Chapter – 117 - The Story Behind The Sect's Decision

Rihanna looked at the large doors closing shut behind her. The reddish-gold eyes of the massive coiled jade dragon seemed to be looking right into her soul as the two parts of its humongous body became one once the door panels came together.

Turning front, she stared at the three large tombs floating in three different semi-transparent spheres in different parts of the room. Flecks of gold could be seen floating in the barriers as they passed in circles around the coffin. The stone coffins were gigantic, and formed in three separate layers.

The lowest part was broad and probably was the base of the coffin, once the coffin landed on the ground. A faint blue stream of energy clung to this base from below.

The second part was made of a deep yellow stone she had not seen in the lands inside the dimension. Possibly something they had transported from the outside world. There were large blocks protruding from the base, and each block had a different pattern etched on it. A series of carvings bordered the pattern. It looked like some kind of ancient pictograph writing, probably some kind of story was recorded in the black panels.

The uppermost part was probably the lid of the coffin. It was engraved with the pattern of a strange tree, and there slots on all sides of the lid. Skulls of different animals were embedded inside each slot.

Rihanna had read about some special types of arrays which used the essence from bones as their core points. She wondered if these skulls too were part of some complicated array.

But currently her self was wholly focused on the man standing in the middle of a circle. The coffins were standing straight up, and rotating around this circle, with the man standing in the center.

This was a tomb. So the aura of death hanging in the air was natural. Even the man's presence seemed to merge with the heaviness of the space, the pressure emanating from him unconsciously, bearing down upon her tiny body. Rihanna grit her teeth, trying to withstand the aura and slowly walked forward. Then she bowed low, as a mark of respect for the great persona before her.

"I have met the Great Bulonos Kartenu. I humbly greet him."

The Bulonos didn't reply. Instead he slowly turned and walked around the circle, pausing in his steps before each coffin. From the gesture of his hands, he seemed to be paying homage to these long gone people. Finally he stepped out of the circle, turning around to look at the coffins slowly moving inside the circle.

"Bulonos Bandeiza....Bulonos Pagligio.......Bulonos Zepharyn...."

Rihanna stood back up silently and looked at him for a while, then turned her head to look at the rotating coffins. Hearing the names she had a faint idea where this place was.....but.....weren't there supposed to be five Bulonos?

"This land was created and sustained for the past 200,000 years by the Five Bulonos of Wuteria-Basbe country. For the past 200,000 years, one Bulonos has governed the lands whilst the rest remained in hibernation. As one dies, the next one would be awakened, and he would take over the governance.

I am the last Bulonos of these lands. The last three's bodies all lie here in this tomb. Only Bulonos Nanamako's body is not held here. He was the very first Bulonos of these lands. Can you guess why his body is not here?"

Rihanna stared at the slowly passing coffins, her mind wandering all over the information she had collected during their mission. Bulonos Kartenu was in no hurry. He stood still, like the passing of time, watching the coffins pass by him one by one. Waiting for the girl to unravel the knots and decipher the truth behind it.

There was so much information and initially Rihanna was feeling confused. She knew there was something strange about the death of Nanamako. Holding onto the thread, she pondered for a long time over all that she had heard and read. At the end, a frightening thought emerged from her mind.

"Bulonos....Bulonos Nanamako.....he was infected by the black miasma?!"

Kartenu did not turn his head nor acknowledge her guess, but his eyes squinted. He seemed to be staring at the rotating coffins, but his minds eyes had already travelled hundreds of thousands of years, and an abyss of pain reflected below the stillness of his pupils.

'The world outside is dying. The world inside is also dying. In such case, whether we live inside or outside....it does not really matter. One day, very soon, we will all be gone."

Rihanna jolted at these outrageous words, a chill passing through her bones. She turned to stare at the Bulonos, forgetting how disrespectful her behavior might be. Thankfully, the Bulonos didn't seem to care about her behavior. He continued speaking, but the more he spoke, Rihanna could feel the intense sense of loss reverberating within his deep voice.

"Wuteria-Basbe country. One of the most prosperous and stable countries of our time. We were the five governing pillars of our country. And it was also in our time period that we witnessed the fall of our entire country.

