Chapter 34: Dust Plains
Soon after, the three people behind Joshua completely regained consciousness.
The first to stand up was the Old Dwarf. As a Gold-rank Dwarf Warrior whose level was even higher than Joshua's, his physical constitution was extremely tough. After shaking off the dizziness brought on by the space-time teleportation, Moria quickly recovered his ability to think and began to observe the surrounding environment.
"The dust in the air is poisonous."
After taking a breath, Moria patted the dust off his body and immediately spoke seriously to everyone: "There are too many impurities, and there is a special kind of energy in the gray mist. It can erode our bodies. Although I don't know the consequences, it's definitely not a good thing. Everyone, be careful."
"That's right, and it's best not to directly touch the soil and gravel on the ground. The power of Chaos is very strong, and you'll be eroded if you're not careful."
Joshua chimed in as well. Neither he nor Moria wasted any words, directly stating the known information. Both of them understood their current situation. The most important thing now was to figure out the conditions around them, not meaningless panic and confusion.
"...Cannot connect."
On one side, Claire raised her hand, then furrowed her brow. She looked up at the sky, her green eyes fixed on the black dome. "One possibility, of course, it's very likely not just a possibility."
Joshua turned his head towards the pit he had dug, then pointed at the armor fragments and weapon shards at the bottom of the pit. He raised his voice and said seriously: "I can probably confirm that our current location is the place where that war took place, in that vast great plain."
"Is there any evidence, Joshua?"
Moria asked a question. He didn't seem to doubt what Joshua said, but was simply inquiring.
"Aside from the weapon fragments below, there is none. It's all just speculation."
Joshua shook his head. He patted the dust off his body and said in a low voice: "But for now, we have to accept this explanation. You know, our state before clearly indicated that we had passed through a space-time gate—who knows where it came from—and then arrived at the world behind it."
This world that had been eroded by Chaos.
He thought silently to himself, then continued: "And just before we crossed over, we happened to see that vision. If you say it's a coincidence, I won't believe it."
"..."
Silence.
In fact, Claire and Moria had already thought of this possibility, but having it stated in such a certain tone still shocked them. Lin, meanwhile, stood silently behind the warrior, not saying a word.
"This is bad."
Rubbing his beard, the Old Dwarf said somewhat troubled: "The space-time gates leading to our world have all been sealed. Returning will be extremely difficult. And since neither of us is there, if time drags on, Moldavia will fall into great chaos."
"We can only hope that before we return, my son can stabilize the situation." He sighed like this.
"There is no natural force here. My strength has been greatly reduced."
Claire looked very unhappy. This Gold-rank Druid was full of worry. She stared at her fair hands, bit her lower lip, and said softly: "The elements are also extremely inert, not responding to my call... The power of all spells has been reduced by more than eighty percent. The 'fire' of this world is very weak. I have never seen such a situation."
Joshua felt much the same, and his feeling was even deeper than those two. The energy within his body was constantly spilling out without stopping. No matter how the warrior tried, he couldn't stop it. It was like entropy increase, where high energy uncontrollably flows towards low energy.
I came here because of the strange power in the Steel Crystal. If I want to return, I at least need to find the source of this power... The source of this power must be somewhere in this world.
Thinking of this, Joshua couldn't help but recall the strange sound he heard at the end of the vision.
"Soul Abyss... Soulflame..."
Muttering a few words, the warrior directly asked the others: "Everyone, do you know what a Soulflame is?"
The Old Dwarf glanced at Joshua and said strangely: "Aren't you one?"
"Me?"
Stunned for a moment, Joshua couldn't help but frown: "I am?"
"BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!!!"
Before the Old Dwarf could answer Joshua's question, strange light suddenly appeared in the distant sky.
(To be continued.)