NOVPUBThe Under was extremely different from Aigas.
As it opened up beneath the feet of the experts, they tensed.
A glance of it through the gloomy shroud of Pherdanta's Dormant Territory told most of them that perhaps the fairytales they heard before bed during their tender years might have been true, after all.
The expansive space below them was even gloomier than Pherdanta's Dormant Territory. It was a wonder how living things could even desire to live here.
If there was a sun in the Under, it must have been bathed in blood. A scarlet hue washed over all things from the sky without revealing its source. The tender beauty of the clouds was nowhere to be seen; the sky was empty and drab. The only things that deigned to touch it were the high peaks lining the horizon below, as well as a few great towers with an assortment of prism-like shapes.
All the experts immediately recognised them.
Those were the towers that rose from the ground on Aigas – the source of the Great Trembling a week and some change ago. Powerful Cavern had spilled from these towers, each as strong or stronger than an Incandescent Stager.
The land in this place grew rugged or level when it wished, just as on Aigas. It didn't spot much vegetation, however, what little existed was gargantuan and fruitful. All manners of shrubs and trees bearing different sorts of fruits and vegetables could be seen, dark and red as though blood ran within them.
Around them, what looked like large, silver eggs with throbbing black veins, some floating and others half-buried in the ground could be seen in the millions. Because of how varied their exterior designs were, the group concluded that they must have been houses. It only made sense for the Cavern to congregate around the vegetation, tending and reaping from them.
'It's a little like how master described Deadmanland to be like,' Pherdanta thought, and then her eyes honed in on what was perhaps the strangest and ominous thing in the Under.
A great sea scrolled around the landmasses here, black and restless.
The sounds it made weren't quite the same as what most water bodies would sound like when they were furious, however. It was unnerving. As the waves of black crashed against each other, it was as though they were heaps of black sand instead. On top of that, they oozed with some terrible form of power that certainly wasn't mortal.
What was it then?
Did the Cavern thrive off this darkness instead of water?
Pherdanta scowled.
'The Under is supposed to be Aigas' foundation, and it's not as well protected from outside forces, I imagine. So…' She shuddered at the thought.
The black she saw wasn't Stagnant Space.
Perhaps she was reaching, but…
'No. It can't be,' she thought.
It couldn't be a portion of the great void.
"What's that?" Shura Desmonn said with more than a little anxiety in his voice, pointing below.
He needn't have said it. Everyone had already caught glimpses of it, even Pherdanta.
She sighed.
That was probably why they were here – the reason Suzamete surmised that there was something cooking in the Under.
The thing was hidden at intervals, when the great waves of darkness splashed about. It was floating over the largest part of the sea, flaunting its great power and also its immense size.
It was a mighty halberd with a royal blue axe blade and spike, fiercely detailed. Parts of it shimmered with a glaring white, ignoring the reddish hue from above. Its haft was a stunning silver pole, so long it likely transcended the width of Feinheath and Opungale combined.
Grizzly white Amras layered around the weapon, furthering the impression of its lethality.
'That looks like a trump card alright,' thought Pherdanta.
The powerful presences she felt stationed around the halberd – Divine presences – only emphasised that fact.
Broadening her senses past her Territory, she felt enemies approach.
Roughly twenty thousand Cavern were rushing them while they were still airborne from all sides except above and below. They lacked tact, shrieking and hissing at them as though to intimidate.
'Only this number? I see. Someone here is testing us, otherwise they would have thrown their whole force in our faces,' Pherdanta thought. Unfortunately, she couldn't identify who it was giving commands. Her intuition told her it couldn't be any or all the formidable Cavern guarding the halberd. 'A pity we can't kill them.'
The Unlimited Star didn't know if that effect Boron had placed on the crystals on Aigas – where killing the Cavern only empowered them – still applied. Kintar had informed her and probably all the other Unlimited Stars as well about it some time ago.
'No matter,' thought Pherdanta.
Her mana whipped out of one of her mana cores, and with frightening precision, it swept in the direction of the attackers. At the exact same time, it struck them all like invisible punches right in the head, giving them the equivalent of a concussion for such powerful beings. As though some switch had been turned off within them all, they fell down – some into the sea of darkness and some onto land. 𝒏𝒐𝙫𝙥𝙪𝙗.𝒄𝙤𝙢
The spectators didn't bother looking surprised anymore. Compared to what else they'd seen Pherdanta do, this was as modest as it could get. Besides, most of them were relishing in the changes manifesting in their bodies. Vali especially looked uncharacteristically jovial. Her grin was most fearsome.
…But then the Dormant Territory around everyone blinked and vanished. They all began falling faster; the Territory had been suspending the full effect of gravity.
The experts turned to Pherdanta. What was it now?
The Unlimited Star brought her hands together and formed a gesture. This one was different from the one she made before, when summoning the Dormant Territory. Nitros exploded from her, ten times as vicious and voluminous.
Everything seemed to stop as she unleashed her true, bidden strength.
"Majestic Territory Expulsion, Cogent Stark Order."
The explosion of her Nitros as it hurried to form a remarkable Imaginary GeoScape was frightening. It seemed to scan everyone thoroughly, body and soul before expanding outward to a frightening radius. The bounds of Cogent Stark Order could have swallowed Feinheath whole and not to a single detriment; this was its natural size!
Everything within the Unlimited Star's Territory lost colour, or rather, all colours were muted and then inverted; all except those on Pherdanta.
An ebony tone washed over all, before establishing a magnificent city scape – a utopia. Great, lavish buildings – thousands in all and inverted to lifeless hue – sprang from the tiled ground. Some were stocky, some gangly, but beautiful all the same.
Plain plaques stood over each house, awaiting a name, as per the one of the Territory's functions. It must have been a powerful function indeed.
But these houses all seemed to lean and bow. Their tops angled towards something in the very centre of the Territory – something magnificent.
A massive statue stood in the middle of the city scape. It was akin to a marble tree, fat and strong with four branches arching upwards – two on either side on the trunk. The tops of the branches spotted great, shining stars. They illuminated space intensely, their glow lessened intentionally by a coil of thick clouds that wrapped around the whole statue.
Indeed, this statue had a similar design to the Stark Constellation, and a similar function too.
Cogent Stark Soul was the Territory of a Commander who knew that she was far more effective with allies than as a lone combat force.
"Many of you are as afraid as you are inspired by your new powers. You don't have to worry about the possible dangers. This Territory will remain active as long as I live, and as long as I live, you may come running into its embrace for safety when you are running out of strength. That is my third assurance for all of you," Pherdanta declared.
