mutantur fatum-8: The Tomb of The Surface Smith-1_Second Chance

Edlic's POV

-Inside the tomb of um... smith surface?

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The light created by Felix's maid, Letian, shines the way for us.

(Letian, she's quite skilled, controlling her focus.)

(The light doesn't even flicker once we step into this unknown boundary.)

Upon we've entered the tomb, we met with a stairway leading downward.

And after we take the stair down, taking us to this big empty hall with only the sound of water can be heard.

"Hey, Letian ne-san."

Dayne's voice echos. She's calling the maid while pointing at something over the wall.

"Y-Yes? What is it?"

"There's something shiny over there, on that wall."

I follow her finger until my glaze was landed on the flash of red, reflecting on Letian's light.

(Huh? Something weird about that thing.)

"Let's get close and take a look."

Dayne suggests as Felix and the maid nods in agreement.

"George, what do you think that thing is?"

I whisper, following the three from behind.

Umm, A gemstone?"

He asks, widens his eyes slightly.

As we get closer, a sculpture of the man holding the hammer high in the sky, while his other hand, holding the bright ruby crystal flame.

"Woah, what's this?"

Felix gasps in astonishment, looking at the craving.

"Hey, hey, hey! That's the surface smith that Mitz Selis has been writing about!'

(Dayne's pointing and jumping at the craving on the wall like a kid. Oh, she's just a kid right now.)

(By the way, I could feel something about that stone. It's resonating back to me.)

(It's faint, but It's seem suppressed.)

"Well, I remembered something."

Dayne places her finger under her chin, looking around the room lit by Letian.

"The sound of a heartbeat, It's closer than you think."

Felix's eyes widen when hearing that passage, taking out his book, and flipping the pages hastily.

"I-I've got that too, the clue."

"To éntono kókkino tis flógas moiázei me to aíma."

(Felix's reading some strange passage in what I suppose to be the Shalese language.)

(I wish I could understand the meaning too.)

I look at him with a confused look.

"Okay, Dumb."

Dayne sighs, looking at me with half-closed eyes and waving her hand up and down.

"I'll translate them for you."

"The bright red flame resembles the blood."

She then gestures for Felix to continues his reading.

"Oi fléves trofodotoún to terástio thirío, trofodotóntas ton michanismó pou vrísketai péra apó to péplo."

"The Veins feed the enormous beast, fueling the beating."

(When translating like this, make Dayne's hint from earlier sounds more relatable.)

I take a glance at the gem-like flame in the smith's hand.

(Hmm, there something red, and It's nearby.)

I look at the crystal flame that's glowing red faintly.

"Hey, that thing."

I point at the gem-like flame.

"Yeah, I having the same Idea as you, Dumb."

"It's still laid bare. We don't know what to do after."

(But, the clue are there, before us?)

"Then, what are we going to do about that thing?"

I ask.

"It's simple. We need more clue."

Dayne shrugs, adverting her gaze away from me.

"Hah?"

I swallow my word, looking down at my feet.

(Yeah. The red thing that resembles blood, and the vein that feeds it to the heart, making it beat.)

I dart my eyes around the room.

(There must be something in this dumb and empty hall!)

(I could feel it, the resonating wave of magic, specify, the artifact.)

(Can't we break the wall and see what behind it?)

I internally scream, but I stop when I see Felix's about to speak again.

"They're still the way down over there. We can explore for more clues."

"And besides, we already know that this strange gem-like flame is a piece of this puzzle."

Closing the book, Felix returns it into his bag once again.

"Okay, we'll descend and check what below. Maybe another hint?"

Dayne says, rubbing her hand together while having a greedy look on her face.

Letian guides the way to the stairway for us and taking us down to the depth.

While we're making our way down, I could hear the sound of wind blowing and the water flowing.

I sneakily take the glowing air out and see if there's any element around.

(Huh? faint green, purple and blue?)

As we go deeper, the bright the blue becomes.

(It's blue. It swallowed the green and the purple.)

(It looks like we're surrounded by water at this depth.)

"It looks like there another empty hall, except this one is not so empty like the previous oneeeee?"

Dayne drags her voice at the end of her sentence as she looks around wide-eyed.

(One, no, two, no, three magic signatures!)

Then a red flash from the veil of darkness, following by a violent shake.

*Shake!*

"Uh, ah, what is happening?!"

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Felix couches down on his knee, placing his hand on the cold stone floor.

(It's coming! Those things!)

"George! Take them away from here!|

I yell at George as he is quick to obey my command with a slight panic.

"W-What are you doing?!"

Dayne yells as she is carried by George, struggling on his broad shoulders.

"It's the golems! We must get out of this room now!"

I help Felix gets up and make a run for the stairway.

*Bang!*

The stairway earlier then crumbling down as the red ray of light hit it.

