The End of the Long Road

Dark Blue Flames erupted from the cracks in the earth. The silver-white Nine-tailed Demon Fox burst out of the ground, wrapped in smoke and dust. Huli ran all the way to a nearby hill.

"We're out, we're out!" Eileen sat on Huli's back, squealing excitedly. "Oh my god, that was so thrilling! It felt like the whole world was collapsing downward. Silly fox, you're amazing! Body Cultivation is such a great civilization..."

As she spoke, another streak of pure white radiance drifted over from the side. The Artificial Angel, with a pair of wings growing from her back, leisurely descended beside Huli. She curiously studied the huge cluster of swaying tails behind Huli, then tilted her head slightly upward to look at the sky, seemingly lost in thought.

"I don't even know where this is," Huli muttered, looking around as she spoke. "All the passages we used to get into the mountain have collapsed. Most of the tunnels below lead somewhere unfamiliar. I think we drifted at least a dozen kilometers when we charged up here."

"The surrounding terrain has changed," Luna said solemnly.

The setting sun and distant smoke dyed the sky red. As far as the eye could see stretched a vast wasteland. A forest in the distance was belching thick smoke, while the nearby hills had been torn up by artillery fire. Twisted wreckage could still be seen among the rubble and enormous craters.

The route they had taken into the facility in the mountains had vanished completely.

The ground trembled faintly. Every so often, a deep, unsettling rumble came from the depths below, making it impossible to determine its direction.

"It feels like an earthquake," Huli said nervously. "No, it's not just an earthquake..."

"Does it?" The little doll on her back raised her head. "All