Turned out that the corruption could be tracked, and it was leading off into the woods. Pyra, Marshall, and Yana were all a bit unsettled by the roaming ghosts and strange buildings that made up the town near the first house. Each building was a little different, and then there would be a bunch that were so similar that it was uncanny. There were strange paths and roads all throughout, but they weren't made from stone or dirt.
More than once each of them reached down to touch the smooth paths, and wonder what was it all made from. The Gates of Madness seemed to hold far more surprises than just strong monsters and puzzles. Even if that is what most of the writings on it spoke about. They hadn't found any puzzles, just strong monsters and then this oddity. At least the writings were in the common language, even if it was weird looking. Probably the age.
There was no way this was recent, all of it had to be close to a thousand years old. Even if the buildings and roads weren't covered over and were maintained by magic. They had each seen the power of magic to maintain structures and things across time. With Yana and Pyra certain that the dungeon was doing all it could to preserve this place. Similar to how their Mother made the manor in the woods. There must be something of significance here, or was a long time ago.
"I think this is where the Humans used to live in the beginning." Marshall suddenly spoke up, as they were leaving the buildings behind. The other two looked over at him.
"I knew that the Humans supposedly came from another world, but I thought it was more a metaphor." Yana said amusement playing in his tone, "But, if that was their old home, I could see it being more true than not. But why would it be in the Gates?" Pyra nodded in agreement and Marshall shrugged.
"It was said that Gates used to have something to do with the Door leading between the worlds. But other than proximity, there isn't much passed around village fires about it." Marshall wasn't sure himself, but he felt he was right. The other two just looked at him, they had such firm feelings that seemed right. So they understood his thoughts on it, and respected that they weren't so different in this situation.
The landscape seemed to blur around them, and even when they stopped it still seemed like stretched light. It was an unnerving situation, and Yana found it hard to resist putting his hand into the odd tunnel they found themselves in. Instincts screamed each time his hand wandered too close, and even in mana sight it was some of the densest mana that wasn't solid. Like some kind of super liquid that he hungered to study.
All too soon it was past, and they stood on the banks of a lake. More of those odd buildings stuck out into the water and on its shore. Though they weren't like a port, which they had all seen in the city above since it sat on a large river. This was something else, and more of those odd materials were present. The corruption all seemed to flow out from the lake, and a ruby light could be seen flickering up from the depths.
Pyra began to shake and had to wrap her arms around herself. Marshall looked over at her confused, this was a big step forward on her goal. What was going on with her?
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"You alright?" He asked, "Do you feel something I can't?"
"Just that we seem close to it all being over." She mutters, and Marshall nods.
"Ah, you had me worried for a moment there." A light chuckle to his words, causing Pyra to glare at him, "Its just that I understand. Some goals seem like reaching for the sky, and they couldn't be done, or would take a looong time. Yet, we are almost done here, maybe at least, and it's not been all that long of a time." More glaring, but also a nod of agreement.
"It's easy to blame others for your own mistakes and choices." Her words barely a whisper, "Even now I want to blame everything on the System."
"But, that's not the only reason for what happened." Marshall finished for her. They had been having similar conversations for a while now, ever since the events in Lolacal.
"We all make our own choices, and cannot change others. Even with magic there is still an element of self to it all." To which Marshall nodded, the wisdom shared in his little village playing a larger stage than it ever should have. Marshall reached over with a hand towards Pyra.
"Does that mean you are ready to see how this adventure ends?" A smile was returned to him, and she took it.
"Great to hear you are both down with that, I think I have found a way down." Yana says loudly, clearly waiting for them to be done. He wouldn't admit that he found the whole thing a bit painful to listen to. More so after his breakdown in the vision and his defeat to his older sister. It hurt his pride, something that he realized was a big problem to have in the first place, but he couldn't find a good reason to not be proud of his work and abilities. Especially compared to these lesser creatures like humans and beastkin. Especially when beastkin were just slightly improved humans.
The two look at him with expectant gazes, and he sighed before pointing to a tower like building. It was a odd compared to the others just for the design and materials used. It looked like something shaped by magic out of a single metal. Black, reflective, and with faint swirls of gold in the material made it look alien, but even they could feel the liquid feeling of mana swirling around it.
"How sure are you that it's safe to even get close to that thing?" Marshall asked, his voice a bit higher than he liked. Yana smirked, but hid it, and looked over at it while twisting his fingers about in a tight series of scripting.
"Normally, it would be pretty dangerous since the mana--"
Pyra, looking oddly calm, had walked up to the building and placed a hand on it.
---
The guards around the Gate were scrambling to set up defenses in case something decided to try and get past the groups that had dove down into the depths. It had been a series of conflicting orders from people far too high up to just pit them against each other. So the guardsmen were just tiredly working hard to complete as much of the long list as they could.
"Think this is all going to settle down afterward?" Thomas asked Byrn as they set up another basic barricade. The man just glared at him, not wanting to start the same conversation for the fifth time in the last couple hours.
"Oh come on, I promise it won't be the same. We have had more time to see how things have panned out." but Byrn just rolled his eyes and walked away to grab more banded planks. Which is when the sky split apart. The sound like a crack of glass and fragments of sky fell upon the city in a series of explosions and shaking earth.
One such piece slammed into the tunnel leading down before starting to fade into motes of colored light. Thomas had been cut in half by the large piece, and his vision slowly stretched as the horrified eyes of his fellow guards looked on. He tried to reach for them, and saw three flickers of light behind his comrades
All of them began to fall to the ground, and he couldn't even call out to them. To let them know that they were under attack. His lungs burned and his mind was fuzzy. The last thing he saw was a stream of blood smacking him on the forehead.