"We made a deal. We retrieve the peach of immortality, you disclose everything we need to know." Weng stated firmly in a hiss.
"You haven't retrieved the peach of immortality yet. I'll tell you everything when you do." The mage queen stated.
She slowly stood up from her throne seat, taking dauntingly sluggish steps down to reach their level. Her black gown flowed behind her as she swayed her hips elegantly. She moved toward the middle of the spacious room with a circled layout structure.
"Whenever you're prepared, inform me so I can begin creating the portal." The mage queen implied with a drawl.
"The sooner, the better." Ying said in a clipped tone as he watched her keenly. A dark smile split her lips.
"Now?" She queried as she peered her dark green eyes screening them all.
"Now." Weng said and she nodded softly before dropping her gaze on the encircled layout structure and they all watched her intently as she proceeded to create the portal.
She closed her eyes and opened them to reveal glowing green ones as she fell to her knees with hands extended toward the encircled structure. The green torches flickered uncontrollably as a gust of heavy wind swirled in the room.
The flickering torches were suddenly snuffed out by the eerie wind encompassing the room to leave them in thick darkness. The wind abruptly stopped and the whole place fell eerily silent. Suddenly, a glowing green light formed on the encircled layout in a strange inscribing that splintered across the circle like cracks but in symbols they were alien to.
The entourage all watched in awe as the mage queen muttered foreign words beneath her breath and the inscribing on the circle glowed brighter until it gradually faded to be replaced with darkness.
The green torches suddenly lit up and black vine like twines appeared from beneath the ground and gradually crept atop it, twisting across each other till the circle was entirely concealed with it. Soon, it dispersed to form a shallow black abyss like structure with a mist of black fog emanating from it.
The abyss of infinite darkness exuded a dreary essence from within which made them all wary of what lurked beneath the abyss. The mage queen sprouted up on her feet and slowly moved toward a table with an hourglass seated atop it. She took hold of it before averting her menacing gaze on them.
"Is that the portal to the immortal realm?" Ying queried.
"Yes. It's guarded by varmints against intruders, so be alert as you'll be attacked during the travel." She replied in a tone of nonchalance as she fiddled with the hourglass in her hold.
"That's news." Gai murmured with a grim expression on his face.
"What kind of creatures awaits us down there?" Weng queried as his black eyes peered into the abyss warily.
"Not down, but up." The mage queen corrected as she pointed upwards with her index finger and he scoffed.
"It's the realm of immortals, so the creatures are immortals. The only way to evade them is well...by evading them. I'm sure you'll come up with a good tactic to bypass them." The mage queen said as she let out a round of hysterical laughter.
"You should have told us beforehand. I have a feeling we're not the first you're sending out to this ridiculous quest in a suicide mission."
Weng remarked with creased brows in a slight disturbance at the aggravated situation.
"Unfortunately, they failed. I have a feeling you won't disappoint me." The mage queen uttered with a sly smile cutting across her lips as she traced her fingers against the hourglass.
"When you mean they failed...They died, didn't they?" Zhurong chipped in as he stared at the crazy woman in front of him who was smiling like a maniac as she sent them on a death mission to retrieve the peach of immortality.
"We'll never know, will we? I never heard from them and ultimately, their time ran out and the portal was sealed against them. So they're either dead or trapped in the immortal realm, but I think it's the before and not the latter, since they'd have made it in time before the portal was sealed, with or without the peach of immortality." The mage queen said thoughtfully.
"Trapped? You mean we could also get trapped in the immortal realm?" Gai exclaimed in shock.
"Unfortunately, yes." The mage queen replied and they all exchanged puzzled looks with each other.
"Why would we get trapped? I hope there are no more unforeseen situations you'll like to fill us on." Ying implied as he shot her a sharp stare.
"The portal has a time limit and if you fail to come out within the time limit, you'll be trapped in there for all of eternity. Creating another portal is possible, but you won't be able to reach it if the portal you came out from has expired." The mage queen explained as she gazed at the hourglass.
