Endless Debt

Bologue struggled forward on the ashen ground, the sharp blade now pitted and dented, clutched in his hand like a trekking pole.

This was the seventh day since Bologue had fallen into the Great Rift... or maybe the eighth; Bologue no longer cared about the passage of time.

His stamina was continuously being depleted, and the ethereal amount within him was steadily decreasing in this ether vacuum, making Bologue feel like a balloon with several holes, leaking air with a rustling sound.

Aimou remained silent, like a lifeless corpse carried on Bologue's back, and it had been a long time since the two of them last spoke, the silence lingering between them.

Bologue considered himself somewhat talkative; if he wanted, he could chat with Aimou about random topics, like movies, music, or even the ultimate questions of life.

Unfortunately, this dreadful environment was slowly crushing their spirits, and no matter how much Bologue wanted to relax, the harsh conditions afforded him no such opportunity.

Bologue needed to conserve his energy to travel further.

As he moved along, Bologue continuously explored the bottom of the Great Rift, hypothesizing that it wasn't always like this.

Bologue was referring to the state after the Great Rift had formed, speculating that it should have been filled with countless rocky protrusions, but at some point, endless ash began to pour into the Great Rift, covering the original landscape at the bottom, burying everything deep beneath the ash.

Something vast inhabited the depths of the Great Rift, filling every crevice, and from the day it arrived, it has been endlessly burning; one day, the rising ash will fill this deep rift.

Bologue stopped, gazing profoundly at the ash beneath his feet; the coverage limit of his secret energy was ten meters, but that didn't mean the ash layer was only ten meters thick; it could be several dozen or even a hundred meters deep.

Recalling that intense heat at the time, Bologue could scarcely imagine the temperature at the deepest point of the ash layer.

Perhaps there was a blazing sun intentionally buried and forgotten there.

Bologue climbed down along layers of cliffs, like giant steps, continually advancing deeper under the piled ash.

The further he went, the more complicated Bologue's feelings became, with a mix of panic and endless... curiosity.

Just like explorers at sea striving to see what's beyond the horizon, Bologue wanted to know what lay hidden in the dark depths of the Great Rift.

Bologue wasn't sure what awaited him there, but he had a vague premonition in his heart.

Ever since he used the swarm of snakes to explore what lay beneath the ash layer, Bologue had constantly felt a lingering, sinister frenzy around him, which, like a specter, hovered by his side, never leaving since the moment he stepped onto the ashen land.

No one had given Bologue an answer, but relying on the connection through the umbilical cord, Bologue had begun to link the birth of the Great Rift with the Devils.

"Bologue, what about the things that fell into the Great Rift?" Aimou asked into the silence.

Calculating the distance, they had come quite far, yet they still hadn't discovered anything along the way.

This world was lifeless, devoid of any life, and even the trash thrown into the Great Rift was nowhere to be found, as the monotonous scenery repeated incessantly; if not for Aimou feeling the ether's drift, she would almost believe time itself had stopped.

"I don't know," Bologue shook his head, "it's my first time here too."

Bologue suddenly laughed, continuing, "To be honest, such an experience of falling into the Great Rift is quite rare."

"Are you proud?"

"I just think such an experience is rather interesting, don't you?"

"Huh?"

Aimou found it hard to understand Bologue's train of thought, while Bologue continued onward.

Descending along giant steps-like cliffs, fine ash pervaded the air, with everything around shrouded in mist, causing even the dim light overhead to grow dimmer.

Bologue felt he was walking into a boundless night; by another massive cliff, Bologue paused for a few seconds and summoned the Deceitful Snake Scale Silver.

Aimou, with her arms crossed in front of Bologue's chest, reinforced by the entwining swarm of snakes once again.

After completing all this, Bologue grabbed the folding knife and continued to climb down; this descent was much longer than the previous ones, with the rock surface incredibly smooth, as if it had been cleanly sliced by some malicious force.

When Bologue climbed down from the cliff, the surrounding light had grown exceedingly dim, with pitifully narrow visibility; after only a few steps, a blurry shadow emerged in front of him, causing Bologue to become alert.

As he approached, Bologue saw clearly what it was—a broken stone column.

