I hug Higan tightly in my chest to calm her down. I can see her eyes tearing up and body trembling from what she saw. I cannot even fathom of what she saw and how she became this utterly terrified.
I thought she was braver, I thought she was far more unshakable, and…I though Higan could easily overcome this hurdle, I am wrong and it is my fault.
I overestimated her that I forgot one crucial thing. Because of her life, because of how she grew up, because of how young she is, all of these factors, she was the most emotionally fragile and she only kept everything buried.
It should have been obvious right from the very start that I met her. She was just masking everything with bravado and she even started believing that she doesn’t fear anything.
“She barely passed, returned from almost being consumed by her emotions, by her fears, by her very own being and desire. That all said, it doesn’t mean she overcomes those fears and insecurities. It was not that kind of test.”
“Shut up…”
“All of you finished the challenge because you accepted all of your strengths and weaknesses, as for her, it was only the beginning as her delusions slowly dies.”
“Shut up!”
“She is the girl who has the closest affinity and wavelength with Astlan Lionheart. She is the girl whose emotion and mental fortitude will be constantly put in a predicament. Among the four of you connected by blood and soul, she is by far, the most similar to Astlan, and the name of that girl, Higanbana, a beautiful Lycoris.”
“You…!”
I pulled out a sword from my dimensional storage and point it at the Joker Devil. I can feel my blood curdling from his noisiness. I glare at him with all of my hate while I still hold Higan with my other hand.
“I said shut up. You are a joker, right? Not a damn poet.”
“Irrationality is a hallmark of a fool, however, it can also be interpreted as courage depending on the situation. You, daughter of Nivalis, plays between a fool and a brave. You can only be described as beautiful existence that houses great hypocrisy and yet, a faithful one.”
“Don’t you have anything better to do instead of spewing crap like that?!”
“My apologies. I am just in a frolic mood for the reason you are befitting to cross this gate. I shall open it and you may end the game Eresti started.”
So he said and true to his words, he stands aside and opens the gate. The sinister glow of the gate dims and the strong power binding it disappears. With a smile befitting of him, devil joker beckons us to enter.
Inside the gate is an entrance that I assume with stairs inside that elevates upwards with stairs. The tall and large pillar is not that high so it won’t pose a problem for us, however, I am conflicted of because of Higan.
I don’t want to move on until Higan can recover.
“I’m fine.”
“Higan?”
Mine, Casablanca, and Hibiscus face brighten up as Higan spoke. She parted from my bosom and look at us with eyes sore from crying. In that very instant, Higan also separated her body from me and wobbly stand up on her feet.
“I am fine now. We should push forward…This is the end, right?”
Higan said with tone unnatural for her. It’s like a huge portion of her confidence was destroyed and her words came out sounds like tired or more precisely, weak and daunted.
She started walking towards the gate and passes by the joker devil. Shortly, Mana and Roses followed to assure that Higan will be safe and from behind, Casablanca and Hibiscus stick to them. I was left there as I kept my eyes on the joker devil.
Something about him keeps me alert. I didn’t felt this way about him when he gave us the challenge. It’s like there’s a sudden change as soon as he confirmed that all of us passed.
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“What’s wrong? Aren’t you going to follow them?”
“I know I’ve made so much wrong decision in my life, however, I am not dumb not to know that there’s something else that is about to happen.”
“Quite the suspicion you got.”
“What are you hiding? What is Eresti’s grand scheme? The revision…the flooding of the devils…I know that Nil is powerful enough to overpower it. It would be a trivial matter for him. However, if that were the case, the cycle of revision would have been broken for a long time now.”
“I wonder.”
“You chose not to fight. But I doubt what you said earlier as reason is the only case…you wouldn’t be a devil with Arcana related to the joker.”
“Who knows?”
“It’s no use talking to you anymore….”
Feeling extremely frustrated, I stomp my way to the gate and passes by the joker devil. I can’t get a proper answer from him and if he does say words, it’s all poetry.
I don’t like the feeling of getting toyed by him…
“Don’t worry. As you enter the heart of Erestivatria, one of the heroes with mature blessing should offer their divinity to it in exchange for destroying the cycle of devils.”
“………”
“After that, the space connecting this place and your planet will be cut off. Well, not until all foreign creatures are teleported out. Convenient, isn’t? You won’t be seeing me again.”
“You still have words in your mouth after all…’
“When the challenge started, Topaz the traitor was able to break free one minute after it started. You broke free after five minutes followed by those two adults who broke out for fifteen minutes. The elven twins broke free for twenty-five minutes. Higanbana broke out for at least an hour.”
“What’s your damn point…?”
