Mysterious Power!

Chapter 221 Mysterious Power!

"Then what do we do?"

He asked blankly, his voice sounding particularly weak in the empty and eerie broken space.

Kahn saw the helplessness in the young man's eyes, took a deep breath, and forced himself to calm down.

"Live on, child. First and foremost, you must live on."

He patted the rock beneath him, which seemed to float in the void like an isolated island.

"This fragment of space is unstable, and we don't know how long it can hold on."

We need to find a way out, or—find a way to control this thing on your arm.

He paused, a resolute glint in his eyes, as if he had made up his mind: "When I was young, in the abandoned tunnels deep inside the mine, while I was taking a nap, I saw some ancient murals by the faint light of the ore. They seemed to depict something like a mark, and some—like a method to guide it."

Aji's attention was drawn: "A mural? Guiding?"

"Um."

Kahn tried to recall, his brow furrowed.

"Those murals are very old, with rough lines, but you can roughly understand their meaning."

It depicts a person with glowing markings on their arm; he—

He seemed to be controlling the light emanating from the patterns through his breathing, or some specific thought, making it obedient, like a flowing stream.

He looked at the pulsating marks on Aji's arm: "Perhaps—we can try to recall and imitate the movements in the mural?"

It's better than sitting here waiting to die, or waiting for some big shot to come looking for us.

Looking at the unwavering determination in Uncle Kahn's eyes, a determination born of the will to survive, and feeling the unfamiliar yet somehow intimately connected mark on his arm, Aji nodded.

He had no better choice.

He tried closing his eyes, clearing his mind, and focusing all his attention on the burning sensation in his right arm.

At first, the feeling was just chaotic and intense, but as he tried to "perceive" it, the heat seemed to begin to have a subtle direction.

He recalled what Uncle Kahn had said.

"Guide like flowing water" —

He tried to use his mind to "push" the burning sensation, to make it flow along some imagined path.

At first there was no reaction, but gradually, the light of the mark seemed to actually change direction slightly, almost imperceptibly, in accordance with his will!

"There's a reaction!"

Aji exclaimed in surprise.

Kahn's eyes widened as he watched the subtle changes in the mark's light, a glimmer of hope igniting in his cloudy eyes: "Yes! Child, that's it! Keep going! Try to let it—let it cover your palm and see?"

Aji held his breath and focused even more intently.

He imagined the scorching power flowing gently from the mark into his palm like a gentle stream.

The process was slow and arduous, and the mental burden caused fine beads of sweat to appear on his forehead, but he could feel that the power was indeed responding to his call little by little!

However, just as the faint light was about to spread to his fingertips, "Buzz!"

The huge rock beneath their feet suddenly trembled, as if it had struck some invisible obstacle.

Against the backdrop of the bizarre and fantastical void in the distance, an even deeper darkness, seemingly capable of swallowing light, was slowly approaching them.

In the darkness, a faint, unsettling rustling sound could be heard, as if countless tiny things were rubbing and crawling.

Kahn's expression changed drastically, and he abruptly shielded Aji behind him: "Watch out! This hellhole—it has more than just spatial turbulence!"

Aji also felt the cold malice brought by the approaching darkness, and the mark on his arm seemed to be stimulated, the light becoming rapid and unstable.

That profound darkness was not still, but rather wriggled and spread like a living thing, swallowing and annihilating even the distorted and ever-changing halos of the void wherever it passed.

The rustling sounds grew closer, as if countless unseen insects were gnawing at the space itself, bringing a chill that pierced the soul.

"What...what is it?"

Aji's voice trembled uncontrollably, and the mark on his arm flashed brightly, resonating with his fear.

"I don't know! But it's definitely not a good thing!"

Kahn stared intently at the approaching darkness, his old miner instincts giving him a beast-like intuition for danger.

He looked around sharply. The rock fragment they were on was the only "land" in this void, and there was nowhere to escape!

"Aji! Never mind that! Keep trying to control that light!"

Kahn growled, his voice hoarse with tension.

"Now it might be our only hope! Focus, just like before!"

Aji forced himself to look away from the terrifying darkness, took a deep breath, and focused his attention on his right arm again.

Fear washed over me like ice water, making it incredibly difficult to concentrate.

The burning sensation of the mark became scalding, even stinging, as if it were a warning or an urging.

He gritted his teeth, recalling the faint feeling of success he had just experienced, and desperately tried to construct the idea of ​​"guidance" in his mind.

Sweat soaked through his worn-out miner's clothes, and veins bulged on his forehead.

This time, perhaps the imminent threat of death had unleashed its potential, and the light of the mark responded more clearly than before!