"N-No way."

(We're doomed. The stair got destroyed.)

"T-Take me down!"

"W-What are those things?"

Dayne successfully escaped from George and see the cause of my worries, wiping her eyes several times.

"Are they really the golems?"

*Bang!*

The deadly ray of light barely missed her by a strain of hair.

"Damn, It's not joking at all."

Dayne uses the Porta'Poc and scrambling things and lay them on the floor, finding something.

"W-What are you doing, Red?"

"We should run from them before another lightning striking us again!"

(Yeah, I agreed with Felix, you should be running-)

"Here! Found It!"

She throws the giant golden spear with triple-blades on each end to George.

"Bell, take this thing and go buy some time for us for a moment!"

"George!"

I shout at him, giving him a "Don't you dare" look.

"Bell! I beg you."

She yells, and George nods as he goes against the golems, approaching in slowly.

"W-What? Sending him against those things?"

I yell at her, thinking that she goes insane, coming with such a selfish plan.

(Better running than sacrifice his life again.)

"Trust me, please!"

Her voice trembles along with the room, looking at us with a serious look.

(J-Just like that time...)

****In the past***

"Arg!"

The bloody-silverly scythe hit the ground, killing many unfortunate soldiers' life in a single strike.

Blood is everywhere, painting the battlefield and Dayne.

"You don't have to kill them!"

I yell at her in anger, scorning at her.

"Ha... This is war, Edlic-sama."

"The battlefield is a ruthless place."

"There's no difference between good and evil In the battlefield. The victor gets to writes history, while to the loser, reflecting on it."

She's turning to me, revealing an unkempt red hair mixed with blood, looking at me with dull onyx orbs.

"On, and you see this?"

She lifts her scythe up, sweeping it to the side to get rid of the blood and pointing at me.

"There's a right and the wrong side to this. "

"And I don't want to be on the wrong side."

Dayne gives me an empty smile.

"You!"

I grit my teeth.

"You're no better than the Chaos king, Dayne Shamhan."

I then walk away from her as the sky starts to cry, leaving her there alone.

***Now to present***

(But right now, I've seen it again.)

(It's also different from back then. The light in the eyes, It's determination.)

"And, Letian ne-san!"

"Y-yes?"

"Can you go and assist Bell fending of-"

*Bang!*

The ray fired at us is blocked by something, a golden shield.

"G-George?"

George stands against the dreadful red ray, pointing the triple-blades spear against it, forming a golden barrier between them.

"Ugh!"

He's about to lose his footing!

"Mr. Bell, let me help you!"

"Placet socios iuvare lucem atque ades!"

Letian transforms the light ball on her hand into the barrier, pressing her hand against George's back, covering him in the golden veil.

(That's a divine form of magic!)

(Other than the Aventus, I''ve never seen the pure white light create from magic like this.)

(Letian, she has the genuine intention of helping George, so the light reflecting that in color.)

"Dumb! You good with this?"

"I bet the Eskardian couple taught you how to use things like this."

Dayne calls me, handing me the white short sword with a craving of the sun embedded in the handle.

"Y-Yeah!"

"Here, It's my mother's gift on my 4th birthday. It's the divine imbued magic sword that contains the power of the daylight and the purity of the Adosence."

I take It, and then the familiar sensation hit me.

(This feeling, I've Missed It!)

The divine magic starts to resonate with me, glowing bright yellow.

(I can feel the divine magic from this weapon. It's similar to the Aventus.)

"Huh? As expected of a pri-, ahem, of you, Dumb."

I smile and swing the short sword to the side, cutting the incoming debris.

"D-Dum?"

Felix weeps behind Dayne's back as she's taking out a big roll of paper.

"Okay, the power of the Tridonis is about to run out. Dumb, after the shield wears down, I'll use the chronohalt."

She says, pointing at the golden shield.

(There cracks forming on the shield.)

"Defeat the three of them while the spell lasts."

I look at her, confused.

(I never heard of the chronohalt before, Is it some kind of magic?)

"Ah.. Okay, Dumb"

She sighs.

"You'll have a limited time within the frozen frame space, created by this magic."

"And within that space, ONLY YOU can move freely around since you wield that sword."

(She, no, I mean that scroll can make the time stop? If so, It's damn powerful. Any magical known by humans can't manipulate time.)

(And this sword too?)

*Bang!*

The golem's smashing Its long limp onto the golden shield. Shockwave creates a crack on the hard surface and causes George to slide backward.

With the help from Letian, pushing her both hands on his back, George stands firm.

I look at the barrier.

(The crack are apparent now, I don't have much time before the spell wears off.)

I look at the weapon as if It's my favorite buddy, the Aventus.

(Okay, Let's do this, shall we?)

"Just remember, I've more than a thousand things to help you, Dumb."

