CHAPTER 1488: CHAPTER 1488: HEART OF THE EARTH

There is no doubt that this place has existed since the ancient times, and it is undoubtedly the destination of Shard’s journey.

The massive magma lake is roughly the size of more than ten Saint Delan Squares. At the very center of the magma lake, a gigantic stone pillar supports a heart-of-the-lake island about the size of the Shard Family estate.

At this moment, a continuous stream of black mud falls from the edge of the heart-of-the-lake island into the magma. The contact between the fiery lava and the dripping black silt causes the magma to "explode," forming a small layer of black solid mass beneath the heart-of-the-lake.

No explanation was needed; Shard and Iluna understood that this signified the Earth itself was undergoing a complete transformation.

There is a path connecting to the black "heart-of-the-lake island," starting from where Shard and Iluna stood. A series of slender stone pillars extend from the magma, spanning half of the magma lake, supporting a narrow stone path leading to the heart-of-the-lake island.

With nothing else to consider, Shard and Iluna held hands and stepped onto that stone path. Crossing the scorching magma, braving the increasing pressure composed of the four elements: Miracle, Desecration, Enlightenment, and Whisper, they reached the edge of the heart-of-the-lake island step by step.

The ancient power felt from this position was as daunting as directly facing a deity.

The heart-of-the-lake island in the center of the magma lake had a ground surface resembling obsidian. The place was relatively open and flat, with only an irregular stone pillar protruding in the center. Carved on that stone pillar was the Holy Emblem of the Ancient God, the Earth Mother Goddess. At the base of the stone pillar, black mud flowed outward, dripping down to the magma once reaching the edge of the island.

"Is this the Heart of the Earth?"

Iluna asked softly, but it was not Shard who answered her question.

Kneeling on one knee beneath the black stone pillar, the figure resembling Thomas Granger’s Guardian spoke with his back to them:

"To be precise, this island itself is the Heart of the Earth."

That voice was hoarse, yet indeed rational.

"What?"

Shard and Iluna, standing at the end of the stone path yet to truly step onto the island, glanced at the black stone in Shard’s hand. The Fragment of the Heart of the Earth seemed to be trying to fall directly from his hand onto the ground.

"Do you still have your sanity?"

Shard asked suspiciously, as the Guardian stood up and turned around, the surrounding fiery glow revealing his entire appearance at that moment.

Sweat rolled down their foreheads, and they simultaneously stepped back. Compared to the Guardian’s previously seen spiritual form, the entity standing before them now was hard to define. The soul appeared more solid, almost devoid of transparency under the glowing magma.

Moreover, his body had an odd pitch-black hue, with the chest area nearly turning black. Upon closer inspection, the nearly fully solidified soul’s surface was densely covered with hundreds of faces, forming the texture of muscles. Each face bore an expression as if enduring pain, making the sight unsettling.

"Not mad yet?"

Iluna was puzzled too, but the next second left no room for doubt.

The Guardian raised his right hand, pointing his index finger at them. In an instant, a black light beam absorbed almost all the energy of the magma lake, then unleashed it, completely engulfing Shard and Iluna standing at the stone path’s end.

Energy pierced through them, ultimately hitting the edge of the enclosed underground space. With a thunderous boom, the resulting smoke and hot fumes from the agitated magma veiled most of the underground expanse.

But amid the dust, a sudden golden glimmer appeared. As the dust cleared, the golden shield of the Heaton Seal was vividly visible at the stone path’s end.

Shard drove his sword into the ground beneath his feet; yet by himself, he could not possibly withstand the opponent’s casual strike. The Heaton Seal had yet to shatter, entirely thanks to Iluna behind him. She was raising a dark golden balance, weakening the attack with "Balance" power while reinforcing the strength of the sigil shield.

"Iluna, grab him, and let him touch this fragment."

Just as Shard withdrew the Night Watchman, Iluna, grasping the Fragment of the Heart of the Earth from his hand, officially stepped onto the heart-of-the-lake island within the magma lake.

The contamination of the Heart of the Earth itself represents a more terrifying corruption than any distorted land on the surface world. Without this fragment, separated since ancient times, neither Shard nor Iluna would be eligible to step onto the Heart of the Earth’s surface.

Realizing Iluna’s normal combat prowess was higher, Shard handed her the stone.

At this moment, the radiance from the surging magma illuminated the Chosen of Balance and the willingly sacrificing yet ultimately mad Guardian. The twisted Earth tried to affect Balance, but the dark golden balance emanating light fulfilled its inherent duty since its birth.

Even in its current weak state, the Balance still had the power to harm another candidate yet to perform the ritual.

"Sunlight Spear!"

Golden thunder erupted from the Earth’s core, and the dark golden spear of light represented Iluna’s advancement.

With a pitch-black body, the Guardian extended his right hand, letting black mud emerge from his palm, congealing into an earth shield in front of him. The defiled Power of the Earth clashed with the Sun Power representing supreme force, yet astonishingly, Iluna’s full-power strike completely pierced the black earth shield, directly hitting the Guardian’s head.

However, it did not inflict fatal damage; Luviya had mentioned that as long as the Guardian stood on the Earth, he was nearly indestructible.

