[Vol. 9] Chapter 126: Flashy and Fancy!
Although Minchen’s team never managed to truly enter the Lower Dimension, and their theory could never be proven, with the main quest ending at that point and staying frozen for over three hundred years, what Violet was seeing now seemed to perfectly match the old records, confirming many things that used to be uncertain.
These things, they were very likely the “parasites” said to be eating away at the roots of the world. If she could get rid of them, maybe…
Staring at the countless black scars that stretched endlessly before her, Violet frowned but didn’t rush to take action.
To be honest, she had never expected that by following that absurdly long path downward, she would actually arrive in the legendary Lower Dimension, also known as the Elemental Realm. But the magic elements here were so wild and chaotic that it was impossible to keep tracking the faint traces Yan had left behind.
That little creature most likely hadn’t come this deep anyway. After all, while it could handle the earlier flames, the strength of the barriers along the way was something Violet doubted it could break through easily.
Otherwise, back on Icefang Island, Yan wouldn’t have been stuck outside the Fire God’s Temple, fuming helplessly with no way in.
Its power might be strange, but it still had limits. Before a being of truly higher rank and divine authority, that little flame was still too young.
Since Yan could be ruled out for now, there was only one direction left to investigate.
The girl’s gaze swept past the countless scars and landed deep within the boiling sea of magma.
Xiao Guang’s presence, it was coming from below.
That girl wouldn’t act without reason. The black scars’ leaking pollution seemed to flow directly into the magma, and combined with the earlier enormous, unnatural burst of fire, all signs now pointed to one conclusion.
Beneath this violent ocean of molten fire, this land where no living being should survive, there was something hidden.
And not just something, it was likely huge, a secret of astonishing scale.
That must be the real cause of the overwhelming fire that had surged to the surface, and probably also the true target of these “parasites”, or even the Twilight Council’s schemes.
“How interesting~”
Violet decided right away. Her transparent, pure light wings spread out gently as she slowly descended, wrapped in the protection of the Spirit of Light.
The effect of 【Feathering】 had already worn off, but the unknown flames that had once surged to the surface had faded as she broke through the layers of barriers and reached the Lower Dimension.
She still had two more uses left for that ability today, enough to handle most emergencies.
The magma around her was still blazing hot and wildly unstable, even more dangerous than the fiery seas where Flam had dwelled in the Illusionary Realm.
Yet even so, it couldn’t compare to that earlier, almost divine-level fire she had faced, the one close to the power of an 【Ultimate Art】.
Protected by the 【Feather Robe Glaria】, which automatically generated a powerful barrier, Violet felt no heat or burning pain at all.
Still, remembering her previous experience, she remained cautious, slowly descending while gripping the 【Eternal Scepter of the World's Heart】 ready to react to any sudden attack.
And sure enough, as she drew closer, the boiling magma sea seemed to react to her presence.
Before long, one after another, figures made of pure flame began rising from the lava. Each different in form, some several meters tall, others more than ten. All with wings of burning fire spreading wide as they surrounded the girl from every direction!
“~?”
Violet raised an eyebrow, a little surprised but clearly amused as she looked at the fire elementals surrounding her.
She had dealt with similar beings before, back in the Illusionary Realm.
Even though that realm existed only as a gap between the foundation worlds, Flam’s forces back then still commanded hundreds of elemental lords, many reaching the level of false gods. The strength of elemental creatures was beyond doubt.
If Xiao Guang and the others hadn’t sealed the Illusionary Realm’s entrance in time, once higher-level fire elementals descended upon the mortal world, Demon Suppression City would never have been able to hold them off.
Now, this was the Lower Dimension, the true origin of the Illusionary Realm, the very birthplace of the God of Blazing Flame.
Naturally, the number and strength of elementals here could only be greater.
So when the priestess noticed that every one of these fire elementals radiated energy at Seventh Tier or higher, she wasn’t shocked at all.
What really caught her attention was the spiritual energy she saw through her 【Yin-Yang Eyes】 , faint but undeniably present within them.
Elemental creatures were the pure embodiment of 【Matter】 Energy. They had no souls, and thus were not truly “living beings.”
Even those who reached the level of a pseudo god could at best develop basic instincts, obeying commands, avoiding danger, seeking benefits, unless they fully ascended into true divinity.
But these… these fire elementals were clearly different.
“Pro… hibit… approaching… the Heart of the World… Guard… intruders… eliminate…!”
“…What kind of nonsense are they even mumbling?”
The priestess rolled her eyes, but the heavy hostility surrounding her was hard to ignore.
Through the 【Yin-Yang Eyes】, she could see their souls, or rather, their tainted fragments, clouded and corrupted by something dark. And in that moment, Violet began to understand.
These elementals were most likely the result of those black scars leaking strange liquid into the magma sea, slowly mutating over countless years.
That strange contamination was indeed eroding the balance of the Lower Dimension, and it had likely been doing so for far longer than just three hundred years.
But… why?
What was the point of all this?
Had someone really gone to such great effort just to create an army of smart, obedient elementals?
Unlikely.
Before true gods, numbers mean nothing. When a Divine Realm is activated, even thousands of false gods swarming together wouldn’t change the outcome.
Whoever was behind this plot, anyone capable of such a large-scale corruption, couldn’t possibly be ignorant of that simple fact.
But before Violet could think further, the elementals let out a chorus of furious roars and charged!
“…Slash.”
Her expression didn’t change.
With a soft murmur, the Avatar of Light behind her raised its gleaming holy spear, its form instantly expanding to a hundred meters tall. The weapon swung in a bright, perfect arc through the air.
“Swish—!”
It was just a simple, ordinary strike.
Yet even though her foes numbered in the hundreds, all powerful fire elementals of at least Seventh Tier, the moment that radiant spear passed through them, everything froze.
Then came the explosion, a blinding bloom of fire and ash bursting in every direction. All of them were shattered to pieces in an instant.
“See? What did I just say?”