Chapter 159: Surprise
The walk to the valley’s eastern edge took less time than Jack expected.
The landscape shifted as they traveled. The smooth stone streets gave way to rough terrain, rocky paths and steep cliffs.
The air grew cooler, carrying the scent of fresh water and something that made his nose wrinkle.
’Probably demon blood,’ Jack thought, his eyes scanning the surroundings for any signs of recent combat. ’Four years of fighting would leave traces everywhere.’
He was right. The further they walked, the more evidence of war became visible.
Scorched earth, the ground was still blackened and cracked from the intense heat.
Craters from explosions that had torn chunks from the landscape.
Broken weapons half-buried in dirt, blades snapped, hafts splintered, all rendered useless by violence.
And bones. Demon bones, picked clean by scavengers, scattered across the battlefield like discarded toys.
Jack stepped over a ribcage that had been shattered by something heavy. Further along, he saw a skull with a massive crack running through it.
Each piece of evidence painted a picture of brutal, sustained combat. This wasn’t a war of strategies and careful planning. This was raw, visceral hatred made manifest.
’What a waste.’ Jack thought, his expression darkening.
But even as he thought it, Jack knew that assessment was too simple. Wars rarely started for the reasons people claimed.
There was always something underneath, some deeper grievance or hidden motivation that kept the violence going long after the original spark had been forgotten.
"How much further?" Jack asked, breaking the silence that had stretched between them for the past twenty minutes.
"Close, my lord," Kyren’s hollow voice echoed. "The river is just beyond this ridge. The deposits grow along its banks."
They crested the ridge, and Jack saw it.
The river cut through the valley like a silver ribbon, its waters moving with deceptive calm despite the violence that had surrounded it for years.
The banks were wide, covered in smooth stones that had been worn down by centuries of water flow.
And growing among those stones were the crystals.
Aethrium.
Even from a distance, Jack could see them. Blue crystals that jutted from the ground at odd angles, some no larger than his thumb, others the size of his forearm.
They caught the fading evening light and reflected it back in shimmering patterns that made the entire riverbank look like it was covered in sapphires.
Jack descended the ridge carefully.
When they reached the riverbank, Jack knelt beside the nearest cluster of crystals.
Up close, they were even more impressive. The blue wasn’t uniform, it shifted and changed depending on the angle, sometimes pale like ice, sometimes deep like the ocean at midnight.
Veins of lighter blue ran through each crystal, creating patterns that reminded Jack of lightning frozen in time.
The way the light moved through them was almost hypnotic, drawing his gaze deeper into the crystalline structure.
He reached out and touched one.
It was warm. Not hot, but carrying a heat that shouldn’t have been there, as if something beneath the surface was radiating energy upward through the stone.
The surface was smooth, almost glass-like, and when Jack applied pressure, it didn’t budge.
These crystals were anchored deep into the ground, growing from something beneath the surface.
Jack tried to pull one free, wrapping his hand around a crystal the size of his forearm and yanking hard. Nothing. The Aethrium might as well have been welded to the bedrock.
Whatever was feeding these crystals, whatever was making them grow, it was powerful enough to anchor them with unbreakable strength.
’System, analyze this.’
[Analyzing...]
[Aethrium Crystal]
[Description: A rare mineral that grows in areas of concentrated magical energy. When properly forged, it grants random magical properties to equipment. Highly valued by demons and mortals alike]
[Note: Surface deposits detected. Significantly larger deposits located 47 meters below the current position]
Jack’s eyes widened. ’Underground deposits?’
[Affirmative. The concentration of Aethrium increases with depth. Surface crystals are merely byproducts of the main deposit below]
Jack stood, his gaze moving across the riverbank. Now that he knew what to look for, he could see it.
The way the crystals clustered in certain areas. The slight shimmer in the air above the largest concentrations. All of it pointed to something massive beneath the ground.
’How do I get down there?’
[No accessible entrance detected in immediate vicinity]
Jack frowned, walking along the riverbank, searching for any sign of a tunnel or cave that might lead underground. But there was nothing. Just smooth stone, flowing water, and clusters of blue crystals that mocked him with their beauty.
He walked fifty meters upstream, then fifty meters downstream, his eyes scanning every rock formation, every shadow, every potential entrance.
The riverbank was disappointingly uniform. No caves. No tunnels. No convenient passages that would explain how anyone was supposed to access the massive deposit the system had detected.
’There has to be a way,’ Jack thought, frustration building. ’If there’s a massive deposit underground, someone would have found a way to...’
The attack came without warning.
Jack’s head snapped up, his enhanced perception finally registering what his instincts had been screaming at him for the past half-second.
Five shapes, diving from the cliff face above. Moving fast. Too fast.
Their wings were folded tight against their bodies, turning them into living projectiles that cut through the air with terrifying speed.
Jack threw himself to the side, but he wasn’t fast enough.
His agility alone wasn’t enough to fully evade demons who’d clearly been waiting for exactly this moment.
Five demons slammed into him like cannonballs, their combined weight and momentum driving him down. Not just down, but through the ground.
The ground beneath Jack’s feet gave way with a sickening crack. The stone shattered.
Earth collapsed. And suddenly Jack was falling through darkness, the demons still clinging to him as they all plummeted into the underground cavern below.
The fall lasted three seconds.
Jack hit the ground hard enough to drive the air from his lungs. His endurance and his enhanced constitution kept bones from breaking, but pain exploded through his back and shoulders as his body slammed into a giant rock.
[-847 HP]
The demons landed around him, their forms rolling away with practiced ease before springing back to their feet. Jack forced himself up, ignoring the pain, his hand already reaching for his Lightning Spear.
Then he saw where he was.
The underground cavern was massive. Easily a hundred meters across and thirty meters high, the ceiling supported by natural stone pillars that had formed over centuries.
But what caught Jack’s attention wasn’t the size, it was what filled the space.
Aethrium. Everywhere.
The walls were covered in it. Blue crystals jutted from every surface, some small, some enormous, creating a forest of magical minerals that cast the entire cavern in ethereal blue light.
The concentration was so dense that Jack could feel it in the air, a pressure against his skin that made his demonic essence pulse in response.
And working among the crystals were demons.
Dozens of them. Miners with picks and hammers, chipping away at the Aethrium deposits and loading them into carts.
They stopped working when Jack crashed through the ceiling, their glowing eyes turning toward the commotion with expressions ranging from confusion to alarm.