Emersyn marveled before this gigantic demonic crystal floating before her in a bleak cliff despite it being just frozen a few minutes ago. She had seen this before, but where was it? In any case, she had to destroy this after the demon that was guarding the core of the crystal appeared. However, the one that appeared before her was no demon. It was a human. He appeared to be confused then showed a tentative hostility at Emersyn.
"Who are you? Where is this?"
"Emersyn. We are currently at the east of the demonic realm."
"This is not the Central Marsh?"
Emersyn's eyes narrowed.
"State your name."
"... Chu Jingxing."
"Where are you living in the Central Marsh?"
"Why should I tell an outsider? You won't know anyway. More than that, what am I doing here?"
Emersyn smiled wryly when he shrugged over her question.
"Is it the East Garden Pagoda?"
Chu Jingxing's eyes widened as he observed Emersyn closer. He put his fingers over his chin.
"I think I have heard of you somewhere…."
"..."
Shoot. She recently just had bad blood with Yao Yun and the other Central Marsh men. She couldn't just introduce herself as a companion of Yao Yun when she first came there as Emersyn. Moreover, if they evacuated in Locruna and had gotten news of her betrayal, it would be worse if she showed goodwill now.
"Will you move? I just want to destroy that crystal behind you."
Chu Jingxing suddenly felt a strong protective instinct to that very crystal as he guarded it against Emersyn.
"I guess this won't end quietly," Emersyn muttered as she covered her forehead with her palm.
Should she kill him or not?
…
Yep, let's kill him.
Now, the question would be, if she would let the man fight longer or just end him fast. Emersyn pondered as her finger settled on her chin. She pointed a finger on the crystal and a red searing line appeared and Chu Jingxing made a big move and deflected the laser as it reached the darkened sky. Emersyn continued pointing at the crystal as Chu Jingxing let out cold sweat. It seemed like he wouldn't be able to protect the crystal for long since it took him all his strength to defend against just one searing red line. The temperature rose and he sweated more. He strengthened his legs and firmed his arms.
He didn't know until when he would be able to hold on.
Finally, Emersyn nodded her head. She put a little more strength in her finger and it pierced Chu Jingxing's defenses. In the process, he lost his arm as he screamed, falling down.
Emersyn broadly smiled as she squatted before him.
"You should have just let me destroy the crystal, mister Chu Jingxing. Your arm would still be intact."
"You… you!!! That woman Yao Yun brought! I remember you now!"
"Ah, yes. That child. I stabbed him. In his heart."
Emersyn chuckled as she let out a small, thin black spike.
"With this."
"You killed him… you killed him! I will kill you! All the Central Marsh will kill you!!!"
"Ahahaha!!! Show me more of that anger!"
"You bastard… you're crazy! Asshole!"
Emersyn waved her hand as she stood up then walked towards the crystal. Suddenly, she felt something ticklish on her back.
"Wha…?! Why… is it not going in?!"
Chu Jingxing fell back with a thud.
"I… I am the genius of the Chu family…."
Emersyn shrugged then settled her hand on the demonic crystal. However, instead of quietly being destroyed, black smoke arose from her palms and covered the whole crystal. The ground shook, cracks showed and black smoke arose. Emersyn tried to pull back her hand and it offered her a strong resistance.
"What… what did you do?"
Emersyn looked back and saw that Chu Jingxing's arm was already attached. He was condensing something to protect himself from the mysterious black smoke. However, his only protective shell was slowly eroding.
"What did you do?!"
She bit back her reply and exhaled. She focused on the cold touch of the crystal then injected her energy. The smoke was blown away and the crystal lost its power as it fell on the cliff. Chu Jingxing suddenly heaved as the connection of him and that crystal was broken, leaving him unprotected against the dense mana. He sat cross-legged on the ground and closed his eyes.
Emersyn left him alone as she jumped down to the cliff to retrieve the crystal.
Maybe it could be sold.
At the other end, in the Central Marsh, Ignis and the two children separated from Carnash and Reagan were inspecting the Pagodas. The first change was seen in the East Garden Pagoda as the crystal above lost its light and the connection from the outside of Central Marsh. The surrounding of the Pagoda became desolate. Its rich greenery wilted as part of the Central Marsh became covered with dark energy.
"It has begun…," Carnash mumbled as his eyes watched how the East Garden Pagoda got engulfed by the black smoke and disappeared.
***
"Eh? Wait, where's the East Garden Pagoda?"
"What do you mean?" A woman said as she placed down the knife on the wooden cutting board then looked at her husband.
"Look! There is nothing there. It disappeared!"
Someone came running as he heaved, warning the rest of the people.
"The North disappeared too! Let's go out of here before the mist covers the entirety of the Central Marsh!"
"Why are you saying something so terrible?! Are we just going to abandon our home?"
"We are all going to die!"
"How did you know that? That's just nonsense!"
"Can't you see that our great forest is also disappearing?!"
"What? What did you say?"
"We have to go out! We have no choice!"
"... wait, who are you?"
Someone who calmed down suddenly asked the man who warned them. His eyes narrowed as he looked at the countenance of the young man.
"I believe this is the first time we've met."
"I just came from the outside. It's me, Jairen. So, please listen to me!"
"Jairen…? Ah! That Jairen! I didn't recognize you! It seems like you've grown. It was just a few years ago that you were running around the Central Marsh in your training."
Jairen was left dumbfounded. These people's lives were in danger, yet they had the luxury to be nostalgic.
"Please! Let's get out of here."
"Hahaha! You're still young, Jairen boy. We basically grew old in this place. How could we leave?"
Suddenly, there were three pairs of wings that covered them from the light of the sun.
"... dragons!" Jairen screamed.
Those three dragons spewed fire at the center of the marsh as they spread terror with their intimidating roars. People came out of their homes and a few remained to protect it. However, those stubborn people only died under the flames and the rest ran, screaming, towards the mist where Jairen, Daren, Egbert and the now recovered Yao Yun outside the mist. Jairen's pupils trembled from fear as he watched the dragons wreak havoc in their home. Questions flooded in his mind. How did those dragons know that beyond the mist lies Central Marsh? Who informed them---.
Emersyn!
He gritted his teeth in anger.
"How dare you…! How dare you!!!"
Was she also the perpetrator behind the disappearance of the Pagodas? What was going on? What was she doing outside?
When a huge dragon suddenly appeared in the dark sky where the sun disappeared, they hurriedly ran outside, feeling the strong tremor from the ground. Leaving their home and corpses of their loved ones that stayed stubbornly to protect their homes in vain.
When they reached outside, the warriors of Tamel were welcoming them in open arms. However, because of the sudden change of the density of the mana, they were uncomfortable. They could get used to it if they cultivated the energy here. In any case, they had to accept that they would be living in a new space since the dragons still hadn't left in the Central Marsh. They sighed in remorse then followed the warriors to Tamel.
Also, they suddenly had a peek of the sun rising.
Sun?
Sun?!
"The sun is here!!! It's here!!!"
The warriors screamed in delight as they rushed towards the path to Tamel, completely disregarding the people of the Central Marsh. However, the people who were left behind recognized that sun. Their faces hardened as they saw two moons starting to disappear into the horizon. Their hearts stiffened. Suddenly, they felt a horrible foreboding in their chests as they continued to gaze at the three celestial objects until the moons completely disappeared.
Dawn came.
Jairen knew, and the rest of them knew.
Central Marsh is long gone.
Even if they came back, they wouldn't be able to live there at all. Only fools would go back. For some reason, they wanted to be that fool.