Luna spent her last days in the coral building learning more about sorcery and the history of this level specifically. Similar to the Crimson desert, this part of the tower was also torn from a place in the Divine Realm called Neptune (as Storm Rider and the Fire Keepers had named it).

  The god of the seas was the one who ruled Neptune before he met his demise in the war in the divine realm. Later on, the deities serving him were also corrupted and had to be put down by the strongest deity of this Domain. According to Storm Rider, the deity also fell victim to corruption, leading to a terrible series of events.

  Her corruption affected almost everything in the Sea god's domain and turned the people of this territory into hideous monsters of corruption. From Storm’s descriptions, Luna discovered that the corruption in the divine realm was much worse than what was eating up the mortal realm.

  According to Storm, this version of the evil power was capable of destroying higher beings.

  Did it grow weaker over the centuries? What changed exactly? Luna was curious about all of this.

  Anyway, to stop the spread, Everlight and the “True deities” ripped the infected land and placed it in the Blood Tower just like they had done with the crimson desert which belonged to the Sun god and later handed over to Oblivion.

  The more Luna learned about this world, the more dread she felt concerning Everlight. She or It….was, by far the most mysterious and powerful being in the divine realm from the little information Storm Rider had shared.

  For gods’s sake, she had the power to wipe out entire territories like that!

  When Everlight transferred this part of Neptune into the tower, the remaining survivors of the calamity were hunted and killed by the deity slowly descending into madness and hungry for life essence. The people fought back as much as they could but their actions were in vain.

  In the end, only cursed creatures and the floor guardian remained.

  These were conditions that led to Storm Rider’s first battle in the tower. And since the deity itself controlled Water, Storm Rider found herself struggling to hold her back due to her curse while at the same time trying not to get corrupted like the rest.

  Neptune was in this sad state because of that fight.

  But...

  Was there anything left to save in the first place?

  However, on the flip side of things, Storm Rider had saved Luna and the others from a battle they wouldn’t have survived. Also, the fire keeper had given Luna some information about the next floor and its topography which was meant to be entirely different because that floor was entirely built by the gods meaning its creatures were solely created to guard whatever being had been locked in.

  Also on the first floor, a beautiful ancient and powerful tree rested there, acting as a testament to the incredible sorcery left behind by the gods and the heart of the tower and the worlds that it supported. On top of that, there was an actual deity guarding it in case the creatures failed to protect the tree and the floor.

  Luna wasn’t sure about the whole killing a pantheon thing. Heck, defeating a deity was never part of the plan to begin with. They were immortal but not unkillable according to Storm Rider.

  But just how many hits did one need to deliver to kill one? A thousand? Ten thousand? A million? Or use corruption.

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  ‘Or use the real Mildrith.’ Yes, that could work if they somehow managed to push the Pantheon and trap it there. With its energy drained, a win was within reach.

  Luna sighed, exhausted from all the thinking. Matter of fact, she wasted so much time in her mind trying to create a strategic plan when they crossed over to the next floor. “But it would be smart enough to wait for reinforcements. We don’t stand a chance against the real deal.”

  Luna was currently the only one who understood what they were truly against and how dire the situation actually was.

  She might have been one of the best martial artists in the world at this point but after seeing and assessing the state of the world they were in, Its unpredictable nature, and the existence of deities. Waiting for real sorcerers wasn’t a bad idea.

  They could stay here on Neptune and wait for reinforcements. For once, Luna badly needed to take the safe route. She wasn’t immortal to take such stupid risks like battling a deity. To it, they were just superpowered mortals and nothing more.

  “Yes, this is the smarter approach.” Luna nodded to her thoughts.

  She moved her cold eyes away from the sizzling orange flames and then to the tree. "I need them to listen to me for once."

  Suddenly, knowing too much had turned into a burden.

  A burden that growing too heavy to carry. There was no way of turning back from this.

  Regardless, she needed to finish what she started.

  ***

  On the last day in the coral building, Luna spent her last moments outside trying to initiate cross-county communication, especially with Valentine. His presence had now completely disappeared to a point where her suit couldn’t detect Valentine’s armor anymore.

  Had he taken off his suit?

