullification failed]
[Natural effects nullification failed]
[Cold nullification failed]
[Natural effects nullification failed]
[...]
It went on and on like that like a bug. But it was only because it reactivated every time it failed. Passive skills were automatically activated. Moreso, this was a passive skill that was imbued in Raith's UNDEFEATED COMMANDER KING body.
When the requirement was met for the body to activate its nullification or resistance properties, it effortlessly did so. Even if it fails, it reactivates again, fails, and reactivates again.
So the notifications would not stop coming as long as Raith was still in this intense cold.
But there was no way for even him to know that he was currently walking under a temperature of absolute zero. Even the edges of his death soldier smoky armor were freezing–although would unfreeze later but would still freeze up again and unfreeze and freeze and...
They came to a stop as they reached the end of the tunnel. Carved into the rugged cave walls, was a breathtaking ice door.
Its sheer size and design commanded attention and admiration from them. Even Raith who was often nonchalant about looks found this undeniably beautiful.
'Who the hell would build something like this?'
He couldn't help but wonder. Seeing a beautiful door such as this one only warrant for one's thought of its maker.
The door was a monumental slab of ice, as though it had been hewn from the very essence of the frost-kissed mountain.
Intricate patterns of Frost weave across the surface, forming an array of delicate, lacy filigree that danced and sparkled in the ambient light that it generated.
The door's surface is adorned with more exquisite details—frozen tendrils that twist and curve like frozen vines, ornate snowflakes that glimmer like stars caught in the ice, and translucent icicles that refract the surrounding colors into a myriad of hues.
It was beautiful.
Instead of a veil of admiration, what covered Raith's face was that of horror and fear.
[You have fallen under an intense state of fear]
[Natural Effects Nullification Failed]
[Abnormal Condition Nullification Failed]
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