Chapter 727: Magnificent spire

They remained suspended above the burning landscape for a while longer, their gazes wandering between the immense chains and the distant mountains.

Elion had just begun to wonder where to start when something caught his eye through a break in the crimson haze.

It looked like another mountain peak; however, the drifting vapor suddenly parted, revealing a narrow, impossibly tall structure rising from the blackened terrain.

"Over there," he said, pointing toward it.

Kali followed the direction of his hand, and Althea leaned forward slightly within the silk supporting her.

Far beyond the nearest river of magma, a solitary spire ascended through the ruddy gloom, its summit nearly disappearing among the clouds of mana gathering overhead.

Even from this distance, it was magnificent.

Its dark surface caught the surrounding firelight in long, polished streaks, revealing an angular silhouette that narrowed as it climbed.

Broken projections extended from its sides at irregular intervals, too enormous and distorted to make any sense of.

Around it, great masses of stone hung suspended in the air.

Some were little more than jagged fragments, while others were large enough to carry entire buildings.

They occupied different heights around the spire, forming a scattered procession of floating rubble that stretched from its lower reaches almost to its summit.

Elion narrowed his eyes.

Several of the larger fragments bore straight edges and carved surfaces. A section of an archway drifted beside what appeared to be part of a stairway, its steps ending abruptly in empty space.

Farther above, a broad slab slowly turned upon itself, exposing a broken row of columns along its upper surface.

"Someone built something down here," Althea murmured.

Elion glanced toward the nearest colossal chain before looking back toward the spire.

"They were rather ambitious."

Either that, or simply, some strange phenomenon was keeping that rubble suspended in the air. The latter was much more likely.

There was little else nearby that resembled a place they could actually investigate. The mountains and molten valleys stretched far beyond their sight, but that tower stood apart from everything around it, its unnatural symmetry drawing the eye even through the haze.

Kali began moving toward it.

Elion followed, angling his wings to carry himself across the rising currents. Beneath them, the terrain passed in immense folds of fractured stone, its hollows glowing with the fire coursing through them.

The farther they traveled, the more difficult it became to judge their distance from the ground. Every time he thought they were nearing a ridge, another valley opened beyond it, revealing how enormous the formation truly was.

The concentration of mana grew thicker as they approached.

Pale ribbons became broad, billowing streams, sliding around their bodies with an almost tangible weight. Elion felt his core drawing upon the energy surrounding him, but he forced himself to keep his focus ahead, since no input was needed from him.

Though it would speed up the rate at which he absorbed mana if he meditated on it.

’There will be time for that later.’

He sincerely hoped there would be, at least.

The spire gradually emerged from behind its veil of luminous smoke. Its surface was covered in intricate grooves, their patterns following the structure upward in winding bands. Some lay dark and empty, while others held a faint glow that flickered beneath the passing mana.

A deep creaking reached them.

Althea’s head turned toward a floating mass of stone drifting nearby. It moved with ponderous slowness, shedding dust from a fractured edge as another fragment passed beneath it.

For a moment, the two scraped together, producing a long, mournful groan that traveled through the heated air.

Elion watched them separate.

Nothing he could see supported either of them. Nothing tangible, at least...

Beyond them, other fragments drifted almost imperceptibly around the tower, their broken surfaces grinding and stopping occasionally, as though the ruins were still struggling to remember the shape they had once possessed.

He looked upward, following the mana flowing between them.

An immense cloud had gathered beneath the floating earth overhead. Its luminous folds clung to the stone ceiling, spilling around the downward-reaching crags and filling the hollows between them.

From there, the slow current drew it along the underside of the landmass toward the distant fissure through which they had descended.

Now that he could see it from this angle, the movement was easily distinguishable.

The mana rose from below, gathered against the ceiling, and gradually escaped through the crack above.

Elion’s brows drew together.

They had followed the curtain downward, hoping to find its source, and here, around the spire, the air was so saturated that the structure sometimes disappeared entirely behind it. Yet the sheer abundance made it difficult to distinguish where each stream began.

"Can you see anything inside?" Kali asked.

Elion tried, only to be blocked by some unseen, great force. He frowned deeply.

"Not from here."

His gaze moved across the tower’s lower reaches, searching between the drifting stones. More of its base became visible as they approached, revealing broad terraces half buried beneath fallen masonry.

Elion slowed beside a suspended section of wall, its carved surface passing close enough for him to make out the weathered markings.

Beyond it, the spire rose in silent splendor, surrounded by its broken, floating remnants.

Whatever had happened here, it was not so simple. And it was still releasing enough mana to paint the heavens above.

They found an entrance along one of the lower terraces, half-concealed behind a suspended stone slab.

Its immense archway remained intact, though whatever doors had once sealed it lay broken across the steps, their dark surfaces covered in dust and fragments of pale masonry.

Elion landed first.

The stone beneath his boots was remarkably smooth, its surface interrupted by shallow grooves that continued toward the entrance. Kali lowered Althea beside him, withdrawing her silk as the paladin found her footing.

The three of them stood before the opening, looking into the shadowed interior.

Elion glanced toward Kali, and she gave a small nod before walking past him. He followed with Althea close behind, their footsteps producing long, hollow echoes that traveled farther into the spire than he had expected.

Inside, the chamber rose to a breathtaking height.

Slender columns ascended along its perimeter, their fluted surfaces disappearing into a vaulted ceiling so distant that the faint light barely reached it.

Delicate arches passed between them in sweeping curves, supporting galleries that circled the interior at several different levels.