Quetzalcoatl tilted her colossal head slightly. "Did I have a choice? You have an inquisitive nature, and you can't leave well enough alone. Once you uncover everything in due time, like I expect you to, I do not want you to use it against me to renege on your promise."
"Are you guilty of something, Quetzalcoatl?" Inquired Amon.
The giant Feathered Serpent closed her eyes then nodded.
"Then, you have time. When I return, you better have a way to redeem yourself. You invoked my father; therefore, devil or not, devilish ways must be altered, and their past wickedness must be eradicated." Demanded Amon.
"And if I can't?"
"You already know the answer to that." Amon activated the teleportation platform and disappeared.
"Oh, Quetzalcoatl...How have you fallen so low...A featherless brat holds your hopes and future in his hands." Quetzalcoatl sighed resignedly before she too disappeared.
***
Amon reappeared inside the dungeon carved within a mountain. He extracted his control rod and made his way out of the jail towards the crossroad between The Desolate Capital and the Northern Valley.
He took the downward winding staircase sculpted on the mountainside, heading towards The Desolate Capital. It was a long and silent walk. There was nothing on the way to the next area except the strong wind and the rocky staircase.
Feeling famished, Amon extracted some water from his void, drank it, and pushed forward. He contemplated drawing some Runic arts and power them with the Crude gems he received from Ding Song since Quetzalcoatl warned him of the danger he was about to face.
Unfortunately, even simple Runic designs require time and a precise, steady hand to draw; otherwise, he risks having whatever art he draws explode in his face. Some matters can't be done in haste, no matter how much one's needed it.
Amon reached the end of the staircase towards a cave passage. He stepped in and found an elevator a little bit different from the one that he took to the top of Quetzalcoatl's tower. This one appeared to be built for longer trips due to the number of metal cables connected to the elevator's mechanism.
He stepped in and leaned on the lift rails. Audibly the cogs responded to the new weight added to the lift, and they started grinding loudly, operating for the first time in a very long time.
The door closed, and the elevator awkwardly started to descend. Darkness soon engulfed Amon as he could not see anything and only hear the elevator cogs and cables grinding against each other. He extracted a lantern from his void and hooked it to his pants.
Frowning, Amon expected the downward trip to end in a few minutes, but it kept going and going. Beyond the entire length of the mountain and more. He could not glimpse the bottom. The elevator just kept going deeper and deeper into the land.
Amon started getting uncomfortable like there was an itch on the back of his head he could not scratch. Soon the elevator finally slowed down, then abruptly stopped and opened its old door to Amon. He stepped out, and the uncomfortable feeling got stronger and stronger with every step.
He looked down at the ground using his lantern, and it appeared he was on a cobblestone path within a tight, light deprived cavern. He pushed forward, battling the tightening of his chest. It was not fear or sickness he was feeling but something different that has a brief sense of familiarity to Amon but, at the same time, wholly different.
Soon the tight space got wider and wider until he was in a large open area that felt like he was standing on top of a mountain but underground. The only path forward for him was another downward winding staircase. He took the short staircase then stopped.
In front of him was a poorly made bridge using uneven wood planks, without rails. They formed a loose bridge, but the evident rot on the first wood plank did not inspire confidence in this deep hell. He could not even glimpse the bottom under the bridge.
Groaning and without any other choice, he carefully stepped forward, testing each plank by pressuring it with half his weight using his right foot before fully stepping on it. He slowly advanced until he reached the midpoint.
His danger senses flashed, and the alarm sirens rang in his head. He instantly started running on the rotten bridge. A loud boom reverberated in the darkness behind him as a heavy object landed on the bridge behind him. He did not look back. Whatever it was, he could not afford to confront it on this bridge.
A strange roar, akin to a giant bat's clicks, screeched behind Amon. He doubled his speed and started running even faster, the bridge beneath him vibrating from the running weight of his unknown pursuer.
A smile adorned Amon's face as he saw the bridge's end in front of him. He heard another boom behind him, his unknown stalker jumped high up and landed right in front of Amon at the bridge end.
A giant humanoid bat, six meters tall, carrying a greatsword akin to a blunt hammer from the thickness of its edges stood before Amon. The strange Source construct had a rocky, cracked skin, like a poorly maintained gargoyle.
It raised its greatsword high up with both its arms intending to plunge Amon and the bridge he was running on to the very depth of hell. Amon did not pause or slow down; rather, he ran as fast as his Source filled muscles would allow him.
The greatsword descended, the very moment it landed on the bridge, Amon jumped forward with all his might. The bridge exploded into smithereens, and the infant Entropy flew towards the gargoyle-like monster, his sword glistening in the dark.
Like using an icepick, Amon jammed his sword inside the stony bat left shoulder blade. If it were a living being, the sword would have penetrated it's lungs from his shoulder and killed it instantly. Amon pushed all his Source through his sword, disturbing the souls' knot that kept the monster together and allowed him to function.
Amon's attempt worked, the Souls' clump disbursed, and the stony bat with his gigantic sword crumbled to ash, conceding it's rotten Source to Amon.
He landed on his foot, but he immediately sat down, panting heavily. He could do without a stimulate like that, threading him thinly between life and death.
"Hehehehe...Wonderful."
Amon immediately shot up to his feet. His Source expanded outward, looking for the decrepit laugh's origin. A light footstep and the sound of a wooden cane reached Amon's ears. Soon a short old woman, no a mummy wearing tatters with her eyes wrapped with a piece of fabric, stood before Amon.
"Hehehehe... Wonderful, wonderful. You are here early. I was not expecting anyone to reach my son's grand capital for months to come. How did you get here? Ah! The old whore of a snake has awakened from her ancient slumber. It appears she has let you in. You be careful, boy, nothing good will come from associating yourself with her kind. No matter, you might be the one if not...Hehehehe." Laughed the walking corpse creepily.
Amon inspected her with his eyes of Entropy. She was not a Source construct, rather a spirit and a soul fragment, a human one.
"Who are you?" Inquired Amon while his shoulders let go of their tension.
"Hehehehe... I'm just a concerned mother. Watching out for her baby, I could not let any rascal inherit my son now, could I? You are a bit thin for my taste, but you have a pleasant face. Hehehehe...Good, good, I will let you try. I miss my son rough touch; if you inherit him, I would not mind your rough touch with his legacy...Hehehehe." The old lady kept cackling madly.
Amon grimaced. The disgusting corpse made him want to throw up. He silently cursed Quetzalcoatl for sending him here. He turned around to look at the destroyed bridge, thinking it might be better to jump to his death than deal with this insane corpse. She dared even call Quetzalcoatl a whore, the deprived hypocrite.
"Tell me about your son." Asked Amon.
"You! Asking about my son? Kneel first and kiss the ground you stand on before I consider it. A maggot like you does not have the right to know anything or ask anything about the all-powerful Desolate King. Now go, show me you are more than just a pretty face, then maybe you will get to learn about your betters." The old corpse slammed the ground with her cane. The fabric of space high above them split-open, like a dragon eye slit, and shined a penetrating light at the entire area.
Amon covered his eyes from the sudden brightness, then slowly lowered his arm. The ancient mummy disappeared, but she left the fabric of space slit open to illuminate The Desolate Capital.