Chapter 14 | Earth Burst
Rain gives her a hand. Aria controlled water around her body. It looked struggling. but finally with two human combine force, He can help her out of trapped rock.
Rain sat back, catching his breath heavily. “Huh... huh... Fina—ly” reaching into his backpack for a potion and drinking it all in one gulp.
Aria sat with knock-kneed, silently staring at him, no word out of her mouth.
Rain turned his head towards her and said, “Nah~ Don’t stare at me like that, I already place truffle inside their cart, do not be angry ok? Aria.”
Aria remained silent, but she grabbed some rock nearby and threw it slowly at Rain.
Ponk! It hit Rain's head perfectly.
“Ouch! That hurt! Aria. Okay, okay, if I find him, I promise I’ll apologize properly, okay?” He said while rubbed his own head.
Ponk! Rock hit him again.
“Ouch, I’m sorry, ok, ok, next time I’ll help you faster, okay?” Rain pleaded.
Ponk! Ponk! Rock hit him again. But this time comes twice.
“Ouch! Owie!” Rain blocked his own head. “I’m sorry I will not gather the weird mushroom, okay?” Said without thinking.
Ponk! Ponk! She continued to hit him again. But the hit feels softer and softer.
Ponk! Water gathered around Aria's eye.
Ponk! Because of her brimmed with magic potion. teardrop floated up instead.
Ponk! some rocks she threw hit the tears, scattering them into particles and creating a shimmering light.
Rain continue said something bluntly out of context. while Aria kept throwing stones at him one by one.
Eventually, no more small stone she can reach. So She put the knees up, hugged her knees, burying her face in them.
“Aria, are you okay?” Rain looked at her, his eyebrows lifted a little, worried about her.
No response came from Aria, only silence.
“... Does your head hurt?” Aria replied in a soft voice, without lifting her head up.
“Ah, do not worry, my head is as tough as steel,” he said, fist-bumping his own forehead.
“Um... I will throw harder, for later time.” She still does not show her face.
“No, no, my head is as soft as butter! Actually, more like a balloon. If you throw it again, it’ll instantly explode,” he said, move his hand draw a balloon shape. Blow that imaginary balloon then flickering his ten fingers showed how it explodes.
Aria slowly lifted her head and looked at his silly face. After a moment, she said, “Thank you... Really... thank you.” A small smile formed at the corner of her mouth, tears still floating in her eyes.
Rain saw her face and stopped his actions, turning his head towards her and scratching his nose with his finger. He beamed a wild smile and said, “Um, no problem at all.”
Aria slowly stood up and grabbed her sword, using her magic to create a water ball that ran around her body to remove the dust. She then moved the water ball towards Rain to gather the dust and small rocks that had gotten stuck to him.
Gathering back all her senses, she said, “Let’s settle this.” The water floated back to Aria.
“Rain, do you know how long that message in the sky has been up?” Aria asked. There is a large red circle hanging in the sky.
“I don’t know the exact time, but it’s probably around five minutes.” Rain replied. He started by bending his knees to the left and right to warm up.
“That’s weird. Why hasn’t it moved at all?” Aria said, looking at the monster’s head near to her. “When I send mana inside its body, it depletes instantly.”
Rain said, “she can reflect—”
Woosh! boom!
From a very a far distance, Ella continued to throw magic spears pierced to the monster. Rock and dust scattered.
“We have little time left. Ella wants to blow up this entire area. We have to stop them,” Aria said.
“Do you have something that can send a message to the sky like that?” he pointed at the sky where the Faye stood.
“I do,” Aria replied, searching for her firework. However, when she took it out, it had already broken into two pieces. It got damaged while she was trapped under a rock.
“That looks bad,” he said, scratched his face.
Crunch! another point blast again. Step of her throw is rusher.
“She is too far away from this place, we can’t go in that direction, Eeon also closely completes his circle.” So, she started running back to the base where Faye was staying. Rain took out two poles and ran after her.
