The Third Grand Star turned out to be the most challenging of all the stars for Adam. This ca as no surprise. It was exactly what he had expected, and he should have been prepared for it, just like any K4-Phantom wishing to reach the Second Circle.
However, at tis, Adam wondered just how different the Third Grand Star was from everything he had had to do before.
His first condition, the Highest Bliss, he was only able to obtain thanks to the Wandering Runes, which no longer worked. Moreover, he had mistakenly taken the Highest Bliss for the Blood of God, thinking that he needed Vaarh’s blood rather than a battle against him.
However, the Highest Bliss was still within the realm of what Adam was accustod to at the First Grand Star and Second Grand Star.
The Blood of God, here, at the second condition, things had actually changed.
In fact, Adam didn’t know what he would have done without Gladius’s help. Now, he realized that even though he didn’t want to, he had to thank not only Gladius and Xyrea, but Aiden as well.
Until recently, there were three vials of Queen Elisa’s blood in the entire world, but now there were only two left.
Adam didn’t know how Aiden and Gladius felt about Queen Elisa, but if they were the ones who had these vials, then there was definitely so connection between them.
In the end, Adam obtained the Highest Bliss and the Blood of God. Now, all that remained for him to do to create the Third Grand Star was to obtain the Bottomless Void - his final condition.
"Agh...?" Adam blinked several tis, staring at Aiden. "Do you know where I can find the Bottomless Void? How is that even possible?"
Unfortunately for Adam, Aiden shook his head.
"No. I am not capable of such miracles. No one is. However, I can tell you about a place where you will surely find answers. Given the na of your condition..." Aiden’s amber eyes grew deeper. "In my opinion, there is only one place that suits you."
A few monts later, Aiden continued:
"If you want to find the Bottomless Void, I advise you to go to the Gray Sea. It doesn’t matter which part you head to. You’ll end up in the right place."
Adam and Silvana exchanged glances.
First they’d heard about the Zero War, and now Aiden was talking about so Gray Sea.
"Gray Sea? What the hell is that?"
Before answering, Aiden pressed a button on the console.
A spotlight opened in the ceiling, and a hologram appeared in the middle of the hall.
The first thing Adam saw was the Citadel, a replica with three rings, the slums, the walls, and even the Lower Rings, as well as Heaven Island and Azure Island floating high above.
"This is a map of the Citadel." Aiden ran his hand over it. "If I want, I can access any street or house. Like this, for example."
Aiden snapped his fingers as the hologram zood in, showing them one of the parks at the First Ring. Then, they accessed caras in several restaurants and hotels before Aiden returned the cara to its original position.
"However, I’m not showing you this to spy on anyone. I have Gladius for that."
"Hey!" Gladius smirked. "I’m capable of much more than just being a spy! Though, I’ll admit, sotis I really do enjoy playing that role."
Ignoring Gladius’s comnt, Aiden spread his arms wide, zooming the hologram cara out.
He kept zooming out until the borders of new territories appeared to the north and south.
Adam already knew what he would see.
This was the beginning of the Primal Lands and Hallow Lands. Also, the map was full of small white dots, these were the Spires, as well as several white cubes marking the Bastions.
"As you can see, this map also shows all the Bastions and Spires. The registry also contains information on thousands of monster nests, strongholds, anomalous zones, and so on. But that’s not important to us right now. I won’t load the map and show you that."
Before Aiden could continue, Silvana’s voice rang out:
"Is... Is this all the information the mission departnt has?"
Aiden nodded. "Yes, but this map is based not only on their data, but also on that of the Gamma Division, the military, and the three main factions of the Citadel."
Then, Aiden zood the cara out even further, as two new territories appeared to the left and right, from the west and east.
"The Dark Shore and Tarnished Lands..." Adam muttered. "I thought they were the sa distance away as the Primal Lands and Hollow Lands."
"No, that’s wrong," Aiden said sharply. "If two people were to travel at the sa speed toward the Tarnished Lands and the Hollow Lands, one would reach the Hollow Lands faster, but the difference isn’t very great. The distance is about 20% greater."
Adam had thought several tis about how their world was structured. He understood that the Citadel was located at the center and surrounded by the Dead Lands and four other global territories.
He imagined a map of their world as a perfect circle, but in reality it was more like an oval shape.
"Now, the map shows all the territories Adam knows about. Sure, you haven’t been to the far reaches of the Tarnished Lands and the Dark Shore, but you’ve seen those lands and fought there."
Aiden paused before sweeping his arms out to the sides once more.
"However, that’s not all our world has to offer."
The map zood out significantly. All the territories beca smaller than they had been, even the Dark Shore and the Tarnished Lands.
Aiden did all this so that the circle surrounding their world would be clearly visible and its dinsions imdiately apparent.
"What is that circle?" Adam asked, staring at the map.
Aiden looked intently at him, his face devoid of emotion.
"That is the Gray Sea, Adam. Without exaggeration, it is the largest territory in our world. Its expanse is practically boundless."
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