"You might as well have used the Geo Archon as an example," Zhiqiong said flatly.
"I didn't… uh, haven't really interacted with him up close," Victor Wang admitted. "Not many chances to do so, and he's already… passed on."
"I have met the Geo Archon up close," Zhiqiong replied. "He's a good archon, I won't deny that. But I've seen too many people whose wishes were never answered. And I can't help but wonder—if the Geo Archon truly knew of all those people, how could he possibly withhold a Vision from them? It's not even about power—it's about recognition."
"Maybe," said Victor quietly, "the people who receive Visions aren't chosen by the Seven Archons at all."
That was such a strange statement that Zhiqiong didn't even want to dignify it with a response. Yet she also didn't want to sound like a fool, so she gave a small laugh.
"Why keep trying to convince me? You're here, aren't you? As long as you're around, I won't be in danger anyway."
"Once we leave the Chasm, there'll still be deeper chasms—and wider ones too," Victor said mildly. "You were right before—no one can protect another forever."
"You understand, then," Zhiqiong said, her eyes glinting. "There's no such thing as an adventurer who never risks their life. I don't want to waste away in bed decades from now, old enough to need someone else to feed me… The Chasm is my first independent expedition as a new adventurer, and from the moment I arrived here, I felt it—this place is where I belong. Better to die here in danger than to live on in comfort, waiting for the end."
"Leonard, Stanley, Roald," Victor said evenly.
Of those three, only Stanley had died on an expedition—and even then, it had been to save a friend's life.
"Mm…" Zhiqiong frowned and shook her head in irritation. "They were great men, sure, but… I don't have to follow them. Everyone's different."
After spending the entire night quoting those same three adventurers, she'd now turned on her own examples. Women's logic truly was… unpredictable. But at least, Victor noted, her heart had begun to waver. It would just take time.
He studied her carefully, then said, "Let's stop talking about adventurers. Back to Visions. Even if the Visions are acts of selective favor from the gods—why must human will need divine approval at all?"
"Why must… human will… need divine approval?"
Zhiqiong repeated the question several times under her breath, as if trying to parse it. At last, she said, uncertainly:
"Because generation after generation grows up on stories of the gods. Because throughout our short, long lives, we walk beneath their gaze. Because the age of the Seven's rule leaves no one outside their protection. Because—because the gods are gods! They're authority itself! Because… your question's absurd—gods are omnipotent in mortal eyes!"
"Gods aren't perfect," Victor said softly. "They have their own tempers, their own preferences. They make mistakes, too. Think of the same god you just mentioned—the one who not only stopped granting Visions, but even seized them back, betraying her people's wishes more than anyone else."
Zhiqiong fell silent.
"Human will," he continued, "should be validated by humans. That person could even be yourself. I thought you came to the Chasm not to prove yourself to the gods, but to humanity. Tell me—when you talk about inspiring those who come after, is it truly just about 'inspiration'? Are humanity's endless generations only meant to keep proving themselves to the gods?"
"I…"
"Your sense of purpose is a little underdeveloped, comrade. Though to be fair, I'm not one for philosophical talk—"
RUMBLE!
A deep, rolling sound cut him off, growing louder by the second until the very ground began to quake beneath their feet.
Both of them broke off instantly and stood.
Since the geological upheaval, the Chasm's strata had been shifting constantly—vast caverns squeezed into narrow fissures, entire tunnels torn into steep drops. It was why new cartographers were needed—and why earthquakes here were especially deadly.
Loose rocks clattered down in a chaotic rain, the din barely masking that strange, grinding roar echoing through the earth.
"It's an earthquake! We have to go—wake the others!"
"Don't panic. Khedive's still awake."
Victor's instincts flared. He couldn't remember any earthquake here in the Chasm's timeline. Cautious, he raised a shield over them both and started back toward camp, staying alert. But the tremors behind them were growing—chasing them closer with each second.
Then came the metallic screech—steel against stone, sharp and awful.
Zhiqiong, running ahead, suddenly stopped. "No good—the lift won't work in a quake!"
"Step on this sword. Hold on tight. I'll fly us up!"
She hesitated, then obeyed. Victor took off—but halfway through the ascent, something enormous loomed out of the darkness below.
"A snake! It's the mechanical serpent!"
Victor winced as her shout rang right in his ear. "I heard you! You can say it softer!"
"Oh—sorry! But how's it here?!"
"I've no idea."
The monster was unmistakable—the Ruin Serpent from the deep caverns. Its head alone was larger than a locomotive car, its length stretching beyond sight. Each segment bristled with iron spines; its head was crowned with a grinding gear, and its tail tapered into a spinning drill. Everything on its body could rotate—tearing through rock or structure alike. The ground below was gouged open wherever it passed.
"Is it rampaging? Or… is it coming straight for us?"
"Could be tied to that luminous crystal we destroyed earlier," Victor said grimly. "It's tainted with Abyssal energy."
"So it's out for revenge?!"
"I can't be sure…"
Up ahead, the others—under Lumine's protection—were already rushing toward them. They'd soon meet in the middle.
The Ruin Serpent was still advancing fast. It reared its head, ready to burrow up the cliff toward them.
Then, from the direction it had come, a streak of blue light shot forward—a glowing arrow of pure Lumen energy—and struck the serpent's head dead-on.
"That arrowhead—it's made from Lumenstone! There's someone over there helping us!"
"Sharp eyes," Victor muttered. He could barely make out Yelan's silhouette lowering her bow.
"Heh, my eyesight's the only good thing I've got… Wait— it's turning around! It's retreating! Won't she be in danger now?"
"She made the first move," Victor said quietly, watching the glowing serpent twist back into the dark. "She must know what she's doing."