Stefan POV-

With everyone ready to depart, Stefan made sure to check his weapons were fastened properly and at hand just in case just to do something about his nerves.

Tucker had mentioned earlier that the mobs had been spreading all over the world since the capture of Ianite, making any land a possible threat.

These mobs were different from the ones the others had encountered though.

In the island, the mobs wouldn't live very long because of threats such as the champions who had way too much free time on their hands and were happy to kill mobs early on. Most were too new to know to hide from the deathly rays of the sun, those that learnt and hid, eventually met the blades of his friends.

Away from the island, these mobs were unchallenged predators who learned to hide from the sun and fought wildly amongst each other for power. These creatures were not pushovers when it came to combat, and they still had the same thirst for killing humans as those on the island.

To further their concern, they no longer had the safety of the world communicator to bring them back from the dead. Though Stefan wasn't as used to it as the others, he had still grown to rely on it when it came to training.

Now one swift move from these skilled mobs, and he would be dead for good.

So everyone took precautions... well except for the pirates who claimed to be skilled enough to fight in the environment they have been roaming for years.

Stefan was glad everyone brought crates full of different kinds of armor for the trip. Full body armor, light armor, and enough weapons that everyone could have their weight's worth on them.

Since he wasn't as skilled of a fighter as the others, he was given full body armor that was a little heavy at first but was surprisingly easy to move around in, making running a viable task should he need to.

As for weapons, Stefan settled for what he was comfortable with, stuff he had trained with. A simple sword rested across his back, a few daggers on his belt for easy access, and enough potions (of his own making) to keep him alive. Strength potions, invisibility potions, and since Rupert claimed the place was along the coast, Stefan took some water breathing potions as well.

Claire on the other hand had decided to wear much lighter armor, simple, thin, but strong armor. It now rested comfortable along her arms, shoulders, chest, back, and knees to cover her skin from openings during a fight.

She also claimed that this armor was better for her since she was somewhat skilled with a bow, which she strapped across her back along with a few arrows on a simple quiver. Aside from her long distance attack preparations, she took a sword and daggers as well for other instances.

Though Stefan still had his usual clothes under his armor, Claire had been given clean clothes by Sonja. Claiming Claire had to look presentable in front of her god, so she gave his best friend a flowing long sleeve blue shirt along with matching pants that reached un to her knees but were silky enough to look like a skirt. Presentable and easy to fight in, or so Sonja claimed.

Regardless of the workability of her clothes, Claire looked fierce and beautiful as always. When he told her as such, she had just smacked his arm playfully and complemented him on his own looks as well, which had left him a bit dumbfounded to say the least.

The others varied in their choices as well, but they mostly kept to light armor like Claire and various weapons and potions.

Once they flew closer to their destination, Stefan couldn't help but marvel at the magnitude and distance the ruins of Ianera resided in. From up high, the ruins seemed to expand as far as the horizon!

Aside from its outstanding size, it was rather dull to see all those broken buildings, destroyed bridges over the various rivers flowing into the mainland, and the giant castle that barely had any walls standing.

Despite the wreckage, it was clear that this city had been a thriving metropolis in its time.

As Stefan observed the ever nearing land once their descent had begun, he couldn't help but notice Claire seemed off.

He had debated asking her not to talk to Rupert earlier, knowing very well any talk with that man would end badly, but he also knew she had things to sort out with the pirates when it came to her guilt.

She had also mentioned how they all needed to work together, and she was willing to give it a try despite past troubles...but when the pirate died, their demeanor of peace seemed to have shifted.

Claire had been beaming like sunshine earlier, enough so to let go of all her worries and pain for a few minutes..it's not like she seemed depressed now, but just quiet and calculating.

He missed her smile too.

"Claire, are you doing ok?" he asked, turning away from the view and fully facing her.

She snapped out of whatever thoughts were distracting her and turned to him, her eyes instantly brighter.

"Yeah, just thinking of what we're gonna get ourselves into. If you're not comfortable going out there you could just stay on the ship with Dec and Champwan" she said, cringing at her own words

"Are you sure I'm the one who's uncomfortable?" he asked, pushing her loose hair strands behind her ear, noting the slight growth in length her hair had achieved this past year and a half with slight remorse.

"Ok! I'm worried about you! The first time I was attacked by mobs I hesitated and ended up being killed quite a few times before I had the guts to do it and the brains to know where to strike. You never got to encounter any mobs, much less kill one" Claire said, wrapping an arm across his waist "I'm worried you might get hurt. Please don't hate me for it."

Because the others were up at the navigating room of the vessel, Stefan freely relaxed and kissed the top of her head.

"You know I won't let you face that alone. We are in this together. Besides, I have an incredibly strong champion who has my back, what do I need to worry about?" he said

Claire snorted before looking up at him and twirling her finger along one of his untamed hair curls. He wished this world had hair products sometimes, he missed having manageable hair.

His best friend seemed to love his natural hair though, and every time she brought it up, it made him like it more and more.

