On the third day, Vastarael and Narisva decided to take a day off and rediscover themselves.
Over the past three years, neither of them had ever rediscovered themselves. They just trained and did nothing else but train. They didn't check his powerful they were and now was the perfect day to do it before they faced the Frozen God.
They planned to annihilate the Frozen God the next day so this was their free time before they went to the mountains and faced him.
Vastarael realized that he couldn't feel any connections like he used to. He couldn't feel his connection with Phaenora, the Obsidian Runic Spire, Adelasta's marriage bond or even with Chainless and Peccavi, who were connected with the Sapphire Bond.
It was as if the Submerged Island cut off all connections with the Erna Isles. He couldn't even access Erna herself. And he was glad about it. The last thing he wanted was for Phaenora to use their connection to find his location.
And so, he decided not to look at his character profile using Phaenora's system. He did not want Phaenora to sense him.
"Vastarael, I'd like for you to do me a favor."
Vastarael turned off his holograms and faced Narisva, who was holding a scythe on her hand. She was sitting down on the floor of the ruins close to him.
"Okay. What is it?"
Narisva gently gave him her scythe. He was literally holding her life on his hands.
"I want you to keep this safe for me and make me a sapphire scythe similar to this. I've never asked for favors before and... I'd like for you to do this for me."
He held the scythe in one hand, its dark gleam catching the morning sun. He studied it for a moment before looking at her.
"I need to ask, why are you doing this?"
Narisva smirked, leaning back lazily with her arms crossed behind her head. Her cocky demeanor was back in full force.
"Why? Isn't it obvious? We're about to fight the Frozen God and I don't feel like gambling my life. If anything happens to that scythe, I'm toast. Literally. I'd rather not risk it."
"But you rely so much on this weapon. Without it, won't you be severely weakened?"
"Sure, I'll be nerfed. But who cares? I'm close to being a Divine, remember? When I sacrificed my power to the soul inside that scythe and became a Divine two years ago, something else awakened in me. My... celestial origins. It's like a rebirth, Vastarael. And trust me, I've only gotten stronger since then. I can handle myself just fine."
Vastarael studied her for a moment, then leaned closer.
"You didn't answer my question, Narisva. Why me? Out of everyone, why do you trust me with this?"
Her smirk faltered for a fraction of a second. She leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees as she regarded him with a calculating look.
"I don't know. Maybe it's because you're... trustworthy. Maybe I'm taking a risk. Who knows? It's not like you can use it anyway."
"What if I die? Then what? Won't your weapon vanish with me?"
She shrugged, her cocky grin returning. "Doesn't matter. I know you've got a plan even if you die. You're just that great, Vastarael. You're always five steps ahead of everyone else."
Her words left him stunned for a moment but before he could respond, she leaned closer, her tone dropping to a near whisper.
"And besides, I know the truth about you."
"What do you mean?"
Her grin widened, her voice dripping with confidence. "You're a Split of Time, Vastarael. Did you really think I wouldn't figure it out?"
His eyes widened in shock. She wasn't supposed to know that. It wasn't something he'd ever revealed to anyone. She laughed lightly at his expression, standing up and brushing the dust off her pants.
"Relax. I'm not here to spill your secrets. I'm one too, a Split of Space. The Primordial of Space gave me the role. So, in a way, we're not so different. We are more similar than I thought huh..."
Vastarael's shock melted into a small, amused smile. "You really are something else, Narisva."
"And don't you forget it. So, shall we go defeat the Frozen God now?"
"Wait seriously? I thought we'd do it tomorrow!"
"Well, maybe the Frozen God is listening to us now. And I don't like this island. It's full of trees in perfect rows and a volcano in the middle of it. Let's go."
He sighed deeply, rubbing the back of his neck. "Alright, fine. But if we die, I'm haunting you first."
Narisva laughed, stepping closer and before he could react, she wrapped her arm firmly around his waist. Vastarael stiffened at the sudden proximity.
"What are you—"
She smirked, tilting her head down to look at him.
"Relax, prince. I've got this. Don't forget I'm six years older than you. You might be a prodigy, but you're still just a kid to me."
That hit him like a rock. Right. She was twenty-six. Which of course was technically older by Mortal standards but in Spheraphase, where maturity hit its peak at seventeen, she just looked like a very polished, self-assured adult.
Meanwhile, he was twenty and still grappling with the fact that people looked at him like some princeling hero. For a moment, he wondered if he came off as immature to her. But then she tightened her grip on his waist, and his thoughts scattered.
"Alright. Hold on tight. I'm about to make us float."
Before he could argue, she altered the gravity around them with a flick of her free hand. The ground beneath their feet disappeared as they lifted off, weightless, into the air. It was the second of Narisva's Essentia Forms. Vastarael didn't bother to hide his annoyance.
"You could've warned me you know."
"And miss that look on your face? Not a chance."
She laughed, clearly enjoying his discomfort as they ascended higher and higher, the ruins and forest stretching out below them. The island was eerily symmetrical, the trees forming perfect rows like soldiers standing at attention.
From this vantage point, it became painfully clear how unnatural the place was. No chaos, no wild tangles of roots or overgrown foliage. Just rows and rows of trees that looked like they'd been carved into place by some divine gardener with an obsessive disorder.
Ahead, the massive volcanic mountain loomed at the center of the island. It was colossal, the edges of its peak slicing into the sky like the teeth of some ancient beast. Smoke spiraled lazily from its summit, curling into the clouds. Vastarael whistled softly.
"That thing is… way bigger than I thought it'd be."
