Caius’s POV
Darkness.
A warm darkness that embraced me from every direction.
All I felt was comfort... an indescribable comfort.
That feeling made me want to remain like this forever... but nothing lasts forever.
Amid that darkness, a light shone...
A light like a dying star.
I wanted to touch it, so I reached my hand toward it.
But it was far... very far.
I tried to move, but I couldn’t, as if I were rooted in place.
I remained like that for who knows how long.
Until I woke up.
Slowly, I managed to open my eyes again. At the same time, the memories of what had happened before I sank into sleep returned.
I raised my hand and rubbed my face. "How long was I asleep?" It felt like only a few hours had passed.
I looked beside me and found Izel still there.
I lifted my head and stared at the dark expanse within this tunnel... perhaps the trunk of a giant tree as it had seemed to me earlier.
It was good that nothing had attacked us in the meantime... otherwise we would be dead by now.
I looked at my ring and pulled out a vial of water before opening it and taking a few sips.
I felt the cold water flow down my throat, spreading that refreshing sensation through my body.
Once I finished, I returned the vial to my ring while casting a glance at Izel. "How long are you going to keep sleeping?"
I wanted to try waking her, but I decided to postpone it... it might be annoying.
Instead, I pushed myself up and stood on the sand, my feet sinking slightly. I felt fine now, and it seemed my mind had recovered.
Perhaps I should thank this modified body of mine.
I looked toward the exit a few meters away. It was still night outside, so I doubted I had slept long.
I walked out, sand scattering beneath my feet, until I emerged.
There, the vast desert bathed under the fractured moonlight before me.
I stared carefully at the stars. Perhaps what I had seen earlier was merely delirium.
But with every passing minute, I saw them again—those constellations along with the gray moon... or its fragments.
I was almost certain now. "This is truly Earth," I muttered.
I ran a hand through my hair, cursing my life. "Damn it, how did we end up here?"
The problem was that there had been nothing about coming to the ancient Earth in the original story, so this was entirely new.
As a result, I supposed I should throw the plot I knew into the trash now.
I sighed. "Not like I was going to rely on it forever."
I rotated my wrist and looked at the tattoo there. The bond was still present despite all this distance separating me from the Key of Dimensions, yet it still rejected me.
"Damn everything!"
How could a simple mission turn into all these insane events?
I even looked at the spirit of a monster at the peak of Rank 7... and survived.
What an astonishing achievement compared to my age.
"Anyway, where are we now?"
Judging by the sand dunes... it looked as though we were somewhere in Africa’s Sahara, or the Empty Quarter.
Well, that was assuming Earth was still the same, or hadn’t changed much.
After all, centuries had passed since the Great Migration, and Earth might have undergone new transformations.
It didn’t matter.
I looked at the moon.
But truly, what broke the moon like that?
And there was another important point.
What happened to the others? I saw them enter the gate as well.
But when I activated my ability earlier, I didn’t sense any of them nearby.
Perhaps they were thrown somewhere else since we entered at different times, but I doubted they would be too far from here.
I exhaled as I moved the essence within my body and activated my ability.
Quickly, my senses spread everywhere, and the headache returned to my head, though this time it was mild.
Information flowed into my mind as I scanned the surroundings... earlier I hadn’t paid attention to what was around us.
I had focused only on living beings.
But now I could sense everything... and there I felt the tree trunk.
Yet it wasn’t the only thing here.
Because behind it, I could sense many large objects... not alive, of course.
I looked at the trunk we had been hiding in before gathering some strength in my legs and jumping on top of it.
My feet landed on the solid surface of the trunk... well, or so I had thought until now.
Looking closely, it turned out to be white in color, and its surface did not resemble tree bark, but something else.
It was bone.
A massive broken bone stretching forward before sinking into the sand , its remaining part concealed.
And there around it were many other bones... all of them dozens of meters in size.
Some were curved... others were flat.
It looked like a graveyard of ancient bones.
I stared at them quietly. They all appeared to be monster bones or something similar.
I sent some essence to my ring as I pulled my phone out of it.
I held it and looked at its screen, specifically the time.
[20:12]
I hadn’t checked the time before we crossed the gate, so I didn’t know how much time had passed since I arrived here.
I opened the phone and entered the camera application, then raised it and took a picture of the graveyard of bones.
After that, I pointed it toward the sky and photographed the shattered moon.
Why was I doing this... I honestly didn’t know. Just a desire to photograph Earth.
With that, I turned it off to preserve its battery for as long as possible before returning it to my ring. Then I lay down on the surface of the bone, placing my hand under my head as a pillow.
And watched this beautiful sky.
What should I do next?
I don’t know... I still don’t know.
So for now, I decided to rest.
I remained there until I felt something new.
Inside the hollow bone, someone moved and began to wake up.
I sighed.
"This is going to be annoying."