To Raine’s surprise, the journey went smoothly. Navi’s ship docked on Serpent Isle as quickly as the sailors could, making sure that Raine and Nikolay would have enough time before the blood moon started. They ended up disembarking the ship just a few hours earlier than the phenomenon.
“I’ll be waiting here for you guys once you’re done,” Navi waved to them at the dock. “Good luck!”
Raine waved back. “Thanks! Hope to see you soon enough!”
“Thank you, Navi. See you soon,” Nikolay said.
Now that they were finally at Serpent Isle, Raine felt his legs go a little weak. This was it. The end of the prophecy. And the end of the world, if he fucked up. It seemed so unbelievable that something so disastrous hinged on one person’s decision, but Raine had experienced too many unbelievable things inside the Temples to write off the prophecy at this point.
Not to mention, the atmosphere of Serpent Isle really hammered in the whole ‘doomsday’ aspect. Ominous dark clouds loomed overhead, casting a perpetual shadow in the absence of the sun. Aside from the sand and bushes, a large temple jutted out of the low landscape. This temple’s architecture resembled the ones on mainland Kosira, but its stone bricks were darker greys and blacks, compared to faded sandstone.
If it had been storming right now, with lightning crackling across the temple, Raine wouldn’t have been surprised in the slightest.
“We should head off,” Nikolay said, pulling Raine back to reality. “There’s no time to waste.”
“Oh, right. Sorry.”
“No need to apologise.”
The island was small — it only took them a few minutes of following the sand path before they reached the area in front of the temple. They would’ve continued on inside, if not for two people standing in their way.
The strangers were dressed in combat gear, somewhat resembling a police officer’s uniform. No magic aura surrounded them, suggesting that they weren’t from Kosira.
Raine looked around for a place to hide and ambush them, but the flat terrain gave him nothing to work with. Left with no choice, he walked forward to confront these non-sorcerers.
“Who are you? Why are you here?” Raine asked them.
He did his best to copy Nikolay’s intimidating glare and stance, but it didn’t work quite as well as he hoped.
The pair chuckled at Raine’s questions, as if he’d said something funny.
“Well, well, well, if it isn’t our targets. You’ve both already died once to us, it shouldn’t be too hard to do it again,” one of them leered.
Died? Raine scoured his memory. Before the prophecy started, he was shot in the chest by two officers, causing him to be reincarnated into Nikolay’s vessel. Were these the same people?
“Doesn’t ring a bell. Remind me what happened,” Nikolay said.
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Effortlessly, his statement left the duo in shock. They immediately stopped laughing and looked at each other in confusion.
“Wait, seriously? You don’t remember us?” they asked, in an almost pleading tone. “We even wore the same disguises that you saw us in last time!”
Nikolay shook his head. “No, I don’t remember. That’s why I asked you to describe the death.”
Well, Raine reasoned to himself, Nikolay must’ve died a lot of times before. It made sense that he wouldn’t have remembered. Any other person would’ve at least had an inkling of something that impactful.
“Uhh,” the man said. “You were Rui Chen. We lured you out of the classroom, then pursued you across the school campus, until we caught you right as you were about to escape.”
“Don’t forget that we reflected her magic with our gadgets! That’s an important one. She was so shocked!” the woman added.
“Why do you have to be so enthusiastic? The best villains are nonchalant!” her partner loudly whispered at her.
Nikolay nodded slowly, pretending not to have heard the last part. “Ah, now I vaguely recall it. You seemed much more threatening back then. Then, I suppose your employer asked you to complete the task again?”
“Yes, that’s right!” the woman replied.
“Why are you answering his questions so honestly?!” the man exclaimed.
“Unfortunately, we’re on a tight schedule. I’ll have to deal with you two later. See to it that you reflect on your actions in the meantime.”
Nikolay called forth blue chains from the ground, holding the duo in place. As someone who’d been on the receiving end of these chains in the Temple of Time, Raine felt a little bad for these poor mercenaries.
“Hey! We’re supposed to build tension before the actual temple! You can’t just do things out of order!” they shouted.
Ignoring their complaints, Nikolay brushed past the immobilised mercenaries. “Let’s go, Raine.”
“Right behind you.”
Their encounter with the ‘officers’ helped momentarily muffle Raine’s anxiety, but it quickly came back in full force when they walked up the steps to the entrance of the temple.
Everything was so big and grand, while Raine felt weak and insignificant in comparison. Even standing next to Nikolay, with his magic visible in its full radiance, Raine seemed under prepared. All he had were the artifacts, which had been nothing more than rusty jewellery up until this point.
The instant they walked inside the temple, Raine knew something was wrong.
Standing in front of the altar was Guthasar, alone. A slice of sunlight fell onto his golden hair, illuminating him as though he were a holy figure.
When they approached him, the immortal raised his arms in a grand welcome.
“Long time no see, heroes of the prophecy. Or should I say, puppets of the gods?” Guthasar called out, his powerful voice projecting across the entire temple.
Raine couldn’t believe Guthasar still had the nerve to act like he was in power. Not only did they have all three artifacts in their possession, but Nikolay had developed his limitless magic reserve to combat modern sorcerer techniques. They were no longer easy prey, unlike their last meeting with the Order of Truth inside the same vessel.
“Nikolay Sokolov. Leader of the Crown Guild, King of the Damned. The most feared and influential sorcerer of his era. It is truly a pleasure to be working with you once again.”
And now he REALLY wanted to punch Guthasar in the face. Who did this immortal think he was, assuming that Nikolay would suddenly turn to his side? It just went to show how arrogant and-
“I wouldn’t say the same. Nonetheless, I still intend to uphold our deal,” Nikolay replied.
What deal? How could they have made a deal when Guthasar last saw them months ago? Unless… Raine thought back to the owl and the letter that he’d saw Nikolay send on the ship. While he was asleep, they must’ve been communicating frequently through mail.
The realisation that Raine was now alone in facing the Order of Truth struck him hard.
In an instant, the comforting words of Nikolay on the ship no longer held any effect. Raine and Nikolay were just as distant as they were before, merely strangers that shared a small section of their past together.
The times they’d sought refuge in each other’s presence, braved through life-threatening situations, helped others achieve their dreams… It meant nothing to Nikolay. Absolutely nothing.
Raine couldn’t bring himself to fight back against the Order of Truth members dragging him away. He barely felt the tightening of ropes around his arms and legs. All his mind could focus on was Nikolay, shaking hands with Guthasar amicably.