Ethereal Ascendance: A Journey of Transformation

But there was still a loophole in this theory, as it could not explain the large amount of dark elements present in the air.

We had already been in such an environment when we were in town. If we had teleported elsewhere, these dark elements should have instantly disappeared, unless we happened to teleport to another place with similarly high concentrations of them, though the chances seemed rather small.

"Do you think we might be in that 'Barren Land' you mentioned?"

I tried asking Selene again, hoping to confirm my guess. Besides, she had brought up something similar last night too.

"Unlikely!" Surprisingly, Selene denied my guess outright this time, very decisively.

"Apart from whether you could even fly there or not, I've seen the 'Barren Lands' with my own eyes from the border. Although that place also had this gravelly landscape, there were even more endless white sandy deserts as far as the eye could see. Now that it's daytime and bright out, you can clearly see this place looks completely different from there."

"Is there anywhere else with high concentrations of dark elements in the air, even exceeding the Barren Lands?"

"That's hard to say..."

Selene's voice sounded like she was racking her brains thinking about this question.

"Dark elements are scattered unevenly across Eldoria continent, not limited to underground hells. Any place without much sunlight tends to have more dark elements. Due to the cloud blocking sunlight, if this continues year-round, it's possible..."

"So you've also realized we might have teleported through space?"

Seeing her say all this, she must have realized it to some extent.

She fell silent for a while, but eventually admitted:

"Yes, I'm increasingly doubtful about it..."

I understood her. After all, this also meant it would be difficult for us to return to the capital.

"We've flown for so long yet still haven't seen Tethys Town, not even a shadow..."

Selene's voice sounded a little gloomy. I saw what she mentioned too.

Tethys Town was nestled among the mountains. It should have been below us, but the mountains here seemed to all be extensions of the volcanoes, completely barren without any greenery, clearly not where we were headed.

"There seems to be a small river down there though."

Reminded by her, I also looked down carefully for a long time before discerning a long, thin eastbound river meandering through the gravel wasteland.

But even so, there wasn't a hint of green on either riverbank.

"Looks like we really can't go back." I sighed, having flown for nearly an hour yet still seeing nothing but desolate emptiness.

"But even if we did teleport through space, why haven't I sensed any elemental traces?" This was what Selene still couldn't figure out.

"Exactly when and where did we teleport?"

"How would I know..." I smiled wryly. Suddenly I noticed many black dots appearing in the distance on the horizon, gradually increasing until densely packed together, seemingly many moving figures.

"Do you see that?" Seeing Selene also looking over, I strangely asked, "What are those things?"

"Can't see clearly." She shook her head in reply.

"They seem to be moving in our direction. We'll know once they get closer."

We didn't actually need to get that close. After flying ahead for just a while longer, we could mainly make out what those were - all dark creatures, densely packed with at least a few thousand. And many different varieties, both flying in the air and walking on the ground.

Due to our high position and adequate distance, Selene and I had not been discovered by the large group.

"Where are so many magical beasts heading?" Hiding amidst the clouds, I watched the ant-like movement of the troops below, curiously asking.

"Looks like their destination is that mountain they're walking towards."

None of the nearby mountains had much vegetation, all looking similar to me.

But the one the magical beast troop was headed to was quite special after closer inspection, as it wasn't connected to the surrounding mountain ranges, standing alone solitary amid the gravel plains. Also shaped like a very typical volcano, yet without any lava traces, clearly not currently erupting.

"Let's leave them be." Selene didn't want to bother with whatever the magical beasts were up to, but she finally figured something out.

"We can basically determine now that we're in some domain ruled by dark creatures."

"But do you know which domain?" I asked.

"Don't know..."

She shook her head. If we could figure out this question too, there would still be hope of getting home.

"How about capturing a creature to ask?" I suggested a dangerous idea.

"Where would you find one? Dare to go down amidst that troop?"

Selene's voice sounded a little speechless, instantly rebutting me.

