Chapter 350: The Road to Nexus

The first thing Kai noticed after landing was the size of the airport. It was enormous, with a massive terminal stretching across the landing grounds and hundreds of people moving through the building.

Hunters, civilians, merchants, researchers, and Astral Church personnel all passed through the busy halls while aircraft and transport vehicles moved outside.

Kai stepped off the transport and looked around. "This is different."

Sera walked beside him and looked around as well. "Very different."

Lily, however, wasn’t looking at the people. She was staring at a massive structure standing in the center of the airport. "Look at that."

Kai followed her gaze. The structure looked like an enormous tower, but it wasn’t made from the same modern materials as the rest of the airport. Its surface consisted of huge pieces of dark stone covered in ancient markings, while modern platforms and metal walkways had been built around its base. Power cables ran along the ground and connected to several modern control systems.

Kai stared at it for a moment. "What is that?"

Lily’s eyes were already filled with curiosity. "I don’t know." She started walking toward it.

Sera quickly grabbed her arm. "Don’t."

Lily stopped. "Why?"

"Because we’re supposed to meet Gabriel."

Lily looked back at the structure. "But..."

Sera pointed toward it. "You can investigate it later."

Lily reluctantly stepped away.

Kai smiled. "You really like ruins."

"It’s not a ruin." Lily glanced back at the structure. "It’s still functioning."

Kai raised an eyebrow. "You can tell that from here?"

"There are energy conduits running through the base." She pointed toward several lines running beneath the structure. "Those aren’t decorative."

Sera looked at Kai. "She’s going to be a problem here."

Kai nodded. "I know."

Before Lily could say anything else, a familiar voice came from behind them. "You’re finally here."

Kai turned around. Gabriel was walking toward them with a smile. She looked different from when she had stayed in Mythal, wearing a simple modern outfit with the Church’s emblem displayed on her jacket instead of the formal clothing associated with the Astral Church.

Kai smiled. "Good to see you again."

Gabriel returned the smile. "You too." She looked toward Sera and Lily. "And I assume these are the two who decided to come with you."

Sera nodded. "Sera."

Gabriel smiled. "I’ve heard plenty about you."

Sera raised an eyebrow. "Hopefully good things."

Gabriel laughed. "Mostly."

Sera glanced at Kai. "Mostly?"

Kai smiled. "You’re doing fine."

Gabriel turned toward Lily. "And you must be Lily."

Lily nodded. "Yes."

Gabriel smiled. "I’ve also heard quite a lot about you."

Lily looked slightly surprised. "Really?"

"Your work on Mythal’s defensive network has reached several Church researchers."

Lily’s eyes widened. "It has?"

Gabriel nodded. "They’re very interested in what you’ve been building."

Lily smiled. "That’s good."

Kai noticed the excitement in her expression and couldn’t help smiling.

Gabriel then looked at him. "And you."

Kai frowned. "What?"

"You’ve become quite famous."

Kai sighed. "I was hoping to avoid that."

"You failed."

Sera laughed. "He really did."

They left the airport together, and the moment they stepped outside, Lily stopped walking. Kai nearly walked into her. "What?"

She pointed toward the horizon. "That."

Kai followed her finger and stopped as well. Massive pieces of land floated high above the city, and they weren’t small islands either. Some were large enough to hold mountains, forests, and entire structures, while enormous bridges connected others to the city below. Modern transport platforms moved between the floating landmasses, and aircraft flew beneath them as if they were simply another part of the city’s transportation system.

Kai stared upward. "Those are floating."

Gabriel nodded. "Yes."

Sera looked up as well. "How?"

Gabriel smiled. "That’s a question researchers have been asking for a very long time."

Lily turned toward her. "You don’t know?"

"We understand parts of it." Gabriel pointed toward one of the floating landmasses. "Ancient relic systems maintain the gravitational fields."

Lily immediately looked back toward the island. "How old are they?"

Gabriel thought for a moment. "Nobody knows for certain."

Lily stared at her. "Nobody?"

"Some of the structures on those islands existed before the oldest surviving records."

Lily’s expression became even more fascinated. Kai looked upward again, the sight difficult to process. Mythal was a city that had spent the last several months learning how to survive. Nexus looked like a civilization that had been building upon itself for centuries, perhaps even longer, without ever completely understanding what had come before.

Gabriel started walking. "Come on."

They followed her. Sera continued looking around. "There are a lot of people."

"Yes."

"More than Mythal."

"Much more." Gabriel smiled. "Nexus is one of the oldest and largest populated regions on the continent."

Kai looked at the roads as they moved through the city. Modern highways crossed beneath enormous stone structures, while ancient walls had been incorporated into newer buildings. Some roads passed directly beneath giant statues, and modern shops had been constructed against ruins that looked like they belonged to another world entirely.

Kai pointed toward a massive stone arch. "What’s that?"

Gabriel looked toward it. "The Arch of Dawn."

"What is it for?"

"We don’t know."

Sera looked at her. "You don’t know?"

"No."