Dayne yells, giving me a grin.

"Heh, Let's see how you'll help me then."

I smirk, accumulating my magic into the divine weapon.

*Crash!*

The time slowed down as the golden barrier break.

"Freezing frame, Chronohalt!"

The time stopped, and my vision turns blue.

I look around the stopped frame, seeing everyone freezing with different expressions on their face.

(George looks pained, flying from the impact)

(And he's taking Letian, who's happening to stand behind with him.)

I look behind my back, looking at the two kids.

Dayne is grinning as she's holding the crumpled scroll. Her eyes show a slight glint of fear yet shine so lively. Her hair dangling over her face and loosen from the immense shock.

(And well, behind is a weeping Felix.)

"W-What's that?"

(I can see red lines and greens?)

The red lines tracing back amidst the smoke shows the outline of enormous monsters.

(The red lines are connecting with our body, to our hearts, to be precise.)

(Okay, okay.)

I have a moment of hesitation, doubting my current ability.

(I can do it.)

The blade glows bright yellow as I tighten my grip, slowly pacing toward the smashing golem ahead.

"Here I go, my blade!"

The magic rushes within my veins across from my heart to the blade.

*Swish!*

(Arg! M-My arm! This blade is too heavy that It's making my arm cramp.)

I land on my feet, holding my cramped arm with a pained expression.

(I cut through the hard gold plated armor covering the golem's chest that the red line is coming from, and now It's gone.)

(I guess that's mean Its dead then.)

(two more to go.)

(I must finish them all while Dayne's spell still lasts!)

I jump, making my way on the cold floor toward them, and piercing through the cloud created from the explosion.

Behind the smoke, Its appearance revealed.

The body is made of stone, covering in mosses and dust. It lasted for so long yet, refuses to decay back to dust.

Golden plate decorates Its body, from aesthetic to defensive purpose, covering various parts of Its body.

Its leg, Its chest, Its arms, and Its shoulders are firmly protected.

But the most noticeable part of the golem is the head, a red flaming crystal acting as Its head, adorning golden the star-shaped crown, pulsing like a mortal's heart.

(I can sense a rich mix of magic and elemental power is emitting from there.)

(Even though The red line doesn't come from there, It's coming from the chest.)

(Maybe that's must be the source of the red lighting?)

I climb my way to the flaming red crystal, looking at It closely.

(Huh? What is this? The pulsating stops)

I take the sword, plunging on the crystal.

*Scream!*

(?! W-What?! A person's screaming?)

I back away from the crystal by surprise from the screeching scream.

(T-This thing just screamed?)

(But, the golems don't have brain or consciousness.)

To be sure, I take the sword and plunge on it, creating the crack on the crystal.

*Crack!*

I continue until the crack is big enough for me to see what's inside.

*Crack!*

(Huh?)

The surge of energy flies out to me through the crack surprises me, but the thing laid inside terrified me.

(A-A-Person?)

The crystalized figure is chained by the red rope-like light, pulsing like a heartbeat.

(The pulse, continuing?)

"H-HeLP mE!

The screaming call for help rings my ears as the crystalized figure struggle to get free from the red chains.

(N-No, what in the world is just happening? The time is stopping and, and.)

-Please do not get harmed, Edlic-sama-

A familiar voice takes me back to my sense, realizing something shining from behind the golem, I look.

(The red lighting?)

The spell seems to wear off as the time frame slowly resuming.

(It's expiring, I need to get out of the way before getting obliterated by that thing.)

*Bang!*

I jump away from the golem as the beam hit it, exploding in a red cloud of smoke.

"Arg!!!!"

The force is so strong that It sends me flying back with incredible speed.

"Got you, slow feet!"

"Ugh!"

I caught in the springy net, created by one of Dayne's gadget.

"That's a lot of time you can spend, yet you only manage to kill two of em?!"

The spring-like net gets me on my feet and later disperse into thin air.

"T-Thanks, for help..."

I dust myself.

"Hmph, well, I wish you didn't say that."

"Now, how do we get rid of that thing?"

I tap on her shoulder.

"When I was under the um, chronohalt. I can see the strange red light tracing from the golem's chest to our hearts."

"But right now, I can't see it anymore."

Dayne put on thinking looks as she looks at the approaching golem, stomping Its way to us.

"I-I'm sorry, miss, I make you hurt."

I look to my left, seeing George's helping Letian get up from the floor.

(Look like someone has something going on over there.)

"It's n-nothing, Mr. Bell. Cough! Cough!"

As the two were exchanging their words, a light shines behind Dayne's head.

"Hey, Hey! I had an idea!"

She searches her Porta'Poc and takes out the familiar glass flask filled with colored dust.

"T-The m-magical sight?"

mutantur fatum-8: The Tomb of The Surface Smith-1

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