novelraw Chapter 1232 - 1231 - Limb
Chapter 1232 - 1231 - Limb
Chains.
It was the first thing Lind noticed that the room was crisscrossed with white chains. They were not stone or metal but felt so solid he could not even put a scratch in them! The ends of the chains disappeared into the ceiling, walls, and floor of the room.
The chains were being moved but no sound came from them disturbingly. A thing was at the heart of it all.
A massive tapered cylindrical object of shimmering flesh. It flexed and bowed in all directions as it clearly tried to break free. There were no eyes nor any other sign of sensory organs.
It was damned odd but Lina was crying behind him. She felt its pain.
He had thought the void or Fiends were the source of the pain but it was the original builder! He did not dare enter as whatever it was, it felt like a more impressive version of Lord Skinwalker!
A true Divine Realm being!
The void was technically in all places so it did not violate the rules of Heaven and Earth for it to be there.
Still, that was because it would be eaten away by the same void.
Nothing was meant to survive in the space between worlds.
"Pain, so much pain–" Lina passed out but he quickly isolated her. Her senses were being overwhelmed.
He examined the room carefully but whatever maintained the chains was truly beyond him. The door was clearly made of a lower quality but still grade 8 at least.
He felt no intent or soul trying to reach out to him but Lina felt pain. That meant there was something in that–limb.
Yes, limb. It was part of a larger creature and considering it was at least as big as his entire dragon body, it meant the original beast was terrifyingly massive.
It flailed and was clearly alive but the serrated edge at the widest part confirmed it was not taken willingly.
"Did the Fiends do this?" Lina's question seemed valid but he quickly denied it. The Divine grade materials and age indicated it was there long before the Fiends arrived.
"The original Divine Realm cultivator did this but I am unsure as to why." The limb was restrained but it was not being further harmed. The fact it still 'lived' might speak more to the original beast than an intentional act on the part of the jailer.
He backed them up a bit to be safe but there was nothing else in the chamber that he could find. There had to be more but it was likely beyond him at the moment.
"Is there nothing we can do for it?" Her voice was full of strain so he knew the pain she was feeling had to be coming from the limb itself. He sighed but honestly the trick with the door was an oversight of its creator more than his skill.
The chains and chamber, on the other hand, were far beyond him. He pondered the problem for a bit but then an idea sparked in his head.
"Stay back. This may not work." Assuming it was not simply retaining life force, he had a hope his next actions would work.
He entered the chamber and let his full draconic aura flare into the room. He could not see any dragon doing this to a beast, it would be beneath their pride to do so but it was still a gamble.
Time seemed to stretch out but slowly the limb calmed down until he roared with all the intent he could muster.
It was not words so much as pure emotion and identity all rolled into one. Anything more complicated may not work but he was shocked when the limb froze before the narrow end swiveled towards him.
He carefully moved through the interlinked chains until he was directly beneath the tendril. Its flesh was pale and dried out. He narrowed his eyes as that indicated it was aquatic. It did not like dry air.
With the current benefits of the chamber, he conjured the best water he could and began to cover the limb entirely from one end to the other. A slow movement he recognized as relief passed over it.
Shimmering blue was absorbed so quickly that Lind nearly exhausted his reserves before it stopped. The limb calmly moved now. He motioned for Lina to come in.
It registered her but there was no threat. She quickly crossed the pale stone floor to stand by him.
"Try your abilities now." She slowly nodded before bowing low to the limb and assuming a lotus position. He instantly felt something heavy press down on him but she seemed fine.
Days passed that made him worry about his mother, Kexin, Tessa, and Kal. They were formidable but the Fiend was far above them and anything he had ever given them.
Their harmonies would help the 2 demonesses, but the other 2 had no such support. Still, there was nothing else he could do.
[A Spiritwalker, a nascent one too. It is surprising.] A distorted voice suddenly spoke in his mind and he felt blood flow from his nose. His head throbbed and he bowed low with his hands cupped to the limb.
[Senior, we are only Radiant Tiers at best, please spare us too much of your pressure.] A feeling of surprise was followed by a reduction in the pressure.
[You understand me, little dragon? Surprising considering I sense you are not entirely stable as well.] Lind could only accept the criticism. He had some serious work to do to flesh out his foundation and get back on track but time was not on his side.
[Senior, I have much I could say but are you aware of your current circumstances?] He suspected his time as a True Lord lingered some gifts that could not be removed as it fundamentally changed his foundation.
He had yet to meet a beast he could not understand ever since he began that journey.
[The Divine Oblivion stole parts of me long ago but did not allow them to die. He used my limbs as anchors to cut corners for his Inheritance. Based on my senses, his Inheritance has collapsed into a Ruin?] Lind was surprised.
He had thought a soul connection lingered but it was stronger than he had imagined.
[Why do this, Senior?] There were pressing issues but maybe he could learn something if he understood the reason.
[The same as they hunt you, little dragon. Humans only see what can serve them and do not care so long as other races pay the price. I did not get my revenge from what I can tell but he was killed by the vile ones long ago. A fitting end.] That could not be a coincidence!
The odds of the Fiends killing the Divine Realm cultivator and then taking over his Relics in the void could not be a coincidence!
He quickly relayed what he had seen and was on the surface. His pictured the Relic and the current state of the 3rd layer of the Celestial Fields.
He looked at Lina and saw she was pale but their only hope to escape was right in front of them.
[Bastards. It is likely they coerced him to make this hell. They enjoy having cultivators seemingly benefit only to reap the rewards themselves. Heaven and Earth do not care about the void but there are limits to such abuse!] Lina suddenly coughed and he quickly covered her with his harmony.
It was all he had as he used some rudimentary soul healing Arts.
He had relied on his elixirs for too long!
[The fox is brave. Her kind always are. Far too kind for their own good too.] He found that comment odd in several ways. Unlike him, the voice seemed to respect Lina far more than him but why?
[Senior, is there a way back or are we trapped?] Silence greeted him for a moment before the pressure built in the chamber. The chains suddenly lit up with profound inscriptions that made his head nearly split open just to look at them!
[Curse you to the deepest hell, Divine Oblivion!] Lind swiftly understood what he had to do. It was going to hurt.
His arms transformed until his claws appeared. They lit up with emerald light before he directly struck the inscriptions. Pain swiftly turned to numbness as his nerves were almost destroyed!
[What are you–] The voice suddenly froze as Lind's harmony spread like lightning across the chains. It was almost nothing, but the faint sheen of emerald seemed to loosen the restrictions on the limb.
As if waiting for his act, the limb strained with power far beyond anything Lind could ever produce and shattered its prison!
The chamber and floor cracked instantly with the entire air suddenly fleeing the room. The formations were broken!
He collapsed at the side of Lina but the limb encircled them.
[You are a Maester, a strong one, but never push your luck like that again. I thank you. I will remember this in the future.] The voice was fading but Lind fought to stay awake as space broke apart and a familiar landscape was revealed.
It was the Endless Peaks!
[Go home, little dragon. Protect that Spiritwalker. They are far too few.] Lind felt a force gently push them through and blessed Qi flooded his body to begin to repair it. He saw he was at the very edge of the Bazaar's island!
He saw faint curls of smoke in the distance but he looked up to see the inky black tear into the void and the last thing he saw was the limb tearing the factories apart before it snapped shut.
[Mother?] He sent the single word and instantly found 4 auras snap onto his location. Relief flooded him as he allowed himself to pass out. They were alive!
It was the last thought he had as the darkness closed in.