"Blood Sign: The Heiress"

Chapter nineteen - Heart.

 After carefully studying all of Lux's diaries, Iona realized the power and potential of the crystal that she found in his office. In theory, if we translate the karma that is contained in it, there will be enough for ten such Ions in full combat readiness. This is obviously not small. So much so that Iona even decided to visit the crater that remained after her visit to Daimei. In Lux's diary it was written that he gave one crystal, a little more than what he kept, to his "old friend". Based on the general description, Iona quickly understood who he was talking about and hoped that somewhere under a handful of sand lay the treasured sparkle, because, judging by Lux's experiments, the crystal was almost indestructible, which means that perhaps it survived the explosion in Daimei.

Iona woke up. Managarm had fallen asleep already in the morning, Iona, climbing onto him, ordered him to move. The only thing that haunted her was the absence of any information about her in Lux's diaries. Not a single word about anything resembling Iona or her karma. The girl drooped; even flying under the clouds on Managarm did not help her come to her senses. Relaxing, Iona closed her eyes and lay down on her back. She stayed on top of the beast without any problems thanks to her legs, which she literally immersed in the pet's sides. Feeling the cold wind on her face, Iona shivered. Only this prevented the girl from completely forgetting herself and lying quietly in a half-asleep. Managarm often stopped to take a breath and regain height from the jump. At such moments, Iona opened one of her eyes and looked around to roughly understand where they were.

So, after a couple of stops, Managarm reached an area familiar to Iona. To the left are forests, a little to the right you can see a small hill, several large stones, and straight ahead the target is a huge crater that was left after the explosion in Daimei. The closer they flew, the more restless Ione it was becoming. Before, she had never been afraid or worried, but now... emotions always accompanied her, and worst of all was the swing on which the girl was swinging. It happens that you're having a lot of fun, you're just glowing, and then suddenly you burn out for a few days for no reason at all. This not only interferes, but also terribly infuriates, because nothing can be done about it. Iona considered emotions a hindrance, they distracted her and did not allow her to fully concentrate on the goal, which often led to failure.

"Stop." Iona whispered.

Managarm obediently climbed onto one of the stick insects in the forest. Stick insects are tall, thin trees, which can often be found in forests throughout the new land.

Wrapped around a tree trunk, Managarm looked into the distance.

"Stay here." Iona ordered and, pulling her feet out of the sides of the beast, flew down.

Turning over herself twice, the girl spectacularly landed on bent knees. Having looked around, Iona did not waste time. Moving towards the crater, the girl looked intently around, something was haunting her. What an uneasy feeling in my soul, the place seemed to have changed since my last visit. Lost in thought, she herself did not notice how she came out of the forest straight to the edge of the crater. Almost falling, risking collecting all the stones below on her face, Iona shook her head and got rid of distracting thoughts. It was quiet and calm around, not a soul.

Iona quickly descended to the bottom of the crater and looked around. Suddenly, her eye caught marks in the sand. Indeed, on the southern part of the crater there were a bunch of tracks, all of them leading exactly to the center. Squinting her eyes, Iona took a deep breath. Approaching the footprints and sitting down next to them, the girl tried to figure out who they belonged to. Traces obviously belong to a Yoma, but whose exactly? Youma Lux? Were you looking for a crystal here too? Or maybe those Daimei soldiers who were on patrol during the operation? Iona began to get nervous, that's what prevented her from relaxing, that's what made her doubt. The girl followed the tracks to the center of the crater and raised her head up. It's funny, the sun is directly above her now, so it's noon?