Realm Lord
Chapter 132: Going Home (2)

Chapter 132: Going Home (2)

Everyone in the group stood there staring blankly at the old vendor, their faces reflecting a mixture of shock and disbelief. Nobody knew what to say in response to such devastating news. The weight of the revelation hung heavy in the air around them like a suffocating fog.

’The gates aren’t closing? What does this even mean?’ Arthur’s mind raced with terrifying possibilities. ’If we’re not able to stop this catastrophe from happening in just one district, what happens when more gates start popping up in other locations across the realm?’

The grim reality of the situation was sinking in for all of them. They were all thinking the same dark, troubling thoughts, their minds conjuring worst-case scenarios that seemed increasingly plausible. The silence stretched uncomfortably until finally Lara found her voice and spoke up.

"That’s not possible," she said, her voice carrying a note of desperate denial. "They’re not closing? How can that possibly be? Gates have always closed on their own after a certain period of time."

The old man sighed heavily, "I don’t know the specifics, and don’t ask me to explain the mechanics of it. I’m just telling you what I know."

Lara thought for several more moments, her brow furrowed in concentration as she processed the information. Suddenly, her face contorted into an expression of dawning realization and growing horror.

"Wait a minute," she said slowly, her voice taking on an edge of urgency. "Did you just say that the gates opened up just over three months ago?"

The old man gave her an odd, questioning look, clearly not understanding why this particular detail seemed so important to her. "...Yeah? That’s what I said. Why?"

Lara’s eyes opened wide with shock and alarm as she took several staggering steps backward, her face pale with the implications of what she was beginning to understand. "T-that’s not possible at all," she stammered, her voice barely above a whisper. "We came into the Second Realm just under two months ago, and I don’t remember hearing anything about this crisis when we left Earth. There was no mention of category 4 gates or any kind of emergency situation."

She fell silent for a long moment, her mind working frantically to piece together the timeline and its implications. The rest of the group watched her with growing concern, their already confused minds scrambling desperately to try to understand what was happening and why Lara seemed so deeply disturbed by the timing.

Finally, she lifted her head up, and her expression showed a look of grim realization that sent chills down everyone’s spine. The pieces of some terrible puzzle had apparently fallen into place in her mind.

"I think we need to hurry back to Earth immediately," she declared with urgent determination. "Let’s go, now!"

Without any further warning or explanation, she suddenly broke out into a full sprint toward the towering core pillar, her feet pounding against the cobblestone streets as she ran with desperate purpose.

"Wait, Lara!" Kay yelled, immediately giving chase and trying his best to keep up with her sudden burst of speed.

Arthur and Aziel looked at each other for a moment, sharing a glance that conveyed their mutual confusion and concern about Lara’s sudden panic. Then, without needing to discuss it, they both broke into a run and followed after them.

The group ended up making it to the base of the gigantic pillar in record time, their hearts pounding from both the physical exertion and the mounting tension of the situation. Up close, the structure was even more impressive and intimidating than it had appeared from a distance. There was a huge open archway serving as the entrance, carved from the same crystalline material as the rest of the pillar and decorated with intricate patterns that seemed to shift and move in the light.

They walked inside the magnificent structure, and immediately found themselves awestruck by what they discovered. The interior was completely empty and hollow, creating a vast open space that extended all the way up to what appeared to be an impossibly distant top. The walls curved upward in a perfect cylinder, and the ceiling was so high above them that it seemed to disappear into darkness.

There was only one object in the entire cavernous building. In the exact center of the floor, a human-sized rectangular monolith stood like a silent sentinel. It was crafted from dark, highly polished stone that reflected the light in mesmerizing patterns. The surface was covered with writing in a foreign language that none of them could read, with symbols and characters scattered across its surface in seemingly random patterns.

"Amazing," Arthur breathed, looking up at the incredible grandeur of the building and feeling dwarfed by its sheer scale and majesty.

"Come on, hurry up," Lara said impatiently, making her way directly toward the monolith.

