Death... and me

Roan considered that option. 'And what if it is the part of the Foundation Pillar itself? It is one thing to refine the 'impurity' that is the Remnant Energy of the Extinction Sphere. But would you refine the entire Pillar?'

Rean shrugged his shoulders. 'You are getting too ahead. How could I know if I can refine that thing or not? For now, I would rather just focus on this Fragment alone. If I am successful, then we can think about the Pillar. Besides, it is still not guaranteed that part of the Pillar turned out like this.'

Roan had to admit Rean was right. 'Very well, refining this Fragment it is, then. Will you need me to concoct that tempering oil again?'

Rean shook his head. 'I don't know. I don't even know if I can refine it like any normal ore. Well, many of the Divine Ores we got up to this point had different refinement methods, so it doesn't bother me.'

[Ahem...] Sister Orb then called their attention. [As I mentioned, the energy of the Fragment is harmful to the system. If you wish to use the Blacksmith Workshop, you will have to bring everything outside first. DO NOT bring that thing inside since the Control Orb is derived from the Foundation Pillar.]

Rean knew that. 'Obviously.'

Huban noticed that the twins went silent and thought they had given up. "There is no need to feel down just because of what you found. Perhaps there is a way to circumvent this issue in the future. For now, it will stay here with me. I won't go back on my word. If you find a way to bring it away and get rid of the Extinction Sphere's Energy, just pay me a visit."

However, Rean quickly shook his head. "There is no need. I'm going to start on it soon."

Huban and the others were taken aback. "Work on it? Are you really serious about refining it to eliminate the harmful energy?"

Rean nodded. "That's the idea. I'm not sure if it will work, but I will give it a try. However, not today."

Roan agreed with him. "You need to go back to the war, or you might even lose the Merit Points you acquired so far."

"Exactly," Rean agreed with him. Rean then changed to soul messages between him and Roan. 'Also, we need to go back to the Dimensional Realm and buy the next levels of the three production upgrades.'

Huban found it hard to believe Rean would succeed. Nonetheless, he wasn't going to stop him. "Well, that's up to you. Nothing can destroy the Fragments, as far as I know, anyway. It will be here next time you wish to give it a try. Let's return."

Rean's group then followed Huban back, traversing the Spatial Gate. Following that, the Spatial Gate closed, once again sealing the Fragment inside.

Around a day later, Rean's group was ready to go back. Naturally, Essefy was with them too. "I already have your numbers here, so I can contact you at any time. Obviously, no one will be able to detect it either. Senior Huban, we will take our leave," said Rean.

Huban nodded, not minding it too much. "Sure, sure. It's not like I'm going anywhere, either." He then looked at Essefy. "I will have someone bring one of those badges into the communication tower's range. Make sure to send us daily updates on what is happening in the war. With this, our greatest issue with our resurgence, the lack of information, is covered."

"Leave it to me, Master Huban." Essefy immediately agreed, already back to his six-year-old humanoid form.

Rean was also given a token, which would resonate with the Essence Race's Underground City Gate. That way, he wouldn't be attacked by the gate anymore once he returned. Last but not least, Landeau kept Rean's group inside the exceptions for the Divine Sense Bliding Formation. That way, their Divine Sense wouldn't be seeing just a gray mist anymore while they were in the range of the Formation.

Returning to the surface, Rean and Kentucky immediately spread their Divine Senses. In the end, it was just like Joju mentioned. They could see that many of the buildings that still stood back when they arrived had been destroyed. The ruins were even more ruined now. That was proof that the Devils truly tried everything to uncover the secrets of these Ruins. Naturally, they failed in the end.

"I can't see any Devils in the range of my Divine Sense," Kentucky said.

Essefy wasn't surprised. "That's obvious. If there were still devils around, senior Landeau would have warned us before leaving the Underground City. Still, for them to be gone now, I believe it is safe to say that the humanoid army in this continent began its advance again."

Rean and Kentucky agreed with him. "Indeed. Anyway, should we go back to the Zandolf's army? I'm pretty sure they are confused about where Zandolf went."

"You can't tell them what happened, Rean," Essefy warned.

Rean knew that. "Don't worry, I don't intend to. Still, we need their teleport formations. Let's just go back, as I already have an excuse."

As they made their way back, they soon left the area dominated by the Devils and saw the first signs of the Realm of Gods' scouts. They were much further into the Devils' Territory, just like Essefy mentioned. Around a day later, they returned to the city where they first arrived through the Long-Distance Teleport Formation.

It's just that the moment they appeared, another Divinity Realm expert appeared to receive them. "So you finally appeared. I'm Lavanda, the temporary commander of this continent's army. I was told you went after Zandolf over a month ago. Where is he?"

Rean shook his head. "Wait! Zandolf is not back yet?! Shit! I thought I would finally be able to talk to him... We were trapped by a formation while investigating the ruins of the Essence Race, and it wasn't until a day ago that we finally managed to get free. We did not manage to find him in the end." It was simple but effective. In the end, no one could prove the contrary.