Inside Kong's Canyon!
Hawk appeared silently at the edge of the cavern mouth still pouring out yellow-brown smoke.
The smoke didn't seem to be released intentionally—it was more like a natural seepage.
Probably when the Iwi had escaped from below, they hadn't sealed the passage again. That explained why Skullcrawlers could still climb up from underground.
But…
Why was it Skullcrawlers crawling out, creatures far weaker in form and ability, instead of Deviants?
Was it because they didn't want to, or because they couldn't?
Hawk leaned toward the second answer.
Not unwilling—but unable. And the reason why could only be learned by going down.
So he didn't hesitate. With a single step, his body vanished into the depths.
Whoosh—
He fell freely into the abyss, the wind howling in his ears. Looking up, the canyon mouth had already shrunk to a speck.
He glanced down.
The shaft was still choked with that yellow haze, bottomless, his gaze unable to pierce it.
Then his cosmos ignited. His speed surged. Phoenix fire wrapped his legs, ready so that if anything blocked his path, it would be shattered with a Leo-like flying kick.
No telling how long he fell.
Suddenly, the world opened before him.
Boom!
Hawk halted midair, body stopping with a sonic crack that blasted a hole in the cloud below, a ring like a donut.
The sound rolled through this hidden world.
He looked up again.
The ceiling was blanketed in glowing moss, from which hung jagged crystals like giant spears.
The yellow haze drifted upward, seeping through fissures to the canyon above.
Below—
Mountains floated in midair, jagged and unnatural, covered in phosphorescent moss. Bridges of crystal and thick glowing vines connected them.
The ground beneath was cracked, and through the rifts churned golden energy like molten magma, flowing endlessly.
There were forests, rivers—everything the surface had, and more.
And beasts.
A shrill cry rang out. A red, winged serpent nearly 130 meters long launched from a mountain and dived at him, jaws agape.
Hawk reacted instantly, dropping toward it, phoenix fire blazing on his right leg.
"Phoenix Kick!"
Boom!
The serpent's skull burst, spraying crimson ichor as its massive body plummeted.
Before it hit the ground, screeches echoed.
Owl-headed, bat-winged monstrosities swooped in, clawing at the corpse midair, fighting over the prize.
Hawk gave them a glance, then ignored them, flying toward the pull of his senses.
Soon he entered a canyon formed by two suspended mountains.
It was deep, thick with trees—yet silent. No beast dared enter. Even the owl-bats trailing him shrieked and fled.
Every creature instinctively avoided this place.
Clearly, something here terrified them.
But Hawk felt no fear.
His eyes fixed on a temple fused with the rock face—identical to the Iwi shrine above, though here overgrown with glowing moss.
A step—and he was inside.
Light blazed.
Crystals embedded in the beams and walls shone like daylight.
The first thing he saw were ten towering statues, carved of the same crystal.
Male and female, serene and proud, each unique.
"The ten Eternals?" Hawk murmured, studying their faces. Then he turned to the murals along the walls.
If the village shrine told of the Iwi after fleeing to Skull Island, these murals told their origin.
The Deviants had been slain. Their leader, solemn, stood on a shore. Behind him, nine companions walked off in different directions.
A kind woman and a tall man settled here, birthing the first Iwi. More children came. The temple rose.
But then—the man flew away. The woman followed. Neither returned.
Their firstborn son became high priest. The tribe grew. Power ran in their blood.
Until calamity struck.
The Deviants came.
Able to evolve, to steal powers from those they devoured, they soon overwhelmed the Iwi.
The murals ended with an opening in the sky above… and nothing more.
Hawk lowered his gaze to the skeletal remains on the dais.
A figure sat slumped, clutching a metal scepter. The first Iwi.
But he hadn't died by Deviant claws.
The gaping hole in his ribcage told a different story—his chest pierced through by a tremendous force.
Hawk frowned at the thought.
Then—
From the shadows crawled Skullcrawlers, eyes gleaming, teeth bared. With a chorus of snarls, they lunged.
Hawk's brows arched.
In an instant, the temple shook with the sound of fists crashing, bodies bursting, bones shattering.
Then silence.
The crawlers lay broken, the shrine still once more.
But chains rattled.
Roars boomed from behind the statues.
Hawk blurred, appearing behind them.
There, bathed in a white radiance that lit the stone like jade, he saw it.
The roars came from beyond that shimmering veil.
He touched it—ripples spread, his hand passing through as if into water. There was space beyond.
He stepped forward. The light dissolved—
And a vast cavern yawned before him. Once like paradise, now it was littered with bones of Skullcrawlers, stinking like hell itself.
Chains clinked.
The roars grew louder.
Hawk followed the sound.
And there—
He saw them.
Deviants.
…
(End of Chapter)
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