Apotheosis

Dorothy had already told Zen the whole story of the vortex.

She had also told him that, so far, no one had been able to destroy the great whirlpool. And yet, Zen still risked his own life to enter the whirlpool! This made Dorothy soften her expression, obviously touched at Zen's bravery.

However, Zen was not a reckless person. As he swam closer to the edge of the whirlpool, he internally asked No. 9527 for its opinion.

Since he had entered the Sea of Truth with his physical body, the seawater didn't scare him. Moreover, since his Soul of Light had been trapped in the vortex, he really had no choice but to physically dive into it.

No. 9527 had some speculations. "There's no way the vortex could have just appeared out of thin air," it told Zen. "This was, most likely, deliberately arranged by someone."

Zen's curiosity grew. Who was powerful enough to control the Sea of Truth? And...why would they do such a thing? To stop warriors from reaching the Other Shore?

Zen could tell No. 9527 knew something more. However, he didn't try to probe any further.

"I'm going to explore the center of the great whirlpool," he said to Dorothy.

Sitting in the Truth Boat, Dorothy had mixed feelings. She hoped that Zen could somehow make the vortex go away and free them; on the other hand, she was worried for his safety. In the end, she could only say softly, "You...Be careful..."

"Don't worry. In case of any emergency, leave the Sea of Truth first," Zen instructed.

Dorothy nodded, swallowing her anxiety.

The vortex hadn't stopped whirling since its inception.

In time, the ripples within the great whirlpool would only grow in strength. By then, none of the Truth Boats would be able to resist the waves, and instead they would be sucked into an eternity of swirling around according to the vortex's will. If it ever came to that, there would be no choice but to use the Illusion Breaking Rune to leave the Sea of Truth.

Zen suddenly dove into the water, leaving a trail of bubbles behind.

Dorothy gazed at Zen's receding figure in the distance, falling into a daze.

She knew his success was highly improbable, but, for some reason, Zen gave her some hope.

This unwarranted hope caused conflict with her rational mind.

Soul of Light, it would have melted into the sea.

However, after his body had been sucked into the tornado, he was thrown out.

Zen's gaze followed the contour of the tornado, until his eyes met the lowest part, where the tornado looked like threads swirling around a finger. While his vision was blurry in the red sea, he could barely make out that there was something flashing at the very tip of the whirlpool.

'There is something down there, ' Zen said to himself.

Mustering his strength, he dove deeper towards the tornado.

The depths of the Sea of Truth was empty. Zen didn't see any other creatures, so he felt rather at ease, not having to worry about other threats.

However, the sheer length of the vortex was beyond his imagination. Several thousand feet down, he still couldn't see the end of the water tornado. After what seemed like hundreds of thousands of feet down, he finally approached the end of the whirlpool.

He was surprised to see it was only as thick as his finger. It boggled his mind to think about how such a tiny water flow could cause such a huge whirlpool as it spread upwards.

After further diving, he found the flashing light at the bottom of the tornado becoming brighter and brighter. As he closed in on the white light, he narrowed his eyes at its source.

"A c-candle?"

Deep at the bottom of the sea, a candle the size of his palm floated almost peacefully. The silver light Zen had seen earlier was the light burning from the candle's single wick.