This was undoubtedly a place that had existed since the Ancient Era, and undoubtedly the destination of Shade's journey.
The enormous lava lake covered roughly the area of more than ten Saint Derain Squares. At its very center, a colossal stone pillar supported an island in the lava lake no larger than Shade's home.
At that moment, an unending stream of black sludge poured from the edges of the island into the lava. As the fiery magma met the dripping black muck, it burst and formed a small layer of black solid matter on the lava beneath the island.
No one needed to explain it. Shade and Iluna understood that this meant the earth itself was undergoing a complete transformation.
It was not as though there was no path to that black "lake heart island." Starting from where Shade and Iluna stood, a series of slender stone pillars rose from the magma, spanning half the lava lake and supporting a narrow stone path leading to the island.
There was nothing else to worry about now. Holding hands, Shade and Iluna stepped onto the stone path. Crossing the scorching magma and enduring the growing pressure formed by the Four Elements of Miracle, Blasphemy, Enlightenment, and Whisper, they made their way step by step to the edge of the island.
The ancient power they felt here was enough to make them feel as though they were facing a god.
The island at the center of the lava lake had a surface resembling obsidian. It was quite spacious and flat, with only an irregular stone pillar rising from its center. Carved upon that pillar was the holy emblem of the Ancient God, the Earth Mother God. Black mud was flowing from the base of the pillar, dripping into the lava below once it