Apotheosis

The past few days, Zen and Elvinia had been living under the candlelight.

Compared to the absolute darkness of the Dark Region, the candlelight seemed extremely bright -- but still, it was nothing compared to actual sunlight outside the Dark Region.

When they started taking the Darkness Fruits, they adapted to the darkness, being able to see their surroundings.

They had grown accustomed to living in the darkness, so once they saw the dazzling bright light streaming into the Dark Region, they were stunned.

Elvinia's eyes widened. Leaning on Zen's shoulder, she whispered, "That place covered by the light... it doesn't belong to the Dark Region, right?"

Anyone who was in the Dark Region and the temples would be unable to leave the Other Shore. But in other places, they'd be able to leave the Other Shore and return to their bodies normally.

Elvinia had grown tired of the Dark Region, having been trapped here for a long time. She wanted to leave as soon as possible.

But when she considered leaving, she sighed in resignation.

According to the rules of the Other Shore, they could only enter it from the place they left last time. So, if she tried leaving now, she would only return here the next time she entered the Other Shore.

The tentacles that hung from the mouths of the triangular caves were extremely sensitive. They had no eyes, but they could easily sense their prey by following their energy. While Zen and Elvinia had energy within them, because they weren't creatures born in the Dark Region, the tentacles couldn't seem to sense them.

But as Elvinia whispered, the tentacles suddenly tensed.

Whoosh...

Thousands of tentacles whirled into action, filling the air around the valley with a black indiscernible mass. It was as though a dark windstorm formed.

Seeing this, Elvinia immediately shut up.

Zen, on the other hand, remained calm. As long as he was beginning to comprehend how the creatures of the dark worked, they wouldn't be as scary.

Gently and quietly, he pulled Elvinia to the side.

The black whirlwind shot towards the spot where Elvinia had been standing only a moment later. After finding nothing there, the black tentacles retreated to their respective triangular caves.

"Isn't this fun?" Zen said to Elvinia with a sly smile.

Elvinia, however, just shuddered. The mere sight of those menacing tentacles made her uncomfortabl

ed Elvinia into the column of light as well. He rolled in behind her, looking desperate to take shelter from the attacks.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh...

Ear-piercing shrieks suddenly burst from behind Zen as he landed within the column of light.

The tentacles whirled into the column of light like crazy. As they were creatures of the Dark Region, they'd die as soon as they came into contact with the light. But still, they continued to charge after Zen. Once they touched the light, they became nothing but ash. The air was filled with the pungent scent of thousands of scorched pigs.

Besides the tentacles, the black spears shot by the pig-faced monsters also disintegrated once they came into contact with the light.

Elvinia sat inside the light column, her body trembling. She wasn't used to a life of narrowly escaping death.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...

Some tentacles were stubborn and still attempted to reach for Zen, charging fearlessly into the column of light.

Some thick tentacles weren't burned completely after they rushed into the light column. They fell on the ground and on Zen's body, still jumping like mad. They quickly turned into a hapless, seared mess. The smell of char filled Zen's nostrils.

The pig-faced monsters stood right before the light. They roared, cursed, and even stabbed their black spears into the light column in fury.

"Come out!"

"Why are you hiding in there? You cowards!"

"I will make you die a graveless death!"

However, Zen just heaved a sigh of relief. He knew they only cursed at him because there was nothing more they could do.