Western Rhodok.
Targor Grand Canyon Ruins
The surface of the grand canyon had long since lost its former appearance.
The once-rushing spiritual vein river had now solidified into bands of dark-purple crystal clusters.
More than half of the mountain walls on either side of the riverbed had collapsed, and the exposed rock was covered in spiderweb-like black cracks—the permanent marks left by abyssal magic's erosion.
Twisted metal wreckage lay scattered throughout the canyon. They had once been the Kingdom of Rhodok's finest war machines.
Cannons forged from Adamantine had been twisted into corkscrew shapes.
Dark-red blood crystals had congealed across their surfaces.
Within them, the outlines of curled-up figures still remained.
They were the result of people being instantly vaporized by abyssal power, their images imprinted upon the crystals.
Every blood crystal seemed to emanate a certain resentment.
Like countless silent accusations, echoing through the deathly still canyon.
Given several thousand, or even tens of thousands, of years, this place would eventually be buried beneath wind and sand, becoming ancient ruins that recorded the atrocities of Mana Abyss Archdemon Icarus.
At this moment.
Within the shadows of the distant sky, a massive figure lay silently hidden.
Icarus possessed many forms.
Its current manifested body was formed from obsidian flowing with magma.
Thousands of compound eyes covered its surface, each reflecting a scene from a different angle.
Magma formed from pure fire-element magic slowly surged through its veins.
Leaving behind striking dark-red trails.
It had cleverly concealed itself 3,700 kilometers from the grand canyon's perimeter.
It was positioned precisely beyond the outer edge of the observers' dynamic surveillance line.
Pale-blue energy waves spilling from the high-tier dynamic monitoring array brushed across its body.
Yet they were doomed to be futile.
Distorted and refracted by an invisible abyssal barrier, they failed to