Hans walked alongside Gideon and Skylar as they swiftly made their way down an old pathway, leading towards the central district of Vallmora.
He had always found the way the continent had been divided-quite intriguing, with it being such a large landmass, and having so many different cities and locations on it.
Around a thousand or so years ago it was divided into quadrants known as districts, each one bigger than the next. With the cold district being in the Southeast where Chase and his team had fought the Frostfang forces.
The next quadrant was known as the solar quadrant, because it had twice as much as ever other quadrant (having an artificial sun would usually do that) This large part of the continent was where Phoenix Academy, Solis, and even most of The Dark Forest was located.
The third district was known as the smallest quadrant on the map; however, in this case that did not mean that it wasn't important, in fact the third district was the most powerful district in Vallmora by far, as it held the lake at the center of the world...
Also known as the Grand Capital, or otherwise known as the soaring city of Orion.
Hans grit his teeth thinking of the first time he had been there, having met the Grand Paladin, although from a distance, he shuttered.
'Enough power to tear down the entire continent if he wished it...'
The fourth quadrant was much more peaceful than the last, as it was known as the flowered lands. North of the Solis Quadrant, and East of the third quadrant.
East of that; however, and North of the first was the Wasteland quadrant, otherwise known as an inhabitable location of frozen temperatures, beyond imagination...
West of Solis, lie the meadowlands, being the fifth quadrant. They were a vast collection of plains and smaller forests, spanning across the south like endless fields. Then there was the South of that quadrant, which was known as the runic lands. Which just so happened to be where the three of them were heading, although Hans did not know the true reason for their apparent "rescue" mission, as Skylar had not given them even the bare necessities of information.
Hans raised an eyebrow, looking down at his Skylar with confusion who walked with angst, wearing a strained expression on his face as if they were going to be late for school.
Gideon; however, was none the wiser and simply hummed a jolly tune while they ventured further Southeast.
"Skylar?" Hans eventually spoke up after a long while of silence.
He turned his gaze, continuing to walk without losing a single step.
Hans took a calm breath before asking once again. "What exactly are we rescuing Unity from?"
Skylar shook his head, almost as if drowned in his own crazed and feverish thoughts.
"I- I cannot tell you as I do- Do not know, I was given vague information, certainly not enough to even make the proper preparations."
He lied... Hans was no fool, although most probably seen him as a monstrous meathead, that was simply because he did not enjoy speaking his mind that often.
But he was certain that Skylar was doing his utmost best to avoid giving them any actual information, which made Hans only worry more for Gideon who was oblivious to the sinister dread that could be felt by anyone with half a brain.
However, he was also worried for his undead friend... The three of them had become quite good companions after the aetherball season had started, and he had sworn to himself as the fist of Phoenix Academy, that he would protect the two of them, ensuring their survival in the dark world that Hans had always known that they resided in.
What they had seen thus far, Hans knew that it was only the tip of the iceberg... No, it wasn't even the surface yet, the things he had seen growing up, the monsters that revealed their fangs from the most unidentifiable places... The beings that simply waited just below the crust of the earth... He had seen them...
Which is why he had put his trust in the Stray from the very beginning, as he had no real ties to the darkness.
However, he had been very wrong...
Chase was from the House of Phoenix, and was the son of one of the great three clans of ancient times... Meaning that with Reinhart's disownment, and The Grand Paladin's inability to have a son... That Chase had made himself known as the current heir of the kingdom of Vallmora... Threatening the very throne that such a powerful man known as Zen sat upon.
Blaze fathering Chase had meant certain war against that... That monster...
Hans had simply thought that Chase would not be considered a threat at first, he had assumed that the boy was no where near strong enough, let alone had the potential to even imagine something like that... Until he had been wrong.
Chase had slain a being of corruption... He had went into King Rider's own home and not only incinerated Rider, but his entire kingdom, leaving nothing but a giant crater in his wake...
It was obvious that Chase had not been killed during that endeavor, as much as Unity wanted to conceal the fact that he had not only survived but had been declared the obvious victor...
Which made it all the more dangerous for not only Unity, but everyone on the entire continent.
Hans had known that people would back Chase from the start, he knew that he would build a powerful supporting cast around him and even gain support from political powers, which only meant even more destruction, an all out war that would rival the gods...
Which would mean that eventually each and every one of the lesser pantheons would break their oath and begin to change the tide of humanity in their own favor.
Which could only mean that the greater pantheons would step in to stop them... Which would mean that the primordials would be at a greater threat of attack from an even higher power... And Panda could not even guess the extent at which the wheel would turn, how high the ladder could be climbed...
It was blasphemy to even consider such a future, but Hans had no choice, as it was the only path forward now... It was only a matter of time until the true threats began to circulate, stepping into the light one by one, each one stronger than the next.