All the countries were in turmoil....the miasma had been released from its constraints and taken over large parts of the lands. For the first time we realized how powerless we were in the face of this relentless, un-killable enemy. All our cultivation, powers, money, tools, weapons....everything was meaningless before this formless enemy which could attack without even attacking."

Bulonos Kartenu stopped, his eyes still staring into the beyond, as if reliving the trauma of the days before this dimension was successfully built. Rihanna waited silently. She understood that he was probably in a mind space of his own, and she was not really present for him at the moment.

His face remained as still as the unmoving mountains, but she could still see the pain, helplessness, desperation flashing past the depths of his eyes. After a very long time, he seemed to return back, recollecting his senses, as he let out a deep, heavy sigh.

"This Duplicating Dimension requires a lot of spiritual energy to sustain it. We had to forsake our physical bodies, as only the soul states of a cultivator can sustain a dimension for a prolonged period. In soul state we can live many more times the years that we can in our physical state.

Initially we had decided to let only one Bulonos govern the lands, whilst the rest remained in hibernation to maintain our energies.

But then something happened.....something which none of us could predict. Unknown to all of us, Bulonos Nanamako was infected by the black miasma. Within a thousand years the miasma had taken over his body and mind, completely corrupting his senses.

Bulonos Bandeiza and Bulonos Pagligio were in deep hibernation. But even then, their souls realized something was wrong on the outside, and they were forcefully awakened before their time. There was a huge battle between the three. In the end, Bulonos Bandeiza and Bulonos Pagligio only managed to lessen the power of Nanamako, and restrained him within the Array of Soul Constraint in the Ancient Sand Runes.

Bulonos Nanamako was no more. In his place was formless corrupted creature who could not even sense who we were. In his senses we were only life and soul essences and he needed to absorb us to grow stronger.

Though they survived, a large part of their soul essence was drained off due to this fight. They had to awaken us two remaining Bulonos to make a decision for the future.

We had lived through an entire era of being suppressed and eradicated by the black miasma in the outside world. We created a safe dimension to carry forward our people and heritage to the future. Yet all our hard work, hopes, desires were all washed away. This one incident woke us up to the fact that no matter how hard we struggle....we cannot escape the clutches of this relentless darkness.

For a long time we had no answers. The time of opening our dimension came and passed by. We still could not come to a decision. Hence our doors closed down for the outside world."

Bulonos Kartenu paused once more, turning to look at Rihanna.

"I often wondered what the world was like outside. Sometimes the people coming in from the outside would speak about the changes taking place there. Sometimes we wanted to open the gates of the dimension and let go. Living every day, only to sustain a dying dimension has taken a heavy toll on all our souls.

Initially, our souls would have gone into reincarnation after our duties were fulfilled. But due to this sudden prolongation of the lifetime of the dimension, we had to sacrifice all our soul essence into maintaining it. None of their souls remain. None of us will be able to go into the circle of reincarnation.

We wanted to safe guard the world outside from the miasma already taking shape inside here. But to maintain the balance, and keep the miasma pacified, we had to sacrifice a lot of lives. Sometimes I wonder if all our sacrifices were worth it. What have we truly been able to achieve at the end of all our hard work."

Kartenu turned his whole body to face Rihanna. Rihanna was surprised at this sudden movement, and even more so at the solemnness which vibrated from the core of his being as he seemed to stare inside her, as if searching for someone else within her body.

"Tatsuya...i know you are residing inside her now. So many years have gone by....so many things have happened. Yet you remained silent all through. I beg you to come out. Come out and give me a sign. I have reached the end of my life. Soon I will no more be capable of sustaining this dimension. Tell me....what should I do....."

Rihanna blinked back in surprise. Tatsuya?! Wasn't that the person mentioned in the record of Stryae Family? The one who had helped the Bulonos create this dimension? Why was he looking at her whilst calling out to the Tatsuya?!

Suddenly darkness seemed to descend upon her. Before she lost consciousness, Rihanna had only one thought in her mind....

'Damn! I just regained consciousness. Why am I always fainting at the most crucial and interesting moments?!'