The entire port district was engulfed in rising smoke and dust, along with the thunderous crashes of collapse.
The Blue Dragon soared into the air, struggling upward through a cloud of dust as the crown of the Reincarnation Giant Tree collapsed behind her. The enormous Wooden structures that had stood for thousands of years shattered like a vast city crumbling apart in a dream. Branches as thick as clock towers, enormous withered leaves, and newly dead vines snapped amid a succession of tremendous crashes and fell onto the Mother Port's ground. Each collapse sent a deep tremor through that Steel Land and stirred up wave after wave of even larger dust clouds.
Gawain and the others stood along the edge of Melita's broad back, looking down at the ground. The sight before them was so spectacular that every one of them stood dumbfounded.
It was as though an entire city were collapsing from the sky before their eyes, thousands of years of history turning to fragments within minutes. The whole port district had been swallowed up, and even the lights left behind by the Navigators were obscured within the thick clouds of smoke and dust.
A grand funeral.
"Everyone, hold on tight!" Melita's voice came from ahead, as if she were exerting all her strength. "The dust below is rising too fast. We need to speed up!"
The moment the blue dragon lady finished speaking, Gawain and the others felt a jolt beneath their feet. They immediately stopped watching the spectacular scene below and steadied themselves. At the same time, the dust constantly rising and spreading around them began to be flung behind Melita as she accelerated. She shot out of the worst of the collapse at top speed, and the spacecraft docked in the port finally came into view.