The glimmer of light was no longer simply deflected, but rather, like soldiers under command, it stubbornly and inch by inch spread toward his palm!

"Faster! Faster, child!"

Kahn urged anxiously, his eyes fixed on the darkness that had spread to the edge of the rocks.

The darkness touched the edge of the rock, and the rock seemed to have a corner bitten off by an invisible giant mouth, silently turning into nothingness.

Just as darkness was about to engulf their feet, and the grating rustling sound was almost right next to their ears, Aji suddenly opened his eyes wide and let out a suppressed growl!

His right palm was suddenly covered by a thin, yet steady and soft, faint light!

The light was not intense, but it carried an indescribable, ancient, and pure aura.

Almost instinctively, he pointed his glowing palm at the approaching darkness!

"There was no earth-shattering explosion, but the writhing darkness seemed to encounter its nemesis the moment it touched the range of the palm light, and suddenly stopped!"

The rate of erosion slowed down significantly, and even the edges emitted a faint hissing sound, like water droplets falling into hot oil, as wisps of black gas were purified and dissipated!

efficient!

Aji and Kahn's eyes simultaneously erupted with the ecstatic joy of surviving a disaster!

However, Aji's face also turned pale instantly.

Just maintaining the faint light in his palm and resisting the encroachment of darkness almost drained his mental and physical strength. He felt dizzy and his body was swaying.

"Hang in there! Aji! Hang in there!"

Kahn quickly supported him, and his heart sank as he watched the darkness, though slowed, still advancing.

Aji won't last much longer!

Just then, Kahn caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of his eye.

Under the faint light from Aji's palm, several extremely fine, almost imperceptible, silvery "threads" seemed to vaguely appear in the previously empty space in front of him.

These threads meander towards some direction in the depths of darkness.

Is it a spatial rift? Or something else?

There's no time to hesitate!

"Aji! Look over there! There's a road!"

Kahn pointed in the direction the silver line vaguely indicated.

"Head that way! Use your light to clear the path! Let's charge!"

This is a gamble, but staying put means certain death!

Aji looked in the direction Kahn pointed and also saw the faint silver line.

He gritted his teeth, squeezing out the last bit of strength from his body, pointed his palm in that direction, and took a step with his leaden legs.

The glimmer of light dispelled the darkness, but it was like wading through viscous mud. Every step was incredibly difficult, and the mental strain was immense.

Kahn supported Aji, using his own body for support, and the two stumbled along, stepping into the all-consuming darkness that was guided by the unknown silver threads.

Behind them, the rock fragments where they had just stood had been completely swallowed by darkness and vanished without a trace.

The faint light, like a flickering candle in the wind, stubbornly carved out a small, barely standing area in the boundless darkness.

Aji felt as if his head was being pierced by countless needles, and every breath was accompanied by a burning pain in his lungs. The energy required to maintain the light in his palm was far beyond his imagination.

He was practically dragged and carried forward by Kahn.

The silver threads flickered in the darkness, like the only signposts guiding the way.

They are not physical entities, but rather like trajectories formed by the convergence of faint light particles, winding and twisting, leading to an unknown destination.

The surrounding darkness was not deathly still.

Besides the chilling rustling sound that lingered at the edge of the light, there were also occasional distorted sounds...

Incomprehensible whispers drilled directly into the mind, stirring up one's reason.

Aji had to devote some of his energy to resisting these mental erosions, which made his already near-limit state even worse.

"Uncle Kahn—I—I can't take it anymore—"

Aji's voice was as faint as a whisper, and the light in his palm flickered erratically. The darkness that had been forced back immediately surged forward restlessly.

"Hold on! Child, look at me!"

Kahn squeezed his shoulder hard, his voice, though tired, was unusually firm.

"Look ahead! That silver line seems—it seems clearer! We're almost there! Don't give up now!"

Aji managed to lift his head and look in the direction Kahn was pointing.

Sure enough, the silver threads ahead seemed to have become slightly thicker, and the light had become much more stable, no longer threatening to go out at any moment as before.

This subtle change was like seeing the shadow of an oasis in a parched desert, giving him a renewed sense of strength.

He took a deep breath, squeezing out the last bit of strength from the depths of his consciousness, steadied the light in his palm, and continued to walk.

I don't know how long I walked, time lost its meaning here.

Aji's consciousness was beginning to blur, and he was moving entirely on instinct and with the support of Kahn.

Just when he felt he was about to completely collapse and his light was about to go out!

The view ahead suddenly opened up!

An island appeared before them.

Looking at the island before him, Kahn said in disbelief, "This is—this is—Black Reef Island!"