Eternal Elysium

The land remained still; the monsters roaming around died under flashes of light.

The legion of soldiers shouldering many fates retreated back to the safety of the walls. All that remained were the carcasses and the blood flowing down below like a river, turning the dark swamp green.

A tremendous screech filled the land, shocking me even more.

"Let's move somewhere else."

Commander Clonas said with a dark look over his face.

"Wh—What's happening?" I whispered under my breath. My skin shivered and hair stood on edge as my legs suddenly started to wobble as the swamp shook.

For a second I even forgot what I was saying about the plague. After all, down below is another catastrophe. Something that might need immediate attention if it shows even a sliver of movement. And the attention I needed to give was run away.

Then, before I could know it myself, a hand was pressed down strongly on my shoulders.

In the next instant I felt my body float and then, like a flash, a beam of light found me moving forward without having any control. My eyes widened and my mouth was left agape, frozen on the spot as I couldn't move an inch.

It happened in an instant; the world in front of me moved back and I felt as if I had gone directly through a tunnel. A tunnel so short and small that my body could never go through it. A place that only light could fit through it.

My vision blurred as I found my feet touching the ground, then losing balance, I fell down on the ground with a loud thud as my legs finally gave out.

"Ah… what was that?"

I said, rubbing my eyes as they burned in pain.

Commander Clonas walked closer, inspecting me closely and said with a shocked face.

"Wait, you saw that happen?"

I nodded.

"If you mean getting pulled into a tunnel? Then yes... I did."

My voice came out heavy as everything around looked as if it couldn't stay still.

"Ugh, my eyes hurt." I groaned, still rubbing them. Then as the blur in my eyes vanished, I looked up to see Clonas giving me a weird and… worried look? I couldn't read his expression. It was a mix of awe and uncertainty as well.

"Your eyes must be good… and that was a stroke of bad luck." Clonas let out a forced laugh as he added. "And you are quite lucky."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Hmm, well, being able to see us travel this far means you caught a glimpse of inner space. Which means your eyes are too good. One might even envy them." Clonas said but I couldn't take him seriously, as his face looked stressed.

"Then how is that a bad thing?" I asked with a frown and stood up.

The land still felt as if it was shaking but now I knew it was just my mind playing games.

"Ah, most awakened minds are not developed enough to see such things; in the worst-case scenario, you would have gone blind. That's why I said you are incredibly lucky."

'This guy… did he almost made me go blind?!'

I was so shocked that no voice came out of my mouth. But then soon calmed down.

The reason I saw the so-called 'inner space,' which likely should mean folding space to travel forward at an incredible speed, was due to my constant use of [Kairosflow] to change my perception of the world. However, I had moved so fast I never thought the world was slow.

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This had nothing to do with my eyes in a sense; the timing was just that bad.

In any case, I didn't go blind; it was simply due to several factors involved. The most important being I had already seen the Hollow's true form, a weakened one but still something incredible for a mind to sustain. And there was also the fact that I had been training my mind from the very start, be it to use my abilities or to simply unravel the threads of my mind.

I was incredibly lucky in that case that my mind was used to handling intense pressure.

I sighed, rubbing my temples with my hand raised.

Commander Cloanas watched me with his lips pursed and muttered.

"You are weird."

"I don't want to hear that from you!"

I snapped back only to regret it instantly.

'Shouldn't have said that.'

No matter what, he was my superior. Getting angry at him was not a good idea, but now the deed was done and I could wait to see his reaction.

"Pft—"

"Hmm?"

"Haha…"

Clonas suddenly started to laugh while holding his stomach. His grey eyes squinted slightly as he tried to suppress the burst of laughter but failed to do it.

"Sorry… Pft—I didn't mean to laugh… but your words were refreshing. So fresh and new to hear that I couldn't help but laugh."

"I, I see."

Unknowingly, the rising tension and stress seem to have calmed down between us.

Shaking my head with a wry smile, I looked around.

"Where are we anyways?" I muttered only for my smile to freeze again in shock.

"Seriously!" I muttered at the sight waiting in front of me.

The place we stood upon was an open ground at the left of the East base. The swamp surrounding the dark forest, meanwhile, was groaning with a deadly presence. The swamp would lift itself like a soap bubble but won't burst. Rather, it pumped like a living heart, reaching heights one could compare with mountains.

However, what made the sight chilling was not the swamp pulsing like a beating heart or even the creepy sound coming like jagged breaths. It was greenish-inky blood surrounding it.

The blood belonged to newborns and beasts alike. Those who had been woven by none other than Swamp and later killed by the soldiers. It was flowing back like a river and climbing the bubble, threatening to burst open like a creepy vortex.

A shiver ran down my spine the longer I watched it.

The smell… it was now in the air.

The scent of blood and iron.

The scent of war that was finally over.

Ah…

Ba… Thump!

Ba… Thump!

My heart filled with dread and a chilling coldness now beated wildly inside my chest.

"Hey… What's happening over there?"

I mustered the courage to raise my hand and point a finger in the growing swamp's direction.

Clonas, seeing my trembling fingers, kept a straight face and looked at the swamp with an indifference that was hard to ignore.

"That's how it always is after suffering defeat and being pushed back."

Clonas scoffed with a mocking smile.

"Less like a calamity and more like throwing a tantrum…"

"Anyways, don't worry about this too much. The Calamity down below us was sealed by someone decades ago. It's just that the seal was not perfect so the calamity in the form of a swamp sometimes creates those monsters to destroy our base."

Clonas muttered and gave me a side glance before continuing in an even tone.

"After each defeat it would rise and collect the blood of its kin and then the dreadful cycle will continue. We had fought it many times… the monsters remain the same but the tactic changes every month… This calamity is smart and cunning. It knows what it is doing very well."

"Have you tried collecting its blood?" I suddenly asked, intrigued by the story. There were many questions I wanted to ask but patience was the key and so was his mood.

Clonas, hearing my question, chuckled softly, forgetting all his worries and then shook his head.

"No… Maybe it might work to slow it down but we have no manpower for that and no big-enough container to collect all its blood. Asher calamities are not so easy as you think; even their blood holds incredible and mystical properties. You must have felt its power… those strange raging emotions are not part of the calamity's abilities. Just being near makes people crazy and makes them do stupid and crazy things."

Suddenly he paused and gave me a deep look before nodding to himself.

'What's he nodding about now?'

I frowned.

"Never mind… You should understand what it is by now, right?"

"Hmm, I do."

"I also have a pretty good idea what a calamity is capable of." I boasted with a slight grin that didn't reach my eyes.

"Oh?"

With a small chuckle I crossed my hands and asked with a puzzled look.

"Sorry, but can I ask you something?" I didn't wait for his reply and asked anyway.

"Why are you telling me this much? I am sure your words must contain a lot of classified information. Something Temple must have wanted to hide; that's not unusual for them to do after all. They hide so many things… bad things as well."

My voice trailed off as I saw Clonas's face change from the youthful energy to something else.

His smile was now neither mocking nor calm. It was like an elder watching a youngling with curiosity and warmth.

He remained silent for a moment and then said with a solemn voice.

"I know so much yet I know nothing compared to those above me."

"I have seen so much yet I know it's not enough to reach a height greater than this."

"I am not telling you all of this because I trust you or the Temple has told me to. I didn't even know you existed before this. I am simply following my instincts… and they are urging me to tell you all this."

"Instincts?" I whispered, feeling a strange sense of unease.

"When you become a saint… a transcendent like us. Asher, you will feel it as well. A weird tug telling you to do something. This instinct will only grow as you grow… it's either our guide, a tool to lead us on a destined path or… a path to doom. The choice will always be ours."