"Yeah, it's impressive. But it's also a death trap. If the Frozen God doesn't kill us, that thing probably will. That isn't a normal volcano."
"Wow, thanks for the vote of confidence," he muttered, shooting her a side glance.
She shrugged, her grip on his waist steady as they hovered in the air.
"Just saying. You've got a knack for surviving the impossible though, so I'm not too worried."
The two of them floated silently for a moment, staring at the volcano ahead. The stillness of the island was almost suffocating, the absence of sound making the distant rumble of the volcano all the more ominous. Vastarael finally broke the silence with a sigh.
"Alright, Narisva. Let's go face certain death. Time for me to say the command word. Just don't blame me for the future codeword my future self came up with."
"Okay... But what does that even mea—"
Before she could finish, Vastarael gathered his essence, infusing it into his throat and lips with a glow that radiated an almost ethereal brilliance. His head tilted back, and then—
"GO FUCK THE DEERS!"
The words thundered out of him, shaking the air around them. The sound hit Narisva like a physical force that made her ears ring painfully. She let out a startled curse and without thinking, altered gravity to make him float temporarily as she clamped her hands over her ears.
"What the hell, Vastarael?!"
But then, the ground beneath them trembled violently, as if Vastarael's ridiculous command had woken something ancient and furious. The perfectly aligned rows of trees swayed and groaned, their roots shaking loose from the soil. The tremors grew more violent, the island itself seeming to roar in reply to Vastarael's absurd words.
And then they saw them.
From the shadows of the impossibly tall trees, massive figures began to emerge as if they were waking from a centuries-long slumber.
Submerged Centaurs.
They were nothing like the majestic creatures of myth. These were monstrous beings, their lower halves hulking, equine forms covered in stone while their upper bodies were grotesquely humanoid, with bulging muscles and eyes that glowed with a cold, red light. Their skin glistened like it was perpetually wet and water dripped from their bodies as though they had just crawled out of some underwater abyss.
And there were thousands of them.
Narisva's jaw dropped as more and more of the Submerged Centaurs appeared, some standing as tall as ten meters, others towering at twenty meters. They emerged in waves, their sheer size and numbers making the ground quake with every step. It was like watching a stampede of death, their massive hooves tearing up the soil as they began to move towards the volcano.
"You have got to be kidding me," Narisva muttered, her voice laced with disbelief as she watched the tidal wave of monstrous beings charging ahead. "What kind of codeword is that?! And why does it work?!"
Vastarael, still floating thanks to her gravity manipulation, shrugged with a sheepish grin.
"Hey, don't blame me! Future me came up with it, remember? You should be impressed it worked at all."
"Impressed?! What do you mean by your future self?!"
And then the island's response became even more horrifying.
From the peak of the volcanic mountain, a massive arm emerged from the smoke, its appearance freezing the air around it. The hand was a brilliant icy blue, its surface smooth and unnatural like sculpted crystal. As it pushed through the ash and clouds, the temperature on the island dropped dramatically. The artificial sun above them—the very thing keeping the environment stable—flickered and vanished, replaced by dark, swirling storm clouds.
A sharp, bone-chilling wind howled through the island, whipping through the rows of trees and carrying with it the unmistakable promise of death. The frozen air burned their skin, the cold cutting deeper than any blade. Vastarael and Narisva stared in stunned silence as the arm continued to rise, impossibly large and impossibly graceful.
"It has a subordinate. I'm not surprised," Vastarael murmured.
The arm wasn't alone. From the volcano's base, more beings began to emerge. They were blue-skinned giants, their forms smooth and gleaming like polished ice. They were easily thirty meters tall, their bodies resembling mannequins with no features, no faces, just blank surfaces that reflected the dim light of the storm above. Each step they took sent tremors through the ground, their massive, glacial limbs moving with eerie precision.
And then the statue itself revealed its full form.
The colossal hand reached out and braced itself against the mountain's edge, pulling up the rest of its body.
The being was a towering sixty meters of pure frost and ice, its smooth, mannequin-like form devoid of any facial features. It was humanoid in shape but the lack of a face or defining features made it all the more unnerving. The icy surface of its body shimmered with a haunting light, as if it contained the frozen souls of countless lives within its depths.
The entire mountain seemed to groan under its weight, the smoke and ash curling around its form as it stood to its full, terrifying height. The air grew colder still, frost forming on the trees below and spreading rapidly across the island.
Narisva swallowed hard, her voice barely above a whisper.
"Well… shit. It's not the Frozen God but still... what the fuck is this creation?"
Vastarael didn't reply immediately, his eyes locked on the giant and the army of Submerged Centaurs charging toward it. When he finally spoke, his voice was laced with dry humor, though the tension in his body betrayed his true feelings.
"So, uh… this plan of yours? Still feeling confident about it?"
Narisva shot him a glare, though it lacked her usual venom. "Shut up, Vastarael. Let's just survive this first."
As the first clash of the Submerged Centaurs and the Frozen God's ice giants began below, Vastarael adjusted his stance, the sapphire glint of Calimostria shining in his hand. He looked at Narisva, a small, determined smile on his face.
He materialized a sapphire scythe and gave it to Narisva.
"I'm not exactly good at making a perfect weapon but hope this will help."
She sighed, gripping the sapphire scythe he had conjured for her and glaring at the monstrosities below.
"This is going to be such a pain. Now we have to fight that giant to get to the volcano. You ready?"
"Yes."
Narisva touched his shoulder and used Sight Teleportation, appearing right in midair, close to the giant ice mannequin.
The final battle had begun.