Chapter 35: Steel Crystal Rain
Joshua raised his head.
His gaze pierced through the gray, hazy mist, reaching the black canopy in the distant sky. There, cyan-white lightning was raging wildly, blooming with streaks of brilliant light. Not long after, a low, rumbling roar came from afar, and the lightning gradually faded until it vanished completely.
But this was not the end.
Accompanied by a faint "whoosh," a gale suddenly rose from the distant earth. Air currents swirled, lifting countless dust and gravel into the sky, forming a massive wind screen. The gray fog that covered the land was gathered by this wind, transforming into gray rivers hanging in the sky.
The gray mist dissipated, and the view instantly became clear—
The gale swept across the flat plains, and even those standing far away felt the residual gusts, their hair flying wildly. Even Claire, who was still pondering the dangerous situation of her waning power, couldn't help but look up. She saw, high in the sky, the black canopy rolling and churning like a vortex.
Extreme cold invaded the land in an instant. The temperature on the plains had never been mild, but now it plummeted to a cold more severe than the harshest winter day. A layer of frost covered the ground, and ice crystals and snowflakes condensed and fell from the void. In just a few breaths, the gray dust plains turned white.
If it were an ordinary person, they would freeze to death instantly. Fortunately, here were three Gold-rank experts and a weapon that ignored heat and cold. Even Claire, whose strength had slightly diminished due to losing her connection with nature, had no fear of this temperature.
The distant chaos brought lightning, wind, and snow. Everyone could see black wind pillars appearing on the far horizon—tornadoes. And accompanying the tornadoes was a torrential downpour.
"Rustle, rustle, rustle—"
A strange yet clear sound echoed between heaven and earth. The rainstorm rapidly approached from afar, expanding to where everyone was standing. Under Moria's astonished gaze, countless translucent crystals with a silvery-white luster fell from the sky like raindrops.
"Steel crystals?!"
The old dwarf could discern the nature of these crystals with just a glance. His beard trembled in shock. Using his gold-red battle qi to shield himself from the crystal rain, he reached out with a large hand and grabbed a handful of crystals. The silver-white gems shimmered with a mesmerizing light, and a powerful, pure Steel Force overflowed, making Moria almost unable to breathe: "So many?! Such precious materials, and now... now they fall like rain..."
His voice drifted. Even as the greatest smith among the Rune Dwarves of the Northern Lands, he had never been so extravagant. Speaking thus, Moria seemed to recall something. The old dwarf looked around and murmured, "Legend has it that at the dawn of the world's creation and at the brink of its destruction, large amounts of free-floating Steel Force would condense into crystals... Could this be that time?"
"This doesn't look like the scene of a world's creation."
Claire said softly from the side. Green mana condensed into the phantom of thorns, shielding her from the crystal storm. The Elven Druid's expression seemed somewhat displeased: "Clearly, this world is on the verge of destruction, hence such a strange phenomenon. Only this reason can explain why I can't sense even a trace of Nature's Force."
Nature's Force is a power originating from all living things. It is similar to the life energy within organisms but not identical. It is an existence between battle qi and mana, a force born from the ecosystem, with various marvelous uses. Druids rely on it to accelerate tree growth, modify species and plants, and obtain better offspring and seeds.
Generally speaking, as long as the ecosystem exists, Nature's Force will not disappear. But now, Claire couldn't feel its call at all, which was enough to prove that this world had long been dead and silent, with no trace of life.
As for Joshua, he bathed in the crystal storm, letting these hard gems strike his body with a "thump, thump" sound. Beside him, crimson battle qi formed a rain shield, helping Rin withstand the crystals falling from the high sky.
He reached out and caught a steel crystal. Joshua keenly noticed that the surrounding gray mist had completely disappeared, and the gradual decrease of energy within his body had also improved. But as time passed, both the steel crystals falling to the ground and the one in his hand rapidly turned black and red, until finally, they all became exactly like the one he had found on Firefly earlier.
Moria and Claire naturally noticed this first point as well. Even Rin turned her head in surprise to look at the warrior. Joshua nodded and said, "Indeed, the aura is the same. It seems the steel crystal we examined earlier came from this current crystal storm."
Having said that, he continued to look into the distance.
On the distant horizon, the black cloud canopy was still churning. Tornadoes and cyan-white lightning flashed continuously.
There—that was the source of the crystal rain's spread. And... what exactly was happening?
Pondering with doubt, all of this was beyond Joshua's experience. Even falling into the chaos-corrupted depths of the abyss was vastly different from this world. At this moment, he decided to use the system to see what was going on.
Opening the system, a flood of information immediately scrolled across the screen.
[You have entered the Doomsday World: Famine Carlis]
[This world is suitable for human survival. You do not need to pay extra costs to survive.]
[Warning! This world is eroded by chaos. Extremely dangerous!]
[Warning! This world is on the verge of destruction. Extremely dangerous!]
[Synopsis: Carlis was once a glorious magical world, nurturing a great and brilliant civilization. But in a catastrophe that occurred over 1,100 years ago, the civilization was extinguished, and the world gradually slid into the abyss of destruction.]
[Status·Chaos Erosion: The breath of chaos erodes your body, gradually weakening your physique and reducing perception. All attributes are lowered by one rank. (Due to the characteristics of the Unlit Flame, you are unaffected by this status.)
—From the breath of the end and decay.]
[Status·Mana Drain: The surrounding low-energy environment affects your power, temporarily reducing the upper limits of your mana, battle qi, and various special energy bars.
—Imprisoned in a prison without miracles, this is the greatest pain for the strong.]
[Status·Fireless World: A world of burned-out embers, without souls or any life. Unimaginable loneliness and rejection from the world torment you. You need to pay soul value to maintain your light of existence.
—When civilization collapses and life goes extinct, when wisdom fades and order ceases to exist... This is the day the fire is exhausted and the flame is extinguished.]
It seemed the situation was very critical. Joshua couldn't help but frown.
But now, the two statuses, Mana Drain and Fireless World, were displayed in gray, meaning they were temporarily suspended. Replacing them was a status called [Steel Purification].
[Status·Steel Purification: The Steel Force from the dawn of creation erupts anew at the end of an era. Even in a fireless world, it can still function. Dispels most negative statuses.
—The pulse and counterattack of the world are the will of steel.]
"It seems this world really is on the verge of destruction."
Seeing the three original negative statuses, Joshua couldn't help but think this. Chaos Erosion was manageable, but Mana Drain and Fireless World undoubtedly proved that this world was nearing its end, unable to even sustain the existence of magic and souls. However, the last one, Steel Purification, at least showed that this world was still trying to salvage the situation—there was still some hope.
After confirming the current situation, Joshua turned around and said to Moria and Claire, who were still observing the crystal rain, "Both of you, I think we should move in that direction."
As he spoke, he pointed toward the direction where the thunder and tornadoes had appeared earlier. Since the view had become much clearer, everyone could see that there were many peaks and hills in that direction.
"Why?"
The old dwarf was still reluctantly gazing at the steel crystals in his hand. This time, it was Claire who raised the question first.
"Because that is the only place in this desolate world with light and movement—the steel crystal rain also spread from that direction. Besides, don't you feel that your current physical condition has improved a lot?"
(To be continued.)