"Remind me why getting to see a bunch of rocks and abandoned buildings is a reward?" Amber asked as they explored the ruins.
The mood was sombre, leading even the boisterous A to be quiet.
Alicia answered her, "Because Kranak was once a major civilization that had a history extending beyond the Age of Mana. They survived the discovery of mana, thrived and reached a level beyond our own devices, but were ruined due to unknown reasons. Any large scale investigations or scavenging trips ended in death, but smaller groups that did not venture deep into the former capital city returned perfectly fine."
"Even now, some weapons and traces of old techniques may exist here beyond the ones in the Alliance."
"And I'm sure Professor Bones is aware of an area containing such a reward, and is leading us there."
Amber nodded, and continued following the Professor quietly before she noticed something.
'There were six of us, now there's five.'
"Where's Alastor?"
The sudden question made the other's stop, but not Professor Bones, "He took my permission to separate from the group. His life and death is in his hands now. The rest of you just follow me."
Karna looked at the center of Kranak, 'Strange...I can't see anything or anyone there.'
......................
Despite being warned by Professor Bones not to approach too close to the centre of the city, Alastor did exactly that.
Alastor looked at the structures around him, noticing the changing architecture as he went further into the capital.
'A well planned city. And yet, it couldn't stand against that creature. Goes to show power is the only ultimate in the universe.'
Rubble shifted as something moved behind Alastor, but he did not turn to check. He simply continued moving forward unhesitatingly.
The shuffling noises became louder and louder, until Alastor could practically feel a creature breathing down the back of his head. He still refused to stop or tunr, continuing to walk as the unknown creature followed him.
'How nostalgic. It's been about a year or so since that incident in the First Layer.'
Alastor heard the creature behind him shriek as he approached a temple which was smack in the center of Kranak. The temple was covered in black ooze, dripping from the roof and pooling on the floor.
'So this is it. The Calamity of Kranak.' Alastor thought as he looked at the black pool.
If he focused, he could see indescribable horrors floating within every drop but he didn't want to attract attention of beings beyond him yet.
'I might already have Guanyin's attention, but I can only confirm it during evolution.'
Alastor took a deep breath, before entering the temple, wading through the black substance. Every step took him deeper and deeper into dangerous territory, until he arrived at the room where the statue of a deity would usually be kept.
All that remained were the fragments of marble, and lingering Divinity, evidence of the death of a God.
Alastor suddenly felt his breath leave him, as something looked at him. Something from outside the realms. A creature from the Abyss.
Alastor looked down, to see his own reflection in the liquid, except his reflection was smiling back at him.
"How quaint." Alastor spoke out out loud.
"If I didn't know better, I would have thought you were still alive, Child of Demiurge."
The liquid, or rather, the corpse roiled beneath his feet at the mention of the name.
Logically, Alastor would never say the name out loud. However, his greatest advantage was his external knowledge.
"No need to get so tensed. After all, the Unbegotten Source is dead."
That made the black ooze roil and writhe even faster, as it moved closer towards Alastor.
"All those you knew, are gone. Ended in the last cycle of the universe. You were summoned by the mistake of the Kranak people, and thus survived....almost."
"From the Old Ones corpses, the new universe was founded. There is no place for you anymore, Child of Demiurge."
The liquid crept up Alastor's legs, and threatened to drown him if he continued.
"Aside from me no one will know of you, or accept you. Even this final consciousness of yours is fading rapidly, and in a span of two years, you will be weak enough to be vanquished by a human child."
Alastor was referring to the protagonist of course.
The liquid had now completely surrounded Alastor, as visions of indescribable beings flashed past. Alastor kept chanting the Great Transmigration Mantra to not focus on them, as he asked the dying Shoggoth, "Will you fulfill your master's final wish of being useful, or will you cling to this shell of yours even further?"
The liquid stilled. The images kept flashing past, but now filled with a sense of longing.
'Has too much time in this plane weakened it to the extent of understanding regular emotion? Truly, a fall from grace.'
The Shoggoth retreated, and shivered as it tried touching Alastor's mind, only to encounter the Great Transmigration Mantra protecting it.
Alastor said, "I cannot allow you into my mind to communicate. Even with the best of intentions. However, I can communicate with you through this."
He raised his spear.
As the Shoggoth looked at his spear, it showed an image of a beared man wearing an ivy crown, holding a spear as humans worshipped it.
Alastor shook his head, "I am not that being."
"What I offer you is simple. Be my weapon, and I shall grant you an end as well."
While most creatures would never accept such a thing, the Shoggoth out of time agreed. Even Alastor did not why, but it had done so in the original work as well.
'Even to the end, none could understand the thoughts of the Old Ones.'
Alastor felt the Shoggoth's consciousness ram against the Great Transmigration Mantra over and over, until it shattered.
The black ooze that made up it's body began swirling and entering Alastor's spear granting the bone white spear black veins along it's body and blade.
Alastor flicked his spear, and a dark tendril appeared from the shadow of the spear, grabbing the wall of the temple before him and tearing it down.
Alastor also felt the moment when his Rune of Change reacted to the Shoggoth's existence, it's mastery increasing further.
'I can deny others access to the Rune now. I shall do it when we return.'
The Rune inscribed on Alastor glowed, before his body melted into a puddle, traversing through ground as he 'Changed' his position.
......................
It had been almost three days since they arrived at Kranak, and most of them had some gain.
Alicia found a tablet containing information on the nature of 'Roots', which she claimed could be great news for humanity's advancement.
A found a pair of gauntlets that were too big to be made for humans, but fit him perfectly well.
Amber found nothing but an empty page, but she felt it was too important to leave behind.
Karna did not need much anyway, simply enjoying the trip.
'Isn't this just making us work to explore what the Alliance couldn't? Meh.'
They were simply waiting for Alastor at the outskirts of Kranak, near what seemed to be a wall with murals and paintings on it.
Karna was looking at a mural where an archer shot at a black wave of liquid that seemed to encompass everything, when he felt a hand on his shoulder.
'Someone snuck up on me?'
The vessel was shocked that he had not noticed anyone appearing behind him, and he turned, ready to unleash his flames until he saw it was Alastor.
'He's....changed.' Karna thought to himself
Alastor looked at Karna and asked, "I'm not too late, am I?"
The reply came from Professor Bones, "No. No, you are not. Now that all of you are here, we shall return to the Academy."
Karna pointed at the black veins on Alastor's spear, and Alastor simply shrugged back, as if he hadn't confronted a remnant of the Old Ones just to obtain these black veins.