CHAPTER 409: CHAPTER 409: INTO THE ROOT AGAIN

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This was a place of impenetrable darkness, so absolute you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face.

However, for Haru, who had visited this place daily for the past month, the darkness was no obstacle. He strolled through the cave with the ease of a man navigating his own backyard.

Drip!

Drip~!

The uneven ceiling was covered in countless stalactites, streaked with milky white and brownish-yellow. Water from within the mountain trickled down them, dripping onto the ground and splashing in small pools, echoing with a clear, crisp sound.

Thump!

The standing water at the bottom of the cave rippled as he stepped into it.

Wading through the water, Haru moved with an exceptional familiarity, navigating the complex cave system with ease.

Though the outside world was still in the grip of a bitter winter, the inside of the cave was surprisingly warm. As he descended, the temperature rose steadily. In just half a day, it had already reached a scorching fifty degrees Celsius.

This cave was the Aozaki family’s stronghold, located beneath the magical workshop of the old True Magic User.

For that reclusive magus to have built his workshop here and lived in peace, this place was naturally far from simple.

The cave was located directly above the Crooked Core Ley Line—the very passage to the Root.

Haru’s advance seemed slow, but his pace was incredibly fast. In just a few minutes, he descended three thousand meters and arrived in a vast, empty underground cavern.

To a normal person, this would have just been a large, dark cave. But to someone with mystical senses, this was a river—a river of power known as a ley line.

A golden light flashed in his deep gray pupils, and the scene in the cavern instantly transformed.

Two rivers of energy flowed from the east and west, colliding and entangling in this space before spiraling down into the earth.

"Tsk, what a hassle." Haru pursed his lips with a displeased expression. He released his perception, manipulating a local timeline and aligning it with the ley line’s pattern, probing straight down in search of the passage to the Root.

It was his own fault. When he had killed the old True Magic User, he had used so much force that not even a fragment of the man’s soul remained.

Now, the passage to the Root was lost. He only knew it was sealed somewhere within the ley line. He was left with no choice but to find it himself, using every means at his disposal.

The search had already taken a full month.

"The usual three hours. If I can’t find it by then, I’ll go back for lunch," Haru muttered, smacking his lips and closing his eyes.

In his view, this was merely a time-consuming task. The Crooked Core Ley Line was only so large. At this rate, it would take him another three or four months to find the sealed location. There was no need to waste all his time here.

The timeline swept over the ley line, extending downward along its path. Soon, it reached a depth of six thousand meters.

Hum—!

Just as the timeline swept past the six-thousand-meter mark, a similar temporal fluctuation suddenly resonated with his probe.

"Found it!" Haru’s eyes snapped open, a flash of light illuminating the dark cavern.

The next second, his figure vanished, reappearing deep underground at the ley line node where he had detected the fluctuation.

This was a small space, less than ten cubic meters. The smooth walls showed clear signs of artificial construction.

The aura of time filled the deep, dark chamber. A great power had banished this space, which should have been here, into the timeline itself.

"The passage to the Root should be here." Feeling the temporal waves around him, Haru slowly reached out. The Law of ’Destruction,’ which he had finally deduced with his unique egg after a month of observing Aoko, activated quietly.

Crack—! Crack—! Crack—!

The sound of shattering glass echoed through the void.

The empty space was instantly filled with mud from an unknown corner of the timeline, burying him alive.

Simultaneously, a dark, twisted, black-hole-like passage returned to this land.

Haru’s lips curved into a smile. He clasped his hands behind his back and leisurely walked into the black hole.

The presence of the Counter Force quietly descended.

————

"Here again." When he opened his eyes, he was once more in the small, white room.

The unbelievably cute, black-haired and golden-haired, gothic-styled girls were standing by the small table in the center of the room, leisurely drinking tea.

"Good morning," Alaya said, setting down her teacup, her tone flat.

"Morning, Haru-chan," a muffled, girlish voice suddenly sounded. Gaia, from somewhere, had produced a sandwich and was eating it with relish.

"You can drop the ’-chan’... whatever, call me what you like." Haru’s lip twitched. He was halfway through his sentence when he saw Gaia’s eyes well with tears, and he quickly changed his tune.

Alaya slammed her hand on Gaia’s head, sending her face, mid-pout, crashing into the tabletop. "Did you bring the crystal?" she asked, her tone flat.

"I brought it. Speaking of which, what is this thing?" Haru walked to the table, sat on the floor, and took out the fist-sized, pale green crystal from his pocket dimension. He placed it on the table, his tone laced with curiosity.

He had studied this thing extensively. He had used all sorts of detection equipment, magic, True Magic, authority, and even his seven remaining small suns on this crystal, without leaving so much as a scratch.

This thing was a treasure, but aside from its extreme durability, its properties remained a mystery. So, he had asked Alaya for help with identification. This was one of the main reasons he had delayed his journey to the Root.

Pop—!

Gaia slammed her small arm on the table, peeling her face off it. She looked at the pale green crystal with a curious expression, her amber pupils filled with a deep gravity.

"..."

Alaya and Haru immediately focused on Gaia’s solemn expression.

After several long minutes, Gaia said blankly, "I don’t know what it is."

Pfft—!

Haru nearly choked. ’If you didn’t know, why were you staring at it for so long?’

Thwack—!

Alaya once again slammed Gaia’s face into the tabletop, then quickly wiped her palm with a white silk handkerchief as if afraid of catching a virus.

After wiping her hand three times, the handkerchief vanished. Alaya looked at the crystal for a moment, then looked up at him.

"In fact, I don’t know what it is either. According to Gaia, this object likely isn’t from Earth..."

"According to my memory, the old Aozaki True Magic User obtained this crystal in 1955. Ten years later, he created the magic, Order Collapse. Its previous owner was Albert Einstein. Before him, the collective memory of humanity has no record of it," Alaya explained, her tone strange.

Haru raised an eyebrow. The ’memory’ Alaya referred to was, naturally, the memory of all humanity. So, she only knew this crystal had two owners: Einstein, who created the theory of relativity, and the old Aozaki bastard. There was no other information.

"Then, I’ll keep this crystal for now," Alaya said, her tone grave. The two previous owners were both capable of destroying humanity, and the crystal’s indestructible nature was enough to warrant her vigilance.

"Alright. Then, it’s about time I go to the Root and deal with the issue of rule integration," Haru nodded, stood up, and said to Alaya softly.

"Though it’s not your first time, be careful," Alaya nodded slightly. After his figure vanished, she stared at the crystal before her.

"Huh, where’s Haru?" Gaia once again pulled her small head out of the table.

"He’s gone," Alaya replied flatly.

"What a pity. I wanted to let that child feel the ’temperature of the Earth.’ Why didn’t you know how to keep him here?" Gaia pouted, a look of dissatisfaction on her face.

Faced with Gaia’s blatant advances, Alaya chose to remain silent.

————

It was a void without up or down.

"The second time," Haru thought in this place without sound.

"Well then, let’s connect with time and space. As for the other rules I acquired, I’ll just continue to fill that bottomless pit of an egg," He mused.

Just as he was connecting with the rules in the Root, the pale green crystal hovered behind him. Inside the crystal, a pair of emerald-green eyes watched him with keen interest.

Yo ho ho, silver hair, gray eyes, a gentle look. My type. And that egg he carries... it reminds me of the universe His Majesty left behind.

It’s decided, then. I’ll train him.

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