Chapter 238: Through the Heart of the Aemos

The doorway was set into the pulsing red muscle of the enormous heart, all dull black metal, clearly made up of the same material as the black beams that had barred the way into the chamber. 

Like the door to the chamber, the inscriptions were embossed within the door, except this door was far smaller, only  about two meters high.

The pulsing flesh around the door seemed to be almost melded into the edges of the metal, strangely interlinked with each other. 

Silane wanted to ask Kothar to take a better look at the interface between metal and muscle, but she knew that asking for further investigation into the living machinery wouldn't go over well, especially at such a critical moment. 

Even though Kothar and Silane could feel each other's emotions and the general direction of the other's thoughts, at this moment, Kothar was completely unaware of Silane's interest in the metal/muscle connection.

Right now, he was completely overtaken by the powerful thrumming, resonance of his Spatial Core with whatever was behind the door, while the Spatial Artifact also pulled in the direction of what was inside. 

Kothar strode over to the small doorway, and ignited his Plasma Blade, concentrating it into the thin shaft that he had used to slice through the doorway to the chamber. 

Immediately, Kothar began running his Plasma Blade down where the door met the frame, slowly following the shallow curve at the top of the door and then bringing his Plasma Blade around.

The smell of burnt flesh filled the air as the heat from Kothar's Plasma Blade charred the muscle that had melded with the frame, which would have been off putting for Kothar, had his mask not filtered the odors.

Sparks flew through the air, as the plasma sliced away at whatever held the door shut, as well as completely destroying whatever held the door on its hinges. 

Kothar stepped to the side, cleanly avoiding the door as it fell forward with a thud.

The open doorway was completely dark, only lit by the faint glow of the yellow lamps scattered around outside.

Kothar summoned a ball of lightning, sending it forward into the darkness of the doorway.

Kothar followed, and looked around, he found himself in a long hallway that slanted directly upwards at a steep angle, leading to the very center of the enormous heart he was in. 

The hallway was narrow, only about thirty centimeters wider than Kothar himself, and barely higher than his head. Thanks to the bluish light from the lightning, the corridor looked almost black.

There were no steps or walkway, and Kothar began to walk up the slippery surface made up of exposed flesh.

His boots from the Multiplanar Equipment gripped the muscle easily, and Kothar easily strode forward.

Here and there, the shape of the corridor was warped, where the muscle that it was carved out of had started to heal. IN some places, Kothar had to push through tendrils of muscle that contracted with the ever constant thumping all around him, and in other places, he had to crawl through the narrowest gap in thick walls of muscle.

[Seems like nobody has been down here in a long time.] Silane observed, the corridor had surely been completely open before.

Kothar said nothing in reply, and walked on, and the further he walked, the stronger the resonance grew, and it began to feel as though his Spatial Core would fly right out of his chest. 

But Kothar persevered onwards, the Spatial Mana within him going completely wild, moving through his body like a wild beast. 

When the surging of his Spatial Mana became unbearable, Kothar intuitively focused on the resonance from the Spatial Artifact, and from it, he felt a calming aura that helped him regain control over his mana, and eliminated the powerful resonance with his Spatial Core.

Even so, Kothar's still felt drawn, both by curiosity and the pull that the Spatial Artifact had, drawing him closer and closer to the center.

Kothar continued walking up the slope for another fifteen minutes, the spatial fluctuations growing greater and greater. If Kothar were to try to cause a Spatial Element spell now, then the result would be far more distorted than a simple change in direction, the spell might go 

completely awry, leaving him dead.

After the long trek up the slope, Kothar's destination was finally in sight. Up ahead, the dark muscle of the heart had encroached forward completely, completely blocking the way beyond.

Kothar drew his Skysteel blade, using the Plasma Blade now would be overkill, and he might even risk damaging the heart of the ship and sending it plummeting down to the surface of Eclat.

The edge of the blade gently vibrated, as the Lighting Element Mana coursed through it, and Kothar sliced at the wall of muscle in front of him, pushing it aside with his other hand. 

The thick red fluid that Kothar had seen in all the devices of the invaders now flowed from the cut muscle, making the already slippery floor of the corridor even slicker.

The blood of the ship now flowing all around his hands, Kothar pushed the heavy sheets of muscle aside, and squeezed into the gap, completely painting him red.

He continued to slice away, pushing the muscle apart and slicing, moving further and further into the passageway.

"Splat." Kothar fell forward, dripping with blood, and almost stumbling into what he had been searching for all this time. 

In front of him was the cause of the spatial fluctuations, the thing that had sent his mana completely wild and the thing that allowed the enormous ship to open portals large enough to pass through.

It was about as large as Kothar's head, glowing with blinding purple light, an enormous spherical purple crystal, so full of Spatial Mana that from simply being near it, Kothar's  Mana Core was growing, as it greedily drank up the mana that filled the small open space around the crystal.