“Well, I really don’t care about the traitor, however, you. Asagao Lionheart, to break free of it, just what kind of a fear did you face? I am curious.”
“………”
“Fear is a lovely concept. Without fear, bravery won’t emerge. Without bravery, fear could destroy. Isn’t a beautiful concept, right? Were you really a brave or coward? That’s why I am thirsty for the knowledge of Asagao Lionheart’s fear that she overcame.”
“It’s none of your business.”
I said as I continue walking away from him. I am no longer compelled to answer his questions and I am no longer motivated to ask him more.
My spine then felt really cold…
I can sense it…
As I turn my head around…I can see the joker devil…smiling, a smile that shows pure madness. It was only a glimpse but I definitely saw him smiling like what a madman would do.
There is a real reason why…he is the joker and I am scared of why.
I turn my head forward and walk as fast as I could to catch up with the others. What beholds me inside the tall tower is a spiral staircase. Everyone was waiting for me at the very base.
“Let’s go.”
Everyone nods from my words and we proceed towards the heart of Erestivatria. What I can only do is to prepare for what to come in our way. Whatever Eresti is planning is something I am naïve of but not unprepared for.
.
.
.
“Is this…it?”
“There’s nothing here but that. The joker devil said that he is the only one here and there will be no boss fight or some sort.”
Mana asked the question and Rose answered it. It is as the joker devil said, there will be no boss fight or some sort.
In front of us though…is a huge…floating cube with a huge sphere in the middle. Around the cube is an archaic ring that spins around it with red light. The cube itself is floating and gives a horrid ominous feeling. What made us hand our jaw the most is the size of the cube in which it is as big as a three-story house.
Its bright light is illuminating the whole place and even the starts that scatter across space looks a little dim for the reason this cube, the heart of Erestivatria overshadows them.
“What…are we going to do with it? Bring it home…?”
“N-Not quite…and I don’t think we can bring that home…’
“Eeeehh…but it’s so pretty…”
Mana got the nerve to crack a joke at this moment, but I guess it could help to loosen up the tension.
“Hey, hey, Asagao, is there something we should be doing now? We came all the way here, there should be something.”
“Emby seems a little tipsy too. I think both of us feel that there is something wrong…”
Casablanca and Hibiscus said so.
Even if we talk about this something is off feeling, we can’t do anything about it. We won’t gain anything if we don’t do something. If we lose something, we should do our best to get it back.
“I don’t know. The joker devil said that a hero with matured blessing should offer their divinity to the heart. I think it will destroy its function and we will be teleported out of this place.”
“I see…then…I’ll do it… with that…I guess I can have a vacation…for the rest of my life…right?”
“Guaranteed that someone will feed you for the rest of your life…”
“Buzzkill…”
Mana said with a pout as she proceeds to walk towards the heart. All of us left at the back huddled together to prepare for what’s to come.
As she made contact with the heart, Mana’s archaic halo shoots out from her body. She started glowing and I felt that the divine power inside her, the Blessing of Hero, started leaving from her and started wrapping around the heart.
CRACK
The blessing that left Mana started rampaging around the heart trying to break. The heart itself started fighting back, however, to no avail, the blessing overpowered it. Mana started taking a backstep because the outrage of the divine power becomes immense.
CRACK
“Wow…it’s sparking and everything…”
“Hey Mana, I think you should get here with us.”
Rose called out to her and naturally, fearing for her own life, Mana runs to us. I watch carefully the phenomena in front of us and keep my sense alert when I need to use a barrier.
CRACK
CRACK
CRACK
The blessing started fading out and the heart started losing its bright color. Slowly, the mechanism of the cube stops as the center of the cube becomes pale gray. The whole cube, after losing its power falls to the ground that made a loud noise.
BAM!
“Is…is that it…?”
“The heart of Erestivatria is dead. I can confirm it.”
Topaz said so as she approaches the heart. She crouches down near the heart and looks at it.
“Hey…Topaz…I think you should…”
“No…let me say my thanks and goodbye…”
“Ah…”
Topaz places her hand on the cube and strokes it. She looks at it with longing eyes that seem to part with someone really important. Tears started emerging from her eyes as she conveys her soundless appreciation for the place that gives birth to her.
“Goodbye.”
She said.
After that, our body started glowing and magical circle appeared beneath us. Is this the transferring spell?
“What’s this?!”
“Calm down. We are just going to be sent out from this place.”
I assured Rose who becomes jumpy. Since Topaz is aware of it, she didn’t even flinch from it. Casablanca and Hibiscus stare at the bright circle surrounding their body and Mana just lazily stares at it.
However…Higan…even now…her face does not show any emotions. She only looks down with empty eyes that seem deprived of life.
I just kept staring at her before our vision was eaten by a bright light.