The Godsfall Chronicles Book 7, Chapter 33 - Secret Underground City

Ruins were not a new thing for Cloudhawk.
He lived among them for years, growing up among the crumbling remains of an old civilization. After discovering the Demon King's phase stone he saw similar ruins in other worlds. Whether his own planet or others, ruins were a common sight.
But these ruins were different.
Cloudhawk reached out with his senses to scan for traps or other dangers. The size of this place was even larger than Skycloud, and this section wasn't even close to the whole thing. It stretched beyond the limits of what he could sense.
It was huge! These underground caverns were so large Cloudhawk figured you could fit two entire Elysian lands. As far as he could see the area was densely covered in ancient, well-preserved structures. This was a city, not a ruin.
Dawn was thoroughly stunned. Her eyes lit up when she realized the implication. "This is a treasure trove! We have to see what was left down here!"
Idonea's face wore a worried scowl. "Father and the others are lost down here. We have to find them!"
"There's something strange about this place. We shouldn't just go wandering around." Cloudhawk was confident in Bruno and Phoenix's power. There wasn't much they couldn't fight off. If they ran into trouble, it was against something as strong or stronger than a Supreme God. Even Cloudhawk wasn't going to take a risk.
"How about this. Dawn and I will take a quick look around. Idonea, you and the others wait here for word." He looked over the prisoners. "Yall fuck around while my back is turned and we're going to have a problem."
Idonea opened her mouth to speak, but thought better of it and fell silent.
"Let's go."
Cloudhawk took Dawn's arm and the two jumped into the hole leading underground. They disappeared from view, swallowed up by the dark and mysterious city.
"Hmph. Why should we listen to that asshole's commands?"
"We should use this chance to set a trap!"
There was no small number of people in the prison camp who despised Cloudhawk. Even those that didn't hate him utterly weren't a fan of the man. How could they be expected to stay on the level?
As she listened to them discuss their plans, Idonea spun around to face the soldiers. "He defeated the four Supremes all on his own. I'm warning you, anything you try will be suicide."
The four Supremes… defeated? The news hit them like a landslide. It'd been two months since Phoenix and Bruno were deposited here. At that time the Supremes were in a dominant position. Now, less than a hundred days later, they were no more. It was beyond belief!
Had Cloudhawk really become so strong that five Supreme Gods couldn't stop him?
As Idonea was delivering her warning, Cloudhawk and Dawn were creeping into the city. Light was scarce, but their evolved vision helped them see even in complete darkness.
Dawn crept forward, wrapped in her enormous armor and with her glinting sword in hand. She cut a heroic figure, both beautiful and imposing. It was a strange contrast.
"Can you tell anything about this place?" She asked.
"The architecture is unique and well preserved. Not like the ruins we're used to. It's more like a city where the people just vanished." He looked around. "See the surroundings? Clean, no sign of erosion. If I had to guess this place hasn't been empty for very long. A thousand years, less?"
Less than a thousand years? That hardly sounded like a short time!
But Dawn had traveled with Cloudhawk to several other planets. They all had traces of ancient civilizations but they were little more than rubble - often twenty thousand or more years old. They'd never come across a place abandoned less than a thousand years ago.
She picked around, noting the organized city planning and excellent construction. There was a slew of buildings, all a little different and probably once holding different functions.
The most common she saw was a black spire-like structure. They came in different sizes but their construction was similar. Judging by the number, she figured they were residential buildings.
Large pillars appeared at set intervals, each one several hundred meters tall.
Dawn raised her head and looked toward their peak. The jade-like architecture was oddly beaded at the bottom half, and wrapped in roots by the top. When she looked closer Dawn saw that they were connected to the crust overhead. These roots reached down from stone and wrapped themselves around the pillars.
They held this cavern up.
Cloudhawk saw it, too. "The overworld is covered in plant life, but those aren't normal plants. I'm willing to bet they're used to gather energy. The trees all gather sunlight and radiation and then siphon it down through this root system. These spires are storage and transfer devices."
Dawn blinked comically. She'd never seen anything like it.
The world above was covered in trees and other foliage, while below a city once thrived. The citizens gathered power from the jungle to support themselves. So long as there was sun and radiation the city had all the energy it needed.
These other-worlders… seriously fucking clever.
"This is amazing. But why did they abandon this place? It doesn't look like they were attacked. What reason did they have to leave everything behind?"
Cloudhawk didn't have an answer.
What he did see was that this huge city appeared to have had access to limitless energy. It also had a distinct Elysian feel.
If it was an Elysian land then it should have been destroyed when society collapsed. When the natives disappeared it wouldn't make sense for it to remain so well intact. That gel with every other ruin Cloudhawk had come across.
"No point standing around guessing. Let's find those missing people then we can share theories. Maybe they've already figured it out." Cloudhawk pulled Godslayer free and held it forward. He used a couple searching class relics to scan the surroundings. "Let's keep going."
Between the relics and Cloudhawk's own senses, he was able to look out over a large area. Anything out of the ordinary would capture his attention. A few moments later, he spied the first interesting landmark.
It was a trapezoidal altar in the center of the city. It was entirely empty, but Cloudhawk could still feel a residual energy wafting from it. It was a special structure, built by godly or demonic technology.
Cloudhawk told Dawn to stay back and remain alert. His body blurred and in the next instant he was standing on the altar. The moment he feet touched, a strange energy poured into him.