First descent

A few minutes from the Rift cube, Cree was still silent as he grieved over the loss of Maverick. It was at this moment that Cree had noticed that Claire was silent as well. This was something that was strange as she was usually the talkative type. He didn't disturb her though as he felt this wasn't really a bad thing. At the moment he needed his space more than anything else.

[Level 4 Bacterial surging undead defeated]

[Level 4 Bacterial surging undead defeated]

[Level 4 Bacterial surging undead defeated]

[Two points have been added to all stats]

'What?'

Seeing this, Cree couldn't help but be surprised. He had not touched the undead creatures that had been lodged in the ground by Maverick, yet his system stated that he had defeated them.

'Was this because I killed the Leading undead from before?'

It would not be a surprise to him if his assumption was right though. This was simply because of the sword which had turned to ash right in front of his eyes. It was very possible that the same had happened to the creatures while they were stuck in the ground.

Cree came to a stop as he finally reached his destination. In front of him was a enormous silver colored cube which levitated in the air. Awe filled his eyes as it was beyond anything he had imagined it to be.

"Well I'll be.."

Walking closer to it, he soon realized that there was no ground from that path forward, only what seemed to be an endless abyss where the light beam was erupting from. Now the question that ran through Cree's mind was how on Earth he was going to get to the cube. Just then Claire spoke from behind catching his attention.

"You know it's not as complicated as you think, right?"

Cree twitched his lips as he had forgotten for a moment that she was able to read people's minds.

"Well it doesn't seem that way", Cree looked at the cube with discouragement all over his face.

"All you have to do is walk towards the cube."

"What!? Are you insane..!?"

This question was answered early on as Claire began to fly over to the cube in the distance. Looking down at the abyss, Cree gulped before taking a leap of faith, literally.

While doing this he had made sure to close his eyes. To his surprise, he felt what seemed to be solid ground below his feet causing him to open his eyes in shock.

"What!?"

Above the abyss, colorful crystal patterns had formed below Cree's feet keeping him up in the air. Taking another step the same happened over and over until he was eventually running to the Rift cube.

'See? What did I tell you? It's not as complicated as you think it is', Claire gave a wide smile.

Not wanting to lack behind, Cree soon began running towards the Rift cube until the world around him was erased by the light beam. At this point, Cree had no idea where he was going. This did not bother him to much as he could see Claire who was floating in front.

"Quick word of advice, Cree."

"What now Claire? This isn't exactly the right time for this."

"Actually it is. It has to do with the Rift cube after all."

After hearing this, he couldn't help but feel anxious. Claire at the moment had a serious face on, which only told him that it was something serious. Nodding his head, Cree indicated that he was listening to what she had to say.

"First of all I have to start by saying that the Rift cube is not just a cube designed as a dungeon. It is actually a living entity that was created by the Grand Order to have a will of it's own."

Cree's eyes widened as he heard her words. He found this hard to believe in any way but it seemed like Claire was not joking around at the moment.

'What exactly am I going up against?', Cree asked himself.

"Even we Calamity gods know little about the Rift cubes. Though one thing is certain about it, it is capable of doing pretty much anything. It will react differently based on the existence entering into it, in order to create a test dependent on how worthy of it perceives one to be of it's power."

"Is that even possible!?"

"Of course. It is doing that right now."

Cree's attention moved forward as the cube had finally manifested in front of him. His eyes opened in disbelief as the cube opened up similar to the way a person's mouth would. Cree didn't feel like it was opening up to him, it felt more like it was opening up to swallow him instead.

"Cree listen. When one enters a Rift cube for the first time, they are prone to having visions that don't make any sense. Don't pay attention to them as this would be as a result of the Rift cube gathering information on you from your brain. Also I won't be there in your visions while they are happening but I will try to wake you up from the outside. The faster you wake up the better. We can't tell what the Rift cube is going to do."

At this point, he could feel his heart beating faster accompanied by some kind of heavy pressure on his chest. After hearing everything Claire had to say, Cree realized that this was not an easy task, not that he thought so in the first.

The moment he entered the opening in the Rift cube, the crystals that appeared below his feet previously disappeared causing him to fall into the depths of the cube.

"Prepare yourself!", Claire exclaimed right next to him.

Cree could feel sharp pains in his head shortly after as he fell deeper and deeper into the cube. However one thought kept on ringing in his head during his descent.

'I will do whatever it takes to bring him back!'

Just then a flash of light engulfed the entirety of Cree's body.