"Then why is it called the Arch of Dawn?"

Gabriel smiled. "Because people started calling it that."

Kai looked at the enormous structure. "Nobody knows who built it?"

"Not for certain."

"How old is it?"

"Older than the records we have."

Sera frowned. "And people simply built a city around it?"

Gabriel nodded. "Pretty much."

Sera stared at her for a moment. "That’s strange."

Gabriel laughed. "Welcome to Nexus."

...

They continued through the city, and Lily’s attention seemed to shift in every direction at once. Every few minutes she noticed something else that caught her interest, whether it was an ancient stone road disappearing beneath a modern building, a headless statue standing between two office towers, or a massive circular platform surrounded by apartment buildings.

"This place is insane," Lily finally said.

Gabriel smiled. "You haven’t seen anything yet."

Lily looked at her. "How old is the city?"

"Nexus City?"

"Yes."

"About eight hundred years."

Lily blinked. "Eight hundred?"

"Approximately."

Sera looked surprised. "And that’s considered old?"

Gabriel shook her head. "No."

Kai looked at her. "No?"

Gabriel pointed toward a massive stone foundation visible between two modern buildings. "That was here before Nexus City."

Kai stared at the structure. "How much before?"

"Nobody knows."

Lily immediately stepped closer. "What do the records say?"

"Very little."

"Why?"

"Because most of the records from that period are gone."

Kai narrowed his eyes. "Gone?"

Gabriel nodded. "Destroyed, lost, buried, or sometimes deliberately removed."

Sera looked at her. "Deliberately?"

Gabriel’s expression became more serious. "Some civilizations didn’t want certain things remembered."

Kai looked toward the ancient structures surrounding them. "Why?"

Gabriel smiled faintly. "That’s one of the reasons you’re here."

Kai said nothing.

...

They passed through another district, and the surroundings changed again. The roads were modern, the buildings were modern, and the traffic was just as busy as any major city, but enormous stone statues stood between the buildings as if they had always belonged there. Some looked like warriors, others looked like creatures, one had six arms, another appeared to have wings, and a third was so badly damaged that only its lower half remained. People walked past them without giving them much attention.

Kai looked at one of the statues. "What are those?"

Gabriel glanced over. "Nobody knows."

Lily immediately looked at her. "Nobody?"

"Some researchers believe they’re religious figures. Others think they were ancient rulers."

"And the third theory?"

Gabriel smiled. "That they’re not people at all."

Lily became even more interested. "Then what are they?"

Gabriel shrugged. "That’s what researchers are trying to find out."

Lily looked like she wanted to stop walking. Kai placed a hand on her shoulder. "Keep moving."

"But..."

"We’re going to the ruins."

Lily reluctantly continued.

Sera smiled. "You’re going to have to keep her away from every interesting object we find."

Gabriel laughed. "I’ve noticed."

...

After another twenty minutes, Kai began to notice how much the continent had changed over time. "This continent has gone through a lot of changes."

Gabriel nodded. "It has."

"How many?"

"Too many to count." She looked out through the vehicle window as they continued toward the city. "Nexus has changed more in the last eight months than it has in decades."

Sera turned toward her. "Because of the awakening?"

Gabriel nodded. "Partly." She looked at Kai. "The world changed when Hunters appeared. Cities had to adapt, governments changed, Hunter Guilds appeared, monster zones expanded, and old relics started reacting."

Lily listened carefully.

Gabriel continued. "But Nexus had another problem."

"What?"

"Things that had been dormant for centuries started waking up."

Kai looked at her. "Ancient relics?"

"Relics, ruins, underground structures, old defensive systems, and things that nobody knew were still functioning." She paused. "Some of them had been sitting beneath cities for longer than anyone realized."

Sera frowned. "And you’re saying most of this started after the awakening?"

"Most of it."

Kai looked out the window. That explained some of the strange structures they had seen. Nexus wasn’t simply an old continent. It was a continent where the old world had started moving again.

Gabriel looked at Kai. "That’s why the last eight months have been difficult."

Kai nodded. "Mythal had to build almost everything from nothing."

Gabriel smiled. "Nexus had the opposite problem."

"What?"

"We had too much." She gestured toward the ancient structures surrounding the road. "Too many relics, too many ruins, and too many unanswered questions."

"And now?"

"Now everyone wants answers."

Lily immediately spoke. "I understand them."

Sera laughed. "Of course you do."

...

The vehicle continued toward Nexus City, and in the distance, the skyline finally appeared. It was enormous.

Modern skyscrapers stood beside ancient towers, while floating structures hung above the city and massive bridges connected different districts.

Ancient walls surrounded sections of the city, and modern highways passed directly through them.

But far beyond the skyline, Kai could see something else. A massive stone structure rose above the horizon, looking like the remains of a gigantic fortress, with enormous walls stretching across the landscape.

Kai stared at it. "What’s that?"

Gabriel followed his gaze, and for the first time since they had left the airport, her smile faded. "The old Aegis region."

Lily immediately turned toward her. "Aegis?"