While teasing Silvia about her engagement with Chen Yu, the party eventually reached the bottom as the researchers were packing up and getting ready to evacuate to the surface.
Giving them some simple orders, Nan Tian gestured for Shiro and the others to proceed without worrying.
Exiting the station, Shiro immediately felt the change in atmosphere as it was strangely devoid of mana.
Creating a small ice spear in her hands, it dissolved immediately as the mana was transferred towards the egg.
Taking a step towards the egg, Shiro stepped off the metal floor and onto and now strangely flesh like floor of the 'cave'.
Veins on the floor pulsed as she could see crystals growing from the surface. From the ceilings, strings of flesh dangled loosely with crystals falling off the edges and into a small pile below the strings.
In the centre of the cave, the egg pulsed with rhythmic beats. There was a slight transparency to the shell that was never there before. But even with this transparency, Shiro couldn't see what was inside the egg at all.
Furrowing her brows, she tried to see what's inside with Analysis EX but it was still foggy like before.
"Asmodeus, do you happen to know any information about this egg? Considering the fact that you are an Ancient Lord after all." Shiro asked as Asmodeus was silent for a moment before shaking his head.
"Unfortunately, no. As much as I want to say yes, I do not have any recollection of an egg that produced crystals that amplify mana. In fact, if more people knew about this, they would have waged wars to obtain a large supply. Especially the gods." Asmodeus replied while picking up a few of the crystals.
They flickered with a quick spark of light before becoming dull with all of their mana drained from them.
Tossing them away since they were now useless, Asmodeus stood silently.
"Is that so? Surprising considering your background but I suppose this is quite the anomaly." Shiro shrugged as Asmodeus immediately understood that Shiro knew who he was.
Curling his lips into a smile, Asmodeus bowed.
"I do apologise about that Miss Shiro. Even with my background, there is not much I can tell from just an egg and crystals I never knew about. Perhaps I might be able to find something similar in nature but that's doubtful."
"it's fine don't worry." Shiro waved her hand while circling the egg.
Making a few mental notes, Shiro gestured for them to sit and wait on the research lab roof.
With only a few moments left until the second half of the new age, there was nothing else to do aside from observing the changes until the time comes.
Walking over to Shiro, who had sat down on the roof, Asmodeus stood in silence before opening his mouth.
"If you don't mind me asking miss Shiro, what exactly is your goal for this world? What do you hope to gain from the second half of the new age?" He asked curiously as Shiro glanced back.
"Well… it used to be revenge against a god. But now, I just want the world to not be on the verge of destruction. Let the people live a peaceful life. There might be some danger, there might be aggression between people but it'll be safer than what the world is now. I suppose you can say this. If I can, I would remove the system. If you want a society with this kind of power, the power to shatter entire cities, then you need one party to keep them in check. A tyranny I suppose. But that's not what I want. Therefore, a place where no one can have power that can destroy a city is probably the best call. Though who am I to judge? Haha, I'm just someone who likes to fight a lot." Shiro smiled while looking at the crystals dangling from the ceiling.
"Plus, it's not like I wanted this role. I was just fine with being an adventurer who went from place to place gaining strength until I could kill my worst enemy. I was just swept along into this role and figured I should do something good with this." Shiro admitted before looking back at Asmodeus.
"So to answer your question, what I hope for this world is for it to not be destroyed by the power of the gods. Make it so that it's peaceful and low level cities won't get dominated by those with more power." Shiro said as she stood up.
"Now, since I've answered your question truthfully. I do hope that you can do the same for me. What's Asgard's stand on everything?" Shiro asked as her eyes flickered for a moment. Circuits could be seen in her iris as Asmodeus realised that she was fishing out the truth.
Chuckling for a moment, Loki waved her hand and separated herself from Asmodeus's body.
She had long blue hair and multicoloured eyes that seemed to shimmer with different hues every moment.
Patting her outfit, she bowed in front of Shiro.
"Pardon my rudeness. With my divinity it's only natural for me to take on a disguise. I was content with watching the play from afar but after some observation, I simply could not hold back anymore. The more I look into your city, the more I am impressed. As for Asgard's stance, this I cannot say as my father is still thinking about it. He remains an observer until he can determine the danger you possess. Though personally I think there is nothing to worry about." Loki chuckled.
"Therefore Miss Shiro, I will continue to observe and give you clues when I can. I usually like to play around but with how things are, even I know when to be serious."
"Mn, so I suppose you're somewhat akin to a spy within the Norse Pantheon that is helping me then." Shiro smiled.
"Something similar. And with that, I shall take my leave. Oh and I was being honest earlier, it is indeed better if you were to deal with the… beings that appear. When I take over someone, I do snag some of their memories."
"Oh don't worry I know." Shiro said, gesturing to her eyes as Loki started to fade into smoke.
Seeing this, Loki smiled and did one last bow before disappearing completely.
With Loki disappearing, Shiro glanced over at Asmodeus who was now sleeping and decided to wake him up.
"Urg, what happened?" Asmodeus muttered while clutching his head.
"A god borrowed your body for a while. Don't worry nothing major was done. You should go back to Madison and help her out on the surface." Shiro said as Asmodeus furrowed his brows and stood up.
He was still confused but seeing Shiro's expression, he guessed that he wasn't getting any more answers. Therefore, he bowed and teleported out of the area.
'I wonder if there are any other pantheons that'll contact you before the new age begins.' Nimue asked while floating around the mana realm.
Now that the destructive energy was gone, it felt much easier to move around.
'I doubt it since there's only a few minutes left now. If they are, they better keep their chats short haha.' Shiro chuckled as it felt nice being able to talk to Nimue like this again.
'True. But I wouldn't be surprised. So what's your plan for these beings that Loki mentioned then?' Nimue asked curiously as she didn't know anything about this.
'Well considering the fact that they're apparently made to counter anything and everything on this side of the world, I'll need to use creation energy. I've already made some progress with Isvelger's notes but this might help me develop it properly. Who knows, the beings may even be made up of creation energy since they counter destruction. Regardless, I'll be counting on you to keep my body working. Don't want to shut down randomly mid fight.' Shiro stuck her tongue out since she knew the sort of damage creation energy could do to her body.
After using it during the last experiment, she felt very fatigued along with a numbness in her arm. She figured that it was because her body had been used destruction energy and the influx of creation caused a backlash.
However, now that Nimue was here to help heal her body along with Aarim who had developed her new skill, there should be more room for error when she experiments with the creation energy. Something that she'll be able to test very soon as the countdown reaches the final minute.
Looking at the time, Shiro narrowed her eyes at the egg.
Little by little, it reached zero.
[Welcome to the second half of the Age of Demons and Gods.. May the gods have mercy upon you.]
