ROAR!!
"Oh boy..."
Something unexpected happened when the oasis was only a mile away from them.
The desert started shaking as if multiple tremors were running below, and a thunderous noise came from the center of the oasis, shaking even the highest heavens.
Deus was startled by the phenomenon, but a strange expression appeared on his muzzle afterward.
"Geez... that little fellow grew a lot since last time..."
Atlas's ears were bleeding, so he couldn't hear anything besides a piercing noise.
As for Uranus, he was shaking like a poor tree amid a powerful tornado. In fact, even if he wanted to help his master, he couldn't do anything other than wimp and tremble, lying lowly on the ground.
Following the thunderous noise, right before their eyes, the oasis started to rise as if something below the sand was slowly emerging from the depth.
Soon, piles of sharp rocks appeared from underground and grew bigger and larger in number.
A massive portion of the desert was changing rapidly. Still, a powerful presence locked the group in place, making any attempt to run away impossible.
After dozens of seconds, a large expanse of brown and black rocks had fully occupied their sight, hiding the enticing oasis entirely from their view.
Atlas's ears had long stopped bleeding, and even if his heart was clutched by the terror of the unknown, Deus's calm attitude to this nefarious sight didn't escape his eyes.
There was still a lot of noise around them, and the wind currents generated by the event were even more annoying. Still, he found a way to open his mouth and ask: "Hey... You seem to know what going on..."
"Hmm... don't worry. It's an old friend..." Deus remarked calmly: "... It's just that many years have passed since that time, and it has changed too much."
At the moment, the safest area in the desert was where Atlas and his group were staying.
In fact, the outside areas were undergoing a tremendous change because of the massive sandstorm formed by the event.
A few miles from their position, the group from the Divine Sect facing that impenetrable wall retreated quickly toward the distance, delaying their meeting for a distant future.
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The sun stood at its peak, so even that massive body couldn't hide its majestic presence. This allowed the trio to clearly understand the real identity of the mysterious entity Deus called an old friend.
Looking at the giant quadruped creature with its main body hidden inside a massive rocky shell, a simple word materialized in the young man's mind.
"It resembles a turtle..."
"Oh... well. You better not call it that way. That old fellow is quite cheeky about this matter..." Deus remarked, looking at Atlas with a severe expression: "You should call him Kurmanus instead."
"Kurmanus..."
While the duo exchanged a few words, the last piece of the giant creature's body emerged from the shell.
Two dark violet eyes were the first things that Atlas noticed. They were the biggest irises that he had ever seen and the most treating gaze that had landed on his body.
Soon, the giant muzzle appeared, accompanied by a dense hot mist flowing out from those two large nostrils on top of the badly scarred nose.
Its skin was dark brown, almost tending to black. Yet, the wide scars all over the surface gave the creature an even more terrifying and colorful appearance because, in the innermost part of those wounds, a bright red light came out as if the blood below its skin was mixed with the purest lava from a volcano.
Kurmanus' mouth was slightly opened, but it was so pitch black inside that only a long line of bright red teeth sharp as spears could be seen.
Grrrr...
A sound similar to a growling beast came out from Kurmanus' mouth, followed by the voice of a grow-up man: "Old Lizard... you are finally back..."
"Yeah... It took me more than I had expected to overcome the latest evolution..." Deus lamented, thinking about this annoying matter, and spoke back, unperturbed that he was called old lizard by his old friend: "Anyway, it seems that you have overcome the last barrier on your cultivation path and entered the God Realm... I was right in saving you at that time."
"Hehehe... Without your help, I would still be far from this Realm..."
Standing on the side, Atlas became speechless, hearing them talk about this so-called God Realm. After all, the God Realm was the stage after the Sage Realm.
He knew a lot about the two Major Realms, which were higher than the Mortal one. They were called the Saint and Sage Realms and divided into three Minor Realms, respectively.
The three Minor Realms of a Saint cultivator were the Citrinitium, Onyxite, and Crystalist.
Instead, the Sage Realm was divided into Noveris, Pandeus, and Oberium.
His home's library was well stocked with information about them. Yet, there was little about the mysterious God Realm.
When he learned about the incredible subdivisions of the martial cultivation path, he was still a useless mortal. However, this gave him even more willpower and another reason to never let his hope and desire dissipate.
While Atlas was lost in his thoughts, Deus and Kurmanus finally focused their conversation on the young man.
Indeed, Darke and Uranus's presence was incomprehensible for Kurmanus, especially after hearing Deus's statement.
"So... he is your companion?... A human is your companion? Did you become stupid after your last evolution?"
"Hmph... Fuck... I'm saner than you... That's for sure..." Deus retorted, looking visibly angry this time: "He could look an insignificant little boy in your eyes, but he has his good points and more..."
"Hmm..." Kurmanus used his giant eyes to scan every inch of the young man's body and even peeked inside his body. But what he found, even if it was a bit above average, was not so freaking good to make him understand Deus's viewpoint.
"If you say so..." Kurmanus said rather calmly and then continued, not delving deeper into their strange relationship: "Anyway, what are you doing in such a place?... Not too far from here is where the Primordial Endless Desert begins. You should know the dangers lurking around this hellish place better than me."
'The Primordial Endless Desert... where did I hear about it?' Atlas thought.
He had read many books in the last few years, so it took him a while to find the answer he sought.
"Why is the Forbidden Region between the continents so close?" He shouted, feeling a bit of trepidation growing in his heart.
He didn't have much information about this dangerous zone, but he was sure of one thing...
It was one of the deadliest places in Oblivion.