"Uh..."

I awkwardly glanced around, then brightened up.

"What about over there?"

I pointed towards where the magical beast troops had come from.

"There?"

Glancing in the direction of my hand, Selene also seemed a little tempted.

"Let's go take a look first then."

Where I pointed was a city, still quite far from our current position.

Unlike the previous orcish cities, this one didn't appear too shabby. Many tall, slender spire-like buildings could be seen, densely clustered together.

Only when flying nearer did we realize those towering slender spires were only on the outskirts, with a gigantic circular pit at its center, seemingly bottomless. Many tunnels seemed to be dug into the pit walls, faintly making out moving creatures within them.

"You really want to go into this city?"

Having observed it for a long time from a hill near the gates without recognizing what kind of dark creature city this was, Selene asked.

Just its external appearance seemed creepy enough. Illuminated by the dim lighting, jade green lights gleamed from the dark spire surfaces, like inverted bone thorns stabbed into the ground, giving a creepy feeling.

"Or let's just look for lone stragglers outside the city..."

I instantly chickened out. I was merely a level 3 shrimp, at the same level as backwater country bumpkins. Couldn't afford to mess with them, no way.

"Hmph..."

Selene gave me a disdainful glare, showing contempt.

"I'm just being careful!" Seeing her reaction, I justified myself indignantly.

...

But after waiting a long time, not a single dark creature entered or left the city, the exterior seeming perpetually desolate. Not even any guards could be seen.

"What now? Just continue waiting?"

Having spent a few hours with Selene even taking out an apple-like fruit to munch on beside me, I instantly lost my calm.

Eating snacks while I had nothing. Damn rich people.

"Not many left! Stop looking at me, keep watch for magical beasts below!"

Noticing me staring at her apple, Selene frowned and turned her back towards me, continuing to nibble.

"You angels don't need to eat during the day anyway."

But I didn't eat anything last night either! Should have had dinner back at Tethys Town church before leaving.

Fortunately no longer felt hungry after daybreak. Felt like a plant, no need to eat with sunlight, still full of energy. But I wasn't green either right, where would photosynthesis come from?

"Seems something's moving on the ground."

Selene suddenly nudged me with her elbow, pointing below with the hand holding her apple.

Glancing over, I indeed saw a white figure slowly shuffling towards the city gates from afar.

"That's..."

Seeing its appearance clearly as it approached, I instantly gasped.

"Looks like a skeleton?"

"And not a human one."

Selene also turned pale, supplementing.

"Do you think it can provide any useful information? Probably can't even talk right."

I doubtfully asked her, and as expected she shook her head in reply.

"Undead creatures have no consciousness, only able to act on instinct. This is also my first time seeing a living undead."

But before the skeleton could get near, the city gates opened a small side door. An upright lizard-like dark creature emerged, holding a huge blade and wildly hacking the skeleton to pieces before stabbing through its skull. After gathering the scattered bones from the ground, it strode off and quickly returned through the door, shut once again.

"Now what?"

I turned to Selene in surprise.

"Aren't undead fellow dark creatures too? Why slaughter each other?"

The lizard's actions reminded me of village guard troops stationed near Norvale, similarly killing any wild beasts nearing the gates, even hauling their carcasses back probably to cook soup.

"I don't understand either..."

Selene was similarly confused by its actions, her dark creature knowledge basically from scriptures lacking actual experience.

"Keep waiting?"

I felt I would go crazy soon. No creatures passed by, the one living undead that finally appeared was hacked apart by the gatekeeper for unknown reasons. What kind of logic was this!

And I could tell the gates would remain shut. Who knew how long we'd stupidly have to keep waiting here!

"Your intention seems to be sneaking into the city?"

Seeing my words, Selene wasn't too certain.

"Feasible? If not, perhaps you have other ideas that could be tried."

I expressionlessly asked. If not for that I can't sit still any longer, I would never consider such methods.