The floor shattered!
The steel plates warped as a shrieking sound echoed out from an invisible force. It was as if a mountain came crashing down from above. This was expected from gravity that was ten times greater than normal.
Any person caught under this pressure would have been crushed, shattered, or even worse, have their body burst.
Except for Aether, of course.
A bestial smile appeared on his face as he stood under the terrifying might of ten times gravitational force. Even as cracks spread across the ground, he stood relaxed without any care.
"Not a bad massage."
He clenched open and closed his hand before turning around and walking back the way he came.
Every step created a small crater on the ground before he finally exited the force descending down. And stopped in front of the stunned golden balls staring at him but uttering no words.
Reinhard rolled his shoulder with a chuckle. "Maybe I should see if a massage parlor still exist~"
"Is that all you can say!?"
Another golden orb laughed. "As expected of our Chief!"
One of them sighed before saying. "The gravity around here shouldn't be like this. This is too unstable…"
"Fascinating but if it's just gravity pressing down, then I can handle it."
"It might not be simple, look." One of the woman's golden balls jerked her form towards a direction.
"Oh? Now that's interesting." He held his chin, staring at the rubbles and jagged pieces floating up towards the ceiling. "Some areas also reverse gravity." He then moved a hand forward before he trembled as he felt the pressing pressure. "And some are still pressed down."
"And unfortunately there is no safe area, so you should-"
"Keep going."
"W-What, no! Even if your body can withstand the pressure, there is no reason to trouble yourself. Just go back and take the other path."
"How are you guys sure the other path isn't the same or worse than this?" His words made the golden orb fall silent. "No point in delaying and I can't keep the Witch waiting now."
Aether stepped before they could respond and felt the return of the pressure. He pushed forward through the terrifying gravitational force that struck his body over and over.
"All our hard work is going down the drain…" One of the golden balls stared in a daze.
"Why can't he just listen… Did he-"
"He actually did…"
Aether reaches the inverse gravity part in the next four steps to the disbelief of his spectators. He felt his body being yanked upwards towards the ceiling. He saw glass fragments pointing down towards him, leading his arms to blur and fragments to be blasted apart.
Then he landed on the ceiling, producing cracks on impact before kicking off towards the next crushing zone.
"..." Some of the golden balls had no words at how easily his body withstand the shift in pressure.
Aether body weight multiplied as he got dragged down once more towards the ground. But he simply pushed through with a smile, as every step further cracked the ground.
"He is insane." One of the golden balls muttered.
Aether lightly chuckled, they weren't wrong about that part. But in five seconds, he fully emerged from the distorting gravity area unharmed. He rolled his shoulder once more as he continued forward while the golden balls followed behind.
But some were grumbling, which was amusing.
Soon they fell silent as what lay beyond was an area filled with the dead. He counted ten skeletons, still wearing their tattered and dusty lab coats. He moved closer to one before crouching, noting some parts of their body was shattered or missing.
His eyes scan them with curiosity rather than sympathy or care. "You guys were close. A few more steps and you would have made it out of here."
He was about to get up but then paused as he noted something. His hand began moving through the skeleton body before he grabbed onto something metallic. He grabbed onto it before pulling out to see. It was a grey frame with cyan filaments tracing the barrel like glowing veins.
The tip hummed faintly, a halo of blue-white light crackling around it. It was an Etheric Firearm.
Aether stood, gripping the gun in his hand before pointing at an area filled with black mold. He pulled the trigger, leading to a blue light to shine before a blue bolt rushed out and smashed into the mold.
The mold was destroyed with a small hole forming in the wall. He then noted one of the fifteen blue dots around the gun had faded.
Aether chuckled before he opened up the connection. "Recognize this beauty?"
"This is that crazy bastard Vex prototype!" One of the golden balls came close to the gun. "He spent three years designing it… I didn't think he actually completed it."
"I heard he sent the full blue prints out before his end…" Another one muttered.
"Well I should thank him for giving me a weapon." Aether tucked the weapons away into his waistband.
"Are you really looting a corpse?"
"I prefer inheriting it~" Aether gestured to the skeleton. "I'm sure our dear doctor would be happy his creation ended up in my hand."
"Then can't you show some respect?!"
"I am." Aether chuckled as he moved past the skeleton. "Would you rather me leave it here to rot? Where no one can see or know about it?"
"That's-"
"Aether is right… Vex would have been happy if he took it." A golden orb sighed but swayed up and down.
He laughed but then paused and tilted his head. It wasn't just him but even the golden balls went quiet, staring at the same thing he was.
Down from the group of skeletons, were shadows burned into the metal wall. Some part showed arms reaching out, others were shadow faces without features, or just legs. It was as if these were flash imprints of people caught in whatever incident happened here.
"What did this?"
Silence.
"... A Domain."
He felt a chill run down his spine from those words. And for a moment, he thought he saw the shadows flinching.
As if they were still alive.