Chapter 822 Place Hidden Within the Mountain
Continuing through the caves, Shiro was surprised at how deep this went since they had to go down a few 'stairs' made from the rocks around them.
At this point, the mana density made a river of flowing mana which could be seen floating around them.
It lit up the area ever so slightly so that they could see their foothold but nothing else. Shiro did try to make a light source but it seemed to be blocked by a magical darkness that prevented light from passing through.
Stepping down the floating stones which defied gravity while rives of mana flowed around them, Shiro was curious about what this place actually was for such a phenomenon to occur.
"We're not far now." Nan Tian said as they had been travelling for a while now. Their speed would have been much faster but they had to watch their step on floating rocks and it was also hard to fly in the previous location with it being in a cave.
Right now, with the darkness surrounding them, it was as if they were in the void with nothing around them.
This time, Shiro didn't tamper with the flowing mana river at all since they didn't know where it was floating to or what it could possibly be powering.
Glancing back, the stones that they stepped on gradually disappeared in the darkness. For all they know, they could just be walking on the stop and the stones were moving to give them a sense of progression.
With them not being able to see anything or send their senses out since it was being interfered by the mana, it was hard to get a picture of where they were going.
But since Nan Tian and Isilia had already passed this part, Shiro knew that there was an end and that they weren't in a strange trap.
After a while of walking, Shiro could finally see a hint of light as the flow of the mana river started to fade out.
Hopping off the floating stones and standing on normal ground, Shiro glanced back and noticed that the path was still blocked by darkness. All they could see were floating stones leading up which soon disappeared.
Clicking her tongue, Shiro found it rather annoying that she couldn't get a sense of the area but there was nothing she could do.
Looking forward, she saw visages of sea creatures that floated through the air as if they were underwater. With her mastery over souls, Shiro could tell that they were pieces of the soul but strangely enough, they were given free movement as if this was the underworld.
Normally, the soul would be sent to reincarnation after leaving the body for a while so the fact that these creatures were still around seemed miraculous to her.
Compared to the previous cave system, the walls here were much more special as the cave was illuminated by a spectral light that radiated from the soul shards.
Seeing that neither Isilia or Nan Tian said anything, Shiro understood that this wasn't the end yet but she could see their confusion now. The fact that a giant space like this could even fit in the mountain was surprising. Despite not being able to get a grasp of their surroundings, Shiro did map out the path they had taken and the space required to fit everything in was bigger than what she could have seen outside.
It was either that or if they punched a wall they'll reach the outside world but she didn't want to start destroying everything just yet without knowing what's going on.
Continuing through the spacious cave which seemed to be a soul aquarium of sorts with the sea life floating around randomly, Shiro could see an exit of sorts
Stepping through the exit, Shiro noticed that it was formed from two large triangular pillars which seemed like someone had cut a quarter of a pyramid off and placed them near one another. Glancing back, the cave system could still be seen so Shiro sighed in relief.
Feeling a cool breeze on her skin, she looked forwards and saw a dark sky with pulses of turquoise light flickering through the clouds.
Ashen trees that extended high into the sky with no leaves surrounded them as their branches lined up to indicate a pathway of sorts.
Past the trees a veil of mist blocked them from peering beyond what is allowed and probing it with mana yielded the same result as the other attempts.
Following along the path that was indicated by the trees, Shiro could see large stone mountains which faintly resembled clawed hands reaching towards the sky. The main body of the hand was the mountain as the peaks looked like the fingers.
Above these mountains was an opening in the dense clouds where faint blue lights swirled in a circle.
It was similar to what would happen should she invoke her Requiem of the Dead but this time it was less creepy without butterflies coming out to consume your soul.
On the path towards the mountains the trees thinned out as large black monoliths protruded from the ground.
They weren't standing upright as most of them leaned at an angle like they were knocked over or buried poorly.
Cracks could be seen as runic symbols of unknown origins littered across the surface. They seemed to flicker with a very faint blue light which caused Shiro to imagine what they would have looked like in the past. Perhaps the symbols would shine with light and power a barrier of sorts.
Unfortunately, she didn't know as the runes were unfamiliar and even trying to decode them brought her no results.
As they exited the forest and entered the graveyard of monoliths, they could see floating rocks in the sky with blue crystals embedded in them. The crystals had a very faint tether which faded away as Shiro recognised them to be giant mana crystals that were much bigger than her body. Walking through the graveyard of monoliths, broken statues and bones became common as the statues resembled hooded grim reapers who held a scythe.
Seeing the carvings of what seemed to be fake mana circuits, Shiro realised that these statues of grim reapers were actually golems that had been destroyed.
Walking past the statues, swirling orbs of fire that were coloured blue and purple could be seen floating around as large gates, similar to that of the Japanese Torii gates, pathed their way towards the mountains. The gates were broken as many could not form a proper arch.
Similar to the cave before, there were soul shards of animals with glowing horns that left a faint trail whenever they moved. Their eyes were small balls of blue fire which shimmered in the dark. They Seemed to walk around without noticing the party at all.
Every time they passed one of the gates, more seemed to be revealed as the gates almost acted as keys to revealing the illusion.
Passing one gate revealed statues that couldn't be seen earlier. They were undamaged but they weren't golems and were only there for aesthetic reasons.
Passing another gate revealed broken chains which connected the gates together.
Passing through all of the gates, Shiro assumed that all of the illusion had been broken since they were now in front of a giant desolate city with broken walls and empty houses. Large craters could be seen around the city as many of the houses were completely destroyed.
In place of the giant hand like mountains was now a large castle with damaged floating chambers that connected to the main body with a bridge.
Glancing to the left, a giant rusted sword was embedded deep to the ground as the edges were damaged. Behind the sword however, was a line of destruction which cut through tens of houses and left a deep scar in the land that this city was on.
"We're almost there." Nan tian said as they entered the castle.
What Shiro didn't expect was a hollowed castle that was completely devoid of anything except for a single platform in the centre. It seemed to be a large broken sundial with neon blue runic inscriptions.
Pieces of this device were left around the room as they were severely damaged.
Walking up to the 'sundial', Nan tian placed his hand in the centre before moving it anti clockwise.
The floor beneath them suddenly opened up to reveal a whirlpool of mana as Shiro received a notification on her system.
[Entrance to the Beyond has been discovered.]