Within the black soot-covered depths of the six Great Sects' destroyed jade mine, a few figures rushed into a slanted cavern half-filled with an underground lake.
This was the place where Rein had parted ways with Wilo after he decided to allow Wilo to leave with the ancient relic, effectively abandoning his chance of returning to the Halls as a hero.
Wahrzein had sped out of the depths of the mine, his mind and body tortured by a dark invasive power, his skin covered with radiating black cracks while emitting an odor of decay.
The telekinetic advancers that had remained around the jade mine quickly devised the cause and dashed downwards. However, they were too late.
By the time they had arrived, all they could see was a completely serene underground lake, with scorch marks across the ground on the non-lake half.
The two Harmony Sect Leaders, Meynzy and Aihr, channeled aurae into gasping-in-pain Wahrzein. Wahrzein's body gradually regained harmony as the black cracks slowly disappeared, replaced by bloody scabs.
"Speak, child," Overseer Jeahz demanded harshly. If he could have his way, he would have allowed Wahrzein to die a grisly death. After all, this man had infiltrated the Hall of Heroes. However, to maintain the current peace, it was best to leave the man alive. The Halls had already struck a devastating blow by wrecking the jade mine-- Overseer Jeahz did not wish for the Great Sects' to lash out with no regard for self-preservation like a cornered dog. That could lead to too chaotic a situation. Well. Specifically the Uni Sect.
Wahrzein, still gasping for breath, spat out an explanation regarding what he had witnessed here.
"Rein… Rein," Overseer Jeahz recalled the young man's face. "Ah. the youngling that had an exceptionally hardy body, likely a descendent carrying an ancient fiend's bloodline. He must have fallen here, consumed by the tree demon."
Wahrzein, having stabilized somewhat, bowed in thanks to the two Harmony Sect Leaders. He had a frown on his face. He recalled that when he was disguised as Chirh, he had seen Rein employ a semi-controlled fire breath ability. Yet, at the same time, Rein is simply not capable of disappearing into thin air. That man might have an explosive and speedy lightning-based acceleration ability, but that should resound in this enclosed environment if he attempted to escape.
As for Rein being in hiding? The divine sense of telekinetic advancers would easily identify his position. Still, Wahrzein struggled to believe that Rein was dead.
Although Wahrzein wasn't completely certain that Rein had fallen, he also wasn't about to reveal his misgivings to Overseer Jeahz. It would be far better for the Uni Sect to be the only one searching for Rein and the ancient relic, so he determined.
"So. that child has fallen!" Gustkr laughed. "A pity it was not by my hand!"
Overseer Jeahz waved his right arm, and every single droplet of water was telekinetically lifted into the air. The underground lake was quite literally lifted into a floating water mass.
His unseen divine sense swept out. Only the other telekinetic advancers present could sense his exploration of the environment.
"An escape route created by the tree demon…? No. It has the aura of the Endflower. The Endflower must have carved a path underground and positioned itself here long ago. Then the tree demon must have escaped through the route," Overseer Jeahz concluded with a sigh. "The two must have been in cooperation long before this day."
"We must give chase!" Wahrzein blurted out as his eyes beseeched the telekinetic advancers of the six Great Sects. Frankly, he was embarrassed with his own carelessness. The tree demon that is Wilo was not particularly strong, but he had failed to account for the possibility that Wilo had the knowledge to open the ancient relic chest.
"Young fool," Gustkr snorted as he turned to leave. "The Endflower became a telekinetic plant demon, and has likely prepared many traps while patiently waiting down here. Only their own kind will know the method to pass safely by those traps. If you wish to die a dog's death, then go ahead."
Wahrzein's face became flushed. If he had paused to think, he would have reached this conclusion as well. It was simply that he had rarely failed in the past. His mission to the Hall of Heroes had ended with no gains for the Uni Sect. He was likely to receive some form of punishment from his master.
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Rein found himself back within the hidden crevice of the Bleak Mountains. After Master Yirn snapped his fingers, his mind became hazy for a heartbeat. Once it cleared, he had arrived at his current location. He was about to 'interrogate' Master Yirn, wondering if all recent events were some sort of grandiose test by this supposed ancestor of humanity. Yet before he could satisfy his curiosity, a faint foreign voice began whispering in his ears, in a language that was both familiar and foreign.
