It was like a huge root growing out of the earth, twisted and coiled, yet it was also like thick, intertwining vines. These vines were entrenched in the very center of the cave, completely engulfing the man.
It was Su'er.
After not seeing him for such a long time, Riku suddenly found that Su'er had become even more... terrifying than the last time he saw him.
He couldn't see his lower body. It was as if his entire body of flesh and blood had merged with lifeless trees. Riku could not see Su'er's body from the chest down. It had grown seamlessly together with the huge vines beneath him, as if this being had been like that from the very beginning.
But Riku knew that was fake. How could a natural life have such a twisted appearance, like a statue carved out of the most grotesque thing?
Except for the initial voice of invitation, Riku and Schwi did not hear any more voices after entering the cave. Su'er's head was still lowered, as if it was not him who had just spoken. Or was it... that he also didn't know how to speak?
Letting silence become the bridge between the two brothers after so long.
Riku couldn't help but bite down hard on his lower lip and stared intently at Su'er's existence. He could see that Su'er's chest was strangely and constantly flickering with a dark green light. This light did not exist on the outside, but it shone directly from inside Su'er's body, penetrating his bones, muscles, and skin, as if it was breathing.
However, it was not just Su'er who was breathing. Even the huge roots and vines beneath him were breathing. Riku suddenly noticed that these plant existences, which should have been motionless, were moving along with the weak undulations of Su'er's chest. Their intertwined bodies rubbed against each other slightly, like a sleeping python, a monster that had not yet awakened.
What Riku could not take his eyes off of was not just the strange plants beneath Su'er. What was even more unacceptable were the scars that he could not help but feel pained by just by looking at them... Scars covered Su'er's entire upper body, from his chest to his shoulders, from his shoulders to his arms, and to his hands.
They were dry, like a withered and scrawny, air-dried branch.
Compared to the huge, intertwined vines and roots beneath him, Su'er's own body was more like a plant at this moment, a dark red, scorched, withered branch.
His once strong body was now incredibly thin, but this was not thinness caused by a lack of nutrition or starvation. Riku knew why, and even now, if he walked a little closer, he could see it very clearly—the pale white bones that were faintly visible between the dark red scars.
The man with his head lowered in front of him had lost most of the flesh and blood of his entire body. The fact that he was still alive was thanks to the vines that were combined with him, and thanks to the Elves'... magic.
[I'm sorry... Did I scare you?]
He finally raised his head. Although his mouth did not open, Su'er's voice echoed in Riku's and Schwi's ears. They could also see that the expression on his face was a smile, a forced smile.
"...No, you didn't," Riku shook his head hard and replied with an emphatic tone. A salty, rusty taste came from his mouth. It was the mark left by the lip he had unconsciously bitten.
"...Do you regret it?"
His lips moved. This question should not have been asked. However, Riku could not bear his feelings at this moment, and his low voice echoed in the cave.
[Regret...? Me?]
Su'er seemed to not have understood what Riku was saying, and his voice lingered in a moment of hesitation. But the next moment, he gently shook his head. His body did not allow him to make too big of a movement.
[No regrets.]
[Or rather, I will never regret it.]
[We are on the most correct path, and our guess was right. I truly felt the pulsation of this planet—we will definitely succeed! Riku!]
As if he was afraid that Riku would back down, Su'er spoke one sentence after another. The dark green light on his chest also quickened its flickering along with his agitated emotions, and the glowing grass leaves in the entire cave also fluttered more intensely, rustling.
"Ah..." Riku responded. He wanted to say so much, but at this moment, he found that he couldn't even begin to speak, except for this simple response.
"We will succeed."
In the end, he could only add these dry words.
[You don't have to feel sad for me, and you don't have to feel pained by my current appearance. My current tragic state is nothing but a trial on the road to becoming the One True God. After all, if I were to tell all the races that as long as they can endure the same kind of pain as me, they will have a chance to become the One True God, there would probably be countless people fighting over such an opportunity.]
Su'er keenly sensed the thoughts behind Riku's current expression, and he even chuckled and made a joke.
The sea of spirit that were no longer rare on the entire planet, whether in the ocean or on land. The essence of the "Blue Sea" series that Imanity had secretly induced and was not noticed by any race was the manifestation of the Spirit Corridor in the real world, which existed anywhere on this planet, existing in reality but not in reality. It was similar to a projection, but it was not a projection.
Those sea of spirit were indeed a part of the Spirit Corridor, but the Spirit Corridor was not them. However, that fundamental and conceptual connection was real. Through the connection between those "Blue Seas" and the Spirit Corridor, it was indeed possible to affect the real Spirit Corridor. Even if this effect was very weak, as long as it existed, it was enough.
If once doesn't work, then twice. If twice doesn't work, then three times. If one point is not enough, then two points... and so on, for countless times. Sending the lives that had eaten his flesh and blood into the sea of spirit, stacking the minds that Su'er could already manipulate deep in the "Blue Seas" to serve as a springboard and a part of himself, and then infiltrating into the Spirit Corridor through those Elves again and again...
And this was the most fundamental and crucial part of all of Su'er's plans. Even all of his delusions and fantasies were born from this—to directly sneak into the depths of the Spirit Corridor and find the Suniaster that existed in the fantasy, and ascend the throne of the One True God, when all the other races had no idea.
Yes, the God of War, because of the concept He represented, was indeed a being that was almost impossible to defeat. Then why not just not defeat Him?
No matter what concept He represented, He was ultimately just an existence born in the Spirit Corridor. Just as an Old Deus cannot create a rock that He Himself cannot lift, the God of War's power will absolutely not Ex-Machina the power of the Spirit Corridor.
When the idea of defeating the God of War head-on was abandoned, the problem was solved.