Chapter 944 — The Eye of the Storm

Yet amid this magnificent—magnificent to the point of being somewhat terrifying—environment, Metzen Pernia, guide and vehicle both, spread her vast wings with abandon and let out a dragon-roar that seemed full of elation. She raised her head and declared in a delighted tone: "Well? Didn't I tell you it was magnificent in here!?"

Her voice in dragon form was immensely sonorous, but the howling wind and the thunder and lightning within the storm ring were roaring just as loudly. Even though most of those sounds had been filtered out by the magical barrier, a considerable portion still made its way inside. Metzen's voice mingled with those dreadful sounds from beyond, truly like peals of thunder exploding beside the ears of Gaoyang and the others.

Amber immediately shouted: "To be honest—it's a little too magnificent!!"

"This is a Tal'lund tourist specialty—outsiders can't experience it even if they want to!" Metzen said happily. "Don't worry! It's perfectly safe inside my protective barrier, nothing will happen—and I fly back and forth through here several times every year, and there's never been a single accident!"

She seemed deliberately to be using her cheerful tone to ease her "passengers'" nerves as they crossed the Eternal Storm, and it had some effect—at least Amber's tense expression visibly softened. Yet Gaoyang felt a sinking uncertainty in his heart—others might not know, but he had seen with his own eyes this dragon lady's "crash-landing method." True, she claimed those were all accidents... but that was enough to make one's blood run cold.

Still, on further reflection, he decided he had not established any kind of "safe return flag" before setting out, so from a metaphysical standpoint they ought to be safe. Since Metzen's crash-landing method was itself part of the metaphysical equation, using metaphysics to counter metaphysics ought to mean their journey through the storm would pass without mishap...

Having thus reassured himself with a head full of nonsense, he set aside for the time being the unease brought on by the scenery around them and their means of transport. Once his eyes and his spiritual perception had adapted somewhat to this dreadful environment, he immediately began to observe his surroundings.

He would never forget one of the important purposes of this journey—to gather knowledge, to gather the knowledge that would be of enormous help to humanity in stepping out from the land and exploring the world.

He was no expert in marine meteorology or atmospheric science—in fact, in this era there were hardly any experts to speak of in those fields—but he could earnestly record everything he saw and sensed, and one day all of it would be put to use.

With this in mind, he began to observe the changing scenery beyond Metzen's protective barrier and to try to find, in the surrounding arcane flows, the "source of power" that kept the Eternal Storm from ever dispersing.

Just then, a flash of light appearing at the edge of his vision suddenly caught his attention.

At first Gaoyang took it for lightning within the storm clouds—there were many discharge phenomena nearby, with arcs of electricity briefly illuminating the distant dark cloud masses almost every second. But very soon he realized that this was a beam of light different from the surrounding lightning: not only were its intensity and duration unlike lightning, but its position was not quite right either.

That light came from directly below, from somewhere near the "base" of the Eternal Storm.

Strong discharge phenomena were rarely seen in that direction.

Gaoyang walked a few steps forward, toward the front of Metzen's shoulder blades, approaching the edge of the dragon's back, and looked down toward the lower left front of her wings, to where the light had appeared—though the light itself had vanished, there seemed still to be some faint, indistinct glow surging deep within the thick clouds there.

About half a minute later, he saw another flash—this time plainly. He saw a straight pillar of light suddenly burst forth from near the base of the Eternal Storm, as though something were erupting there. Though it lasted only a brief moment, he was absolutely certain that it was no lightning at all!

Moreover, at the very instant that beam erupted, Gaoyang immediately sensed a distinct arcane fluctuation, which made his expression grow all the more grave.

In such a chaotic environment, deep within a storm with such severe interference, that arcane fluctuation could still carry so clearly and so far—which meant that the intensity of that energy source was extraordinary.

There was something at the core of the Eternal Storm! Something with a very powerful energy reaction!!

"Metzen," he said at once, raising his head, "what is that thing over there?"

Metzen seemed not to register it for a moment: "Huh? Where?"

"Below you—beneath the storm. Did you see those flashes just now?!"

After Gaoyang indicated the direction once more, Meitzen tilted her head and glanced down and to the side. A moment later, her thunderous voice came from up ahead: "That is the heart of the Eternal Storm, where the cyclone itself takes shape! But around the eye of the storm there are powerful magical barriers and deadly high-speed gales—we cannot pass through. We must go around!"

"We cannot pass?" Gaoyang shouted back. "Then do you know what lies inside?"

"Of course I do not—know!" Meitzen bellowed just as loudly, for the storm and thunder nearby were growing fiercer by the moment; even with the magical barrier between them, the roar leaking through had begun to drown out her conversation with Gaoyang and the others. "When I had just hatched, Omega told me I must never approach the base of the cyclone—every dragon knows it from childhood! It is terribly dangerous in there, and no dragon has ever flown inside!"

Even the dragons did not know what lay at the heart of this Eternal Storm? Was it not the barrier at their own doorstep? Was it not Tal'lund's own defense system?

In that instant, immense doubt surged through Gaoyang's mind, and by instinct he understood that the secret hidden within this storm ran deeper than anyone had first imagined.

As Meitzen began to adjust her flight posture, preparing to skirt the cyclone from outside the "barrier" around the eye of the storm, he could not help taking another half step toward the edge of the dragon's back and craning his neck for a look below.

Almost at the same moment, another flash burst forth from the direction of the storm's eye, piercing the darkness deep within the cyclone like a burning sword, and a powerful surge of magical energy entered the range of his perception at the same instant, as clear and unmistakable as a candle flame in the night.

Gaoyang instinctively fixed his attention on that surge of magical energy. His extended spiritual power, like a thread, connected to the energy source at the base of the storm—and before he could think further, information like lines of verse projected itself directly into his mind the very next second:

"...Do not lose yourself in this illusory, tranquil long night... The veil of night will be broken in the end...

"...Do not wallow in your warm cradle... The cradle will one day overturn...

"...Do not slumber within the sanctuary of the heart... The heart's sanctuary will sooner or later become shackles that cannot be broken...

"Set forth, before the stars begin to shine; set forth, before the long night ends...

"If you do not set out soon, daybreak will be upon you..."