He tilted his head to ascertain the source of these whisperings, and soon discovered that these whisperings were in his head, and not from his surroundings! The foreign voice lasted for a few breaths of time and faded into silence.
"So. You've begun to hear the echoes," Master Yirn grumbled. "Damn voices of fallen gods."
"They're not… dead?" Rein only knew that origin abilities, a unique affinity with certain aspects and elements of world phenomena, are said to be echoes of the fallen gods. Supposedly, the gods were beings born during the beginning of the many realms. As a result, each of them became tightly intertwined with specific laws of the universe. It is precisely because of this that Rein could naturally wield portal-based spatial powers like an instinctual reflex.
Beyond that? Rein knew little. So far, he had been more than content to have a magical art that he could rely upon in a crunch. At least, as long as he was careful to obscure his usage to avoid the zealous eyes of all, especially the Origin Organisations.
"Fallen gods," Master Yirn harrumphed while glaring at Rein. "Not dead gods."
Of course. Rein recalled that as long as the many realms continue to exist, then the laws of the universe will remain. The gods simply will not die, linked to the laws as they are.
"These voices of fallen gods. It is unknown what exactly they desire. Yet the stronger one becomes, the more of their voices you will understand. However, you must know that the fallen gods do not speak with one voice," Master Yirn warned gravely. "And beware of having your mind bent to the will of the echo of your specific fallen god."
Rein frowned, unsure of what to make of this new knowledge. If even Master Yirn could not discern the desire of this mysterious voice, then who could? After all, from the visions he had inherited from the draconic metamorphose bead, Master Yirn actually lived through the Age of Gods!
"Can they… rise again?" Rein asked.
"Not in the physical sense," Master Yirn grinned confidently, and his back straightened, momentarily dispelling his ancient slump. "As other forms of existence? They can certainly try."
"How did they fall?" Rein had always wanted to know. All say that 'Ancestor Yirn' was responsible for bringing down those ancient gods. This, he had come to know after spending time in the Hall of Heroes.
"The twelve hells were once the twelve heavens, twelve factions of the ancient gods," Master Yirn slumped back into his seemingly exhausted posture, his words returning to somewhat of a more jumbled grumble. "They warred against one another over minor disputes and eventually destroyed one another."
"The thousand realms in existence?" Master Yirn continued his explanation. "They are all interlinked in a way incomprehensible to the human mind. Our minds are unable to perceive this hidden link properly-- the best our minds can do is create the image of the stars above our heads."
"When the gods warred, eventually the ancient hell realms crumbled into nothingness. The order of laws and nature in the twelve heavens began to crumble, the aurae within their realms chaotic like the stormy seas. Thus, they became the new hellish realms."
Rein widened his eyes. That would mean anything relating to the ancient gods mostly exists in the twelve hells of modern times.
"Was it all just a test?" Rein suddenly asked. That was the question on his mind before the familiar yet foreign voice whispered in his mind. After all, it was Master Yirn who had sent him to the Hall of Heroes. And this ancient master must have abilities incomprehensible to him.
"Come." Master Yirn simply snapped his fingers again. Rein's vision became hazy for a heartbeat, and when it cleared again, he found himself on a barren peak of the Bleak Mountains, his feet surrounded by the black soot.
"Look west," Master Yirn said as he pressed a finger to the back of Rein's skull.
Rein's vision seemed to expand and 'fly', eventually settling on the Xuere Gap. There he saw the demon beast tide rolling back westward, away from the fortress defending the Xuere Gap. The first circle of the fortress had been breached, and corpses laid everywhere. He recognized Zyne and Lyne, among other Xuere elders and branch heads confused as they watched the black tide retreat. Wilo had kept her promise.
He initially had some reservations about letting go of the opportunity to return to the Hall of Heroes with the ancient relic, and gain the necessary plaudits and support to grow in power. Witnessing this sight, his misgivings were dispelled. For the Xuere Clan to escape mostly unscathed-- his heart felt at peace with that result.
"Do you understand?" Master Yirn asked. "Do not lose faith in your path."
"I…" Rein wasn't sure if Master Yirn was answering his question in a roundabout way. "Do you know of my path?"
"There is no singular path, and even similar individuals will have variation in their paths. Beware of revealing the full extent of your path to others-- it may be catastrophic to do so," Master Yirn warned.
