Apotheosis

"Black... monkeys."

Zen raised his eyebrows in slight curiosity.

Though the three-eyed boy rarely spoke to them, Zen recalled him mentioning that these black monkeys were the creatures responsible for guarding the Burning Crystals.

Since the three-eyed boy was almost killed by them, Zen figured they were strong.

But what were they doing here? A bad feeling began to churn in Zen's stomach.

Chatter! Chatter! Chatter...

As these black monkeys showed up one after another, the human-monkey monsters' voices grew louder. The atmosphere around them was tense.

Just then, this group of monkeys slowly walked towards the hillside.

Zen bowed his body on the hillside and motioned backward. Soon enough, he was within range of the candlelight and made his way towards the little hut.

"Bang!"

Elvinia was so focused on making the wax that she hadn't noticed Zen's footsteps outside the hut.

Having made so many candles, she grew to become more and more skilled. She was even able to discover the best temperature to make wax.

The sound rang for another time, which finally got her attention. She looked up from her spot and was surprised to see Zen rushing in like a vanguard.

Zen never rushed this way. He was always calm and collected.

"What's wrong?" Elvinia asked lightly.

Although the human-monkey monsters beneath the hillside were extraordinarily noisy, Elvinia couldn't hear their voices as sounds could not pass through the darkness.

Without hesitation, Zen handed a Darkness Fruit to her. "Eat it!" he urged.

Elvinia stared at him and furrowed her brows in confusion, "Why? What happened?"

"We don't have time to talk. We need to leave right now or we'll die!" Zen replied hastily.

Looking at Zen's serious look, Elvinia didn't hesitate and swallowed the Darkness Fruit in one gulp.

The Light Fruits and Darkness Fruits had very special features. The moment Elvinia swallowed the Darkness Fruit, traces of black clouds spread from her purple soul. In the blink of an eye, the clouds spread throughout her entire soul.

Zen grabbed her wrist. "Let's go!"

The two rushed out.

"But those Burning Crystals..."

Elvinia couldn't help but look back at the wax she had to stop working on, but there were other things t

ds, Zen felt the bridge under his feet begin to quake and tilt. Just as he was wondering, the entire bridge grew steeper and steeper. In a flash, instead of running forward, he was running upward!

Caught off guard, Zen and Elvinia fell towards the ravine.

"What happened? Is the bridge broken?" Zen asked as they were falling.

Elvinia answered with an impassive face. "That's what I was trying to tell you!"

Zen was struck dumb with the news.

As they were falling towards the darkness, he felt a twinge of regret.

They had no idea how deep the ravine was, so Zen observed their fall carefully as they descended.

After eating the Darkness Fruits, he and Elvinia had become accustomed to the Dark Region. They could see the outline of the things beneath them.

About half a minute later, Zen used all his might to curl his legs and drag Elvinia into his arms. The next moment, he was hurled directly into the nearby bushes.

"Boom!"

It was all right for Zen's body to fall from such a high altitude.

But the Soul of Light was much weaker than the physical body. Zen fell to the ground with Elvinia in his arms, and he made sure to hold her closely to him so that he could take most of the impact. If Zen wasn't careful enough, she might just die.

"Are you all right?" Zen asked with concern, feeling her head and arms for any signs of injury.

"I'm... I'm okay." Elvinia answered in a stammer.

She freed herself from Zen's embrace, feeling some sort of warmth deep within her heart.