Chapter 22: Sunder Pillar
At the twelfth hour of the journey, Kain stopped wide-eyed, staring at a familiar place.
They had arrived at the Dormant Worm Mountain.
"Why are we here...?" he stammered, turning to Viron.
"Hmm? You want to get to the Forgotten Tomb, and you don't even know it's a shortcut? Just be quiet. The Swirl Worm woke up recently, but it's already back in its lair. I don't know what made it awake during the day, so it's best not to make any noise."
'Hah, but I do know...' Kain smiled bitterly, raising his gaze to the gray peaks. 'Valkyra was talking about this too. It turns out that all the places I've been to are connected in some way. So I'm in a region of some sort?'
Following Viron, walking along the steep trails, Kain stopped. On the opposite side, across the chasm, a wide hole was visible as if from an explosion.
The Swirl Worm burst out from there as Kain provoked the effects of his Trait through deliberate suicide.
Their route continued until they reached a cliff near the top. Here, they had a view and paths to everything in front of the mountain.
The Hollow Patch was prominent to the right, quite small due to the distance.
To the left, to the west, was the Forgotten Tomb, their goal. Ruined crypts, abandoned caves, and rows of tombs hidden in thick fog sat on a sharp ravine.
Kain nodded deeply. 'I see. So there's a river on the other side, a scarlet lake, and... that strange place where I appeared.'