A breeze struck their position on the Bleak Mountains, and Master Yirn's face paled.
"You and I are on separate paths. That is why you can only be a half-disciple. Now, allow me to give you one final lesson," he said.
Rein's ears perked up attentively. He was only going to listen-- it was not his place to question Master Yirn's assessment-- in time, he will likely understand.
"Your origin ability, in appearance, is a spatial-related ability," Master Yirn explained. "Yet what exactly drives the ability of connecting two points in space, allowing one to travel from one location to another?"
Rein was not given the chance to answer. Frankly, he could think of no answer, and Master Yirn knew that Rein would need much time to arrive at an answer. Time that he did not have.
"Here's a small tip," Master Yirn spoke quickly, opting to provide Rein with a small but critical push. "Each realm is in a stable state, wrapped in a protective bubble. What does it take to create an opening in this… stable and orderly state?"
"...chaos." Rein's mind shook as he concluded based on Master Yirn's suggestive words.
"Indeed. A chaotic force must be present to break that protective bubble."
"Yet the spatial tunnel connecting departure and arrival point is an orderly route through a chaotic dimensional space," Rein frowned as his thoughts attempted to understand the nature of his origin ability.
"You are, once again, correct. A cup half-full and half-empty with tea, one might say," Master Yirn nodded. "The rest-- that is for you to explore and comprehend."
Another gust struck their position, and Master Yirn, already pale, took a deep nervous breath.
He flicked his right sleeve, three wooden totems expanded from the dark depths within his sleeve.
"Infuse your spatial aurae into these three totems," Master Yirn hurriedly requested. "We are out of time."
Rein saw no reason to deny Master Yirn of this request. The ancient master had played a critical role in training him. What worried him was Master Yirn's unsettled state.
"Faster! The Allfather is coming."
Hearing that such a transcendental being was approaching, Rein's heart naturally entered turmoil. Why did Master Yirn not immediately escape, and instead chose to pass on knowledge to him? Once again, there was also a glaring question-- Ancestor Yirn should be of a comparable strength to the Allfather, surely? After all, Ancestor Yirn is believed to have played a role in the ancient gods' fall!
Rein did his best to drag spatial aurae from his body to the surface, creating a flow into the three totems through touch. He discovered that this process had become as easy as lifting a finger. In the past, it was a struggle, but now that he had become a shell advancer, there was no longer any force blocking his aurae from rising to his skin.
After the three totems were infused with Rein's spatial aurae, Master Yirn snapped his fingers once again, and they returned to the village within the hidden crevice of the Bleak Mountains. Rein wondered what sort of advancer art this might be-- it certainly was not teleportation yet seemingly had the same effect.
It had been many months since Rein had seen the villagers, supposedly poor souls that Master Yirn had saved over the many years.
"Xeeran. It is time to leave." Master Yirn did not speak aloud. His voice simply resounded in everyone's minds.
Xeeran, who Rein once struck out against due to the man's disguise as a bandit, rushed out of a mud brick hut.
"Master. Your orders will be followed to the letter," he said as he dropped onto his knees and pressed his forehead against the ground.
Master Yirn handed over a totem to Xeeran. Xeeran rushed to the center of the village. The other villagers were already dragging sacks and carts of their belongings after hearing Master Yirn's voice in their heads.
A violent gust of winds suddenly whistled through the village within the hidden crevice. By now, Rein realized that these gusts of wind must be from a warning system, a feature of the protective formation placed over the Bleak Mountains.
Master Yirn grumbled something incoherent under his breath, and handed a totem to Rein.
"Take this to your third half-senior. He is within the underground area, arranging all that we have gathered over the years." Master Yirn had a scowl on his face. "Leave this place afterwards. Remember-- remain in the shadows. Perhaps one day, we will cross paths once again."
Rein nodded as he recalled the tower in the underground wonderland that carried much recorded unique knowledge.
Xeeran and the many villagers cooperated to channel a vast amount of aurae into the totem, and soon, a large blackish-purple sphere formed.
Rein now understood why Master Yirn had requested him to infuse his spatial aurae into the three totems. Infused with his origin ability, the instinctual laws within allows the teleportation channel inscription etched on the totem to activate at a rapid pace, when supplied with sufficient aurae. Normal spatial advancers would need a significantly longer time to create a new portal.
