Another cavern forest.
Several people leaned against trees, while others simply lay on the ground. Every one of them was deathly pale, whether from fear or blood loss.
"Has it stopped?" Someone noticed that the pink substance was no longer falling, and the cavern had stopped trembling as well.
"I'll take the apprentices to check the cave entrance. Francois, maintain order here. Stop the Blood Array." The cost of maintaining the array had left everyone somewhat weakened. Nemo gave his tired instructions, then set off with his students.
The cave ceiling was already riddled with holes. The ground was covered in rubble and sand, while the visible pink crystals weathered and browned before their eyes, turning orange-red.
Outside the cave, the sky had returned to its bright pink hue. The land shifted constantly between pink and scarlet-orange. Fortunately, the deadly crystal particles were no longer drifting down.
Nemo stared at the world before him for a long time without moving.
"Teacher?"
Nemo sighed. "Let's go back."
Then his expression suddenly changed drastically. "Move! Get back, now!" The apprentices jumped in fright. They stumbled and ran back to the shelter where everyone had gathered. Before Francois even saw Nemo, he heard his panicked cry: "Activate the array! Activate the Teleportation Array!"
While taking shelter, Francois had already inscribed an array leading back to the Main Plane, but every attempt to activate it had failed.
"We can try again after returning to the camp. Mage Ina and Mage Rorschach haven't returned yet." Francois guessed that Rorschach and Ina had succeeded now that the rain of pink crystals outside had stopped, and he could not understand why Leader Nemo was in such a hurry.
Leader Nemo ran up to Francois. This time, he lowered his voice and gritted his teeth. "Aether concentration!"
Aether!