Chapter 406 - Second Seal

Kresnik, Heaven's Flame Emperor stood in the midst of carnage with his eyes glowing. The oppressing aura surrounding him only grew stronger as he killed. In just a few seconds, all the elementals that were left were scorched and turned to ashes. 

Ah…

Alinea almost smiled. She could now totally understand why the Koutaishidenka of the Homura House refrained from personally handling things with the company and the clan itself and let Kazehaya Gin managed everything that needed dealing with other people. She now understood why Homura Ryuu was raised trained in delicate arts. It was to curb this temper of his. Wild like his flames, the real Kresnik was a walking active volcano that erupted at the slightest provocation. 

This young master had been sealed from his natural instinct since becoming a Returner to Ancestry. Now that Kresnik was finally released, Alinea would let him vent as he wished. 

"Go ahead, love. We'll just follow you," Alinea called and Kresnik looked up at her. 

The Flame Emperor of Heaven remained unmoving for a while as he looked up at his wife and Alinea had to wave at him, signaling him that he could go before he did. Ryuu turned his back on them and faced the forward, towards the deeper part of the cavern. He released more of his divine powers that surrounded his body making the atmosphere around him more oppressive that even Ali and the others could feel. But since he was far from them, it was only a small force. 

Without further ado, Ryuu's flames grew, the blue fire lifting him up, and he disappeared in front of them, leaving only an afterimage. However, to the eyes of the demigods, he merely flew so fast from his position and continued forward towards the second seal and proceeded on paving their way, killing everything that came in his path. 

"Wow… and here I was thinking Your Imperial Majesty was already wild," Fredek told Ivan who just grinned. 

"I told you…" The Kres Emperor almost said that it was in the genes but stopped himself in time. He didn't want to remind Ali about his lineage at the moment. 

"Take your mounts out. The cavern's huge inside and deeper than we first thought," Fredek ordered the soldiers. 

The interior of the cavern was a lot bigger and the distance of the first seal to the second was farther than what they had first thought. They didn't bring physical mounts earlier since they were not familiar with the cavern. But now that they could see the very spacious underground lair, they had to agree that walking would take time and spending energy unnecessarily was not on their agenda. Besides, they needed to catch up with Kresnik. 

One by one, they took out a summoning crystal, the one they use to call forth elementals to use whenever and wherever in case of emergency. However, the summoned beasts in a form of winged horses only had a limit of four hours. When the time was up, they would vanish immediately. 

People in Ged didn't have modern gadgets but they had items that were magical. The crystals used to summon themselves were naturally golden in color. But while the summon beasts were out they gradually changed their hues, turning duller as time passed until they turned gray. This indicated that time was up and the summoned beasts would vanish. 

In no time, the summoned beasts appeared one by one and the group didn't waste time to mount. As for Ivan, Alinea, and Fredek, the emperor summoned his twin elementals for him and Fredek since the latter's elemental was a tornado. It would be dangerous to call it there. As for Alinea, she had called Aurel. 

At Ivan's signal, they followed after Kresnik who had continued his massacre of Czernobog's forces he came across. Their journey was smooth as they didn't run into any enemy. The glided past burnt remains of elementals as they traversed around stalactites and stalagmites that littered the place. There was also a lush jungle below as they flew. They also came across cave pearls formed over centuries or even millennia as water dripped down, dried up and left layers of calcite crystals on grains of sand. 

The cavern would have been an interesting place to explore if it weren't for the fact that dangerous elementals lurked the place. Also, the stench of the place made breathing hard to do much less appreciation. It was a good thing Kresnik had burned everything including the carcasses already cannibalized by the elementals. The burnt smell covered the rotten odor which the troops were most grateful. 

They continued on following Kresnik who meticulously did his part. He made sure none was spared as he wouldn't let any to harm Alinea's group before they reached the second seal. At around nine kilometers deep, their group finally reached the second seal. 

Kresnik sealed his divine aura within him once more just in time for the others to arrive. "Come here," he called Alinea who obediently got off Aurel and stood next to him on the side. 

Ivan, Fredek, and the soldiers would be the ones to enter first as they would serve as tanks. Ali would be at the rear as she had to keep herself from fighting and save all her energy for the Black God. 

As they agreed upon, Ryuu took out a crystal storing Stribog's condensed power. He snapped it in two and a blast of wind shot up to the roof of the cavern towards the surface then towards the sky. 

It was the same signal Gin had used earlier to let Perun know that they had finally reached their destination. Soon, a familiar violet oracle appeared below them before it became smaller in size that fit the opening of the deeper lair. Just like the first seal, several runes shifted as it turned clockwise and then counterclockwise before dispersing. 

"It's open…" Ivan stated and everyone waited in attention. 

Ivan and the others grinned. It was a good start for them. Most of the monsters within were a lot powerful than the ones which could go to the first seal's area. 

"Go!"