Xeeran and the other villagers each crushed a bead that wrapped them in a protective energy and vanished into this portal with their belongings. As the spherical portal closed behind them, the sky above astonishingly cracked open! An enormous dark hole opened up and a gigantic hand descended downwards, the thumb and four fingers functioning as five pillars of a cage, stabbing down to surround Rein and Master Yirn.
A defensive formation reacted as many hidden items buried within the black soot of the Bleak Mountains activated, forming many layers of triangular prisms that combined to create a pyramidal shield structure. It proved ineffective. That descending divine palm collided against the shield, causing it to instantly shatter into a thousand pieces, accompanied by an ear-ringing crackling sound.
"Quickly! Go!" Master Yirn struck forth with a palm, throwing Rein towards the winding passageway that leads to the underground wonderland.
Rein entered the passageway, only to run headlong into his half-senior Chirh. As Rein now had a unique tempered body, Chirh was knocked backwards. Luckily, this half-senior of his was already wrapped in a protective cloudy shell of his yellow aurae, and thus sustained no injuries.
"Dear! What was that!" A stressed woman's voice asked. Rein recognized the voice to belong to Chenhr's wife.
"It's fine. Just my half-junior." Chenhr did not berate Rein for their unintended clash, for the situation was dire.
Rein grasped Chenhr's hand and pulled his half-senior to his feet as Xeelsi and their child, Dusen, appeared from the passageway.
"My traitorous brother arrived early and ambushed us. Luckily, he fell into a formation trap, and is temporarily-"
"Third brother!" A breathy enthusiastic male voice sounded through the passageway. "Do you not see my progress? I have already become an outer advancer! Look at you! Blasphemer Yirn found the two of us at a similar time, yet his teachings have only held you back. Under the Allfather's methods, my progress tripled, no longer limited by a rejection of psychedelics, boosted by a unique world for conditioning!"
"Twelve hells," Chenhr swore as he grasped his wife, Xeelsi's hand while his other arm picked up Dusen.
"We must find a safe location to activate the totem!"
The four of them rushed out of the passageway, and climbed the path out of the hidden crevice.
They were close to the exit when a wave of chaotic aurae swept towards them. Normally, those under the outer realm are unable to perceive aurae in the environment. It is usually only under intense clashing of advancer abilities that such a phenomenon might occur.
Seeing Chenhr burdened with his wife and child, Rein instinctually placed himself at the forefront to block this aurae wave, a remnant force resulting from Master Yirn and the Allfather's clash, no doubt.
Rein could only tank this aurae wave with his hardy body. He dared not wrap his body in his dark mirror, for if the aurae wave passed through him, its power might severely injure Dusen.
He was not the only one that attempted to block the aurae wave. Xeelsi, too, stepped forth and aurae flowed to surround her skin in a soft light green cloud. Indeed, Rein now faintly recalled that Xeelsi had actually become a shell advancer some time ago, and was patiently waiting for Chenhr to become one as well. Meanwhile, Chenhr activated his origin ability, and an expansive zone around the four was filled with his thick earthy aurae.
The chaotic aurae wave struck and sent them flying out of the crevice. They connected with the ground and tumbled down the slopes of the Bleak Mountains. Chenhr wrapped Dusen tightly with his arms, while a thick protective cloud of earthy aurae with a powerful outward expelling force absorbed the impact.
Rein and Xeelsi had far harder landings, but neither received any injuries.
When the four oriented themselves again, their eyes were drawn to Master Yirn battling against an elderly man on a peak of the Bleak Mountains, directly above the hidden crevice.
The elderly man was the other clone that the Allfather had sent down to the Zoh Empire. Upon the death of the boyish clone, the elderly clone, of wrinkled skin and long flowing grayed hair, had rushed westward.
Then, there was the gigantic ephemeral hand, with five fingers caging the elderly man and Master Yirn. That hand was so humongous that only the forearm could be seen despite the arm having descended from a hole high in the sky.
The elderly man dressed in a gold and silver robe repeatedly clashed against Master Yirn's murky green form. Rein, unfortunately, was unable to discern the flow of battle, for the two fought in such quick exchanges that Rein could not keep track of their bodies.
What he could perceive was that there seemed to be a half-zone completely filled with one aura belonging to Master Yirn's and the other half was filled with the elderly man's foreign aura. The two auras seemed to be struggling for primacy.
