Chapter 319: Falling Down into the Wasteland

’Alright... that is... unexpected.’ Aether said, clenching his fists tight. His eyes stared at the decomposed body that had been buried under the ground. It seemed not to have any skin or muscle at all, just pure bone.

’Looks like even the most beautiful places hide something.’ Though he had never expected this to be the clue he was going to get. Who would have thought that the first thing he found was a dead body? It made no sense... but was it the only one?

Aether lifted his head, looking around. The park now looked a lot different.

He walked back, at first to where the tree with the transparent leaves was. He was hesitant, as he slowly started digging near its truck... if he was right, this was horrifying.

...

’Holy...’ Aether said, his arms falling to his sides, as he saw it, another body. The one he had found before wasn’t the only one, but rather, there were more, a lot more of them, hidden, almost all the trees had one near them.

...

So now came the question... what was this place actually? It was clear that it wasn’t a park meant to tell the story of its plants, and it was also not an exhibition for the beautiful vegetation.

The reason why no one came to the thing place was not for any reason he had thought before, but rather for a much simpler one, this was a graveyard, but... what he didn’t know was for whom the graveyard was with.

All the dead bodies, what did they share, why were they killed, and why here, why did they choose to leave their bodies inside this forest... or rather, did they even choose so?

’I guess coming to this island really was a good idea...’ Though, at the moment, with all the information he had, he couldn’t figure anything out related to the dead bodies. The Shadow didn’t speak to him, so he couldn’t learn anything more in this place.

Sure, maybe if he was to dig out all the bodies, he would more, but the difference wouldn’t be that big at all, and the extra information would be non important, plus, it would not only take a long time, but it was also going to be really hard to find every body, as you had no idea of knowing if how many there were.

...

But what now? Well, it wasn’t like staying more in this maze would be a good idea, so the first thing he was doing was getting out of this place, and he was certain of doing so... but after that, he had no idea where to go next. I mean, with the maze, he had finally found something,o but at the same time, it only gave him even more questions. So he was going to have to find another clue on the many islands left... but if he just went to every single one of them, it was going to take a while. So he was going to have to take another approach than just the closest ones; that way, he might accidentally find what he needed.

And right now... he really wanted to see how the island furthest away from the main island looked.

...

The island furthest from the center was smaller than the others.

Much smaller.

Though you could have expected it, after all, being so far away from the center, and where everything important is, why should the higher-ups of the civilization care about islands like it, at the border of the city, and that didn’t attract anyone,

Islands that usually just kept some residential houses, and maybe, if they were lucky, a store. But this one didn’t have one.

From afar, it almost looked abandoned, forgotten at the edge of the sky while the rest of the city continued growing closer toward the central tower. Even the bridge leading toward it was narrower, lacking the decorative carvings and flowing streams the others possessed.

This showed even more just how rough a life these islands had if they were not important. It was sad, but only those close and important could survive, since only then would they make people come.

The only exception to this rule, if an island didn’t get people, it didn’t get any care, was the garden, but it had a motive for why no people went inside, one he now looked.

Though... the island wasn’t bad at all.

It was still beautiful.

But less cared for.

Like perfection that had started cracking.

Aether stepped onto the island slowly.

Immediately, something felt wrong.

Not dangerous.

Just... wrong. His gut again, it was screaming to him, telling him that this wasn’t normal... it was as if his past was talking to him, telling him that something like this had happened before, or something close to this, rather, and that he should be careful.

Though he didn’t feel as if his life was at risk or anything like that, rather, it was just that, he knew something was happening, but he didn’t know what...

The architecture was identical to the rest of the city. White walls curved around the pathways. Towers rose toward the sky in elegant spirals. Thin waterfalls poured from elevated platforms into the clouds below. Again, the construction workers had copied their own style with not even a single flaw; it was seriously becoming absurd. How could they do this over and over again? He didn’t understand at all. If he had been in their place, he would have long made a mistake.

But unlike the other islands, this place actually had noise.

People whispered here. His eyes widened when he first heard them, maybe because he wasn’t used to it, with the shadows shutting their mouths up completely.

The whispers... were

Quiet.

Careful.

The citizens walking through the streets lacked the same stillness the others had carried. Their movements were slower, their eyes lingering too long on passing figures before quickly looking away again.

Aether noticed something else, too.

No one smiled.

Not even the artificial kind.

The further he walked, the more obvious it became.

The people here looked tired.

Not physically.

Something deeper than that.

Like faith forced to continue after the believer already knew the answer.

’So even paradise rots eventually...’ He chuckled, not at them, but rather from seeing the first sign of something being normal in this city, ironic that it was a place where he thought something was wrong.

As much as any civilization tried, it was never going to be perfect, and it looks like this one was no exception. It may look perfect at first glance, but islands like this one proved that life here wasn’t just sunshine.

Aether glanced upward toward the massive tower standing above the city. From this distance, it looked even larger somehow, its shadow faintly stretching across parts of the island whenever the clouds shifted.

Every other island treated the massive tower in the center like divinity itself.

People lowered their heads near it...

They spoke softly whenever priests passed them.

Children stared upward at the tower the same way starving people stared at food.

But here?

Nobody looked at it.

That was the strange part.

It was subtle enough that most wouldn’t notice, but once he saw it, he couldn’t stop seeing it.

People actively avoided raising their eyes.

Like they were afraid of what stood above them.

Or disappointed by it.

It was... very interesting... but it proved even more that that tower in the center had massive importance to whatever was going on... it had to be alive, he just had to prove it.

Aether passed beneath another archway before slowing slightly.

There were statues here... which were surprising... and made him wonder, if for them, these statues were their god, instead of the tower.

Tall figures carved from white stone, hands raised toward the sky.

But... if you were to look at them, you would see that they were damaged.

Not destroyed.

Just... neglected.

Tiny cracks spread across their surfaces. One had lost part of its face entirely. Moss had begun growing near the bottom despite how unnaturally clean the rest of the city remained.

No one repaired them.

No one prayed near them either.

...

So were they really considered gods here? If so, why were they getting neglected so much? Shouldn’t they at least take care of their god? It was basic knowledge.

...

And then he heard it.

"...The light weakens every year."

The voice was quiet.

Old.

Aether turned slightly, noticing two elderly figures seated near the edge of the pathway.

"The Divine One still watches," the other answered quickly, though the words sounded rehearsed rather than believed.

Silence followed afterward.

Heavy silence.

The kind where both people already knew neither of them meant what they said.

Aether continued walking.

’Yeah... something’s definitely wrong with this island.’

...

Who was the divine one? And what did the light weakening mean... these were questions he was going to answer later... as it had been a while since he first started searching, and he had not taken a break since, he was not only exhausted, but also really hungry.

...

...

...

But as Aether stepped off the bridge and onto another island...

...

...

He heard a loud shaking...

He was able to turn his head in time.

To see the island falling to the ground.