After a long fall into the thick darkness, Prometheus finally noticed a light below. Subtle at first, it grew stronger with each passing second until he finally could see as clearly as in daylight. A moment later, without needing to do anything, a gentle mattress of vegetation entangled him, breaking his fall before lowering him to the ground.
He scanned his surroundings, realising he stood in another cave, one deeper in Earth's crust and of much greater significance. Because before him stood a towering vibrant crystal pulsing vigorously like a heart.
"Earth's core," he muttered, closing his eyes to enjoy the harmonious beating and feel the boundless life force animating it.
"We don't have much time left. Most creatures have been digging after they wiped out the continent they appeared on. Worse, each swarm is led by a terror of the sixth-tier, five by a seventh-tier and... one by an eight-tier."
Luna appeared by him, her shoulders trembling as she spoke. She had carefully counted them, the sheer number causing her heart to race.
"There are billions of them!"
"It doesn't matter. They'll all die today."
His emotionless voice echoed, yet a fire burned inside his sunken eyes. He didn't know what this feeling was. It was even the first time he sensed it. But his weak heart couldn't help but beat faster as an irrepressible excitement flooded his body.
Luna nodded, pleased by his confidence.
"You have three days before they reach us. Manage your mana and take pauses if needed."
He noticed her worried grimace as her caring tone filled his ears.
His heart wavered. For a split second, he doubted his plan. After all, he was nothing more than a regular human standing in front of Earth herself. Could he really outsmart her? Think about things she hadn't?
However, the fire burning in him only grew brighter and stronger. Like a raging inferno, it engulfed his incertitudes.
'There is no going back.'
"Open tunnels to bring them here. Absorb their strength and notify me once you have enough to use mana," he said, narrowing his eyes.
"Sigh. You understood that, too?"
It was too obvious for him to miss it. Why did she accompany humanity? To help them kill creatures. Once again, why?
'To absorb their cores and hasten her awakening.'
He shook his head, the pulsing light casting shadows on his face. She had used them but also protected them for a decade. Could she really be blamed?
"I'll tell you. Be ready."
He saw the hulking crystal react to her movements, its light brightening as loud rumblings filled the vast cave. The walls split open the next moment, and blood-freezing shrieks reverberated through the air.
The pungent smell of his enemies filled his nose, and the sound of their legs colliding with the rocks filled his ears. Yet, he smiled.
Unlike before, their roles switched. He was now the one they should fear. He was the plague that would harvest their lives like wheat. He was the terror, the monster.
His voice echoed, soft and gentle, as his hand moved towards the tunnel. A chain of sparks illuminated the cave. Like fireworks, they split the wind and cracked space before disappearing into the dark abyss. Then...
Earth's core shook, and the rocks rumbled. A purgatory of lethal flames licked the walls and blasted dust everywhere as the creature's thick chitins melted. Their agonising shrieks reverberated for a moment before the noises of countless carcasses colliding with the ground reverberated.
Then... silence. A deadly silence wrapped the once noisy cave.
Astonished but elated, Luna raised her fists, yelling, "Well done! You even controlled your output not to vaporise them!"
With their body largely intact, she instantly began to absorb their mana-filled flesh and beast cores. A sensation of power filled her as she clenched her fists. If Prometheus could decimate a dozen more swarms, she knew she would have the strength to rid her body of those pests and awaken. Not as Luna, but as the real Gaia, an entity above anything that ever existed on Earth.
"I'll open another one!"
Her excited voice broke the silence again as she moved her hand.
"Open three at once. I'll take a short pause after."
Intrigued but impatient, her lips curled into a grin. With his efficiency, even if the humans were still alive, she wouldn't need to use them.
She waved her hands, opening three tunnels at once. And once again, He destroyed the creatures before they could even step foot in the cave.
"I'll recover for ten minutes now," he said, walking towards the towering core, causing Luna to frown. After all, she didn't want anyone to approach it.
However, he spoke again, confusing her for a moment.
"Say, you gave me the code name Prometheus because I brought light to humanity like the titan brought fire to them. Why didn't you continue the story?"
However, he didn't let her answer and continued, each of his words causing an icy shiver to run down her spine.
"Zeus labelled him a traitor, condemning him to suffer for eternity because he defied the gods' will."
"What are you going to do?! Stop!" She yelled, mobilising her core's mana in a panic. But he was already too close.
"And today, I'll show you that you were right to give me that name," he declared, blasting the air behind him and darting to the core.
In a second, he hugged its towering frame, feeling the boundless mana it contained. A mana he could use.
"Andreas! Now!" He roared, tapping into the vast energy to open a world passage forcefully hundreds of kilometers above his head. Then, he opened another one and then another.
He plundered all the mana Luna gathered until sixteen swirling vortexes appeared, each leading to a different yet random world. Terrifying heat oozed from some passages while the scent of death, nature, or frost filled others.
"Throw them and leave!" He roared again, his pale skin cracking under the strain and blood cascading down his nose, ears, and eyes.
As he gritted his teeth to endure, Luna's voice echoed in his ears, cold, emotionless, and commanding.
"I knew you would do something stupid."
She appeared behind him and clutched his shoulders. A split second later, the vortexes above collapsed right after Andreas threw himself into one.
And in the cave, only the pulsing beat of Earth's core remained. Prometheus and Luna were gone.