A pillar of light encased Master Yirn. The elderly clone responded as a pillar of light also encased him.
When the two sources of blinding light disappeared, both Master Yirn and the elderly man had become roughly gigantic forms of their normal bodies. Roughly, because while Master Yirn seemed similar in appearance, there seemed to be a vibrating golden energy exuding from his head. As for the gigantic elderly man, his body now carried a number of animalistic features such as a pair of white wings and two curling horns, a tiger's razor teeth, some sort of scaled skin among other features. A gleaming wheel that with an enchanting starscape split into twelve sections spun behind his back.
A vibrating wave propagated from the Master Yirn's enlarged form, and the supersized elderly man's wheel accelerated its spin in response. Once again, the two auras clashed and were evenly matched. The clashing of their aurae wiped out the mountain peak, causing the two combatants to sink into a crater as sand and stone exploded outwards.
It was then that a sort of barrier formed surrounding Master Yirn and the elderly clone. Rein could tell because that translucent barrier had wrapped around the two and warped the image much like a spherical glass ball would.
Now, the palm acted once again. It had originally been shaken by the transformation of Master Yirn into his giant form.
"Silly restrictive realm will. Away with you!" An angered otherworldly said and the palm pressed down once again as the five finger-pillars glowed with a heavenly power. The palm first shattered that translucent barrier, then pressed down upon the gigantic form of Master Yirn.
Master Yirn slumped down onto one knee in a struggle to hold up the divine palm, and his enlarged form slowly decreased in size. His image flickered, and Rein, though gazing from a distance, discovered that Master Yirn's face had transformed into a familiar face-- the face of Xune, who he had seen many times! After all, Xune's statue stood in front of the Hall of Heroes branch in the Green Trout City!
The divine palm paused in motion as well, in response to the image of Xune.
Master Yirn then hollered and pushed his palms upwards, and the divine hand shattered! Once shattered, the hole in the sky began to close as well. Master Yirn's form flickered as he returned to his usual appearance.
"Blasphemer Yirn!" A deep resonating divine voice roared from the closing hole. "You dare use the image of my dead son against me?! To this day, I still hold a degree of reverence for you. To think you would turn to such an underhanded method. You truly have fallen!" The Allfather might be prepared for such an underhanded method from others, but certainly not Yirn!
That voice carried such power that Rein felt his ears ringing and his head seemingly melting into incoherence.
With that gigantic hand gone, neither Master Yirn nor the elderly clone could maintain their gigantic form. Both of them returned to their normal human size. That divine palm had prevented the laws of the Fusion Realm from restricting the capabilities of both Master Yirn and the elderly man.
Master Yirn did not bother replying to that voice, and instead clapped his hands together. He transformed into a needletail to accelerate away. The elderly man transformed into a hawk and dove towards the needletail. What followed was a mess of a shapeshifting battle, where all sorts of imitations of various beings were used in an attempt to create advantage. Some, Rein could recognize, while other forms had appearances that only exist in mythological tales.
A thrown claw seemingly carrying a sun was accompanied by a windy aurae burst, then a serpent-like creature shot a vortex of spiralling water at the other. By now, Rein could no longer differentiate who was Master Yirn and who was the elderly man.
A winged white tiger transformed back into Master Yirn, who snapped his fingers, causing a few dozen portals to appear around him. He vanished into one. The elderly clone pursued and entered the same portal.
"Now is the time," Chenhr said. "Our activation of the portal will no longer draw the Allfather-- his clone or servant's attention. Come with us for now. Although Master Yirn intended for us to separate such that your existence will remain unknown to others, I cannot, in good conscience, leave you here, knowing that my traitorous brother is in the area."
Thus, Xeelsi and Dusen each crushed a bead to gain a protective anti-void shell. As for Rein, he feared not the chaotic aurae in that spatial dimension. Chenhr has a thick earthy cloud for protection. Rein activated the third totem. Though he himself lacked the required volume of aurae, Chenhr had copious amounts of aurae due to the nature of his origin ability. A blackish-purple sphere rapidly formed.
The four of them minimized into the blackish-purple sphere, entering a tunnel with streams of blazing light as its walls.
"A pity. It seems you will not come to our side despite the obvious benefits." That breathy enthusiastic voice had returned! "Third brother. This will be your end. You should have made the intelligent choice."
