Chapter 1069: Secrets of the Island

The great hall of the Ivory Tower made Sunny shiver, just like the last time he had seen it. It was bathed in bright sunlight that poured through tall and narrow windows. A circle of chains lay in the middle of the hall that was the Gateway.

There was no one here, but Effie pulled Sunny to a staircase that led to the underground level of the tower. Its roots were deep, seemingly reaching into the very heart of the island. That stairwell spiraled along the outer wall of the pagoda, and there was a tapestry of beautiful carvings on the ivory stone. The carvings told the stories of the golden age of the Kingdom of Hope, long before it had been destroyed by the Lord of Light.

'Wait... I don't think there was a way down before? Was it hidden?'

Confused, Sunny silently followed Effie.

Eventually, the two of them reached a vast circular chamber at the bottom of the stairwell. Sunny had never been here before, but expected it to be similar to the lowest level of the Ebony Tower... and indeed, it was. However, it was also entirely different.

The duplicate tower created by Nether was full of darkness, and there was a ghastly mountain of discarded mannequins occupying the center of its underground level. This chamber, however, was suffused with light- There was a vast and inconceivably complicated runic circle carved into the floor of the chamber, and within it...

Sunny stared, not even noticing the two people studying the circle. His body shivered slightly.

"...Is that?"

Floating in the air at the center of the chamber was a rough, radiant crystal. It was larger than Sunny, and gave him a feeling of sublime, awesome, indescribable power. The crystal was like a miniature sun, flooding the underground hall with soft light. Reality itself seemed to ripple and shine around it.

It was like nothing Sunny had ever seen.

A familiar voice answered, pulling him out of his astonishment:

"Yes. From what we can tell... this is a Divine soul shard."

Sunny slowly turned his head and looked at Cassie, who was sitting in front of the runic circle, surrounded by notebooks, etchings, and writing implements. lіghtnоvеlсаvе.c͏o͏m. She was wearing simple jeans and a white t-shirt, her pale gold hair gathered in a messy knot bun.

Sunny lingered for a moment, not knowing what to say-

"A Divine..."

At that moment, however, a different voice interrupted him.

"Sunny!"

He looked up, only now noticing Kai, who was hovering high above the runic circle, near the tall ceiling of the chamber. The archer was already descending, and with considerable speed, at that.

'Oh, no...'

She nodded.

"Yes. In fact, I suspect that the enchantments of the ship were derived from some of Desire's creations. There are many similarities. So, after months of study and comparisons, we managed to decipher a tiny portion of the circle. It is not much, but it did allow us to access one of the island's hidden functions."

Sunny just stared at her silently for a few moments.

Then, he said:

"Is that why the island is moving?"

Cassie nodded with a small smile.

"Indeed. We are now able to move the Ivory Island... albeit very slowly."

He hesitated for a bit, then shook his head.

"Am I the only one who is freaked out: by a damned Divine soul shard? It's Divine! Where did Hope get a Divine soul shard?"

Effie glanced at the radiant crystal and shrugged.

"There were only six gods, but there were plenty of creatures of the Divine Rank, the former mistress of this tower included. Sometimes they fought side by side, sometimes they fought against each other... well, of course they did. Considering how terrifying this Demon of Desire was, is it so surprising that she had a divine soul shard or two? In fact..... I am kind of disappointed that we didn't find way more incredible treasures in her basement. Makes sense, though... the damned dragon must have cleaned it all out ages ago..."

She glanced up, in the direction where the bones of Sevirax were wrapped around the great pagoda. Kai's face darkened a little.

He sighed.

"Why are we talking about this stuff, anyway? Sunny is finally back! He has to be sick of military rations... let's go, guys! I bet dinner is almost ready."

Sunny gave him a long look.

"...Mind if I stay and drool at that shard a bit longer? I mean... it's a Divine soul shard! Can you imagine how much that thing costs?"

Kai shook his head and said, his voice full of resoluteness:

"No. You can't. I am going to feed you, and don't even think about resisting!"

Sunny looked at the radiant crystal one last time and sighed.

"Well. Alright. I guess I can go for a bite..."