This stone column seemed to have been there for years, its surface covered with a thick layer of ash, and the base was deeply embedded in the ash layer below.

Looking ahead, more blurry shadows appeared before his eyes; it seemed he had arrived in a Ruins District.

"Did it fall from above?" Aimou said.

"Maybe, around the Great Rift there are often buildings collapsing... and wandering paths," Bologue answered.

The current situation is still within expectations. To this day, the Great Rift continues to expand slowly, with buildings collapsing into it continuously. Bologue guessed that this ruins might have fallen into it at some time in the past.

But Bologue felt something was off. Upon closer inspection, he found that these buildings were adorned with exquisite carvings, as if they were from a Divine Hall. However, in Bologue's understanding, neither around the Great Rift nor within the wandering paths should there be such buildings.

The history of this Ruins District is even more ancient than Bologue had anticipated.

"There's light!"

Aimou's exclamation sounded out.

Bologue cautiously looked up. Strands of ethereal blue light streaked across the top, like woven silk, casting a hazy aurora in the depths of the earth.

"No Ether reaction."

Bologue carefully sensed around and found that the surroundings were still in an Ether vacuum, with nothing unusual.

"It's beautiful."

Aimou didn't care about this at all. She kept exclaiming like a child.

Bologue wandered through the ruins, the hazy glow gradually grew more abundant. They seemed to possess life, shaping different forms in the darkness, undulating amidst stillness.

This is not a product of Ether. Bologue guessed it to be the glowing gas formed by various Alchemy Potions mixed together and evaporated in the air.

This kind of scene is often seen in the wandering paths—colorful glows floating amidst hazy mists, adding an enchanting touch to that sinister land.

Aimou admired the faint light, while Bologue used the illumination to move forward in the dimness, occasionally wiping off ashes to observe the contour of these ruins.

Time had eroded the surfaces of these buildings, but Bologue could still see from the intricate carvings how exquisite these buildings once were, how the entire architectural complex was once glorious.

It seemed to be some kind of temple-like architecture, yet neither Opus nor the wandering paths had anything similar.

Bologue faintly thought of something but deemed it unlikely. Then Bologue realized that he might be slightly closer to a secret hidden in this darkness.

"Did you hear anything, Bologue?" Aimou suddenly said.

"Hear what...?"

Before Bologue could finish, he heard the sound as well, slowly coming from afar, like a thunderous roar.

It was as if a giant was slumbering in the darkness, its snoring reverberated between the rifts, combining into a roaring thunder, accompanied by a storm whipped up by its breath.

Bologue felt like he was facing a natural disaster. In the moment the sound was heard, at the edge of his vision, a vague dark shadow arose in the dimness, and then a looming, cloud-like mass blotted out the sky.

A strong sense of danger surged in his heart. Bologue leaped toward the side of the ruins, clutching Aimou, and the two curled up in a corner.

In the next second after the two hid in the shelter, the thunder mixed with the storm swept the ashes in a tempest across the ruins.

Like an avalanche, the vast ashes swallowed the surrounding buildings in an instant. Without the shelter of the buildings, Bologue and Aimou would likely be easily picked up and hurled into the depths of darkness.

Even with the protection of the buildings, the infiltrating ashes nearly buried them completely, and more importantly, a burning sensation of severe pain spread across Bologue's body.

To conserve Ether, Aimou had shut down most of her sensing abilities. She couldn't perceive these anomalies, but Bologue, in his flesh and blood, could clearly feel the residual heat carried by these ashes, almost scalding his flesh after just a brief touch.

Bologue could only endure the pain until the avalanche subsided minutes later, before he wearily crawled out from the pile of ashes.

His skin was burned red and swollen, but aside from further consuming Ether, the injury had little impact on Bologue. He dug Aimou out from the ashes and once again carried her on his back.

"At least we now know why these things are buried," Bologue muttered quietly.

"Are you planning to continue forward?"

Aimou was a bit scared, the darkness was too deep, clawing at her inner fears.

Bologue didn't respond, stubbornly moving his steps. The further he moved, the clearer the invisible connection became.

Something was waiting for him.

Bologue believed that in the depths of darkness, some existence was calling to him.