Rein turned his head around, and his eyes came upon a pursuing figure of a man. This man had perfectly combed and waxed short black hair atop of a thin and pale face. His eyes were flat lines behind a set of metal black spectacles. Though his loyalties should now be with the Allfather, the man did not wear the Halls' robes. Instead, he was in a set of loose scholarly black robes over pure white garments. His form emitted a wavy flickering light-based shell for his protection against the thin void energy within the spatial tunnel.
"Fuck," Chenhr swore. "Go on ahead." He placed Dusen into Xeelsi's arms.
"No, I can-"
"He needs you. You are not suited for combat within a spatial tunnel! This is my role!" Chenhr cut off Xeelsi's protestations and with a push, sent Xeelsi and Dusen farther ahead. Generally, only outer realm advancers would dare to enter a spatial tunnel without activating a protective bead. In most cases, even outer advancers would opt to activate a bead as precaution, such that they would not need to expend their own aurae to battle against the encroaching thin void energy within the tunnel.
"Rein. You as well," Chenhr ordered then spat venomously. "My useless half-junior. You will only be a piece of devil shit if you stay."
Rein shook his head. Those other disciples that had abandoned Master Yirn supposedly all had origin abilities. He doubted Chenhr could face this traitorous brother on his own.
"As if I would even give you the opportunity, new brother."
Rein felt a hand tug at his ankles, and knew that it was an aurae tendril belonging to this mysterious traitorous brother! It was true that the man had become an outer advancer.
Luckily for Rein, Chenhr reacted in the blink of an eye, releasing a thick earthy aurae burst that shattered the unseen aurae tendril that was attempting to pull Rein backwards by the ankle.
Inscriptions on the man's spectacles then lit up as he lifted a forearm-sized metallic ornamented comb-like weapon with a dense cyan glow. That meant the comb was fully infused with limpite, and was a weapon quite effective at conducting aurae!
This was the first time Rein had seen someone using a comb-shaped weapon. He wasn't about to laugh. He had long learned from Blacksmith Rahr that anything can be turned into a weapon. It was a matter of inscription, form and surface architecture that guided and augmented advancer arts.
The scholarly man performed a raking motion in the air with the metal comb as the inscriptions over its surface lit up. To Rein's alarm, many needle-thin dense aurae lines shot out from each of the fine teeth of the comb, which shot towards Rein and Chenhr.
He raked his comb repeatedly. The barrage of needle-like lines pummeled relentlessly against Chenhr's thick earthy aurae cloud, causing wisps of the shield to disperse under a sizzling heat.
"Zaihz, you traitorous bastard!" Chenhr roared as he channeled his aurae to retain the shape of a protective cloud around himself and Rein.
"Third brother. How long will you last, continuously pouring out your aurae in this forceful expulsion defense?" Zaihz adjusted his spectacles with his free left hand, while unceasingly raking the metal comb in his right hand to launch an endless flow of needle rays.
"His origin ability is foresight!" Chenhr informed Rein as he concentrated on adjusting his aurae flow, transforming the surrounding earthy cloud into a somewhat more compact form. "You've met that man named Godeyes, yes? Godeyes can see many things near and far in detail, and analyze the abilities of others, identifying strengths and weaknesses. Some do confuse these as similar origin abilities, but they are different. Effectively, Zaihz can perceive a number of your chosen next actions once your mind 'acts'!"
At this moment, one of those needle-thin lines stabbed into Chenhr's thick aurae cloud, winding and zigzagging in some odd random motion as if travelling through a maze. To Rein's shock, the needle-thin aurae line successfully travelled through Chenhr's adjusted aurae cloud despite its seemingly chaotic path, and stabbed towards Chenhr's heart! Chenhr barely reacted in time to shift his body, grunting as the needle-thin line pierced through his left shoulder. An explosive release of aurae from his body shattered that invasive needle-thin line.
"My my. You wanted to limit your aurae expenditure and opted to form a defensive formation with your expelled aurae cloud," Zaihz smiled genially. "Of course, I can foresee your actions. I can foresee your creation of the formation defense. And the Allfather has long prepared me for penetrating such defenses. You have no choice but to expel all of your stored aurae simply to block my 'Endless Swimming Ray' art. Then, you will die."