Uriel followed the Fire Keepers with a rather bored expression on his face. According to what they'd said, they should head towards the ancient island known as Shipwreck Island, where the old ship was located.
As he walked, he began to hear the clanking of chains. Looking in the direction of the noise, he observed how one of the islands began to slowly rise upward, starting to be affected by the crushing force of the Ivory Tower.
'Curious,' he thought, watching for a few more moments before simply continuing on his way. He didn't want to test resisting such weight crushing his bones for hours.
Leaving the Iron Hand Island behind, they arrived at another island born from the aftermath of battle. Uriel had seen traces of large, gray, dead vines on the ground leading towards the western part of the island near the edge. Upon arriving, he watched as an enormous flying ship made of ancient wood slowly descended. Some parts had clearly been repaired recently.
They waited for a few minutes until the ship finally descended, unaffected by the crushing force.
The ship descended until its deck was level with the island where they stood. Uriel looked at the ship before simply boarding its deck alongside the other Fire Keepers. The deck of the flying ship was undoubtedly large—at least twenty or nearly thirty meters wide, and perhaps fifty or sixty meters long.
Exploring the deck, he reached one of the elevated parts of the vessel and observed a figure he recognized, who returned his gaze despite her blindness.
"You finally arrived," said Cassie, holding a steering oar. Beneath her feet was an incredibly complex circle of runes glowing gold. Surrounding the main mast, he observed a large tree that apparently fed essence to all the enchantments of the flying vessel, enabling its flight.
"Yes, it took me longer than I thought," he said, feeling the ship begin to ascend.
"So this is the flying ship?" he asked, to which Cassie nodded.
"Isn't it cool?"
"It undoubtedly is. Well, to be honest, this is the first time I've been on a ship."
"You've never been on one?" asked Cassie.
Uriel nodded.
"No, wait—I think I have. I don't remember well. I was a child, I think," he said to himself.
After that exchange, the ship continued ascending. Once they reached the point where the crushing force was strongest, Uriel observed hundreds of incredibly complex runes glowing, repelling the crushing until they reached the top of the Ivory Island.
The ship docked at a created port. Cassie, with practiced ease, deposited the ship in the port where some Fire Keepers secured it.
Leaving the runic circle, Cassie gestured for him to follow.
As he walked, Uriel observed the floating island with curiosity.
The elevated island wasn't very large, surrounded by floating slabs of shattered marble. There was a meadow on one side, a grove, and an elegant gazebo built from the same white material as the Ivory Tower itself. The stone arch within was also white and empty. Peace and tranquility reigned.
From the island, the Chained Isles looked like fragments of a beautiful mosaic that someone had arranged against a backdrop of velvety darkness, with radiant scattered stars shining among them. The Crushing was still there, only the Ivory Tower was unaffected by it, as was the island where it stood and the small area surrounding it.
On the other side of the great pagoda was a crystalline lake, with streams flowing from it and cascading over the island's edge. Under the bright sunlight, it seemed as if the entire surface of the lake glowed with a pure golden radiance. Near it stood a white stone bench with intricate carvings.
There were skeletal remains of a giant beast in front of them, its serpentine body wrapped around the tower, and its enormous skull resting just near the tall white doors. Each of the great beast's terrifying fangs was at least as long as Uriel's own height.
A profound darkness lurked in its empty eyes. These were the worn, snow-white bones of a true dragon.
Uriel found this quite astonishing. He wanted to summon Gunlaug to show him another of his extinct species—he was undoubtedly curious to see his reaction.
"What are you thinking about?" asked Cassie.
"About summoning something to see its reaction."
"Might I ask what?"
"Nothing out of this world, just a dragon," he responded.
Cassie stopped dead in her tracks. Even through the blindfold covering her sightless eyes, there was surprise.
"Were you serious when you said you had a dragon?"
"Didn't you believe me? That offends me, Cass."
"No, it's not that. It's just that you say so many crazy things that I somehow hope some of them are lies. Like killing a Corrupted Titan."
"Hey, I did kill one. Well, Shade did. The point is, most of what I say is true. Oh, and you have no idea what I had to do to get out of the Hollow Mountains alive."
"Really? How did you get through?"
"I simply flew over them. Well, it was dangerous. A Great Tyrant was determined to make me its dinner, so it was a game of cat and mouse—me being the mouse. In the end, I made it fight a Great Devil Raven by entering its territory, and I escaped."
Cassie simply sighed, letting her shoulders drop.
"I'm just not going to say anything," she expressed, heading towards the great doors leading inside the castle, passing the dragon corpse.
Uriel followed Cassie, passing between the space of the skull and tail of the dead Saint.