"Sweet. But I'm serious, this kind of abandoned place is where people get ambushed and killed in horror movies Stef" she said, pointing at the land below.

"Then rest easy knowing horror movies aren't documentaries" he replied "I've got armor strong enough to survive getting hit by a car"

She sighed and quickly grabbed on to the railing, just in time as the ship landed on the water, rocking violently for a few seconds.

Once the ship had settled down, the others came back to the deck where he and Claire stood. There was a small gate right by where they were standing, below them, was a barely standing dock made out of light toned wood and filled with holes and purple particles in clusters here and there.

The three other champions stepped next to Claire, all of them looking at the docks below, listening for any sounds or any movement.

Once they deemed it worthy, the four champions nodded to each other and opened the small gate, and dropped a big wooden slab to connect the ship and docks.

After the champions descended, Claire looked back up and motioned for him to join.

Taking careful steps, he made it down the make shift ramp and stood at Claire's side.

Then Rupert and Amy followed, Bluebeard staying on the boat as watch in case they needed to make a quick escape or something attacked the boat while the priest and Champwan monitored the controls for a quick escape.

Once everyone was down safely, Bluebeard pulled up the wooden slab back on the ship and closed the gate, sending everyone a salute in good luck.

With that out of the way, the humans all now beheld the broken city of Ianite.

Claire POV-

This place was huge, and it had a very ominous aura to it despite belonging to her god.

It was also completely deserted.

No mobs to welcome them into their humble home, no Dianite to set their hopes on fire, sooo....so far so good?

It was slightly cloudy, adding on to the creepiness of the place, but the ocean breeze was a comfort and a blessing.

As she made her way towards the beach, being careful to test the wood's structure before stepping over it, Jordan noticed the clear burn marks on buildings, the random End particles all across the ground and structures, and the small belongings of the deceased individuals.

Thankfully there were no rotting bodies around, but there were much more painful reminders of the fate of this place. Cloaks buried partially under the sand bellow them, woven baskets torn to shreds, a burnt little doll at the end of the docks with a little eye button missing.

Rupert had been right. This was not a place of good memories to come back to, specially since Ianite had been the one to destroy it, which would explain the traces of his End magic.

No one said a word as they reached the wooden stairs leading them away from the beach and into the town above. Some steps had darkened stains on them, some had holes creating dangerous wooden spikes...

Still, everyone remained quiet until they reached the top and beheld the destroyed town.

Right before them was a vast street cutting through the town and ending a few miles away where a giant castle barely stood tall.

All the houses on both sides of the stone walkway had broken windows, broken down doors, and sings from stores that dangled by a thread, making horrible screeching noises as they passed by.

The writing on most sings had faded with time or were covered with the same dark stains of dried up blood. Nevertheless, Jordan managed to read a few of them...

Flower shop.

Bakery.

Blacksmith.

Toy Store.

Jordan had never seen destruction of this magnitude in person. Sure she had seen the remains of bombed towns after WW2 in an English class movie, but she had never felt it.

Jordan looked back at her party who was following somberly and staring widely at the towering buildings around them.

The two pirates would stop at times at specific stores or homes they seemed to recognize, closing their eyes and whispering words Jordan couldn't hear.

The others were quiet, but not surprised in the least like her and Stefan were.

Rupert had mentioned how they had all seen their homes destroyed, all lost everything they knew and loved. This must be a familiar sight for them, perhaps a reminder of their own homes and times of the war.

Though there were other pathways branching on all sides, everyone decided on keeping to the main road to look inside the castle first. If Ianite was here, it was likely he would be at his castle, If not, they would at least get a good view point of most of the city from up there.

Then, as Jordan had expected, her friends began to talk and joke in an attempt to clear the somber mood. It wasn't out of disrespect, but it was just their safety mechanism.

When things got too serious, they joked and laughed to make the best out of the situation, it was just their way.

So Jordan didn't reprimand Tom when he started running around the place, looking into the buildings to see what he could find and possibly steal.

She didn't fight Tucker when he made comments about how cool it was to see Ianera or how excited he was to see her mysterious god again.

Sonja would stop by some places along the way with flowers she picked up from the cracks between the stone pathway, placing them over piles of bones resting against the walls of the buildings.

Once they were halfway up the ascending pathway, the two pirates stopped dead in front of a small home next to a crumbling shoe shop. The home was just two stories high like most buildings, and it's stone walls seemed to have been painted a lighter color in its youth.

When Amy fell to her knees, Jordan knew exactly what that building was.

Home. Their home.

Everyone, even Tom, had the good sense not to comment, they just told them to take their time and that they would meet them up at the castle.

So the party of seven turned into five as they continued up, signs of the sun beginning its descent at their backs, orange and yellow light enveloping the buildings around them.

Around half an hour later, the champions and Stefan found themselves in front of a bridge over a parallel river, said bridge leading into a crumbling stone castle with missing walls and towers, ripped flags with fading purple coloring, and more traces of the end particles.

