Chapter 91: Arriving 2
The runic lines in Oliver's eyes dimmed after the analysis.
They had been told by Sir Astaroth that the door would remain open for exactly seven days, yet the truth was evident before them.
Whatever the artifact was, its energy would only be able to remain stable for the next five days, not seven.
This only showed how dishonest Sir Astaroth had been and how much riskier the mission had become.
"We can always return to the base if it's too dangerous..." Ferris called out to Oliver, whose eyebrows furrowed.
The truth was that if the godly ten were not feeling safe about the mission, they could always turn the ship back.
The Academy would likely just assign them another mission, hopefully, one not controlled by Sir Astaroth this time.
It wasn't like they didn't have any choice.
"The Academy's trust in our abilities right now is unflinching and incredibly solid."
"But it's only as solid as our ability to fulfill every single quest that we've been given."
"The second we refuse a quest or grow 'scared' to do what was given to us, that pillar will begin developing cracks," Oliver said with furrowed eyebrows.
"This might be our most dangerous mission yet, but we will go for it and fulfill it! That's what the godly ten do!" Oliver said, with conviction and determination, as he tapped on a button and the Aethercraft flew closer to the hole in the cage.
Truly, he felt a pang in his chest from this mission, even though they had yet to begin. But which mission had they gone on where they hadn't felt a pang? All they could do is what they have always done—to go forward, irrespective of the fact that danger or death lay ahead!
Not once had that failed them, and it wouldn't fail them now either.
---
"We have arrived at our destination. Everyone move to the yacht and prepare for eviction. NOW!" The automated AI voice rang within Nolan's room as he immediately rose to his feet and opened his door.
At the exact same time, he could see all the other doors opening as well. Nolan was pretty surprised when he saw that none of them had a bag with them.
'Don't tell me they plan to wear the same thing for the entire duration,' he mused silently, and strangely, he could see the others also raising an eyebrow at the bag behind him, as if wondering why he was bringing one with him.
But each group kept to themselves, and without saying a word, they headed to the opening of the Aethercraft before they all waited.
Immediately, the pilot room also opened up, as Oliver and Ferris exited and walked forward towards the group before the yacht.
"New orders have been given."
"The Aethercraft will now be opening its yacht in the next ten seconds and will go into hibernation mode for the next week before returning to base!"
"Yacht will now open in 10... 9... 8..." The countdown began as Oliver and Ferris arrived.
"I'll be needing your help with this..."
"Got it!" the young man with the blindfold replied to Oliver as he stretched out his hands towards the two beside him. Quickly, all of them held hands in a circular formation.
Nolan, seeing the rest, simply followed along, grabbing the hands of Celestia and Vlad. Immediately, a silvery-blue light emanated from Oliver, covering each of them.
"5... 4... 3... 2... 1!" ρ-о%աҽ#я-е∂-!Ъ+γ-%
Instantly, the yacht to the Aethercraft was flung open, and all of them were violently sucked into space, drifting aimlessly. But soon, a voice rang out.
" Vishna Descent Skill: Space Control!" The voice of Ferris rang out as the pull on them immediately disappeared, and they all remained floating in space.
"That's the place..." Oliver said as they all immediately flashed forward with speed, appearing before the hole of darkness in the heart of the cage. In the next instant, they all disappeared into it.
---
Darkness covered all of Nolan's vision as he felt the hand holding onto him slip off, but he didn't panic.
He automatically summoned his dagger into his palm as he felt his body propelling towards somewhere with speed.
BLOOOOOOOP
Immediately, his body slammed into something—something Nolan knew very well.
Quickly, he held his breath as the falling motion slowed down.
Finally, he regained his bearings, with the darkness before him slowly fading away.
Opening his eyes, Nolan was welcomed by the remnants of destroyed buildings, with strange, drab plants growing over their surfaces.
The majority of the buildings had been reduced to nothing but rubble, and the ones still standing were filled with various cracks.
In some corners under the rubble, Nolan could see strange skeletal figures that were pitch black, but he raised an eyebrow when he saw one of the skeletal figures that had its true form on the ground.
The figure had a strange body that Nolan had never seen before. Half of its upper part had no difference from the average human's, but below the waist, Nolan saw a lower body that could only have belonged to a fish, and it was incredibly long.
Only a single thought appeared in his head...
"A mermaid!?"
"Are you all okay?" The voice rang out close to Nolan as he turned his gaze behind him and found the remaining godly ten.
"Yes."
"Yes."
"Yes."
They all called out, and Nolan too wanted to call out, but water immediately rushed into his throat, and he wheezed uncontrollably for some time before regaining himself once more.
Raising his head, he saw the others looking at him with strange gazes.
"Don't you know? You ought to use your Divine Essence to form a domain around yourself when in water?" Abuela asked him as Nolan smiled embarrassedly.
He didn't know that. And besides, there was also a major problem...
"It's safe to say he doesn't have divine essence..." The one who spoke up was Gaia, but a person appeared by his side, placing his palms that were flashing with a blue divine essence on him.
Immediately, strange runic lines appeared all over Nolan's body, and he felt the sensation of water around him disappearing. Almost like a barrier of a few inches had been placed around his body, blocking the water from touching him.