“What’s the point of this, Ella.” Aria said, her eyebrow furrowing as she turned her head to look at Rain. “Have you seen any other monsters around?”
He looked around while continued running. “After the shock, most of them have already fled, but some are trapped underground,” Rain replied.
Crunch! another throw comes.
“Um, we have to fasten our step,” Aria said, she ran at front, covered her sword with mana. She sliced the obstacle that fall down or flew in her direction.
“Okay,” Rain followed closely behind her.
They ran without stopping. Sweat beads formed and accumulate to steam. His hand grabbed the pole firmly.
Looking down from where Faye stood, the python-like creature now resembled a porcupine. Suddenly, the monster started moving again.
From a distance, Faye could see Aria running towards her, so she sent a message to Ella, saying, “Aria is safe, and she’s headed back this way.”
“Understood. We have completed the preparation. Eeon has started the chant.”
The python continued to move, swaying its body and attempting to remove the stings that had hit it. The ground shook because of its immense weight. No matter how much it shook, the first and second poles attached to its head remained intact.
Crash! Crush! Stutter! Onslaught of throws continued, causing damage to spread wider and wider.
“How many throws does she want? Is she trying to change the terrain?” Aria wondered anxiously, unsure of why Ella had become like this.
“That’s the last throw. They’ve started the chant,” Rain informed her, taking out a rope from his backpack and tying it to the two poles.
From afar, Eeon start chanting “Mother Earth, accept my call. This land has become arid, devoid of life and people. This land is plagued by drought, consuming our hope and faith. This land is only filled with death, where evil dances and smiles all around. In the name of Eeon, son of the mother, I beseech you to return this land to its original state. Earth Burst”
Light radiated from the point where Ella had strike, and it rushed inside the monster. A white circle formed around the pole, slowly rotating.
While climbing with a pole that pierces to terrain. Rain looked at the monster and said, “That’s not calling for her help. You forcibly grabbed her neck and drained all her mana.”
Stand on the pole and throw another one to the surface. The pole landed perfectly in a diagonal line. Aria jumped and grabbed the rope, pulling Rain up.
Faye looked at them and remarked, “You both came back at the perfect time.” She smiled at Rain and Aria.
“No, we’re late. We’re too late. This isn’t an Earth Python. It’s something else, just using its body as a shell.” Aria exclaimed, walking closer to Faye. “Faye, contact Ella. We need to abandon the mission and withdraw immediately!”
“Too late... Aria,” Faye smiled widely. “It’s already complete.”
Aria’s eyes widened, her eyebrows lowering as she clenched her fists firmly. “Damn you... Red witch,” she muttered.
Ran sat down, leaning his back against a large rock. “Faye, if you mean like that, no one will like you, okay?” He looked towards the approaching monster.
Suddenly, a bright light illuminated the sky, scattering the clouds. Ten beams of light shot up into the air like heaven poles.
“Ella, you’re so cruel. This is all futile effort. It’s unnecessary at all,” Pluck! Rain opened the cork of the potion out, drank it all in one gulp. “HaHa, this is already ten bottles... Do you need it too, Rocky?” then opened the fresh bottle, place beside his side.
Whoosh! Whoosh! The sound suddenly shifted towards the center, and the light merged into a cube-shaped form. It was tiny, but bright like a sun. The cube slowly descended, causing the ground below to crack and crumble. Even the monster’s hard rock shell began to shatter, and the entire Sun Rock Plateau shook. The monster and reptiles fled for their lives.
In contrast, Rain calmly gazed ahead. The sky was clear, and the sun shone brightly, casting rays of light that completed a circle, illuminating the surroundings.
“This World is beautiful, right?” he said softly.
Aria Suddenly shocked what she heard, as she looked at Rain. He sat calmly, bathed in sunlight. His black hair fluttered, and a blue sparkle adorned the edges. His eyes had turned completely blue, reflecting the color of the sky. Time seemed to slow down. He raised his hand in front of him, pointing a finger at the cube.
