• Chapter #21: [DEATH PLANE PT. 3]

The Shrine is riddled in Runes just about everywhere and it would take years to finish up if I tried to read every single thing, so I, along with Lisa, explored the Temple further more to try and find something that we could start on.

The place was also very dark, but thanks to my Light Element Powers, it was easily overcame. After wandering for a few minutes, we finally found something. It was a black stone slab, made from similar to the ones made in the Shrine’s doors, and it looked quite like the tablets containing a monument’s description, if we were on Earth.

We walked towards it, and upon looking, saw that it was filled with similar Runes. However, there was also something different. The Runes were noticeably distant this time, each Rune were also lined up perfectly on each other, making it appear similar to a crossword puzzle, except that it’s just a Runic crossword.

“Runic…”, Lisa muttered besides me. Raising her hands, she focused her power on the tablet to try and analyze it. However, I interrupted her.

“There’s no need. I’ll do it.”, I said to her, closing my hand upon hers and bringing it down.

Strange, her hand seemed to heat up for a bit…

“Alright…”, I heard her reply, and I let go.

Hovering my palms on the tablet, I begun to scan.

[Aptitude: Active]

[Plotter’s Discernment: Active]

In my eyes, the Runes seemingly glowed as they were slowly being translated into my preferred language. It happened in just a few seconds, and all the Runes were translated. Analyzing it carefully, I began to read out loud.

“Here lies the Lady of Woe.”

“The Weeping Angel who wishes for everything to stop.”

“Never had happiness once in her life.”

“Only had a life of bland gray and endless sorrow.”

“Till her end, she never achieved colors.”

“Once this is read, her life will be told.”

“The story of the Lady who tried to escape the world of dead colors.”

As I soon as I finished reading the last part, the place shook and rumbled, making me and Lisa immediately put up our guard. However, it only lasted for just a few seconds, before it suddenly halted, as if it never came in the first place.

Looking around to see what happened, we were caught off guard when the Runes on the Tablet that I read suddenly let out great amounts of energy, making it glow and light up.

Soon, the energy traveled down to the floor, spreading quickly. The lines on the ground that were once barely glowing were now emitting much more light, making the place quite visible.

I dispelled out my Light, as the energy now reached the walls. We both looked in fascination, as the Runes and giant drawings which most likely depicted the Deity and her life glowed and lit up the place even more.

Soon, the whole place was now well lighted, making the giant room that we are in and the hallway behind us very visible.

“The Lady of Sorrow.”, Lisa said beside me, bringing my admiration to a stop and turning my attention to her.

“You know the Deity of this place?”, I’m glad that this girl’s quite well informed and is willing to share it with me.

“From the books only. She wasn’t a Deity that died in the Falling, but was rather betrayed by the one that she loved.”, She explained to me.

“A pity. Who did she treasure?”, I asked. Despite the Deity embodying sadness, she still seemed care.

She looked at her side for a moment, before saying.

“Humanity…”

As she pointed above me, making me look up.

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Lo and behold, an ancient art of the Deity was on the ceiling, curled up in a fetal position and seemingly crying. Around her were thousands of little figures, which were the depiction of humanity. They wielded many tools and weapons, raised and pointed at the female Deity.

The room were silent for a moment, as I looked at the depiction with a frown and furrowed brows. I then let out a visible scoff and sneered.

“As always, us human’s greed will never change.”, Before looking away and back at Lisa.

She seemed to be in uncomfortable with my gaze, as her body twitched for a bit and her eyes were looking at her side.

*Sigh*

I turned around and motioned for her to follow. Strangely, she again easily obeyed me.

Once more, I let out a silent sigh, we have to find the place that’ll bring us back to Earth.

…

As the Temple was now active, the strange effect that I’m feeling ever since we entered here seemingly increased. I had found out that it was an effect which made ordinary people very weak and affected their mentality, making them feel constant despair. Luckily, me and Lisa here weren’t normal humans.

“We need to quickly find the Gate back to Earth.”, I said to her, making her nod.

“Yes. This structure reflects the aspects of the Deity itself. If we stay here much more longer, it’ll get worse and would start to affect us.”, She said. Of course, I wouldn’t be affected by such things thanks to the Ancient God’s blessings. I could sit here for months without feeling anything. However, not the same applied to Lisa.

…

In the abyss of shadow monsters, a lone figure stood. He was breathing hoarsely and had several injuries on his body. Who knows how long he had been fighting.

Tony Mayers, an American man on his early forties. He specializes on Rock Magic and were using a Great Battle Axe as his weapon, which appeared to be chipped now.

“Those Zodiac bastards…!”, He cursed in both frustration and exhaustion. Fighting the monsters felt like eternity for him.

He suddenly tensed, another wave of monsters were spawning right around him. The shadows moved, as if alive, and soon contorted into vague shapes that formed into the shadow monsters.

Gritting his teeth, he gripped his bloodied axe and let out a battle cry, charging right through the monster horde.

As he hacked and slashed through every monster that stood in his way, he moved towards the immense aura that he was sensing, the aura of the Deity’s Shrine.

“I hope that young Lisa is alright…”

*Slash!*Schiing!*

“Dammit… This would be much easier if I had a Teleportation Scroll…”

…

“Everyone, we need to stay alert.”, Emilia reminded, before looking at Hiro.

