Masteria Online: Shattering the Dark God's Grand Scheme-Chapter 110 - One last place

Back at the Observatory later, after Mika had been overwhelmed with visitors and gifts and promises of friendship, Pingu found the Knights preparing to depart.

"I wanted to speak with you before you left." he said, waddling up with unusual solemnity. "To thank you, yes, but also to share something important."

"We were happy to help." Lumi said. "It’s what Knights do."

"You did more than help." Pingu insisted. "You revealed a truth we’d been blind to. Before this crisis, we lived here together, but apart. Seals in their territories, penguins in ours, humans in theirs. We traded, we talked, but we didn’t truly trust each other. We were three peoples sharing one land."

He gestured toward the mixed groups still celebrating throughout the Observatory. "Look at us now. Working together, apologizing together, celebrating together. The crisis forced us to unite, but that was all. We still looked at each other with suspicion. What you proved to us at every turn, that our real enemy was external, not each other, transformed cooperation into unity. We’re not three peoples anymore. We’re one. Mora is truly united for the first time in generations."

"Crisis does tend to reveal what matters," Lumi observed. "Suppose that’s the only upside of this whole thing. This united you all so much."

"Exactly!" Pingu nodded enthusiastically. "Even if people disagree on things, working toward a common goal brings out the best in them. Especially when protecting the ones they love. That’s the lesson we learned, and we have you to thank for letting us survive this threat."

"The credit belongs to all of you." Valeria said. "We just fought evil. It was you all who turned it into an opportunity for three groups to understand each other."

As farewells were exchanged and the Knights made ready to depart, Lumi’s mind was already turning to what came next. To everyone else, the mission was complete. The corruption was cleared, the Wings were routed, and Mora was united.

But he knew better.

Clearly, the Wings of Darkness sent here hadn’t fully understood their own mission. They’d caused chaos, spread corruption, killed inhabitants, built an army, and used the glacier fragments as power sources.

But did any of them know about Rena?

To Lumi, the answer was clear. While someone did, the ones present did not. Perhaps only Admiral Seven knew, but the man was dead. At the same time, Lumi understood the deeper implications.

The corruption wasn’t just about tormenting Mora’s inhabitants, though that was certainly a goal they held. It served as reinforcement for the glacier itself. Specifically, for the prison contained within.

Lumi could no longer deny it. While he had no direct evidence, circumstance made this the only feasible option. With the Dark One’s seal weakening across the world, so too was Rena’s. The corruption had been maintaining the seal’s integrity, keeping her trapped.

Why did so many of the old heroes resurface, if they had all suffered terrible fates? Unless one were to blame fate, then the only explanation was that the Dark One’s return directly broke their imprisonment.

But something didn’t add up. If this was truly about keeping one of the Six Heroes sealed, someone who had stood against the Dark One himself, why send such weak forces? The highest level operative they’d faced was what, in the fifties? For a mission of such critical importance, that made no sense.

Unless...

Lumi’s eyes narrowed as several theories came to mind. They hadn’t sent stronger forces because it wouldn’t matter. No amount of external reinforcement would keep Rena contained indefinitely. Her escape was inevitable. This had been a delaying action, nothing more. Buy a few more months, maybe a year, before she breaks free.

Which meant it was marked as low priority.

Or perhaps this was the pet project of a single commander rather than a full organizational effort.

The biggest mistake one could make was to think that the Dark One’s forces were organized. Every commander had their own agenda. Even if the Wings were organized, without their higher-ups giving them an order, they would never mobilize something like this.

Either way, with the Wings gone and their reinforcement operations ended, it was time to see if Rena could be freed on their terms rather than hers.

"Actually." Lumi said as they reached the Silver Wind. "I’d like to make one more stop before we leave Mora."

"Oh?" Valeria turned to him with interest.

Lumi responded. "The corrupted glacier. It’s my primary concern and the reason I came to Mora. Although it may sound heartless, it could be said that everything else we took care of was merely a necessary side project."

"A necessary side project..." Valeria said slowly. "That’s a bit concerning. There must be something to this glacier then." 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

"I want to come too!" Susie interjected immediately. She’d been preparing to say goodbye, but her eyes lit up at this new opportunity. "A chance to study the glacier the Wings were so interested in? The scientific possibilities! Please, let me join you for this."

"The corruption doesn’t involve direct threats to Mora anymore," Lumi said carefully. "This would be purely investigational."

"Anything involving Mora involves me." Susie said firmly. "This is my home. These are my people. If there’s something about that glacier we need to understand, I want to help discover it."

Lumi considered for a moment, then nodded. Susie was right, Mora was her home. If she wanted to come investigate or assist, that was more than reasonable. "Very well. Just be careful, alright?"

"I’ll be okay," Susie replied with a smile. "It’s been a while since the incident where I got attacked. I didn’t say this earlier, but I recognized my assailant among the many we took out in that Wings of Darkness base."

With them having finished all that needed to be done, they began to sail. It took them away from the inner sea and toward Mora’s main landmass once more. Their destination was close to, but not directly next to where the Wings base was located.