  Suddenly, Luna’s face paled when a dark thought crossed her mind.

  ‘Valentine could be dead right now.’

  Or he might have taken his armor off after damaging it. But how would he survive then?

  Sighing, Luna continued staring at the blizzard. The powerful whistling wind was carrying the wild white specks of snow. The dark waters below were silent now that the Kraken was no more. But fear still lingered in her heart like a cold stone or thorn.

  Everything about this tower made her feel like this. Is this how the ascenders who risked their lives felt? Was this what her mother wanted her to see before she inherited the title of Clan Head?

  After a while, Luna returned inside the building and met with Storm Rider who finishing up some work before heading into the blizzard.

  She spared Luna one look and scanned the condition of what she was wearing. The black nano skin armor had been reduced to an ugly network of cracks. The nanomites holding it together were no longer capable of shifting after the Kraken’s attack.

  This is why human technology was still underdeveloped for the Divine Realm.

  “That armor is going to be useless in the next day or two. You will die if you don’t find something sturdier.”

  “You think?” Luna scoffed.

  “You can wear my cloak. It's enchanted with my own power so it will keep you warm and it's durable enough. You will also need a change of clothes…” she paused. “And a weapon.”

  And that’s when it hit Luna. Her katana had been destroyed during her fight against the Sword Guardian and The Poison Sin’s pieces were somewhere in the depths of the frozen water body.

  She rubbed the back of her neck and snickered. “You don’t happen to have something lying here?”

  Storm Rider smiled back. Her smile was still flawless and gentle. Smiling was her way of living through the fact that she killed her father and the other fire keepers.

  Luna couldn’t relate. So the best she could do was keep her mouth shut.

  “My father was a swordsman. I still have his sword somewhere.” She paused and a somber look appeared on her beautifully warm face. “Lunaris, I would like you to have it.”

  “…isn’t that important to you. Like a monument of some sort. To remind you of him?”

  The pale girl didn’t really know how to break this conversation. Storm Rider was a very complicated person to read. For a person who had lived for hundreds of years, she was still full of emotions that were difficult to read.

  Storm Rider shook her head and approached Luna. Without saying a word, Storm took off her long black cloak and hung it over Luna’s small shoulders.

  At first, it was too long and unfit. But when the sorceress tied its two golden buttons around the neck area, the cloak’s size and length reduced to fit Luna perfectly.

  Feeling both conflicted and amused, Luna looked up to her “mentor”. The ridiculous height difference was rather comical to be exact—though Luna could not consider herself having the average height of a girl her age in this Era.

  Storm Rider sneered and said. “It looks good on you Lunaris. Indeed you will make a fine sorceress someday.”

  She patted Luna’s shoulders with both hands and bent a little to meet with her dark, enchanting eyes.

  “I was never a good warrior in the first place, Lunaris. The memories of my father will carry me on each time I miss him. You on the other hand…”

  As soon as she said those words, Luna quivered as something strange and foreign entered her body. It started as a tingling sensation in her chest, spreading outward like wildfire. She shivered as it moved, tendrils of energy snaking down her right arm, leaving a trail of warmth in its wake.

  Luna’s gaze rushed to her arm. Her eyes widened in shock as she watched, transfixed. Intricate, glowing runes began to etch themselves into her skin, shimmering with a golden light. The symbols were ancient, their meaning lost to time. Yet, they held a powerful, primal energy. The process was painless, but the sight was mesmerizing, almost hypnotic.

  The runes swirled and danced, forming a beautiful, complex pattern that covered her entire forearm. It was as if a master artist was at work, each stroke deliberate and precise, creating a tapestry of ancient power. Luna felt a connection to something vast and timeless, a force that transcended her understanding.

  “What… what is this?” Luna asked, her voice trembling. She couldn’t tear her eyes away from the runes, now glowing softly as if alive with an inner fire.

  “That…is your forged weapon,” Storm Rider answered, her voice tinged with awe and excitement. “From this day onward, Lunaris Feng is the wielder of one of the sun god’s ancient swords…”

  “The Sun's Ember,” she continued, her voice rising with excitement.

  A New Flame Emerges.