The group had just finished a monster party that had ambushed them. Luckily, the monsters were no stronger than them, and were easily swept away.

“It’s alright Emilia-sama, we just need to stick together. We’ll defend each other better that way.”, Hiro said, smiling at Emilia after.

“But Hiro, you also need to protect yourself, much more than us!”, Kurumi exclaimed, looking at Hiro with concern and a bit of scolding.

“I know… But still, I won’t be someone who would just stand aside. I’ll still fight together with everyone!”, Hiro’s eyes burned with passion and determination. All of the girls agreed with him.

In the front, a bit away from the others, Shido closed his eyes, letting out a silent sigh of frustration as he heard them. It was a good thing that he brought several survival packs, with extra hygiene equipments of course.

Yep, a total clean freak.

“Tsk…”, Opening his eyes, Shido clicked his tongue in annoyance. Thankfully though, the others were too busy to hear it.

They continue walking, now silent yet still wary, on the gray, barren terrain, only surrounded by gigantic rocks and vague, toppled stone pillars.

After a few minutes, Shido suddenly stopped, motioning the others behind him with his hand. The reason for this is because there were voices behind the giant rock in front of him, which were still unheard by others.

However, after a few seconds of stopping, the ladies and Hiro also heard the voices, making the narrow their eyes and nod at each other.

Applying Stealth Magic, they then silently inched closer towards the rock and the others beside it. Now, the voices were much more clearer and comprehensible.

“Is that the other Union members?”, Emiya whispered.

“Maybe it’s the boys…”, Misa suggested.

“No… It can’t be… Something with their footsteps sounds off…”, Ayumi stated. With her statement, everyone was now increasingly cautious and worried. After all, she was the one who’s expertise lie on sound and vibrations, so if she says so, they believed it.

Suddenly, one of the voices exclaimed.

“There’s tracks here!”

—!

It was a good thing that Hiro and his group were prepared, otherwise, they would really be in a bad position right now.

“We need to prepare an ambush immediately, they’ll notice us soon!”, Hiro whispered to the others, who nodded at him.

The others focused their sight, now seeing hooded men scattered all over, using various types of Scrying Magic.

“This is bad…”, Misa said in worry, clutching a Summoning Crystal on her hands.

“Hiro, we’ll watch them. You and the others should proceed and prepare a trap.”, Emilia ordered, her Dark Arts glowing eerily on her palms. The others nodded and went off.

A few minutes have passed, and the hooded men didn’t seem to notice anything aside from remnants of others passing through. Soon, they quietly left, erasing their own traces.

Emilia breathed a sigh of relief, before she signaled the others that it was safe.

“We need to get away from here and find a faster way to the monument. It’s possible that the others might already be there.”, Hiro said.

Shido frowned at them, his sense of danger never went away. They can’t act rashly and uncalculated right now.

“Hiro, we can leave in two groups. One goes while one stays here.”, Shido said, before continuing to explain.

“It’s better that way. I still sense traces of Warding Magic here, so they’ll surely come back here. It’ll be stealthier and might attract less attention if they’re less, but will halve battle power if they engage the enemy. The remaining half stays here, to notify if the enemy did come back. We can apply a Teleportation Scroll if that happens.”, Shido explained.

“I don’t think separating is a very good idea…”, Hiro frowned at Shido’s suggestion.

“Sure it’ll put risk on the others, but it will also lessen the risk of them capturing your sword.”, Shido insisted. Inwardly, he was getting frustrated.

The plan is very simple. The others will remain and watch for out for the enemy, contacting the others ahead if it happened so. Will the scouting team is on much more risk and would probably come back longer, they can see what dangers lie ahead of the other group and provide a safe place for transport, which will lessen the risk of the Zodiac finding Hiro.

“I still think it’s much better if we stick together.”, Hiro said, unmoved by Shido’s idea. The others, agreed to Hiro’s statement.

At this point, Shido just wanted to scream and tear his hair off in frustration. However, what came out was a tangent of silent curses.

…

“… Did it work?”, A Black Zodiac member grinned.

“The Wards didn’t, but they all headed on similar direction and I could sense the target among them.”, An old man stated

.

“The Great Fire Wielder’s plans never fail.”, Tatsumi said, before grinning as he removed his hood.

The others frowned at him, while the old man ignored his antics and remained impassive.

“Once they’re near the monument, we’ll prepare an ambush and take the sword and it’s wielder.”, The old man explained.

Before Hiro and his group left, another member went out and checked something, feeling anything amiss. He’s quite mana sensitive and is a very good tracker.

“We will catch them at once. The 3 other Supremes are relaxing for now and will immediately head there once I give the message.”, The old man said, before his mouth twisted into an evil grin.

In his mind, Hiro and his group are meat that’s just heading to the predator’s mouth, waiting to devour them. There’s no way they could defend against 4 Supreme Ranks, they only had two and their other members are being picked off as of the moment.

But little did they know, someone was observing them. It was one Matsamune Shido, who never left the scene. He was feeling something very off since earlier and chose to stay instead.

It turns out, he was right.

[•END•]

Revised by BaNaeNae.