They all gathered around the ancient stone structure and stood in a circle for a moment, each of them feeling the weight of anticipation and nervousness about what was to come. Finally, Lara turned to face Arthur and Aziel directly.

"This is your first time right?" she asked, though she already knew the answer.

Both Aziel and Arthur nodded silently, their expressions showing a mixture of excitement and apprehension about the unknown process they were about to experience.

"Okay, it’s actually pretty simple," Lara explained in a reassuring tone. "Just close your eyes and place one hand firmly on the stone surface. You’ll start to feel a desperate, almost magnetic pull on your realm core. When you feel that sensation, don’t fight it. Instead, follow that pull with your mind, let it guide you, and before you know it, you’ll be back on Earth."

She paused for a moment, her expression becoming more serious and intense. "Now listen to me very closely, because this next part is extremely important."

Arthur gulped with anticipation, his throat suddenly feeling dry as he and Aziel listened with complete attention, hanging on every word she was about to say.

"You two will be transported directly to wherever you were physically located when you first left Earth, which in your case means you’ll wake up back at the school," Lara continued, her voice taking on an urgent, almost commanding tone. "Once you regain consciousness, you need to immediately report yourselves to the school administration. There will be a lot of extensive interviews, medical examinations, and debriefings that you’ll have to go through as part of the standard protocol for new returning chosen."

She took a deep breath before delivering what was clearly the most important part of her instructions. "After all of that bureaucratic process is completed, my guild will reach out to you two directly. When we do make contact, you absolutely must come when we call. You two are now the harbingers of incredibly valuable information and on top of that soon there will be more things we must discuss. Do you understand?"

Aziel nodded willingly and without hesitation. Arthur, however, took several more moments of visible hesitancy, weighing the implications of what she was asking of them before finally agreeing with a reluctant nod.

"Good," Lara said with visible relief. "And listen, I want you both to know that I’m genuinely glad we met you two. You both did incredibly well under impossible circumstances, and you should be proud of how you handled everything."

Aziel smiled warmly and acceptingly at the praise, clearly moved by her words. Arthur’s smile, however, didn’t seem to quite reach his eyes as he nodded in acknowledgment.

"Alright, alright, enough chatting their ears off," Kay interjected with a rather jolly smile spreading across his face. "They haven’t been home in months, so let’s get them back where they belong. Besides, I want to eat some real food for once instead of whatever we’ve been surviving on!"

"Okay then," Lara said with finality, "let’s go home."

She turned her attention to the imposing monolith and placed her palm firmly against the cold stone surface. Everyone else, including Arthur, followed her lead and placed their hands on the smooth, chilled stone.

Arthur closed his eyes and took a deep, steadying breath, concentrating on feeling for the mysterious pull that Lara had described. Several long moments went by with nothing happening, and he began to wonder if he was doing something wrong.

Then suddenly, without warning, he felt it. ’There it is.’

The sensation was unlike anything he had ever experienced before. It felt as though someone had attached an invisible leash directly to his very core, his essential being, and was desperately trying to pull him through some kind of dimensional barrier. His natural instinct was to fight against the strange sensation, to resist the uncomfortable feeling of being drawn away.

But remembering Lara’s specific instructions, he forced himself to relax and let the pulling sensation take complete control. He stopped fighting against it and instead allowed himself to be guided by the mysterious force.

Soon, his entire body felt like it was evaporating, dissolving into nothingness as reality seemed to slip away around him. In a moment of panic, he opened his eyes, only to find himself staring up at a familiar white ceiling. He could feel the cold, padded ground beneath his back as he lay there.

Arthur’s breathing was ragged and uneven as a slow smile crept up across his face, growing wider with each passing second. "I made it," he whispered to himself in amazement and overwhelming relief.

The last time he had been looking at this particular ceiling, Arthur had been absolutely positive that he would die somewhere in the depths of the Second Realm, never to return to Earth again. He had been certain that he would become just another casualty, another missing person whose fate would remain forever unknown.

And yet, against all odds and expectations, here he was. He had survived. He was home.