Under our twin grasps space was twisted and rendered as we stepped across the void between realms. Different from the void between worlds the void between these lower realms was much weaker. The usual pull and sense of nothingness barely registered in my mind.
I reckoned that even a rank one archmage without an innate understanding of space could survive moving through this. That was assuming he found a way past the space bubble protecting each realm.
"Abel, after we're done visiting Red and Rose should we find one of the seven greater lower realms?"
"I don't think that would be a smart decision. The mundane lower realms aren't predefined so they are relatively easy for us to move around in. But both the seven greater and the four major lower realms should have enough stability to keep some knowledge about us. If the inhabitants there got the wrong idea I'd like to have the mundane lower realms dealt with."
"You're worried about them rashly antagonizing us and trying to conquer the mundane realms we haven't reached yet, right?"
"Something along those lines."
Aurelia didn't respond but had probably given up on the idea. And if not... I wasn't her keeper nor her boss so she would have to decide what to do herself. All I could and would do was caution her and share my thoughts.
The journey through the void didn't take long and soon we tore through the space bubble of the lower realm that was our destination. We stopped using our powers and the torn spatial rift behind us quickly mended.
Around us was the blue sky with the occasional cloud flitting by driven by strong winds. Far below us, we could see a desert spanning as far as the eye could reach and right in the middle of it was an oasis.
The vegetation in the oasis was strong and the life energy pulsing from all plants like a heartbeat. Creating this unique effect without the help of Rose's special condition would have been a challenge.
We were still observing the small town nestled into the oasis when both Red and Rose came flying up towards us. Rose's speed was slightly too fast as she crashed into me and hugged me. I gently ruffled her hair and pried her off myself. Red just looked on and smiled at me.
"Seems she missed you, Abel. You should have come to visit earlier."
"We came as fast as possible but things just kept popping up."
Rose had exited little, hugging sister mode and invited us to the oasis. Most of the buildings were made of sandstone with wooden pillars with only the middlemost ones being made completely from wood. Rose had grown a giant tree in the middle of the oasis and hollowed it out to make a house.
Interestingly, the tree was alive and growing despite being mostly hollow inside. Rose's frequent presence within the tree had allowed it to absorb an absurdly large and pure amount of life energy. This tree would likely remain here for a few hundred years easily.
We entered the treehouse and sat down around a table. The room was kept cool by a few runes set up here and there and we were drinking chilled lemonade.
To bring Rose and Red up to speed Aurelia and I told them about our side of the story. We had come here hoping to find merchandise we could sell so talking first was in order. Then Red began to tell us about what had happened on their end.
"You already know about the oasis. We stay here most of the time unless we feel like going out to destroy some of the undead. Our population has reached 300 people and we have proven ourselves against a few of the surrounding oases trying to take over.
"We have only encountered one slight problem. Two days ago a group of self-proclaimed priests arrived and demanded we give them a good spot for a temple of their gods and that we bear all the costs for the temple's construction. After we declined their outrageous demand they said their gods would tear the oasis apart.
"The same day I found a sketchy world god trying to sneak into the city and trigger something. I was careless and he noticed me. Then he disappeared into a pile of sand. Since then they are observing the city using their divine senses. I did some investigating and apparently, we are dealing with a whole pantheon of gods."
Wow, and I thought we had a hard time dealing with world gods. A whole pantheon sure was troublesome. Pantheons usually consisted of many weak gods under a few stronger ones. Since they held large territories they could receive a lot of faith and grow quickly.
Before we could continue our discussion someone stormed into the room and kneeled before Red. It was a bulky man with a dark skin tone, black inked tattoos, white fluffy hair, and two cream-colored bunny ears on his head.
"Forgive the intrusion, lord Rem. A giant sand storm is coming towards the oasis. We tried to disperse it but our attacks showed no effect."
All four of us immediately stood up in a fluid motion and left the treehouse. We had just been in the air space above the oasis and had seen the entire surrounding area. For a sand storm described as large to appear out of nowhere in the short time we had been in the house would be impossible. Unless it wasn't natural but instead man or to be more accurate god-made.
Once we left the treehouse the sand storm was hard to overlook. It definitely wasn't natural. Real sandstorms looked like an avalanche or wave of sand that swept over vast areas at the same time. What we saw was more of a sand vortex that moved towards us. And the source was clear too.
"Looks like the pantheon is ready to make its move. I can hardly ignore the divine power radiating out from it."