Dungeon Diver CH562 (Patreon)

The impossibly large mass of stone connected to the top of the nearest chain turns the entire sky dark as it falls toward us at a speed impossible to measure correctly.

The closer it gets, the larger the stone mass seems to become.

What I assumed to be a few kilometers wide stone turns into a few dozen, then even larger, reaching too far out of the depths of my perception skill to even see.

Ember and I airstep toward the outer edges at first, but as the huge mass of earth gets closer, we change our trajectory to head back down toward the sea where we came from.

Our soul energy-powered air steps push us through the sky much faster than any of the other creatures trying to get away.

As they fall far behind us, the rock mass keeps getting closer, catching stragglers and pinning them against its mass as it continues to fall toward us.

The winds pick up, the echoing cracks of rock breaking and shifting fill the air, and the dangling chain sways and clanks together now that its links are far looser.

The sky turns dark blue, and fragments of smaller stone fill the air.

I pull two teleport crystals leading back to the shoreline where we left from my item storage and throw one to Ember with my telekinesis skill, speaking through our link to tell him we’ll use them as a last resort as the landmass above us gets so close I finally feel its true mass and shape.

The air pressure shifts as everything below this falling rock is getting pushed with it. However, even while following the current to push toward its edge, our speed isn't going to be enough to make it.

One moment we’re gliding up into the sky, killing insects without a problem in the world, and the next; we’re about to be crushed by a city-sized rock falling from the sky.

I grit my teeth and prepare to crush the transport crystal in my hand, but another series of noises and chain of events hit my senses that make me stop.

As if the entire construct is bending to something's will, a massive purple ripple in space forms beneath the falling stone, and it stops like all time itself has been paused.

The chain beneath, connected to the rock, continues to sway and jingle from the slack and downward momentum it still has, making loud echoing metallic clangs ring through the air.

Hundreds of orange-cored insects are crushed to bits from both the air pressure against the rock from moments ago and colliding with the purple ripple of space that appeared to catch the massive stone from falling any further.

I don’t take this moment to stop and stare.

Even as the purple fabric of space fades away to leave nothing but open sky, and the huge stone above us still continues to float for reasons unknown, I keep airstepping down and away from the monstrous rock in the sky with everything I have.

Ember stays in his hybrid form, and I’m in my Greater Form, using soul energy and the red threads that power my movements to get away from the boulder in the sky.

Even at these speeds, it still takes over 3 minutes to reach its outer edge.

Only then, when I finally see light blue sky above me, do I let out a long sigh and power down to rest.

“What was that…?!” I yell out loud as Ember has the same look of shock on his face as well.

We float upward past the point where the purple forcefield stopped this island from falling, and we pass through it like it was never here.

Still, moving away from the rock mass, I finally turn to see what’s on the other side. It isn’t what I expected at all…

Ember responds while looking up at the sky, eyeing all of the other chains far off in the distance.

“Well, you can’t say I was wrong. We did find some solid land…”

I nod while taking in the landscape of thick forest filled with massive obsidian-black trees stretching high into the air. Their bases are dozens of meters thick, and as I look upward I cannot even see their tops.

Every few hundred meters, branches sprout from the jet-black wood and some of the leaves that grow from these trees are larger than my entire body.

The black glossy plants shimmer and shine like they’re chiseled out of volcanic stone, reflecting the orange light of the insect monsters that hurriedly jump into the forest.

Many chirp and click as they fly by us from all of the nearby chains.

It’s like they’re swarming in as if this is a usual occurrence.

My gaze follows their flight and jumping paths as they propel themselves from sturdy trunk to trunk up higher into the obsidian forest.

Then, I see exactly what they’re so eager to find.

High up in a tree, over 500 meters from where Ember and I float and watch, a round yellow fruit dangles from one of the black branches high in the sky.

From here, it looks like the fruit is about a meter in diameter, and from what I can see at this distance, a dazzling golden aura shines off of it.

Threads of yellow divine energy radiate off this fruit as dozens of locusts jump and fly toward it.

They slash at each other, breaking through the swarm to try and get to the front like their lives depend on it.

Seconds later, one of them manages to get a hold of the yellow fruit and all-out war follows.

Clashing of orange-armored insect arms and legs collide, and many of the creatures are ripped to shreds while trying to get a single bite.

Some manage to sink their fangs into the round golden fruit, and bursts of extreme yellow radiance flow through them.

Unfortunately, I can’t see the full extent of this power because every time one of them gets even a little taste, they’re ganged up on and torn to shreds by the rest of the swarm before they can show off.

I can predict this will go on until there’s only one remaining, but something else entirely happens.

The size of the branch where this golden fruit grew begins to glow bright yellow, making the outline of a massive lizard on the side of the tree appear.

It has the body of a chameleon, but sharp eyes like a snake, and claws on its hands and legs like a wild beast.

The creature was completely invisible moments ago, and now its rows of sharp teeth wrap around all 40 or so of the swarming orange-cored insects.

I hear the crunching of exoskeletons from here as it kills every last one of them in a fraction of a second and swallows the yellow fruit for itself along with the dozens of orange cores, not bothering to chew any more than it has to.

The monstrosity's head turns toward Ember and me, and a pulse of yellow threads of light explodes from its forehead between its eyes.

Everything in its general vicinity turns yellow and golden, painting the surrounding trees with its shimmering yellow threads in an instant.

An eerily familiar feeling hits me that I’ve only felt one time before when the golden eyes stared down at me from the Apex Region’s black box during the 4th Stage of these exams.

I feel its waves of intense gravity ripple through me, and it’s like some kind of intimidation skill has hit me all of a sudden, I’m frozen in place for a split second.

If it used this maneuver at a far closer range, I would have been wide open for an attack for almost half a second before I realized what’s going on.

Its serpent-like eyes dig into my soul, then it turns its head away from us and its skin turns jet black, blending into the branch it’s perched on.

The blinding yellow aura it threw our way retracts, and before I can even take a gasp of breath, any sign of the lizard creature has completely left my senses.

“Yellow core… That was the power of a yellow core…” I whisper to myself while scanning the forest even more.

At this realization, Ember and I continue to airstep away from the island covered in black trees, getting far away from the dangerous creatures that lurk there.

We backpedal far away, letting the floating island of death fade away in the distance while approaching the nearest chain to stop and rest for a moment.

There is still a massive ominous outline of hundreds of black trees reaching up into the sky once we both float down to stand on the inside link of a rusted chain.

Swarms of insects continue to jump and fly from surrounding chains toward the black island, and I picture them all being eaten alive in a single bite.

Ember pulls out an orange fragment, then sits down in a comfortable position on the metal ground as the clouds float by and the chain we’re on slowly sways in the wind.

“Well, if we want any chance of killing that thing, we better get started on awakening our orange cores. Listen carefully, this isn’t going to be easy.”

I nod, then sit down next to him while staring ahead at the obsidian forest. My item storage opens and I take out an orange fragment of my own.