And then history would repeat itself... Leaving behind nothing but the colossal corpses of the true gods...
He grimaced.
"We're almost there..." Skylar said, breaking Han's lunatic train of thought.
...
On the outside, Chase was staring at awe towards the destruction that Panda had managed to cause in the first moments of arriving; however, inside of his own mind, he sat before a small pond of blood, in a void-scape esque location, with a constellation covered black sky, and an empty horizon of dust.
"Are you prepared to understand what I am going to tell you brother?"
The mature feminine voice of the woman who had requested that he call her big sister cut in with a loud monotone voice.
Chase was sitting in the bloodied pond, watching the liquid flow calmly as small sigils of unreadable languages formed and dissipated on its surface.
He nodded calmly, although his heart could be heard like a distant war drum beating at the speed of battle.
"You understand the concept of ruins at a surface level correct?" She asked with an empty tone.
He nodded again.
"Good, because in this short moment you are going to dig deeper, and understand why it is that humans consider this form of magic as one of the many forms of Dark Arts."
He listened, letting the silent splashing of water rustle against his ragged clothing, only now noticing that his dream-like body was ridden with corruption.
Purple cracks were running through his skin, and some parts of his own flesh had even become see-through, and at the center of his shirtless torso... His heart was being strangled by purple strings given off the appearance of an animal ensnared in living vines...
He felt a hand press against the backside of the top of his hand, gently patting it like some sort of motherly support.
He stared momentarily at the fatal injury inside of his own body before asking the inevitable question and breaking the teaching session.
"Am I going to die?" He asked, feeling fear finally bite into his tone.
She scoffed.
"As a member of the Devil's council I would say yes with one hundred percent certainty... But-"
Chase shook his head, cutting her off.
"I refuse..."
Somehow he could tell that she was smiling from behind...
"Although you may think that you have ran out of cards... Somehow in the midst of war and death, you have binded yourself to a goddess of warmth and love... You have found the silver lining, and connected your soul with a very powerful being. Even if you wanted to die now... I am afraid that you cannot, as she would not let you... Even with the seals that you placed on her... She would quite litterly go through hell just to keep your heart beating..."
She took a deeper look into his own see-through skin, his gaze piercing the vibrant orb swirling with colors unimaginable to the human mind, like clouds of mist and raw energy circulating through a glass gemstone, that sat at the center of his sternum.
It was vibrant, flowing with so much life that he feared it would explode if it were to gain any more energy...
"I cannot explain to you what that orb is yet... Because you do not use Primis Energy... And their would be no point in explaining at this moment... I am sure you have figured that much out... Since you are quite the clever boy..."
Chase continued to stare at it, as if in a trance.
"Cryptis..." He eventually said, startling the devil behind him.
She took a shaky breath.
"Indeed... But that is all you can know about that as of now, if I told you more... It would tear your brain apart in seconds..."
He sighed, letting the topic go.
"So then what are ruins?"
There was silence for a moment, until she reached forward, wrapping him in an embrace. Her pale arms and velvet scales revealing themselves like the gills of a fish.
Chase- feeling awkward, spoke up. "What are you-"
A terrible burning sensation began to run through his skin, searing away at his pain receptors like flames eating away wood.
He grit his teeth, awaiting her words. However, when he looked down once again, he seen that runic language had begun to burn into his flesh, glowing with different colored hues for each unique one that had been littered across his body.
"They are the language of magic... Think of them as an entire entity relative to the castor who has engraved them... The runic language is constantly changing, shifting for each and every person who learns their meaning. Because those themselves who engrave them have given them said meanings... It is not something you can simply learn in a textbook, but with the limits of your own imagination. If you want a ruin to do something specific, then you create a sigil, engraving it into your mind as whatever it is you want it to become, and only then will the entity take like when engraved upon a being, surface, or any form of matter. They carry their own energy supply, as they are akin to spirits, or animations. So I am sure why your heart quickly assumed it was the only option left..."
Chase listened, feeling the cold yet strangely warm feeling of the woman's embrace around his neck.
"Because of my limited energy supply?"
She snickered from behind, leaning her unseeable head closer to his ear.
With a whisper. "Of course... But you may have noticed that the energy supply you once had has evolved past its previous peak..."
Chase nodded slowly, feeling chills run down his spine as she inched closer to his hear.
"The corruption is not only killing you brother... Eating you alive like an infestation... But you as well... Are eating the corruption alive yourself..."
The vision cut away in a flash...
Chase was grinning as the broken fragments of his mask began to fall off of his head.
His fingertips began to burn bright orange underneath the ruins of Olympia, and as Panda clashed with the mother Vasehead...
Pain began to sear from his left hand pinky finger... All the way to his right hand pinky finger...
Looking down at his trembling hands as blood began to flow down from his nose...
The sigils of a very specific ruin had been burned onto each of his fingertips...