After the voting, roughly hours later, most of the party members went to rest and recovered from the battle.
Currently, everyone is in top condition and ready to enter the centre.
In these past hours, Seth and Rin, one by one, took charge of keeping an eye around for any danger.
Surprisingly, the journey into the miasma was without threats; some creatures did appear here and there but nothing to worry about as they were easily dealt with.
Right now, the boat was ready to be pierced, exit the miasma fog and enter the centre.
The cloud of dark mist that spread endlessly on the left and right made the boat look like a pen tip piercing paper.
The boat sliced through the dense miasma fog like a ghostly apparition, the tendrils of mist curling around the vessel as if reluctant to let go.
Entering the centre, a dimly-glowed environment greeted them, barely allowing them to distinguish the large sky-touching white pillar shrouded by black fog, obstructing the view, with an edge of a large circular platform expanding inside that almost looked like an artificial ground made up
The expansive platform, bathed in a soft, otherworldly glow, seemed to stretch into infinity. Its surface, crafted from white-glowing crystals, emitted a faint hum, resonating with the Spirituality that pulsed through the core of the Blessed Land.
"When did this appear?"
The boat stopped moving, allowing the Invokers to get ready for arrival in the centre.
"This is indeed strange. Does the boss advance that much to even construct his territories?"
While departing from the boat and arriving on the ground covered with fog, Rin said, "Even if we accept the fact of advance, how could he have enough knowledge to build something like this?"
Rin, her assault rifle resting on her shoulder, surveyed the surroundings with a discerning eye. "Sea minerals manipulated," she remarked, her gaze flickering between the glowing pillars and the darkened fog.
Ragna descended onto the newly discovered terrain, his boots making a soft thud as they connected with the surface.
Stooping down, he examined the sea-mineral-laden ground with a scrutinizing gaze, his fingers gingerly tracing the intricate patterns etched into the pillars; he also came to the same conclusion as Rin: " Indeed Looks like the boss can manipulate it as he desires."
"Careful, don't touch it directly. What if you catch some infection?" Alex said.
"Nah, don't worry. It's my job to check if there is any trap or hidden mechanism."
"Oh."
"Does that mean you'll know if anything is poisonous or not?"
"Roughly."
"Everyone take your position. Don't lose your guard, always be on alert, and keep your senses open. If there is any suspicious activity, inform them immediately," Seth commanded, reminding everyone of the upcoming danger. He had already assigned everyone a role.
****
The party's formation was appropriate, with Ragna being a professional in defusing traps at the front with Seth, the most powerful person. The less combative members, like the sailor and the newbie, were in the centre, along with those whose roles were for later tasks, like scavenging the corpses and assessing the situation. Alex's role was to use his Reverse Divination on any suspicious objects to provide more information.
But Rin thought otherwise, so he was stuck with her.
Alex and Rin were both at the rear. Alex was confused about why she would keep him close when he asked. Rin answered that it was just to annoy him. Initially, his position was in the centre with Steve and the rest of the party members.
"Can you tell me why there is a large gap between 5 and 4?"
"Huh! Not much, just when an evolved creature reaches stage 4, it starts to gain sparks of intelligence. It can think, plan, and prepare traps in advance. See this stronghold; this place is made of mineral manipulation where sea elements are used."
"That's unbelievable. Isn't this Blessed Land just come into existence like a week ago? how can the boss build this structure in a short amount of time? this evolution rate is terrifying"
"Not a week; this is made in a day, probably one or two. That's what it means to reach 4 in both Enlightenment and stages."
"Does that mean Invocar also gains manipulation when reaching 4 Enlightenment?"
Rin was about to answer him but stopped not only She everyone stopped Alex wondered what was happening eager to discover he proceeded to ask
"Wha—"
"Shhhhh," Rin places a finger on Alex's lips, telling him to keep quiet.
Thud, thud, thud.
This sound echoed, resonating like someone was jumping up and down.
Everyone got alert, focusing on the voice, holding the handgun aimed in various directions to cover every corner.
And then suddenly Rin's eyes glow she said
"Gotchu," and fired from her handgun a blue flickering bullet that escaped the barrel, travelling in the air, evading the head and arms of party members, directly appearing beside Seth and fast passing him, disappearing in the mist at the front.
After some seconds of wait where nobody spoke, suddenly a
— Boom! An explosive sound echoed.
A large shark has shredded apart with a blue glow, casting a glow in the mist at the front, allowing the sight to be visible to party members
A large legion of multiple Stage 5 fish was jumping up and down on the ground, exhaling black mist from their pink skin.
Their Glowing crimson eyes welcomed the party members in the centre with the rhythmic sound of thud… thud… thud…