"I heard that Lord Ianite destroyed the people here, but Lord Dianite came back and destroyed what was left standing of the city and the rest of the continent afterwards" Tucker mentioned "It appears he lives up to his reputation of asshole of the century"

They all remained quiet before Jordan took a careful step on the bridge and motioned for her friends to follow her footsteps.

"This place got seriously recked" Tom added one they were more than halfway to the other side, taking out his sword and using it to stab the growing weeds on the ground.

Just as Jordan turned around to snap back a nasty comment, she neglected her footing and managed to step on a crumbling section of stone and falling onto the water bellow.

"Claire!" she heard Stefan scream.

"I'm ok" Jordan yelled back, looking at the hole above her where her friends stared down at her treading form with slight grins, except for Stefan who looked just about ready to jump in after her.

"You guys are impossible" she yelled "I'll see you guys on the other side, I don't think I can make my way back up"

With that she placed her sword on her back and prayed there were no river monsters as she made fast strides towards shore a few feet away.

The water was surprisingly warm at least, and by the time she reached the other side the great comfort of knowing she wasn't eaten by anything was enough to calm her nerves from her falling scare.

Since the fabric her clothes was so silky and thin, it took very little time to squeeze the water off her clothes, the soft breeze contributing in drying them.

Since there were many holes on the bridge, the others took a little while longer to get to her, but once they made it safely across she was pulled into a bone crushing hug by Stefan, they armor clanking loudly against each other.

Tucker walked past and ruffled her thankfully dry short hair.

"Clumsy" was all he said before pulling Sonja to his side, both of them taking out their bows as they scanned the area.

Tom made the same gesture before letting out a whistle at the large broken structure before them.

"Haven't seen a castle this big in the overworld since I was kid" Tom said "Even if this IS all that's left of it"

Jordan ignored her friend's comment and gave Stefan a reassuring smile before grabbing on to his hand to her left, and gripping her sword on her right while they ascended the curved stairs to the entrance.

Well, entrance was one word for it. At some point in time there might have been a beautiful large set of doors, but now the whole front wall was crumbled to pieces, leaving the entrance bare for them to see inside.

Everything from the walls, to the floors was made of simple stone, perhaps in fear of Dianite's fire when it was constructed.

Even then, with all its bruises and scars, the place might have been quite beautiful in its glory days...and in some ways it still was. There were some areas filled with shimmering glowstone along the walls and beneath glass coverings on the floor, providing light for them to see into the darkened corners. There were also ripped up banners and tables along the walls as well as a chipped throne at the end of the open hall.

Stone as well. A throne much like the one Dianite had made her....

A shattered throne, just like hers.

When Jordan looked above her, she noticed the ceiling was missing as well, the room entirely open to the elements. The balconies looking into the throne room from the various upper floors were mostly intact, but some bits were broken as well.

"I can't imagine what it would have been like to grow up in a place like this before the war. Surrounded by gods, magic, and following the medieval ways. Despite my aversion to technology free places, I might have enjoyed it..specially with you around" Stefan said, walking beside her.

"At least I would have known how to get around with a horse, you would have been confined to places within walking distance" she answered back, trying to lighten the mood as well.

"I'm sure carriages were a thing" he said

Jordan laughed before looking around the empty throne room once again. There were doors on either side of the wall where the throne sat, and she might have gone through just to explore the rest of the castle in search for her god, had it not been for the arrival of the pirates.

"We haven't found him yet" Tom screamed from the other side of the room as he inspected the throne and unceremoniously sat down on it "I AM THE SWAGY BEAST!"

Frowning towards her hyper friend, Jordan noticed what looked like a wooden box by the throne's feet.

Running closer to it, she inspected its sides and looked inside to find a sort of black void at the bottom. The box, unlike the rest of the place, seemed untouched. No decay or destruction, as if it had been recently placed there.

"It looks like a prayer box" Amy added, reaching Jordan's side and lifting the lid open "Yep, it's a prayer box"

"Meaning what? I get on my knees and pray to it for answers?" Jordan asked, inspecting the area around the box for clues.

"Have you seriously never used a prayer box before?" Rupert asked

"She hasn't, the closest thing she had come to those were the prayer rooms in Mianite's and Dianite's temples. But their prayer boxed were just holes on the ground" Sonja added from her place perched atop an arm of the throne.

"Well, what do I do with it?" Jordan asked no one in particular.

Amy shook her head but pointed at the box "Put his heart in there! It works as a main core"

Main core?....

"It's a direct line to Lord Ianite" Amy added, motioning her to move along and place the heart.

Jordan reached into one of the pouches of her belt where the heart was. Once she took it out, she noticed it was still awkwardly beating and her bracelet was still wrapped along its middle.

It felt odd to say the least, but at least it wasn't a real heart.

"I guess I better hack the mainframe of this place" Jordan joked before noticing Tom was standing very close to her.

"Tom. Tom, you better go away right now" she warned