Chapter 692: Metarock

Chapter 692: Metarock



Sylas sat on his heels as he peered out from an array of honeycomb caves that surrounded a deep valley below.

There didn't seem to be much there, but that was to be expected. The rogue had only known the general location of the gang, but not an exact one. In addition, this location was subject to change, so it wasn't guaranteed that they were still there.

The battles that took place in this underground world didn't often take place directly at headquarters. Instead, they were territorial battles fought for resources, and they were much more sporadic than normal.

All of this tied back to the original reason Archibald wanted Sylas to come here... a special ore produced in this region. Or more accurately, by the volcano.

Metarock.

It was an odd name, but it was chosen as such for a very specific reason. The reports the Grimblades had given him didn't tell him what it did, nor did Archibald. But... the Madness Key had.

Metarock was an ore that was capable of tailoring itself to a previously held set of laws, tethering itself to them and allowing any Treasure forged from it to adhere to those sets of laws.

That was a very complicated explanation to say just one thing... it could be used to make functional guns.

Essentially, the change to Earth's laws could be ignored if this Treasure was used in the hands of a talented crafter.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

In the wider universe, Metarock was an especially important resource, especially for more aggressive worlds that were established enough to invade others.

Worlds that shared the same general planetary systems and quadrants could have vastly different sets of laws that rendered sometimes entire systems of thought worthless. There were even some worlds where principles of Aether were completely different, causing certain Skills to either weaken or become duds.

One could imagine, then, why Metarock would be so important, especially now.

The only way to tether Metarock to a law was by having it in the presence of such a law. As Earth's Aether Plane quickly fused into their reality, there were starting to be fewer and fewer locations this could be done in.

The hard way.

Blackscales erupted across Sylas' body as he pressed a foot down.

With a silent surge, he moved so fast that it looked like he was running vertically down the valley walls.

He hit the ground smoothly and transitioned into an acceleration forward, crossing the barrier of the veil quite easily. However, nothing happened.

Sylas already expected this. If just running into the veil was enough to reveal it, then it

wouldn't be a good enough treasure to fool his vision to begin with.

That said, his appearance was almost surely noted by those hidden by said veil, and right now they were probably deciding exactly what to do about him.

Unfortunately for them, Sylas' senses had just grasped onto something. It was faint, but now that he was in the veil, he could feel something tugging at his Will to pull the wool over his

eyes.

Sylas' gaze flashed as a pair of Runes appeared within them. Lines of pressure filled the skies and suddenly...

CRACK.

The veil shattered and Sylas found himself surrounded from all sides, but there was a calmness to his gaze that seemed to belie that fact. There was a reason he had fused with the

Basilisk King before even running into any danger.

His gaze shifted as he landed on the person he had come here for in the first place.

Professor Fembroise stood in a perfect disguise. There was nothing at all that gave her true identity away. And yet... Sylas had seen right through her in the first instant.