Chapter 639: A Way Out?

On the morning of the third day in the Land of First Dawn, an unusual calm covered the central base.

Of course, this calm had nothing to do with safety.

Far beyond the defensive walls, columns of steam rose from cracks in the ground, and every few minutes, the sound of breaking rocks spread across the plains.

Some parts of the golden forests, which had looked almost dreamlike two days ago, were now tilted because the ground had sunk beneath them.

However, the forces of the Awakened Association were no longer as frightened as they had been on the first day.

Alaric’s orders had given everyone a clear duty, the support teams were busy moving supplies, the scouts were recording changes in the ground, and the combat forces were stationed at the remaining positions.

Inside one of the rooms in the command building, Lian stood beside the map table.

Rindo stood across from him and used a thin pencil to mark the proposed route for today’s mission on the map.

"If we move along the southwestern route, we can avoid two large cracks, then we’ll enter this area, where we’ve received more reports about the Withered."

The young Vorhelm looked at the lines on the map.

"What about our connection to the base?"

"No problems up to this point, but after that, the height of the ground and the stone walls might weaken our communication signal."

Rindo pointed to a spot near the center.

"I suggest we don’t go any further than this unless the route is truly safe."

Lian nodded.

He planned to use this mission to investigate the Withered’s movements and the areas near the center, perhaps he could find a clue about the cause of the changes in the ground or even discover some information about the sun.

But just as he was about to put the map away, Rindo brought up another matter.

"Lian, I have a question."

"Ask."

He paused for a moment.

"That ability you gained after the incident with the twenty-five thousand victims... the one that should allow you to leave the Ruined Realm and return again."

Lian raised his head.

"What about it?" This ability was no secret, and everyone knew that if someone managed to survive the Sacrifice Event, they could obtain it.

"Have you tried using it to leave this place?"

He remained silent for a moment.

The memory of what had happened the previous night returned to his mind, when he had stood beside Noah on the watchtower and decided to test his exit ability.

The familiar system window had appeared, but contrary to his expectations, after he selected the exit option, he had received several messages in a row.

[ Exit Permission Denied ]

[ Exit Permission Denied ]

[ Leaving the Domain Of The Condemned is impossible without being cleared of all charges ]

He still clearly remembered that after seeing the message, he had tried several more times.

But the result had remained the same.

"Yeah, I tried, but it didn’t work." He looked back at Rindo.

His friend frowned.

"Even with that ability?"

"Even with that, apparently this area has a special restriction that even the system can’t ignore."

"What restriction?"

Lian thought about the words in the message for a moment.

"It says that leaving the Domain of the Condemned is impossible without being cleared of all charges."

"The Domain of the Condemned?" Rindo took his hand away from the map.

"Yeah."

"I’ve never heard of an area with that name."

Lian shrugged.

"Neither had I, but now that I think about it, the Hollow Sun also mentioned this place when it condemned Amélie."

Rindo looked at him for a few seconds before speaking slowly.

"Then the Land of First Dawn might not be the real name of this place."

"That’s likely, humans chose this name after discovering the area. We don’t know what it was called before that."

Lian examined the map again.

The Domain of the Condemned.

This name sounded more like a prison than a land where ancient treasures were supposed to be hidden.

On the other hand, the phrase "cleared of all charges" raised even more questions, he didn’t even know exactly what crime he had been accused of.

Did everyone who entered this area become condemned from the moment they arrived?

Or did the sun have to announce their charges first? And more importantly, if someone was condemned, was there even a way to clear their name?

Lian let out a short sigh.

’What a ridiculous justice system, I don’t even know what I’m accused of, but I’m not allowed to leave either.’ He was also curious about who had built this place and why.

"So you think we have to get permission from the sun to leave?" Rindo asked, still lost in thought.

"I don’t know. But I’d rather find another way." Lian paused for a moment before another idea came to mind.

"Rindo, do you think finding a key could help us leave this place?"

His friend looked at him in surprise.

"A key? You mean a key to leave the Ruined Realm?"

The young Vorhelm nodded.

"Exactly."

In the Ruined Realm, every area had a hidden key inside it, a key that could allow someone to leave the area without needing to find a portal or a normal exit route.

Lian knew this very well.

The first time he had been summoned to the Ruined Realm against his will as one of the twenty-five thousand victims, he had eventually managed to escape by using a key he had obtained from Dreadmaw.

That experience was still one of the most dangerous events of his life, and now, perhaps the same method could work again.

His friend looked at the map for a moment.

"If every area really has a key, then there should be one here too."

"That’s what I think."

"But what if the sun’s restriction affects the key too?"

"Then at least we’ll know that another method doesn’t work either." Lian gave a faint smile.

Rindo sighed.

"That sounds very promising."

"Hey, we still have plenty of ways to try."

"Like what?"

"I’m still working on the general idea for now." Lian thought for a moment.

Rindo gave him a tired look, but after a few seconds, the corner of his mouth lifted slightly.

"Fine. If we find anything that looks like a key or something related to leaving, we’ll investigate it."

"Good."

He knew that the chances of finding a key during a short mission were very low.

But now that even his special exit ability didn’t work, he couldn’t ignore any possible way out.

Some time later, after receiving Alaric’s approval, Lian and Rindo left the base.

Before they left, the commander had stressed that they had to report their positions at regular intervals and stop moving forward if they noticed any serious ground instability.

Lian had no problem with these conditions, at least as long as nothing unexpected happened.

The southwestern route passed through plains where some of the golden plants were still intact. However, the farther they moved from the base, the more damage they saw.

Several huge trees had been pulled out of the ground by their roots.

The small springs beside the route had dried up, and in some places, the ground had split open so deeply that thick white roots beneath it were clearly visible.

He stopped in one of these areas.

His gaze fell on a group of roots sticking out from the wall of a crack.

[ True Sequence ]

After he activated the skill, the mana flows became visible to his perception.

The roots still contained a considerable amount of energy, but the direction in which part of it was moving was different from what he had seen on the first day.

Instead of moving toward the surface, the energy was flowing downward along the roots, into depths that even Lian’s current perception couldn’t examine.

Rindo approached him.

"Did you find something?"

Lian pointed at the roots.

"Their mana flow is still moving downward."

"Like what you told me about the Judgment yesterday?"

"That’s right."

He moved his hand away from the roots.

"Record its location for now."

Rindo entered the area’s approximate coordinates into the mapping device, and then they both continued moving.

About an hour later, they spotted their first group of Withered.

There were nearly twelve creatures, slowly moving toward the center of the land along a rocky path.

Some had long, unnatural limbs, while others had changed shape so much that it seemed impossible to identify their original races.

But most of them showed no reaction even after seeing the two Awakened, and simply continued moving.