I'm left floating high above a dark crater in the desert, hundreds of kilometers wide.
As Raven completely disappears from my sight, wisps of green mist are left in my vision as my lie detector skill confirms her words are genuine.
I power down my greater form again and place my swords back into storage, letting only the single teleport crystal I took out earlier float in front of me.
My body is still riddled with hundreds of puncture wounds, and my mind races to make sense of all the information streaming into my brain.
I use half of my remaining energy to continue the slow and painful healing process, while using the other half to extend my net of perception outward to assess the true aftermath of my battle here in the deadzone.
Hundreds of dungeons are breaking all over the Dark Continent and the 8 Great Regions, and powerful hunters are securing the territories with impressive speed.
In the Crimson City, the army has already set up makeshift roadblocks in front of each dungeon that has broken, only allowing hunters 100 levels above the normal threshold to farm from them. Meanwhile, my double evacuates and stabilizes the more violent breaks with plunderer-imbued element stones.
Far off in the Apex Region, my double that was farming in the labyrinth uses all its concealment skills, light magic, duplicated gear, and ranked-up [Master of Illusion] buff to act as the Regional Director, ordering the A-Class hunters to guide the B and C-class Apex Region workers to handle the usual protocol for the breaks.
Meanwhile, Rodrigo gives my double and Bri a tour of the Apex Region Headquarters, as soon this will be another home base for all of us.
I read these 3 skills' details and continue healing myself with more of my remaining power, allowing my perception to dull. Then, deactivate my stat and mana control sharing perk, to give those I've borrowed power from their full strength to battle the mutant monster back in the canyon of dungeons.
[Final Strike] is similar to my [Final Breath] ability, allowing me to unleash a single final move with increased attack power. It doesn't show the exact amount of power it adds, nor does it show the downsides afterward. It is pretty much based on how much mana I imbue into it, but if it's anything like the final breath's aftereffects, I don't really want to test it out.
[Dark Mist] creates an aura of darkness, blinding opponents that come within a certain range. Only the caster can use perception skills within it. This, too, depends on the caster's mana control.
Lastly, [Enrage] is a buff similar to [Bloodlust] and [Berserker]. It raises my Strength and Speed by 250% while active, and gives an additional 150% to my base perception as well.
This is definitely a passive buff I'll be keeping active during battle.
As I close my status screen, I finally grasp my floating teleport crystal nearby.
It's been long enough now that my wounds have all finally closed up entirely.
They're still healing slowly, and even my blood-bonded armor is still regenerating. It feels may take many long hours, or even days, to fully recover from. My body is still trying to absorb and break down the divine energy residue from each slash.
Even though my body is healing, my fatigue from the most intense battle of my life is not fading at all.
As I contain my entire aura beneath my purple limiter and crush the teleport crystal in my hand to bring me beneath the Crimson City, I'm met with exactly what I was looking for.
Abby, Maria, Fisher, and Lydia all stand in the bunker below the guildhall, watching over Ember in the isolation pod while my double continues to work out in the canyon of dungeons.
A bright green restoration circle tethered by red and orange divine threads covers the floor, and a rush of healing magic surges through me.
"Welcome back, Jay. I take it my assumption was right?"
Abby looks at me with a worried face, while my other three members share her sentiment.
"Yeah... you were right."
I form a [Hush] barrier around us.
"It was two more True Cores... One I managed to kill, the other got away... but they consider us an ally, for now."
I feel a small amount of my fatigue disappear as Abby's Mythic Grade Restoration magic, fueled by a red core and small traces of leftover orange threads, trickles through me. However, they do nothing to combat the yellow True Core residue that still burns me from the inside out in hundreds of places.
These wounds are on another level, and I'm sure the silver sword wielder is feeling the same burns thousands of kilometers away right now...
I grit my teeth as another wave of fatigue hits me, and Maria speaks up.
"What do you mean they're an ally for now? How long is that going to last?"
My head turns in the direction of the abyss.
Even though we're underground, all four of them know exactly where I'm looking, as this is where the source of the three surges came from not long ago.
I respond and cough up blood mid-sentence.
"Not long. I need to rest, and you four need to consolidate your orange cores. Soon, we'll be venturing into the Abyss."
My gaze turns to the isolation pod sitting inside Abby's restoration circle, and whisper, adding on to my statement.
"You better wake up soon too, we're going to need all the help we can get."
High atop a snowy mountain, just outside my perception range, the three surges finally ripple through the endless Icy Region to the north.
An old man with a dense, bright yellow core stands up from his sitting position and places the half-consumed yellow fragment in his hands into an item box beneath his robes.
A blue video crystal plays a blurry image of an endless pit in the center of the desert, shifting to show another visual thousands of kilometers away in much higher resolution of the black cylindrical tower.
He speaks again, as his disciples haven't stopped cycling their orange fragments.
"Stand up, we're going on an outing. Prepare to defend yourselves; where we're headed doesn't seem to greet its guests very lightly."