As the Serpent King’s corpse sank below the water and disappeared from sight, Yvette let out a long breath, feeling a huge weight lift off her chest.
Though defeating the Serpent King would not yield loot, she had always regarded it as the greatest obstacle to leaving the volcanic lake.
With the barrier gone, her path to escape became clear.
Moreover, decades ago, she had reached the required magic pressure to charge magical devices and restored a usable Flying Board from the debris scattered around.
This meant that, should she choose, she could depart right now and leave the lake prison that had confined her for nearly 200 years.
After some contemplation, Yvette turned back into the facility.
On one hand, she needed to summarize the gains from this operation and improve upon Thunder Fury.
On the other hand, since she could leave at any time, there was no need to rush.
In the decades following the Serpent King’s demise, the lake area surrounding the shattered platform became noticeably quieter. Whenever Yvette appeared under the sunlight—be it meditating or practicing magic—aberrant creatures in the shallow waters would give her a wide berth.
These lower-intelligence creatures seemed to instinctively recognize that the slender figure had replaced the giant serpent as the new king of this place.
Of course, challengers would occasionally appear.
These challengers, unlike ordinary aberrations, had far less exposed flesh and bore unique offensive appendages, such as chitinous shells or electrifying tendrils, making it clear just how diverse life could be in this world.
For Yvette, however, they were all just fodder for Thunder Fury.
—The current improved version of Thunder Fury had reduced its magic cost from 240 points to a mere 100 points, retaining 60% of its original strength. This was an upgrade she was quite proud of.
Notably, during this recent period, her magic power had approached the 500-point mark.
In the era of Origin Civilization, an automatic magical mech soldier, standing two meters tall, operated with a power core of this magnitude.
From this perspective, after over two centuries of solitary training, Yvette’s magic power could be considered ample, and her strongest original spell, Thunder Fury, was indeed on military grade.
“With my current combat capability, I would rank as a formidable fighter even before the apocalypse. Resources and weapons in the post-apocalyptic era must be scarce… Hmm, this suggests that once I escape this prison, I may become a pivotal supporter for humanity right away…”
With such small expectations fueling her, Yvette threw herself back into training with renewed vigor. She envisioned herself as a hero descending from the heavens, saving collapsing structures and reversing impending doom, while being revered by crowds and chased by admirers.
Until that day finally came.
On a foggy morning, standing in front of the sealed metal door leading to level negative eleven, Yvette stood in silence for a long time before shaking her head in resignation.
After surpassing the 500-point magic threshold last night, she decided to set off. She had no belongings to take with her and no particular attachments holding her back. The only regret was that she still hadn’t managed to unlock this solid alloy door made from an unknown material.
“Fine, do as you wish.”
Leaving those words behind, Yvette ascended the stairs, the sound of her heels echoing in the empty vertical shaft.
Over the course of more than two hundred years, she had traversed this wreckage of the Abyss Base countless times, seemingly ingraining the position of every bolt into her memory. Although she had once viewed this place as an endless prison, at times, it also felt somewhat like a sanctuary—providing her with a rare moment of peace and tranquility amidst a world teeming with aberrant monsters.
Now, she was finally poised to put an end to this prolonged period of confinement.
Upon reaching the water platform, Yvette activated the Flying Board.
As a simple structure of magical transport, this device possessed remarkable capabilities, holding 100 magic points and allowing for a range of about 50 kilometers.
In comparison, with her 500 points of magic power, she could only move about a kilometer, making the difference glaringly obvious.
However, Yvette wasn’t surprised, as she understood that being one of the technological achievements of the Origin Civilization, this device, while appearing ordinary, contained at least a million runes in its magical circuitry.
Comparing the effects of Wind Mastery with this device was like pitting an abacus against a quantum computer.
Extending her hand, a transparent grip formed in her palm from magic energy. With a slight lean forward, the Flying Board surged ahead, carving a fleeting path across the deep blue waters.
As she sped by, the aberrant creatures in the lake and shallow waters fled in terror, allowing the airborne visitor to pass unobstructed.
In less than three minutes, she flew the short distance of just under three kilometers, arriving at the smooth rock face she had gazed upon when she first arrived over two hundred years ago.
Due to height restrictions, she could no longer use the Flying Board here. Yvette deftly leaped onto a protruding rock, retracting the board to her waist. Light green air currents swirled around her, lifting her up the rocky wall with ease.
When her fingertips finally brushed the highest point of the volcanic crater, the entire world opened up before her.
The deep blue sea merged with the horizon and clouds, and towering skyscrapers entwined with vines stood on the coastline, seamlessly blending with the forest, resembling ancient giant trees. The forests at the base of the mountains swayed, the mountain winds creating emerald waves.
She instinctively turned to look back in the direction she came from. From this vantage point, the once vast volcanic lake appeared as just a clear pond, with the central metal platform looking tiny like a toy floating in a bathtub.
This is the post-apocalyptic world… she thought, standing quietly for a long time, until the mountain wind lifted her silver hair, reflecting glimmers of light in the sunlight.
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What to do after escaping?
Even two hundred years ago, Yvette had pondered this question but found no answer. After all, she had no idea what sights awaited her upon leaving. Would it be a desolate wasteland, or perhaps a hell teeming with aberrations?
Might there be gathered human survivors fighting for survival and striving to rebuild their homes, singing songs of courage?
As things stood, the answer seemed negative.
Following a road that still showed signs of its original structure, Yvette entered the capital of Ish Island, known as Ish City.
Compared to the other two human cities on the island that had become ruins, this one was far more magnificent, as it housed a vital branch of Black Tower Pharmaceuticals. Even from dozens of kilometers away, she could see the pitch-black tower piercing into the sky at the city’s center.
The tower, painted in lush green hues, resembled an ancient sword entwined with branches. Even though its master had long since perished, it stood unyielding, pointing skyward.
This was humanity’s sword and also the tombstone of human civilization… As Yvette gazed upon the ruined scenery before her, it felt as though she transcended time, witnessing Ish City’s former prosperity and glory—centered around the Black Tower, surrounded by a flurry of skyscrapers, with holographic advertisements flowing on glass facades and flying vehicles buzzing around like swarms, neon lights illuminating the night sky in a stunning display… Now, all of that had vanished.
Leaping over a clear, dark river created by a collapsed drainage system, Yvette slipped through a street adorned with flowering wisteria, gliding like a ghost between the streets.
Butterflies would pause on her shoulder before fluttering away, while deer would cautiously lift their heads from shattered shop windows. Aberrant creatures occasionally sprang from the shadows, only to be reduced to charred remains by her use of Flame Dance.
In this manner, while walking leisurely, she traversed countless perilous streets before reaching the city center. Along the way, she found no smoke rising, no footprints, or any signs of human activity.
Eventually, in the square, standing beneath the weathered exterior of the Black Tower, she finally confirmed one thing: that at least on this island, there was no second living human aside from her.
In fact, even looking beyond Ish Island to the three major continents known as the Black Tide Continent, Jadeite Continent, and Silvermirror Continent on Origin Star, it was likely that no other survivors remained.
Otherwise, it would be hard to explain how, in nearly six hundred years, humanity’s technology and wisdom couldn’t reconstruct their own civilization.
Struck by this realization, she let out a soft sigh. As a visitor from another world, she had hoped that emerging from her cage would reveal a new world filled with diverse people, experiencing vastly different customs and cultures. Instead, she found that the long road had only offered her solitude, continuing on until the passage of a billion years, until the stars themselves extinguished.
Let’s start by cultivating a field!”