"Is Viola... dead?" Cecilia asked in a small voice, looking at the pile of ashes on the ground with a complex tone.
[No, this is a rebirth,] Alice's voice came through. [Its Soul is already slumbering within a new vessel, until there is enough power to awaken it. And I... it is also time for me to return to where I belong.]
"The Land of Dreams?" Caesar asked.
[Yes.]
Alice answered, but her ceramic form flickered slightly in the light, appearing somewhat unstable.
[However, before I leave, I have one final gift for you.]
Within Alice's glass eyes, countless pinkish-purple runes began to spin rapidly, as if reflecting the entire starry sky and the river of time.
[Secret Art: Future Sight!]
A massive, unimaginable amount of Mental Energy instantly enveloped Caesar and Cecilia.
A series of fragmented and chaotic images were forcibly poured into their minds.
The earth cracked, volcanoes erupted, the sky was dyed blood-red, and countless hideous monsters never seen before surged from cracks in space... "This is..." Cecilia trembled all over in fear.
[The surface world is about to undergo a massive upheaval,] Alice's voice became incredibly serious.
[The twin moons in the sky are about to overlap, and the grand disaster of the 'End of Tides' will arrive in a hundred years. The world's elements are fluctuating violently, and the ley lines are about to lose control.]
[To stop the disaster, the True Dragon Imperial Court is using the 'Dark Night Magic Net' to reinforce the seal on the core of the entire world's ley lines. Soon, all paths leading to the surface will be completely closed.]
Alice looked at the two little dragons and warned them word for word:
[You must leave this underground world as soon as possible; otherwise, you will be trapped here to die forever.]
Trapped here to die?
Caesar's heart skipped a beat, and he immediately began to analyze the situation.
Leave, they had to leave immediately!
This underground space was nothing but rocks and undead; food was extremely scarce.
Furthermore, without Viola's suppression, those Fungus People would sooner or later make a comeback and completely occupy this place.
Although there were many other undead creatures in this area, Caesar didn't think they could stop the endless army of Fungus People.
But... none of that had anything to do with a little dragon like him.
Caesar had always believed in one saying: when the sky falls, the tall ones will hold it up.
Those Fungus People were causing trouble right under the True Dragon Imperial Court's nose; would those proud True Dragons just sit by and watch? Impossible.
What he needed to do now was to run away quickly.
"Senior, how do we leave?" Caesar looked up and asked, "This place is tens of thousands of meters deep from the surface."
[Leave it to me.]
[I have very little power left...] Alice looked at the determined little dragon, her voice tinged with weakness, [But I can still send you on your way one last time.]
"Then... please do!" Caesar no longer hesitated.
If there's a free ride, you might as well take it!
Cecilia looked at Alice with some reluctance and whispered, "Thank you, Teacher Alice."
The other had taught her so much knowledge; it was only right to call her teacher.
The Star Energy Spirit Doll Alice nodded quietly—then, she mobilized all of her remaining power.
A blinding pinkish-white light erupted from her body, instantly enveloping the two little dragons completely!
[|Teleport|]!
Caesar only felt a flash of white before his eyes, and an irresistible, massive pulling force came over him. The entire world was spinning and dissolving... After an unknown amount of time, the dizzying sensation suddenly vanished.
"Thump!"
Caesar and Cecilia were thrown out heavily, landing on soft soil and fallen leaves.
Fresh air rushed into their nostrils, carrying the fragrance of soil and plants, completely different from the dull, sulfurous air of the underground world.
Caesar shook his still-dizzy head and stood up to look around.
They were in the middle of a dense forest. Above their heads was no longer a cold rock ceiling, but a deep night sky dotted with stars.
Two massive moons hung high in the sky, one silver-white and one blood-red... "We... are out?"
Cecilia also shook her head and stood up in a daze, looking at the completely unfamiliar environment around them.
This was the edge of a mountain range. In the distance, mountains rose and fell, their silhouettes under the moonlight like the spine of a sleeping giant beast.
It was the Dragon Spine Mountain Range!
They were still within the range of the mountains, but they had reached the surface. They could even see, far off on the other side of the mountains at the end of the plains, a scattering of lights.
Those were the lights of human city-states.
Caesar took a deep breath, feeling an unprecedented lightness in his body—
They were free... Meanwhile, in the deep tomb tens of thousands of meters below.
Alice floated in the center of the vast, silent hall. Her originally solid ceramic body had become as illusory and transparent as a candle in the wind.
She looked up, as if she could see through the ten-thousand-meter-thick rock layers to the two little dragons who were currently feeling the night breeze on the surface.
One was a Silver Dragon flowing with the Imperial Court's royal blood.
The other was an Earth Dragon carrying the True Dragon Bloodline.
[The endless struggle that began with the Ancient Gods and continues to this day...]
[Perhaps the key to ending it all lies within you...]
On that ceramic face that hadn't shown an expression in ten thousand years, her lips curled into a faint, relieved arc.
[Safe travels...]
Alice made her final wish, then closed her eyes and stepped into the Dream Gate leading to her homeland.
The world behind the door was no longer a flowing curtain of magenta and purple light—
But endless darkness.
The "Land of Dreams."
In the darkness, countless pairs of crimson eyes snapped open, and greedy, hungry, and frenzied gazes instantly locked onto her.
Alice had known for a long time that on the other side of the "gate," the fertile soil of her homeland had long since become a nest for otherworldly demons.
Those nightmare creations that should not exist in the world crawled out from every corner of the void.
Deformed limbs, misplaced organs, and silent shrieks made up this polluted homeland.
Upon her former homeland, surrounded by countless demons, Alice slowly opened her pink eyes.
There was neither fear nor sorrow. Only the final sense of duty as a weapon of war remained.
(If Viola knew, he would surely be very disappointed...) she thought.
Alice used the final Secret Art of the Star Energy Spirit Doll race—
[Star Silence · Self-Destruction].
That day, an indescribable pinkish-purple sun rose with a roar within the dark abyss...!!!