novelnext [359] 4.80 Final Flight XI
[359] 4.80 Final Flight XI
Ugh. I have definitely had better days. Moving hurts, sitting up hurts. Breathing hurts… Existing hurts too, because why wouldn’t it. Yeah, not going to lie to myself, the sweet embrace of death is looking awfully comfortable right about now.I think I’m just going to lie down and–
“Alright, Sera,” Chloe says. “Stop moping around–”
“I didn’t–” No. It’s useless to try to hide things from her. She’s better with emotions than I am by a long shot, and she could surely detect the hint of melodramatic mischief emanating out of my mind.
“Anyway,” Chloe says. “Let’s try to figure out how we’re supposed to get out of this place. I don’t see a portal leading back out, so either that wasn’t the final boss, or there’s a couple more puzzles that we have to deal with before we actually clear the dungeon for real.”
“Well, and it’s going to sound really strange coming from me, but I certainly hope it’s the latter. I think both our tanks are empty.”
Chloe just nods in affirmation.
“So, I see one thing strange,” I say as I collect a small vial of Apocrites’ venom to go with that hedgehog’s from earlier. “Usually, monsters disappear very soon after they die, only long enough to briefly harvest materials or drops. All of the queen’s minions have already faded away, and yet she’s still here.”
“But we scrapped her, no? I saw the System notification. I gained the levels and allocated the Skill and stat points.”
“Well,” I pry her chest open and look around. Without the benefit of [Vitality], it folds as easily as a sheet of aluminum foil. “I don’t see anything that looks like a–”
“I found it,” Chloe says, holding a golden crystal about the size of her thumb. “Right in the middle of the head.”
“Well, it’s a good thing Apocrites didn’t dodge downward, else you might have split it in two during your attack.”
Chloe doesn’t dignify my remark with a response. “But where do we–” She casts [Heal] upon me before turning to the throne. “Sera, if you see anything about the throne or its pedestal that looks like we might be able to use this, then let me know.”
After Chloe’s spell, the edge of the pain is blunted and I can move around with only some soreness and a few stiff joints. I expect the mechanism to be buried in or around one of the two large golden armrests, but even after searching every inch of them with eyes, Skills, and hands alike, I see nothing that can open any potentially hidden chambers therein.
So I look lower, behind the throne, then on either side. On top, above the seat back? Again nothing. Then I try looking for a hidden panel underneath and again, no such luck. Only when Chloe gets the idea to push the entire throne do I notice that there is, in fact, a hidden passageway underneath. Though my [Strength] is still barely a quarter of what it otherwise would be, the two of us together are able to move the heavy throne and the metal platform underneath, revealing a long passageway descending for at least hundreds of feet.
If only I had the strength to fly, but I’m not confident in using my magic and the passage is narrow enough that I can’t comfortably spread my wings in either case. So the two of us are forced to take the ladder and slowly descend into the bowels of the Great Tree which is now running in a low-powered state with its central intelligence no longer operable.
No lights in this narrow descent, and the air smells of dust, rust, and stagnation. I’m quite certain that Apocrites never descended this passage in decades, and that only makes me more certain that this is the path that will lead to us being able to shut down the world tree once and for all.
We descend so deep into the bowels of the tower and probably into the root network that the glistening light from the above chamber is little more than a glint of starlight that does hardly anything to illuminate the chamber. Chloe, though, is feeling well enough to conjure a simple [Orb of Light] to help guide our way. Not that it takes long before we arrive at an extremely thick, sealed metal door.
It doesn’t take long to find the console either, and again, it asks for a password. I try ‘Yggdrasil’ once more, only this time, I get nothing but an error message specifying the password is invalid. So I use the fallback plan of entering the other password I know about, which I’d committed to memory but also jotted down in my sketchbook just in case the former failed me. XRG4-887B-4262-3E47-74B1. And with that, the locking mechanisms of the door, probably durable enough to take multiple strikes from me at full strength without so much as a scratch, clang and begin to release.
“So, what do we do now?” Chloe asks.
“I wish I knew. Play it by ear, I guess.”
With that, we step into the chamber. Dim red lights activate, like the backup emergency lights when the power goes out, revealing a small pedestal with a small slot as well as a conspicuous red button. It doesn’t take long to put the clues together. Chloe inserts the crystalline shard stored in Apocrites’ corpse, and then I press the button.
The pedestal activates, then lowers into the ground. Chloe’s expression is one of indignation as the key sinks away. But then more lights fill the chamber and a holographic display screen appears, along with a keypad.
Main Control Panel: World Tree Project. Codename: Project Yggdrasil
Select Option:
Harvest Gathered Energy (Current Quantity: 187,414 cours)Release Gathered Energy
“So we need to release it, right?” Chloe asks.
“Just, to be clear,” I say. “If we were to use this energy, take it into ourselves, I’m sure we could get a lot stronger. Something we should at least consider.”
“But it’s wrong, Sera, and you know that. All this energy was stolen from the world and–”
“No, I’m not disagreeing with you. I just figured it was worth being clear and upfront with all the implications of what we’d be dealing with, that’s all.”
