Cain spun the massive dragon-skull flail over his head. It made a low, humming sound.
"Open up," Cain said.
BOOM.
He slammed the Earth-Eater into the wall of thorns.
The impact was huge. The thorns did not just break; they shattered into dust. The magic holding them together vanished because of the anti-magic chains on the weapon.
A giant hole opened in the wall.
Cain and Isolde walked inside.
The inside of the Temple of Earth was dark. It smelled like wet dirt and old graves. The ceiling was high, covered in hanging vines.
At the end of the room sat a throne. But no one was sitting on it. The throne was the person.
A massive figure was fused into the wood. He was twenty feet tall. His skin was made of grey stone. His beard was made of moss. His eyes glowed a dull, angry green.
This was Terra, the Second Divinity.
"You killed the Sun," Terra's voice boomed. It sounded like rocks grinding together. "Solus was loud. Solus was weak. I am the Earth. I endure."
Cain rested his heavy flail on his shoulder.
"You look like a pile of rocks," Cain said. "I break rocks."
Terra did not stand up. He raised a massive stone hand.
[Divine Art: Swamp of Despair]
He did not shoot a laser. He changed the floor.
Suddenly, the hard stone floor under Cain turned into liquid mud. It was deep. It was sticky.
SPLAT.
Cain sank instantly. The mud swallowed his legs. It swallowed his waist. It was pulling him down like quicksand.
"Isolde! Fly!" Cain shouted.
Isolde used her new wind magic. She blasted air at her feet and hovered a few feet off the ground.
But Cain was too heavy. The Ring of Burden made him weigh tons. He sank faster.
"Strength is useless without footing," Terra laughed. The sound shook the room. "You will sink. You will suffocate. You will become dirt."
Cain tried to pull his leg out. The mud held him tight. It hardened around his knees like cement, then turned liquid again when he moved. It was alive.
Terra raised a finger.
From the mud, sharp stone spikes shot up. They aimed for Cain's head.
Cain punched the first spike. CRACK. It broke.
But ten more shot up. He blocked them with his arms, but he was sinking deeper. The mud was up to his chest now.
"I can't move!" Cain grunted. He struggled, but the mud just pulled harder.
Isolde cast a wind blade at Terra, but it bounced off his stone skin.
"He's too hard!" Isolde yelled. "And you're drowning!"
Cain looked at the mud. He looked at the Earth-Eater flail in his hand. The dragon skull was glowing purple.
"Hey, rock-face!" Cain shouted.
Terra looked down. "Die quietly, worm."
"You forgot something," Cain said. He grinned. "I brought a spoon."
Cain gripped the chain of his flail. He didn't hit Terra. He slammed the dragon skull into the mud right in front of him.
[Effect Activation: Earth Nullification]
WHOOSH.
A wave of purple energy exploded from the weapon.
The magic in the mud died instantly.
The liquid dirt turned back into solid, dry stone in a split second.
Cain was trapped in the stone now, buried to his chest. But it was solid. He had leverage.
"Now I have a grip," Cain whispered.
He flexed his muscles. His veins bulged. He engaged his Heavenly Restriction.
CRACK. CRUMBLE.
Cain shattered the stone floor around his waist. He exploded out of the ground like a cannonball, spraying rocks everywhere.
He landed on the path, free.
Terra's eyes went wide. "Impossible. You canceled my domain?"
Cain spun the flail again. He started walking toward the throne.
"I told you," Cain said, his eyes burning red. "I break rocks."