Chapter 201: Domains of Darkness (3)

Three individuals gathered in one spot.

A fourth one just about to arrive...

Less than a minute to sweep in.

Others were left to pry.

The Heavens and the dark forest surrounding them were nothing more but a backdrop to the scenario now playing in front of Li Yang, mere observers to the pinnacle of what was about to come. 

He planned to make his way to the exit and the portal now stood in front of them, an array of darker colors imbuing it with a strange energy. But it was at this very portal that Mitsuko used to meet up with them.

"Mitsuko—what are you doing here?" Setsuko asked. She was taken aback by the appearance of the woman, but understood that it was all due to one person. Setsuko didn't quite like to admit it, but it always made her feel uneasy. 

A ridiculous notion when she was the one who had a tangible and physical bond with Li Yang.

Li Yang's brows furrowed at Mitsuko. "I thought you would have escaped by now. There's nothing left for this place." 

He didn't have any clue on how much destruction the Damask Insurgents caused for Mashiro Temple… but there was always a point where the cost of saving something exceeded more than the thing's worth.

He didn't want to judge it from such a cold business perspective, but Mashiro Temple could really burn to the ground and be replaced by something far more ideal in his mind. 

"Perhaps." Mitsuko agreed with him. 

"What are the two of you talking about?" Setsuko narrowed her eyes. Li Yang evaded answering her earlier, but the situation was clearly weaving itself to be something more than she could have ever bargained for. 

"Damask Insurgents are destroying the temple and burning it to the ground—and they may have summoned the wrong deity," Mitsuko said. 

"Wrong deity?!" Setsuko's gaze quickly flickered around their surroundings. "Is Aseroth now here with us?"

Mitsuko frowned slightly and thought about their situation hard and this was the hypothesis she created. "No, but it is the Goddess Aurora in a corrupted state. Probably because they were trying to awaken Aseroth but made a mistake."

Li Yang kept his expression cold and blank.

Mitsuko's gaze first lingered on the sight of the tarnished fox pre-deity, before she turned back to look at Li Yang. While she could spend the next moments explaining, it wasn't worth it at all. 

"There's not enough time anymore, so I want to give you this so you can return home."

"Go home?" Setsuko's voice wavered slightly. Her gaze went down to her and Li Yang's intertwined hands. She may have begged him to take her along, but he still did it, didn't he?

Setsuko didn't want to think that it was just a one-sided relationship with only her pining for the man. This mention of departure was something she heard a long time ago, but to finally hear that it was happening at this very instant bewildered the poor woman to shock. 

Even more so that Setsuko had to hear this from Mitsuko and not Li Yang himself.

Was he going to tell her this at the last minute? Did she really mean anything to him at all? What was she supposed to be? Simply someone he used when he first arrived to navigate around this unfamiliar world?

For a moment, the words of the Priestesses earlier came back to haunt her.

But Setsuko did remember how he told her that he admired her. 

Unfortunately man's mind was truly elsewhere. 

And it was of the woman in front of them right now.

Li Yang told Mitsuko about his desire to go home—but did she really come back just to tell him this? Unless Mitsuko carried any spare Beast Cores right now then they were all still doomed.

And it was something he was deliberately ignoring in lieu of finding answers.

It was there that Mitsuko pulled back her cloak and let it slip down from her shoulders. It revealed a gleaming piece of jewelry hanging around her neck.

Mitsuko gave him a dry smile. "Go with Setsuko and find a place for the two of you. I have no idea how this will help you, but take it." 

Li Yang stared at the most condensed form of Ao energy gathered in a singular core. As to what creature it may have come from, a dragon's heart, a phoenix's egg or something else entirely—there was no clue about it.

He didn't hesitate and approached the woman, plucking the jewel from her and capturing it within his fingertips. Power and energy radiated and thrummed as an undercurrent that told him of its power.

"What is this bitch saying? Only one of you—" Bao quickly shut up.

Setsuko's gaze flickered to the last spot where Bao previously had been and then she quickly frowned, until her expression finally went cold.

This woman wasn't like Ying Yue He, Bo Lifen or even Taiga who had the closest encounter with Bao. At least in terms of all the women who romantically or sexually involved themselves with Li Yang.

Instead she was on another level.

But there wasn't even any time for that.

Li Yang's attention was on the screen in front of him.

[ New Zone Warper ]

Access different worlds in different planes according to the Host's current strength levels.

You Have Used The New Zone Warper Once.

System Currently Gathering Energy For Next Jump (94.5% Charged)

[ You Are Currently Holding The Artifact Of The Falling Kaeli Kingdom ]

The small gem in his hand radiated with enough power to fully charge the World Warper—it was at that exact time that Goddess Aurora arrived. 

The entire forest shook and in the midst of it all were the howls and shrieks. It came from a multitude of creatures that lived within the nestled boughs and shadows. 

A Goddess of Light descended into this world of darkness. 

Everything burned at the sight of her. 

She was headed straight towards them.