After separating from Jayna and Fleur, I retraced my steps to where I started. Due to how simple this formation is, it didn't take long for me to reach that point, the hole was still there and there were numerous footprints that could be seen due to the dust the broken wall scattered.
On the way there, whenever I would run into a group of Mortal Ranks who's on their way to who knows where, I went out of my way to squeeze out what little information from them before moving on. Of course, I made sure to be quick so that I wouldn't lose any second. Granting those who will talk a chance at life was the standard I used.
Though a lot of them volunteered just for the chance at life, I only always randomly pick one. Or you could say that I let my intuition pick one for me.
The rescue of Jayna was already known by them and these poor Mortal Ranks were ordered by the four Transcendents maintaining the Formation to at least hinder us before the reinforcements arrive. If I hadn't run into them, they would be providing a slight nuisance to Jayna and Fleur so… dealing with them like this saves them the trouble.
From what I gathered from them, there would be at least five of those Transcendents that were about to arrive. Three of which were the ones who were called to reinforce the previous Zone. The other two were from the Noxian Capital, namely, the two Dark Soldiers who were sent running back after being shot down by Jayna's Vermillion Bolt.
That Dark Soldier made a slight recovery thanks to the arrival of that Descendant. Maybe this time, he will really run to his death.
From what I gleaned from the other broken bits of information apart from the incoming reinforcements, the Descendant of the Great One was from the direct line of a Great One named Rhellor. That Great One made a title for himself, 'Demon Ancestor'.
If their information were true, he was called like that because he started a whole race of his own after reaching the height of a Rank 5 Transcendent.
After cutting himself away from his racial roots and siring numerous children from his select races which he deemed compatible with the vision for his new race, his children started to propagate in the Dark World for the last 500 years. I don't know how long a Rank 5 Transcendent lives but if he has that kind of history and he still lives today, then let's first assume that someone who reached the same height as him can leave up to a millennium.
As a Rank 1 Transcendent myself, my longevity has increased for up to 200 years. Nysia, Sofiel and Fleur were already more than half a century but they look like they will eternally be at their prime, which is to say that they're still young for their current Universal Rank.
Well, enough about age. They're still my lovely Companions no matter how large the gap is between us.
I'm just guessing again here but if I'm not wrong, the werewolf guy we killed was related to that Great One's race. But those who were possibly closer to his bloodline were the five Transcendents who could transform into half-demons. Unfortunately, they died early without letting us squeeze some information from them.
Err. That's likely my fault anyway, I had Fleur hit them with her Transcendent Spell, just by that they're already half-dead after being hit by it and Boris ended their suffering. Now that I think about it we should've at least questioned one survivor.
Ah. Well, it's already in the past.
Anyway, from this piece of information, there's now a huge certainty that each Transcendent Pathway of every Great One differed from each other. And using each of them as a standard, every tribe that was under them had Mortal and Transcendent Pathways related to the Great One they're serving. Of course, the newly assimilated tribes or races from a lower world weren't included.
Now that explained the differences in their Mortal Pathways. The tribes we encountered on the three worlds most likely all served under different Great Ones.
But with how diverse the Mortal Ranks and Transcendents we encountered in this world, it's now hard to determine if someone's tribe was related to a Great One.
In any case, the information about the Descendant is all we need at the moment.
From the loose mouths of the Mortal Ranks, he's known as a descendant of Great One Rhellor. He will surely have a Transformation that may increase his combat capabilities. Other than that, being a direct descendant of one of the Great Ones, he probably got something up his sleeves that could put him above other Dark World Transcendents here. Most especially, his Transcendent Pathway. It's probably close to what that Demon Ancestor was treading. I wonder what kind of Demon it will be if he dared to call himself as the Demon Ancestor…
Maybe it will be the complete form of those half-demons? Well, they were not that threatening despite their scary forms.
In any case, even if I feel somewhat confident over Sofiel's strength, my mind still leaned towards worrying for her and Yumiko.
Haa… There's no point in continuous worrying now. I'm currently changing the core of my being to always put them at the top of my priority. What I have to do this time is to finish this as soon as possible and go back to their side and see that Descendant's prowess with my eyes.
"Are you sure we'll be fine? Can't we just wander around these halls and not reinforce the Restriction Rooms. You saw it too, right? They're someone we couldn't cope with even if we gang up on them. Only a Transcendent will have a chance to fight them or run away."
"Wander around? Are you crazy? Someone's group has just been discovered dead! I'd rather we run away if we encountered one."
As I was about to turn towards the passageway straight to the Portal, I heard another set of voices of Mortal Ranks conversing amongst themselves. They're coming from the left turn's passageway not far from where I currently am.
These guys really have the worst jobs, huh? Lucky them, I already decided to not bother with more Mortal Ranks. The Portal is already a few turns away from me. I will go straight at it and check the situation.
While concealed.
Taking out the Orb of Concealment, the Concealment Aura fully covered my body before they finished their turn. It's the standard group of 10 Mortal Ranks whose strengths hovered between Rank 4 and 5 Mortals. All of them had a dark face as they continued talking about how they would save their hides if they ever encountered one.
They would surely suffer from a heart attack if I suddenly appeared before them, no?
Well, let's not waste the 20 minutes just for a prank.
Passing by them, I turned to the direction where they came from. On the way, I passed by more Mortal Ranks who were talking about the same thing. Though there were small bits of information that were worth picking up, I will think about those later.
First a left, a right and another right turn. Making the map from my head, this passageway was just a square and I would surely arrive at the same place if I took the right turn first.
Anyway, When I reached the middle and was presented with the two passageways, I didn't need to think twice but to pick the left one rather than the straight or I would surely be back from where I came from.
At the end of this path, a familiar tall door appeared before me. However, unlike those at the Restriction Rooms of Jayna and Fleur, the one here was a double door. Two Mortal Ranks were at both sides of the passageway. Their hands were on some kind of a lever.
It's safe to guess that they're the 'doorkeeper'. A few seconds later, the two Mortal Ranks pulled the lever at the same time.
Along with the metal creaking sounds, the tall double door opened from the middle.
As soon as that happened, my eyes instantly caught sight of that gaping hole in space. Though it could be compared to the one my Incarnation closed at the World of Spirits, this one's surely bigger due to how it was fully widened to allow a Transcendent to pass.
The wave of Dark Energy coming from it was stronger that if I stayed exposed to it, I fear that the Concealment Aura will wear faster due to the pressure of a Level 2 Energy.
That's why, without waiting for whoever's about to leave that place, my feet moved and entered through the gaps made by the opening of the double door.
As I slowly walked towards the Portal, my eyes scanned my immediate vicinity. From my left and right, two pairs of Transcendents were sitting in a lotus position atop the circular plates as they poured in their Dark Energy to maintain the formation.
All of them had their eyes closed as if they're concentrating on what they're doing.
There were still a lot of Mortal Ranks here but all of them were busy running around with tubes and tanks of Dark Energy from their arms.
Judging from how many tanks of Dark Energy they're trying to line up next to the circular plates, they're most likely making a device to substitute for the four Transcendents.
Well, aren't they slow workers? Or did they just decide to do that now? Jayna's rescue and Fleur's escape probably made them change their minds.
I guess even after coming here, we're still underestimated or we managed to exceed their overestimation.
In any case, my eyes soon left them as my feet unconsciously walked towards the Portal. The oozing Dark Energy and the Dark Space I could glean from the outside was pulling me to it.
If I enter this, I will arrive at their world…
Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m freew𝒆bnov𝒆l.c(o)m