Chapter 645: The Broken Paradise

Lian stared at the communication device in his hand for several seconds.

No sound could be heard from the other side of the device anymore, not the shouts of the base staff, not Alaric’s orders, and not even the faint static that usually remained when the connection was interrupted.

Rindo stood beside him and tried to reconnect using his own device, but the result was the same every time.

"They’re not answering." He finally lowered the device and looked at the Hollow Sun. "Alaric said several people had been selected. And then that sound..."

He did not finish his sentence.

Lian was still looking at the black pupil in the center of the huge golden rings.

From his current distance, he could not identify the exact location of the condemned people, but the Judge’s gaze was still directed toward the area where the base was located.

"At least four people." Lian finally said.

Rindo looked at him.

"What?"

"Alaric first said three people, then he noticed that another person had been selected, of course, there could be even more."

Rindo tightened his fingers around the shaft of his spear.

Both of them had seen the fate of Amélie Moreau.

They knew what being selected by the sun could mean, and even the most powerful Awakened in this land had still not found a way to stop its judgment.

"Do you think Alaric managed to do something?" He asked in a low voice.

Lian did not answer for a few moments.

Yesterday, he had only managed to damage one of the smaller energy threads of the judgment structure for a fraction of a second, the main energy flow had repaired it almost immediately.

Even if Alaric gathered all his forces, it would be impossible.

But perhaps they had found time to evacuate, or maybe the forces had been moved to other positions before the judgment began.

"No, but I’m not going to stand here and keep guessing."

Rindo noticed the change in his expression.

"You want to go back?"

"Yeah."

"Then I’m coming too."

Lian shook his head.

"No. This time, it’s better if I go alone."

His friend frowned, but before he could protest, the young Vorhelm pointed toward the broken plain behind them.

"We’ve traveled almost a full day away from the base, and most of the paths we used this morning don’t exist anymore, if I have to carry you too, my speed will decrease."

He looked toward the horizon.

"Even at my maximum flying speed, it’ll probably take me two hours to get there, by then, it might already be too late."

Rindo remained silent for a moment, but in the end, he nodded and took a breath, he could understand the situation, he just did not like the thought that something terrible might have happened to the base.

Before leaving, Lian activated [Hive Dominion].

The space a few steps away changed for a moment, and the huge body of the Eight-Disaster Wolf appeared from streams of light.

Two.

Its large paws touched the rocky ground, and the weight of its body caused several small stones to fall from the edge of the cliff.

The wolf lowered its head toward its master, its body was larger than most of the creatures Rindo had seen during the mission, and the powerful muscles in its legs were clearly visible even while it was standing still.

"Did you get this one recently?" He had seen that huge ant in the Special Area before, but this one seemed new.

"Yeah, not too long ago."

The wolf moved its ears, but its attention did not remain on Rindo for long, because at that exact moment, it raised its head and saw the Hollow Sun.

For several seconds, its huge body remained almost completely still.

Its ears moved slightly backward, and the muscles along its back tightened.

A short, deep growl came from its throat, but unlike Three, it did not fall to its knees, and there were no signs of fear strong enough to stop it from moving.

Two turned its gaze away from the black pupil.

Then it looked at Lian again.

Through the Colony connection, its master felt a faint sense of unease; something between caution and worry.

"So you can feel something too."

But the difference between its reaction and that of the Dreadmaw Sovereign was very clear.

Three could not even bear to look at the sun, while Two was still calm enough to examine its surroundings and wait for orders.

Lian placed his hand on the wolf’s huge neck.

"Take care of Rindo until I return, if the ground here becomes unstable, take him somewhere safer."

The wolf lowered its head slightly.

"I can protect myself too." Rindo looked between the two of them.

"I know, but when you have a Level 40 wolf beside you, why make everything harder?"

Rindo sighed, but this time, he did not continue arguing.

Lian took a few steps back, and two huge black wings opened behind him.

"If I find anything and communication starts working again, I’ll let you know, but if I can’t contact you, stay around here, I don’t want to have to search for you too when I get back."

"Take care of yourself." His friend nodded and then added.

The young Vorhelm gave a faint smile.

"You too."

Then his wings moved with great force.

A wave of wind and dust spread across the rock, and he quickly flew toward the sky.

A few seconds later, only a black figure could be seen in the distance.

Rindo watched his flight path for a while.

Two stood beside him, moving its gaze between the sky and the broken plain.

Then he looked at the Hollow Sun, the golden rings were still rotating.

They were beautiful.

Even now, in a land where another part of the ground was collapsing every moment, the sunlight created a magnificent view.

But Rindo could no longer see it as beautiful, that beautiful thing was actually a killing machine.

Lian was flying at his maximum speed.

Warm air passed beside his body, and the strong wind created by the movement of his wings pushed away some of the steam floating along his path.

At first, he planned to follow the approximate route they had taken over the past few days, but only a few minutes were enough for him to realize that doing so was useless.

The land was no longer the same land they had crossed that morning.

Cracks that had previously been only a few meters wide had now turned into huge valleys.

Parts of the golden forests had collapsed along with thick layers of soil and stone, and in some areas, giant white roots were hanging from the walls of the cliffs.

Molten rock was flowing in the depths.

Sometimes the steam became so thick that he could not see the ground below even from his current height.

He moved his wings and gained more altitude.

"The situation is much worse than I thought."

But what caught his attention the most was the way the ground was collapsing.

In some areas, huge sections of the plain had almost completely disappeared, while several kilometers away, rocky platforms still remained relatively intact.

Inside some of the cracks, parts of old structures could also be seen; thick walls, broken pillars, and paths that had previously been hidden underground.

He could stop to examine them, but now was not the time for that.

Lian increased his speed.

After some time, he flew over an area where a small spring had once been located.

He recognized the location for a moment, it was one of the paths he had crossed with Rindo and Amélie on the first day.

When Amélie had seen the plants around the spring, she had stopped for a few minutes and talked about their healing properties.

Now, neither the spring nor the plants remained, that entire area had turned into a huge crack.

He looked down for a moment and then flew over it without slowing down.

The farther he traveled, the more Withered he encountered.

Some were moving along rocky platforms, while others were coming out of the cracks, many of them did not even attack each other and simply continued moving toward the center of the land.

But in several areas, he also saw signs of heavy battles.

The bodies of mutated creatures were lying among the rocks, and parts of the ground had been damaged by powerful impacts.

Even so, there were no signs of the base’s forces.

Time was passing.

Despite his physical abilities and large mana reserves, he could feel the strain of flying continuously at maximum speed.

Such speed required a constant flow of energy through his wings.

But he had only one goal.

Reaching the base.

Finally, after nearly two hours of flying, the huge golden wall appeared on the horizon.

The same barrier they had passed through on the first day, which had now turned into an impenetrable wall.