Faint sound out of his mouth. “Mother Earth of the Green planet, I’m Rain Ter Astra. Son of the third line. I am here to draw a flower and paint a smile on any living form....”
Monster suddenly turned its attention towards Rain, struggling against the pressure of the cube’s magic. It used all its might to lift itself up, causing rocks to crack and burst. But it still lifted its head, desperate to see who was preaching these words, just once-in-a-lifetime. Growl! Growl! Growl! It cried out for the first time.
“This land still holds hope and promise. Children still smile and speak like the wind. This land still possesses beautiful love and the tears of the sea...”
Aria could feel a warm sensation, mana swirling calmly around her. A gentle breeze brushed against her body, carrying with it the scent of the sea and the soothing sound of waves crashing nearby, as if a mother were embracing her daughter tenderly.
“Born, Growth and life shall come, our heart still fights and looks for tomorrow sun, I call upon you for help, to grant a wish and bring reform to this land EarthBurst”
Everything came to a halt, including the Cube that had been pressing against the monster.
“Eeon, what is happening?” Ella exclaimed, confused by the scene unfolding before her.
“Something is controlling the flow of magic and trying to stop it,” Eeon explained, pressing his hand to the ground to regain control.
“That’s impossible! The six Pentacle magic is of a phenomenal type that cannot be altered,” Ella protested.
glitch! the Cube began to rotate, slowly and shakily at first, like a huge hand force rotate it, The cube’s original form could no longer endure the impending power, and eventually succumbed to the force, rotate and transforming itself into the shape of a diamond.
Click!
Slope around the area start reform, one by one reshapes itself, turning into a platform with smooth, carved edges, layer by layer, from top to bottom. It was as if a divine hand was sculpting the land, creating a grand amphitheater with the Sun Shrine at its center.
A gentle breeze blew, and even in this sunlit land, the fragrance of flowers filled the air as if they were in a land of abundance. All the animals and monsters in Sun Rock turned their gaze towards the amphitheater.
All Cry to the sky Growl! Squaik! Hizz!
They cried out to the sky in a chorus of growls. When everything settled, the Diamond magic cube had exhausted all its power and began to vanish. The magic subsided, and the rocks settled, no longer swaying.
The light poles on Earth Python also faded away, leaving only two steel poles devoid of any magic. The worm-like creature started crawling forward again, but it had a heavily cracked body and crawled slowly.
Ella gnashed, displeased with what she saw. “Where are you going worm!” grabbed her sword and chanted, “Light and cruel sky, tear and pierce into the heart, Heaven Pierce” She threw her sword with all her might, even her hand got bleed.
Woosh! Blade flew with lightning speed, piercing the creature’s head.
Baam! A cloud of dust arose once again, and the monster’s body cracked, slowly falling apart. Only a soft growl remained from its mouth as the particles of its life scattered around.
From afar, Curse Child had eyes brimming with water, hammered his fist down onto the earth.
Bam! Bam! Bam! “Argh! Argh!”
Hand turned red with blood. “I really.. really try my best, Rocky. But she is so cruel, too cruel!” Tears covered his eyes, his both hands fall down, like have anymore power left. His nose has bleed fall down. Drip! Drip! Dirty all over his shirt. His entire body felt like a sandbag, covered in bruises. The blood seeped through his bandages.
“Rocky, She was just have born, come to this far, far land, away from her hometown, looking for the sun. Just to keep her own self warm.” His tear falling down blended with blood.
“She hasn’t even learned a single word... nor even ever eat anything yet,” used all force lifted his hand, it shaken hardly, try best to cover his own face. “She did not even know who is her parent. Rocky, why is the world so cruel to us like this... Why no one come to save us, leaving us in this cruel world?”
“All I can only do is... send her off with flowers...”
No more words escaped his mouth, only tears falling endlessly, like a rain.
Aria stood nearby, hands closed her mouth, her eyes filled with tears.