Death... and me

Rean then looked inside the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm and quickly found Silia talking to some members of the Freedom Sect. 'To think she would not follow Malo and the others... Oh well, that's her choice.' Rean quickly took his attention away and left the place.

Through the use of several spatial teleportations, Rean moved to another region until he reached another Demon Beast City. Changing his appearance once again, he made use of the Long-Distance Teleport Formation there, going straight to the Humanoid Races' Territory.

Rean then entered the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm somewhere concealed. He had to talk to the others about the next phase of their plans. "So, we are going to enter the cracks of the Continental Barrier, right?"

[Yes,] Sister Orb answered. [Although I don't think the Continental Barriers are connected to any Fragments, it might hold a clue. So far, some of our Fragments have been found in places where huge disturbances happened. What greater disturbance was there than the disappearance of the Continental Barriers?]

Roan nodded. "Indeed. That's why I decided to go down and see what is at the end of the cracks. Are they all connected to the same place? Are they fuelled by different sources? Now that we don't have the power to go after the fragments we know, we might as well investigate other locations."

Rean then looked in the direction where the Freedom Sect's new members, the previous Dalamu and the other Sect Forces, were located. Naturally, Turen and Harmalia were there as well. "What about mother? She came here because she wanted to meet Rana. Are we going to postpone it, or should we go see Rana first before going down?"

Roan pondered a bit. "Theoretically speaking, it doesn't really matter which Crack of the Continental Barrier we use. Even if we go back to where Rana lives, we could use the cracks there."

However, Luan quickly raised a concern. "Father, Fluki told me that the Continental Barriers in the Center of the Realm of Gods are a lot more powerful than the cracks far away. Doesn't that mean we would be traveling really far away from this supposed source?"

"They are?" Rean and the others looked at Luan.

Luan nodded, and he closed his eyes to talk to Fluki. A moment later, Fluki came out of Luan's Sea of Consciousness, appearing in front of everyone. "Indeed, they are," said Fluki. "It isn't that hard to accept, is it? The Continental Barriers far away from the Center are truly nothing much compared to the ones here. I don't know if they all lead to the same location, but if they do, can you imagine just how far your journey will be if you enter them through the faraway cracks?"

Roan had to admit Fluki's words made sense. "I guess we can only ask Mother to see if she minds waiting for a while."

Rean found it weird. "Can't we simply teleport there, leave Mother, and teleport back? We definitely have the Divine Stones to pay for the teleportation."

"I guess the question here is whether your Mother wants to leave your side, no?" Kentucky asked back. "Perhaps she wants you all to stay together. If she asks for it, what will you do?"

Rean and Roan narrowed their eyes. It was quite hard to deny Hamarlia's request. Yet, Rana is the Fairy Queen of her village. She can't simply leave the Fairies behind, either. It was then that Rean had an idea. "Now that I think about it, we have a lot of Demon Beasts, plenty of cultivators, but we don't have a single Spirit living in the Dimensional Realm. Spirits are also a good addition to the Dimensional Realm."

"You mean to bring Rana's Fairies to live in the Dimensional Realm as well?" Roan asked.

[That shouldn't be a problem from my side,] said Sister Orb. [The Dimensional Realm is imitating a real planet. We even have a fake sun, so why not Spirits?]

Rean and Roan nodded in the end. It was worth trying. Nonetheless, they still found it better to go down the crack first. After all, it wasn't guaranteed that Rana would agree to leave her home. "Let's talk to Mother about it."

Everyone dispersed as Rean and Roan went to find Hamarlia. Turen would agree to anything, so they only need her permission. "Hum? Sure, why not?"

"Eh?!" The twins were taken aback. "We didn't expect you to accept this easily."

Hamarlia shook her head. "Didn't you say she is a queen now? For her to have these many responsibilities shows that she can totally live on her own. Sure, I want to meet here. However, I also know you have a lot of important things to do. We can meet her later."

Rean and Roan obviously accepted it. "Thanks."

Hamarlia smiled and then stuffed two small bowls in the twins' hands. "Alright, then go do your things. Here, take these two deserts. I know you love them."

Rean and Roan were surprised to see it. Just how many times had they dreamed about eating Hamarlia's deserts during all these years? They already lost count. Happily, they both cleaned the desert, putting a smile on their faces. Yes, even Roan couldn't help but smile a little.

*Zush, zush, zush, zush...*

Outside the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm, four figures appeared in mid-air. They were Rean, Roan, Kentucky, and Luan. They all looked in a specific direction before Kentucky returned to his original form. Rean, Roan, and Luan jumped on his back. Right after, Kentucky shot into the distance.

A few hours later, a gigantic crevice that extended as far as they could see appeared ahead. Using their Divine Sense Bending Skill, they confirmed no one was nearby and descended in front of it.

Kentucky then looked down from its border. "This shit is really deep. Even I can't see the end of it with my eyes."

Rean nodded. "It seems like Divine Sense is pretty useless, too. I can only spread it up to three and a half kilometers down."

Roan wasn't surprised. "Divine Sense never worked well at the Continental Barriers anyway, so that's to be expected."

Luan changed his vision to the elemental world. "Well, it is the same as when the barrier is active. All elements are pretty much a mess inside this place. The only difference is that the energy that creates the Continental Barrier isn't present."

Finally, they looked at each other and nodded. "Down we go."