Even though the dark golden Sunlight Spear obliterated half of the Guardian’s head, the silt quickly repaired the damaged part.

When a second Sunlight Spear was launched, the black mud shield astonishingly withstood the attack this time.

It wasn’t that Iluna’s second attack had weakened, but that the black mud had adapted to the Sunlight Spear’s power.

These two attacks were not meaningless; at this moment, Iluna had already moved ten steps forward from the edge of Heart Lake Island.

"Balance!"

Staring into the eyes of the Guardian, the core talent effect of the Chosen of Balance directly impacted the combined soul of the Thirteen-Ring Sorcerer. The innate power of the filthy soul immediately weakened, but then the entire soul, like melting snow, seeped into the scorching black rock beneath.

A few seconds later, as Iluna further approached the central stone pillar, the Guardian re-emerged from the black mud on the ground, with its power back at its peak.

"By reconstructing its body with the power of the tainted Heart of the Earth, it offset my Chosen One Talent... I cannot defeat him here."

Iluna almost instantly made a judgment, but she did not panic. After all, her goal was not victory, but simply to make the opponent touch the item in her hand.

"Edict!"

With a light toss, she let the Dark Golden Balance hover above her head, then grasped a stone with her left hand and crossed the middle and index fingers of her right hand, pointing forward:

"Freeze!"

Due to the Guardian’s advantage in the current area, the secret technique Iluna learned from the Witch only slowed down the Guardian for a moment, but it was enough for Iluna to move closer to the center of Heart Lake Island.

The Ring of Fate manifested a corner behind the Guardian, the Miracle of [Erosion], the Whisper of [Assimilation], and the Desecration of [Fusion] flickered:

"Join me!"

He did not evade the oncoming Iluna but instead opened his arms and met her proactively. Iluna had no intention of stopping; she knew that Shard trusted her and allowed her the opportunity to attack. She absolutely could not retreat now; if she let the Guardian seize the chance to escape, the situation on the ground would worsen.

In an instant, Iluna and the Guardian were just a step away from each other, with Iluna already extending her arm that tightly held the stone, aiming at the Guardian’s chest. The polluted Guardian would assimilate her body and soul, while she would purify the Guardian.

Now, it was a matter of who would be faster; Iluna was fully confident in herself. There was no room to retreat, and she understood very well not to hesitate at this moment.

But the imagined direct contact did not occur; dark chains shot out from behind the Guardian, entangling its right arm. In the blink of an eye, Iluna, before being embraced by the Guardian, took the lead by pressing the Fragment of the Heart of the Earth held in her left hand against its chest.

It was only at this point that she saw Shard’s figure appear behind the Guardian.

The [Great Sin Chain] emerging from Shard’s sleeve coiled around the Guardian’s right arm. While the latter’s body slowed, attempting to counterattack, Shard bit his finger that held the [Night Watchman] and violently flung it forward:

"Soul Lashing!"

Blood flowed from his fingertips to the sword hilt, then the entire longsword transformed into a crimson long whip, whipping the black soul. The most horrifying scream Shard and Iluna could imagine emanated from the Guardian’s mouth the next moment, more mournful than the most timid girl startled by a ghost in a haunted house, sharper than when Bimia found that Shard hadn’t prepared lunch, even startling Shard himself:

"Is the Arcane Technique so effective?"

Although the Arcane Technique learned from Mrs. Marilyn Handel had no lethality, the intense pain it caused in the Guardian was more obstructive than the [Great Sin Chain].

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Iluna almost used both hands to press the fragment in her hand against the pitch-black soul’s chest. She was curious about how Shard had safely entered here, but then she saw the Mithril Cube he was holding in his other hand, shining brightly in the surrounding magma glow.

"Great opportunity!"

The Mithril Cube, held by Shard, was pressed against the back of the black soul’s chest.

Two golden spiritual lights representing Miracle Elements illuminated Shard and Iluna’s faces from the front and back. That golden light slowly eradicated the black stains from the Guardian’s body, and this brief chance finally allowed the Guardian to regain his sanity temporarily:

"So painful... someone must... be sacrificed..."

He muttered vague words, startling Shard:

"What sacrifice? But..."

Before he could finish, the Guardian spoke again:

"The Flower of the Four Seasons has already entered my soul... the ritual, perform it quickly... defeat me, don’t let me taint the Earth... run now!"

Before he finished speaking, on the condensed black body of the Guardian, all the eyes on the hundreds of ferocious faces suddenly opened simultaneously:

"It hurts!"

Hundreds of mouths voiced collectively, as cracks surfaced one after another on the soul’s appearance. From those cracks, pitch-black light emanated, and while no one voiced what would happen next, this scene, full of déjà vu, heightened Shard and Iluna’s sense of crisis to the utmost:

"Get out of the way!"

Immediately after, the entire soul exploded on the spot.

Shard had just used "Lagre’s Leap" to arrive here and couldn’t use the Arcane Technique again; hastily, he was forced to face the soul explosion directly, engulfed by the exploding black filthy energy and mud. Even though Iluna retreated in time and conjured a transparent little shield, faced with the overwhelming self-destruction, she, too, like Shard, was submerged by the filth.