Inside, Uriel observed a great hall with bright light filtering through its tall windows. The interior air was imbued with a strange, shimmering darkness. In the center, seven chains extended from the pristine white floor, as if growing from it, each ending in a broken shackle. The shackles were inscribed with a myriad of runes and were ruined, the metal torn.
Instinctively, he kept his distance, looking with hostility at the chains where the Demon of Hope had once been bound.
Cassie noticed this and looked at him.
"What's wrong?" the girl asked.
Uriel's eyes looked at the chains with hostility before he forced himself to look away.
"I don't like those chains," he murmured.
Cassie couldn't ask what he meant when, suddenly, Effie, Sunny, Kai, and Nephis appeared.
"Oh, Little! How long have you been here?"
"I just arrived, Effie," he responded with a slight smile.
"Oh, you don't know the beautiful view the Hollow Mountains have. Truly memorable—a Great Tyrant even kept me cozy company."
Kai's face paled slightly. Sunny and Nephis seemed unaffected by hearing this, which annoyed him a bit for not getting a reaction.
"It was more fun when you reacted better," he muttered listlessly.
"You've told us so many things that it's lost its effect," said Sunny calmly.
"Well, it doesn't matter. Even if I told you I saw a Great Titan simply disappear slowly..."
"Did you see one?" asked Nephis.
"No," Uriel responded with a slightly amused smile. "It's not that easy to find a Great Titan. Well, maybe in that place there are many of them roaming around in that mist." He said, walking towards the gate where he used it to establish his anchor point to the Ivory Tower.
After confirming his runes, he observed:
Citadel: Ivory Tower
...
After a tour through the different areas of the flying citadel, they arrived at the tower's basement.
It was a circular chamber at the foot of the stairs. The chamber was bathed in warm light. In the center was a circle of runes—vast and incredibly complex, even for him to understand. From what he could gather from some of the runes, they meant "direction," "gravity," and "command."
From what he could deduce and based on his memories, this was the tower's command center, allowing it to move through the sky as well as activate or deactivate the crushing force that affected the islands.
Floating above the runic circle was a rough crystal that shone intensely. It was larger than him. The crystal was like a miniature sun, transmitting a sense of greater power and holiness than the divine fragments he had in his dark storage.
"...Is that?"
"Yes. A Divine soul shard," responded Cassie.
"I see..."
"I suppose you're trying to understand the runes, right?"
"Yes, although it's more complex and will take me some time to understand," he explained.
Uriel approached the intricate web of glowing runes, observing them more closely. Beside him, Shade materialized, equally observing the runes. They were small, and there were countless of them.
"This is Hope's sorcery," said Cassie.
"What do you think?"
"That it's complex. I can barely understand a few things."
"You can?"
"Yes. From what I can deduce, it seems this place is some kind of control center that controls the crushing, time—something related to direction and command," he explained.
"Since when do you know how to understand runes?" asked Sunny.
"From my second Nightmare. There was a Scholar who learned sorcery from the Demon of Hope and taught me a bit, though I don't remember much."
"Why not?" asked Effie. "Is it too traumatic?"
"Not really. It's just that a lot of time has passed since then—maybe a few centuries, perhaps," he murmured.
Nephis took that moment to speak.
"Why don't you help Cassie understand the runes and the tower's components? None of us understand enough about sorcery to be of help."
Uriel looked at the runes.
"Sure, I can do that. It'll help me with my study of runes."
"Study of runes?"
Uriel made a sheet of paper appear in his hand, infused it with a bit of essence, causing the paper to wrinkle and fold before transforming into an orb of golden light, filling the space with warm light that was lost against the intensity of the Divine soul shard.
"This is what I mean. I'm learning sorcery, although the process is slow since there's no exact manual to guide me," he explained as the orb of light disappeared after a time.
The six of them left the basement until they reached the exterior, where Uriel observed the dead ivory dragon.
"Nephis, do you mind if I summon something?"
Nephis shook her head.
"No... but what are you going to summon?"
"Oh, a dragon," he responded, as a great darkness appeared. In an instant, Kai, Nephis, Cassie, Effie, and Sunny's eyes widened.
"What the hell?!" shouted Effie.
In front of the five of them was an enormous dragon, about fifty meters tall, as tall and large as the skeleton surrounding the pagoda. However, unlike the skeleton, this dragon was far more imposing.
Its color was a deep black interwoven with gold. Its horns pointed forward like spears. Its claws were the size of a grown adult. Its teeth were large and terrifying. Its long tail ended in a sharp point. Its body was coated in hard, compact scales that no weapon below at least Transcendent rank could pierce.
"Well, let me introduce you to my pet dragon."
"Where did you get a dragon?" asked Effie, bewildered.
"Oh, I didn't get it. This is Gunlaug," he said with an amused laugh, watching the bewilderment on his friends' faces.