Volume 5 – Chapter 23(Dragonspine III)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Author Note:

[ ] = When Twilight is speaking.

{ } = When talking through Telepathy.

' ' = When thinking in your mind.

<<  >> = When talking with your Pokémon or Tamed Beast.

--- --- = When describing a certain period of time OR Another place.

** ** = Point Of View i.e., POV

/// /// = In Call

" " = System and when talking to it.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Hero's life after leaving Sal Vindagnyr is unknown, but his descendants, the Imunlaukr Clan, continued fighting bloody battles to entertain the gods. The Imunlaukr Clan lived around Mondstadt at the end of the Archon War, which ended with rise of Barbatos as the first and only Anemo Archon.

They went on to become a prominent clan in Mondstadt that worshipped Barbatos alongside two other Clans.

And finally, during the Cataclysm 500 years ago, the princess' dream came true. The black, corrupted dragon Durin descended upon the land, where he was slain by Dvalin and his corrosive powers sealed using Vindagnyr's unnatural cold.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Primis: That is the story of Dragonspine.

By the time Primis was done, Makoto fell into her thoughts. He let her process the information while his gaze was on the people below.

A few minutes later, Makoto opened her mouth and muttered.

Makoto: …Sal Vindagnyr. A civilization whose both rise and fall was thanks to…...Celestia.

Feeling sad, she looked at Primis and asked desperately.

Makoto: Why did Celestia destroy them!? Just what have they done to deserve this!?

Primis: ......Have you heard of a saying "the less you know the better" or "Ignorance is Bliss"?

Hearing this, Makoto widened her eyes as realization struck her.

Makoto: D-Did they learn something...they shouldn't have?

Primis: They started to question some things which Celestia was not willing to answer. And because they didn't get the answers, they started finding them themselves. As a result, by the time they got a lead, Celestial threw the Skyfrost Nail at them and delivered the punishment.

Makoto: !!!!!!!!!!!!

Primis: And they were not the only ones that Celestia got rid of. Celestia had destroyed more than one civilization till today.

Makoto: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Primis: Some of them were this Dragonspine, Tsurumi Island, Chasm, Enkanomiya, ????, ????,......…and there is also the one who was destroyed 500 years ago. The place where you fall.

Makoto: Khaenri'ah.

Primis: Everyone single one of them find some answers to their questions or learnt about the truth of the world or their existence could mess with the plans of Celestia and so on.

Makoto: Hence, Celestia decided to erase them.

Primis: Correct.

Makoto: ......…

While Makoto turned silent, System's Spirit spoke.

"Well, it's not that surprising. If I was in Celestia place and these mortals learn about my secrets or have the possibility of thwarting my plans, I would have done the same."

"Primis: I know you would."

"What about you, My Lord? What would you have done?"

"Primis: I wonder."

"......…"

At this time Primis narrowed his eyes as he saw where Yuuya was taking Lumine and Venti.

Primis knew that Lumine must have followed him because she wanted his help with something.

'Primis: Mostly because she is thinking Venti has been cursed since he has Stormterror's corrupted teardrop with himself.'

Anway, considering this was Lumine's first time coming to Dragonspine, Yuuya decided to become their guide. His confidence came from the knowledge he had of Genshin Impact from his previous life.

Still, instead of taking them to where most people would have gone, he was leading them somewhere else. To be more specific towards an odd Ice formation.

Noticing this, Primis shook his head in disappointment.

'Primis: Instead of helping Lumine to find me, you are dragging her to a place where you will start your plan.'

Sighing, Primis pointed his hand towards the ice formation which was still some distance away from Lumine's group.

In the very middle of the formation, there was a large chunk of odd glowing ice. This ice was different from others and can't be melted or destroyed by normal means.

GLOW!!

SIU!!

Suddenly, the ice glowed more intensely for a second before something shot out of it and disappeared in the sky.

It was also the time that Lumine, Yuuya, and Venti reached the ice formation. But because of icy wind, they didn't notice it.

The thing made its way towards Primis and fell into his hand. It was some kind of shard with a triskelion symbol inside. Even now its glowing in Primis hand.

Makoto: Just what exactly is this, my Lord? I can tell that the power inside it belongs to Celesia. Because when I was in possession of Gnosis and used it to resonate with Celestia, I felt similar power.

Nodding, Primis replied.

Primis: You are right. This is the shard of Skyfrost nail. The Divine Nail responsible for the end Sal Vindagnyr civilization.

Makoto: No wonder. It's just a mere shard but it contained great power in it.

Primis: Yeah.

Next, Primis turned his head and looked at another two locations.

This time, a bluish glint passed through his eyes as two more shards broke out of their ice.

SIU!!

SIU!!

A second later, they were in front of Primis.

Then Primis put his hand on Makoto's shoulder, and they disappeared.

.

.

.

.

A moment later, they appeared at the summit of Dragonspine.

In front of them was a strange broken pillar with a seemingly stone exterior. It had a blue crystalline interior revealed through its broken end and the decorative motifs around the nail.

At the top of the pillar was a celestial motif. It was a recurring design that typically appeared on objects related to Celestia. It had a semi-circular accent that typically appeared in sets of three or five "petals". One large petal in the center, with one or two smaller ones on either side.

Makoto had astonishment on her face.

Makoto: Is that...Skyfrost Nail?