"So, you must escape the immortal realm within the allotted time limit, but if you fail to come out within it, then the portal will be sealed and there will be nothing I can do about it. You'll be trapped in the immortal realm and live as a fugitive hunted by the immortals as you do not belong in their realm." The mage queen added with a stern expression. Second thoughts suddenly drifted across their minds, it was beyond dangerous, the precarious situation they would be in if they traveled to the immortal realm seemed to elevate with each passing second.
They had always assumed that the immortal realm was serene and pleasing with tranquility, but gaining knowledge of it made it seem more hectic and perilous with unknown dangers awaiting them.
"What's the time limit before the portal gets sealed?" Ying asked.
"Three days. Although, the time between both realms varies distinctly. The immortal realm has a timeline slower than the mortal realm, so three days in the immortal realm are approximately three weeks." The mage queen informed as she tapped her long nails rhythmically on the hourglass.
"Three weeks.." Weng repeated as he murmured beneath his breath thoughtfully. Three weeks seemed long enough for them to carry out their mission and escape before the portal closes, or so they thought as they had no idea of the hazardous adventure that awaited them in the mortal realm.
"The moment you enter the portal, your time starts." The mage queen remarked. Ying took long strides toward the portal with eyes fixated on it. He could sense the force and power emanating from the chasm of the thick mist of darkness residing in the portal.
"Your unlucky victims, did they get trapped or die in the immortal realm?" Ying asked.
"Presumably so." The mage queen replied.
"The portal is powerful enough to consume a being if they're not strong enough to withstand the forces in the portal." Ying stated out before averting his gaze to drop on the mage queen with narrowed eyes.
"If the Portal consumed them, it's only because they're weak. Apparently, you and your voyagers aren't. Powerful vampire brothers and the four guardians with phenomenal powers will surely not be consumed by a portal." The mage queen drawled with a mischievous glint in her green eyes.
"It's not secure either way. I can sense the energy emanating from the portal." Ying pointed out as he retained his stern gaze on her with a slight frown etched on his face.
"If you want to figure out what is transpiring with the realm of monsters, then you have no choice but to do as I say and that means you go through that portal and retrieve the peach of immortality." The mage queen declared with a low growl in a menacing tone. The green torches flickered for a split moment as an eerie gust of wind blew past them.
The journey to the realm of immortality was undoubtedly a path filled with peril and menace but if they wished to attain knowledge on who the culprit behind the devious scheme was, then they had no choice but to go through the portal and retrieve the peach of immortality.
"I'd like to have a private discussion with them before we commence into the immortal realm. Excuse me." Weng said stiffly and motioned for the others to follow him as he exited the room. They all followed after him and halted in a corridor farther away from the throne room.
"The mage queen is fucking crazy!" Gai exclaimed in hushed tone.
"Crazy is an understatement." Zhurong muttered in a low tune.
"Crazy or not, she's another threat if she lays hand on the peach of immortality. She'll become immortal and cause havoc in the mortal realm." Ying implied with a grave expression.
"We have no choice but to give her what she wants or we'll never find the culprit." Phoenix chipped in with creased brows as she tucked a stray red lock behind her ear in unease.
"Or we could use force to compel her into talking." Xuan blurted out and they all whipped their heads toward him in dismay.
"She might lie and we'd never be able to figure out the truth." Azure said thoughtfully.
"Moreover, it'll lead to an unpleasant war between the Mage domain and ours. The last thing we need is more complications, we've had enough already that is still unsolved." Ying said reasonably and silence ensued as they pressed their thoughts on it.
"We'll be paving the path to another evil into our realm after taking care of one. And none of them is the lesser evil." Gai stated out as his brows creased hard, making smooth lines form on his forehead.
"We have to take care of the present predicament first. And with the four guardians being the target, we have to get rid of this problem as soon as possible." Weng noted with a deep sigh.
"Then what do you suggest we do? Give her what she wants and risk our lives in the process?" Phoenix queried in tensity and soft clamouring echoed between them.
"Silence!" Weng ordered with an air of authority as his voice resounded in the hallway and silence immediately ensued.
"No more questions. Get ready, we're going into the immortal realm." Ying proclaimed with a hard resolve.