'That was close,' He said internally before letting go of the spear.

Blam!

Gustav landed on the ground.

They had reached the bottom of the massive hole.

Although Gustav couldn't tell the exact number of feet they descended before getting here, he estimated it was over twenty thousand.

The underground ruins were already in-depth. Now they were reaching a deeper spot within the already deep Caskia ruins.

Gustav could already feel that the temperature here was higher, and there was only a little oxygen.

He took a step forward and stopped.

'Huh?' He looked down after noticing that the ground felt weird.

[God Eyes Have Been Activated]

Gustav's sight suddenly regained color as he activated God Eyes at the bottom of the dark hole.

Gustav had only been making use of perception all this time, so he couldn't really see his environment. He could only sense it.

He decided not to activate God Eyes while they were descending to save energy, but now, he decided to activate it because of how weird the texture of the ground felt.

'Hmm, why does this look like a shell?' Gustav wondered.

The part of the ground he was stepping on was dark green, and parts of it looked similar to a mosaic.

It was looking like a tortoiseshell with another color, and it covered a radius of six hundred feet.

The stone had fallen to the ground about a thousand feet away, so it wasn't in the range.

Gustav would have studied it more, but the current situation didn't give him the time for that.

As the dust settled, a small crater could be seen in the middle of the ground.

The walls of the hole served as a barricade, creating a space that covered ten thousand feet within.

Gustav dashed forward again the moment he noticed the rock. However, the rock seemed to have stabilized itself now.

Shiiiinnnnn!

It sent out a silver-like wave from its being.

Gustav leaped upwards, trying to dodge the ripple of waves.

However, when his body was only ten feet away, the same screech as before reverberated inside his head.

Ssskkkyyyrrhhhhhcchhh!

Gustav held his head in pain as his body descended from the air.

The rock sent out another wave, this time purplish in color.

Bam!

It slammed into Gustav, sending him flying backward.

Gustav slammed his head into the shell-like area he landed on previously.

A trail of blood flowed down his head as he struggled to get on his feet.

"YOU STILL DON'T KNOW, DO YOU?"

The rock voiced out while slowly floating towards Gustav.

Gustav stood up and stared at the rock with a fierce look while cleaning the bead of blood rolling down the side of his head.

"YOU BROUGHT ME RIGHT BACK TO WHERE IT ALL STARTED!"

The rock added.

"Huh?" Gustav was confused by its words when the shell-like area he was standing on suddenly lit up.

Trroooiiinnnn!

Outlines of purplish glowing arrows appeared all over the edges of the shell-like area, encircling Gustav.

The entire space on the ground within the hole was lit up.

The shell-like area seemed to resonate with the rock. The runic patterns on the rock started to change color as it moved closer to the shell-like area.

From golden color to silver and from silver to white.

Currently, it was slowly turning to a blood-red color.

Swooooshhh!

Gustav dashed forward after sensing how off this area was. However, the instant he got to the edge of a shell-like area, he collided with a barrier that suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

Bam!

He got blasted backward due to that.

The barrier became invisible once again after he was blasted backward.

"THANK YOU FOR SPILLING THAT DROP OF BLOOD WHERE I WANTED IT!"

The rock voiced out as it approached the edge of the shell-like area.

Gustav stared at the ground and noticed that his blood really did drop onto the shell-like area.

And now, it was floating a few inches above the ground in the middle of the shell-like area.

"NOW THE SACRIFICE CAN BEGIN,"

The rock laughed lightly as it spoke with a tone of victory.

Gustav squinted his eyes upon hearing that and dashed forward.

Bam!

He was sent flying backward again by the invisible barrier.

'Hmm, this doesn't look good,' Even though Gustav knew he was in a kind of dilemma, he was still calm and collected.

He thought of a way out while deciding to engage the rock in a conversation.

"What sacrifice?" Gustav asked.

"HAHA, DO YOU NOT KNOW? FOR ME TO BE FREE, I NEED TO BE BATHED IN THE ESSENCE OF A POWERFUL MIXEDBLOOD!"

"ALL THE OTHERS IN THIS HOLE HAVE PROVEN TO BE WEAKER THAN YOU ARE, AND I WANT THE HIGHEST CHANCE OF SUCCESS, SO I CHOOSE YOU!"

"REJOICE!"

"THIS SACRIFICE WILL EXTRACT THE VERY ESSENCE OF YOUR BEING, WHICH WILL BE ABSORBED BY ME! FREEING ME FROM MY SHELL!"

"MY FREEDOM IS AT HAND!"

The rock voiced out.

"That means I'll die after all this is done?" Gustav asked again.

"OF COURSE, YOU'LL DIE! YOU WILL BECOME AN EMPTY VESSEL WITHOUT YOUR ESSENCE, SO TYPICALLY, YOU WILL BE DEAD!"

The rock answered.

"Oh, I see," Gustav nodded while holding his chin.

'Why does this kid still look so calm? Other kids his age will be freaking out by now?' The rock was somehow concerned about Gustav's calmness.

"So, you mentioned that I brought you back to where it all began. What did you mean by that?" Gustav asked with a look of curiosity.

"SEE IF YOU'RE PLANNING ANYTHING, IT WON'T WORK!"

"YOU CAN NEVER ESCAPE FROM THAT ENTRAPMENT,"

The rock voiced out with a tone of suspicion.

"Hmm, since I can't escape and will end up eventually dying, why don't you just tell me about it. At least I can die with closure. It won't be bad to understand some things since I have gonna die," Gustav stated.

'For someone who is about to die, he seems awfully calm,' The rock thought, but then he also saw meaning in Gustav's words.

"HMM, I WILL START FROM HOW I ENDED UP HERE," The rock voiced out.

"I AM A VINDRUELLA SPECIES FROM THE NORTHERN STAR GALAXY..."

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