Primis: Yes. Skyfrost Nail, Divine Nail, Divine Needle, Divine Spike, Divine Pillar, call it whatever you want.

Makoto: How do you refer it as, My Lord?

"What do you call it, My Lord?"

Both spoke at the same time.

Raising one of his brows, Primis asked

Primis: Does it really matter how I call it?

"Yes!"

Makoto: Just curious.

After giving her a glance, Primis returned his attention to the Skyfrost nail in front.

Primis: I prefer calling it Divine Nail and Divine Pillar.

Makoto: Um. Needle and Spike don't sit well for me either.

"Agreed."

Deciding not to continue with this topic, Primis saw three missing pieces in the pillar. They belonged to the shards that seemed to have fallen from it and were now in his possession.

Next, Primis let go of his control over them as the shards shot forward and merged with the pillar.

SIU!!

SIU!!

SIU!!

Once they did so, some more broken pieces of the pillar that were floating around it started moving and merging with the pillar.

Before long every piece joined together, and the pillar was restored. And then…

GOUDOU!!

GOUDOU!!

GOUDOU!!

...

…

The pillar started shaking as the ice surface beneath the pillar broke.

CRACK!!

CRACK!!

CRACK!!

...

…

Once it freed itself, the pillar started floating and left the summit before flying in the sky. After reaching the desired height, it stopped and was now hovering above Dragonspine.

Makoto: There's a way down.

Said Makoto as she drew Primis attention towards the area below which was being sealed by the Skyfrost Nail and was now open.

Primis: Yeah. But I am not here for it.

Saying he put his hand on Makoto's shoulder, and they disappeared again.

.

.

.

.

Appearing high in the sky again, they were now standing on one of the broken structures which was floating near the Skyfrost nail and were looking at the Divine Nail in front.

Makoto tensed up as she could tell that even an Archon can't survive if Celestial threw this Nail at them.

Primis: Stay here.

With this Primis' feet left the footing as he flashed in front of the Divine Nail in an instant before raising his hand and touching its crystal part.

He could feel the power of Celestial trying to repel him.

'Primis: If you think I restored you out of good will then you are mistaken.'

In the next second, a bluish aura came out of Primis. The aura soon turned blue flames which engulfed the entire pillar in a matter of seconds.

DUN!!

DUN!!

DUN!!

...

…

The Nail started resisting the flames, but it was to no vail. Primis then gave the next order and the flames returned and got absorbed by him.

Everything returned to normal. Of course, if we ignored the Skyfrost Nail which had completely disappeared from the face of this world.

And since it was no more, the broken structures around it started falling one-by-one because there was no power to hold them in the sky anymore.

Primis moved and grabbed Makoto before disappearing.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Eula and Amber had ventured to the deeper part of the Dragonspine by now. The temperature had dropped so much that they both were feeling sheer coldness even with their elemental power protecting them.

Their bodies were shivering, their visibility had reduced, and their reserve was depleting rapidly.

Amber: Eula, we can't stay in such atmosphere for too long. Otherwise, once our elemental power will run out, we will freeze to death.

Eula: Um, you're righ. Let's look for five more minutes. If we still can't find it, then we will retreat to the foot of the mountain to rest.

Amber: Ok.

Both of them were so focused on finding that unusual Hilichurl that they didn't even realize that for the past hour they hadn't come across a single enemy. Whether normal Hilichurls, Treasure Hoarders or even the mere slimes.

After failing to find any clue, trail, or something, they decided to retreat.

.

.

.

.

.

.

'Yuuya: J-Just what is going on.'

Currently Yuuya was panicking inside. He said he knew Dragonspine very well and could guide them to their destination. However, he used that opportunity to drag them here and there destroying the odd glowing ice.

He planned to find the shards of the Skyfrost Nail so that he could restore it. Once the Nail had left the mountain, he would have told them the tale of Dragonspine. Telling them that he felt bad for the previous civilization and wanted to soothe some of their suffering by sending the nail away. That time his value would have risen in Lumine's, Paimon's, and Venti's eyes.

However, everything went downhill when he broke the ice and found that there was no such thing as shard inside. On the contrary, there was nothing.

At first, he got startled but calmed himself thinking things might be slightly different compared to game and started dragging them all over the Dragonspine to destroy such glowing ice. But no matter how many they destoryed, they didn't find anything.

By now even Lumine had realized that Yuuya was just wasting their time. So, she was now glaring at Yuuya with cold eyes as he was sweating profusely.

Just when she was about to open her mouth, her head abruptly turned in a direction as she sensed something before darting towards that path.

SWOOSH!!

Paimon: Wha! Where are you going, Lumine!? Wait for Paimon!

This snapped others out of their thoughts. And they also hurriedly followed.

Behind Yuuya gave a sigh of relief thinking he was fine for the time being.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Eula and Amber had drawn their weapons and were looking at that unusual Hilichurl who they had been looking for all this time.

Before they could even descend halfway, the Hilichurl appeared out of nowhere and blocked their path.

They would have attacked it right away but for some reason their instinct was warning them.

+

+

+

Eula Lawrence ---> Level 78

Amber ---> Level 75

??? I?e ?hi?ld Hi?i?hu?l ?u?r?(Mutation 48%) ??? ---> Level 96

+

+

+

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

*A/N: Please throw some power stones.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------