Arthur Leywin's POV:

The moon glowed brightly in the dark and clear night sky, revealing many dungeon entrances and lakes several hundred meters below me. My destination was in sight. A pit wide enough to fit a big boulder. Cold and piercing gale grazed my skin as I descended at great speed. I used God Step several feet above the flat ground and landed a few feet away from the pit.

The only concern was the depth of the pit that I came across. I kicked a rock in, hoping to scale the pit. There is a water body down there, judging by the sound it gave.

'Are we gonna jump in?' said my incorporeal partner peeking out of my body curiously.

We don't have much of a choice, now do we? I said back to him. If it was not for that scythe we wouldn't have expected such a thing to exist. I took a deep breath before I plunged into the dark pit, believing in the scythe who stated that there is a warp portal to the central dominion.

'Can you believe that the identity of the scythe was someone you knew from your previous life?'

It is true. Well, she did have memories from her previous life after all. But what bugs me is, how long has it been since she reincarnated? and did Agrona caught wind of this? If not, then why was he unable to?

'Do you have a reason to visit central dominion, other than the rescue mission assigned to us?'

We need to go there if we plan to return home. I stared blankly at what felt like a non-existent bottom until I caught sight of ripples of faint purple. It must be the water body, but why purple? I quickly activated God Step to glimpse at the flow of purple tendrils of aether. I expected an unusual gathering of mana which might be the portal we've been looking for or at least a tunnel inside.

As expected of my luck, there was no such thing. Most of the channels are directly connected to the strange body of water. There was no other way in. I can try to skip past the wall but I am not sure if there existed a free space there. My only option is to go back up.

'You don't plan on becoming a mermaid right!?, although it sure would be fun, princess.'

I will make sure to remember that for later. Something caught my attention as I was about to dive into the spatium channel leading to the top. I was alarmingly close to the water surface. The life inside it reflected vividly. Many lifeforms existed, which had features that I can remember but also very different from what I knew. I was most surprised at the fact that I could sense dense aether inside it. Even some kinds of Terrestrial lifeforms are also able to adapt to this strange habitat.

I reached an odd conclusion. A sudden urge to explore it welled up inside me. I was running short on time. I felt that ignoring this would haunt me back later.

'Art..........' Regis growled until his voice wobbled.

I felt a massive pull on my back as I steadily drowned. Surprisingly the pit was well lit and visible from here. Spikes were mounted on the walls on which some mana beasts are trapped. With blood and flesh scattered around. Wow, it sure is a dangerous pit.

The water felt comfortably warm and the aether dissolved in it is exceptional. My very core trembled when I tried to absorb it, but I continued nevertheless. The first thought that came to my mind was Sylvie's stone. I somehow felt that using this huge amount of aether might be the way to bring her back.

I concluded before that the aether reserves required to fill the stone are impossibly large and I was unable to do so in a single sitting. Though, I might have managed it in 2-3 sittings. But there is another factor that is stopping me from saving Sylvie. It might have something to do with the fact that the aether I tried to gather before lacked the pure aspect of life, which is sufficient here. It is evident from this preserved life sanctuary deep down here.

Regis, let's do it.

'Ready when you are' he smirked.

The Purple specks of aether gathered around us as if reading our intent. I absorbed them into my body which Regis directed to the stone I held in my fist. Both of us had high control over aether which made directing the already refined aether fairly easy. The absorption rate of the stone was something that we could not afford to avert our focus from.

Memories both pleasant and painful resurfaced. All the hardships we overcame, all the pain we endured, all the smiles we had, all the tears we shed, all our companions waiting for us back home, and all the enemies we had yet to conquer. Most importantly, to live our life to the fullest without any regrets.

Tears rose from my already swollen eyes. The aether around us glowed radiantly forcing me to avert my gaze. A bright and elegant glow emitted from the stone just as my head started feeling heavy. I couldn't keep up my consciousness which was slowly fading.

My eyes caught glimpse of a well familiar snout reaching my face which licked my cheek.

'Thank You, Arthur, you did well. Now rest up' an all too familiar sound rang in my head.

'Damn right' Regis nodded.

I smiled as my senses drifted away with the joy, excitement, and determination to stand against the False rulers and the Proclaimed Gods.