I enter ‘2’ into the console, and then hit the ‘confirm’ prompt that appears.
The faint hum of the tower’s operation, which had long faded into the background, goes quiet, giving us a brief moment of complete silence. Then the noise picks up again, even louder than before. A surge of energy passes through the chamber. Chloe alerts me that the flow of life energy has reversed. Instead of being siphoned up and into the tree, it’s instead being pumped back into the planet and at an accelerating rate.
She smiles and I can’t help but wrap my arm around her in relief that we finally did a little bit of good after everything that’s transpired today. I’m not going to lie to myself and say that I have no regrets about the decision; we might well be sacrificing the Earth to save Soreille. But–
My thoughts are interrupted as motes of light from all around gather in front of the two of us. I instinctively gather Filia, who I’d picked up earlier and restowed in my [Inventory], but Chloe extends her arm in front of me and shakes her head. Whatever this is, Chloe must feel confident that it’s not hostile.
The lights coalesce into the form of a young girl with height reaching only to the top of Chloe’s shoulders. She smiles, but I see a deep sadness in her eyes. Chloe, as if driven by instinct, wraps her arms around the spectral projection of this girl and starts to cry.
“I’m sorry,” Chloe says. “For everything.”
The girl hugs Chloe back. “You do not need to apologize for this, child of Earth.”
“But–”
“Who are you?” I ask. “It seems my girlfriend already knows you, but I–”
“I am an embodiment of the life of Soreille itself. The world’s avatar, if you will, briefly given form. Because of your efforts, a portion of myself siphoned away and used to power this machine has been returned to me. For that, I offer you my thanks.”
“But we weren’t able to–”
“Slow my decline, right? I’m sure you saw. But do not mourn for me, kind child. It is the fate of all things to be born, grow, mature, and eventually decline and die. The cycle of life comes for us all. It just takes a little longer for planets than it does for people.”
“So, what happens now?” I ask. “Is there anything we can do to prolong your life?”
“Perhaps such a thing is possible, in theory. But it is beyond your abilities. Even what these researchers did, selfless though their pursuits may have been at first, would not have been sufficient to reverse the inevitable outcome of the flow of time.”
“At first?”
“One of the researchers succumbed to greed, that most insidious of follies. He recognized exactly what you said earlier. That by harvesting the gathered life energy for himself, he could ascend, become the equivalent of a demigod. To what purpose beyond that, I do not know.”
“A demigod,” I say. A lot of good I could do with that kind of power. And it’s exactly that mindset that gets so addictive and leads to people inevitably succumbing to their own baser nature. Again, I can’t say I have no regrets, but I feel at ease with our decision.
“As thanks for aiding me, I would like to give each of you a small boon, to better aid souls like you in the trials you will undoubtedly face.”
“But we’re not,” Chloe says.
“From around here? Yes, Child of Earth. I can sense as much. But surely you will face your share of challenges against force which imperil your world. Or, am I mistaken?”
Chloe shakes her head. “No, you’re right. But won’t that–”
“Hasten my decline? Maybe by a couple of months or so. Certainly far less than you gave me with your heroics. Please… Chloe, was it? And you as well, Seraphina.”
Chloe drops to one knee; I follow her lead. Soreille’s avatar smiles playfully as she touches each of us on the forehead with a gentle boop. Nothing happens for a half second, but then golden light starts gathering around the both of us. Warmth follows, one which seeps into every aspect of my being. Muscles relax, the soreness of my breath abates, and even my soul feels rejuvenated, lingering traces of my dimensional sickness fading away as life in its purest form comforts me.
[You have gained the [Defier of Fates] Class Skill [Lifecast].]
[[Lifecast]: At will, the [Defier of Fates] may cast spells by substituting her [Health] for the necessary [Ether] at the ratio of 3 [Health] for every point of [Ether] converted this way. (Partial substitutions are allowed. User’s [Health] may not be dropped below 1 in this manner. This loss of [Health] is not considered damage, and does not trigger the passive effect of [Ring of Replenishing Recoil].)]
The glow then spreads to my weapon, which radiates the light right back before seeming to absorb that radiance into themself. Two small wings, like those often associated with the caduceus, appear on either side of the small hilt that separates the blade to the staff end.
[Your connection to [Filia, Swordstaff of Dawn] has grown as a result of your feats. More of the weapon’s true potential has been unlocked:
[Attack] has increased from +330 to +480.
[Magical Attack] has increased from +70 to +115.
[Agility] has increased from +60 to +80.
You may now cast the spell [Detoxify] twice per day using the weapon’s [Ether] (Self only.)]
Soreille’s avatar closes her eyes. “Thank you once again.” Her form shimmers and flickers.
“What’s happening–” Chloe starts, before the avatar cuts her off.
“I am the planet, and I must now return to the planet. Farewell, saviors from another world.”
Soreille’s avatar disappears completely. In its place forms a swirling blue vortex and a familiar feeling emanating from it. Looks like it’s time to go home.
“Good bye, Soreille,” Chloe says. And I wave.