'They will come for him.' That they did. Was Vedial supposed to believe that this was the work of some half-deity?
Half-deities would not have been able to dismantle all the complex maze-like mechanisms in the Grand Lysis's grounds in silence. It was simply unfathomable—not because they were arrogant, but because the defensive runes had been written with the blood of a deity, too.
The only thing that could have negated it was a power far more ancient and domineering. But a deity—a Sorenian, would not descend directly, so it was most likely a bestowed blessing.
He dusted off his sleeves and continued, treading carefully. He was not empathetic enough to mourn the death of people he barely knew. Still, it was a huge loss for the Grand Lysis to lose so many brilliant minds at once. It'll take them years to foster the new ones.
It took him a moment to collect himself and finally step inside the chamber, but stopped dead in his tracks as soon as he heard voices.
They were low and... surprisingly youthful.
He gritted his teeth.
'...I'm too late.'
His eyes trailed along the ashen marbled floor and halted as soon as his gaze swept across the feet of what seemed like two adolescents facing each other. One donned in leather soles with a wild and erratic aura, the other barefoot, tranquil and barely exuding a spark of presence.
The texture of their skin was all he needed to confirm they weren't human. And it was all he needed to see. He shut his eyes tightly and placated himself.
'Don't look. Don't...look.'
He fought every drop of his willpower to not gaze any higher onto their figures, lest he also meets the same fate as his colleagues.
Fragments of gilded runes littered the floor.
His throat tightened as he lowered himself and bowed. Half-deities or whatnot, he has to save his skin although he's an atheist.
"Look at that. He came alone." He could hear the boy on the left snicker faintly. His soles were silent against the floor, treading towards Vedial's direction in a slow, unhurried pace.
"Leave him." Another voice intervened. "His thread of fate is bright. You'd do well not to trouble yourself with messing up the loom."
"He's a hindrance. Whether he has a good future ahead of him is the least of my worries. I already swore an oath, I can't afford loose ends." He gulped at his words and bowed lower. Nothing good will come his way if he interrupts them.
"Even if he tattles, what he'll say is useless." He flinched.
But in a sense, the voice was right. Even if he truthfully says whatever, he arrived on the scene too late. But he had no such intention in the first place.
Silence followed before a reply.
"What, is this some sort of twisted mercy? From you?"
"You...seem to know me quite well. Do I ever strike as merciful to you?"
There was a pause before a reply. "You don't know how much it angers me to see you alive and well, don't you? Look at you. You don't even remember who you are, let alone what you've done."
Vedial clenched bit his lip. He had no choice to endure the bronze-skinned boy's rage affecting the space around him, as if warping it.
For beings looking like their still wet behind their ears, words that leave their mouths didn't suit their age.
But even the mere thought of it felt blasphemous, so he shoved it down at the back of his mind.
A calm voice answered.
"Even now, my thoughts are slipping away from me. Perhaps I will also forget this occurence, like I must have had with most of my memories."
"But from your voice alone, I must have been quite the sinner."
It took a few moments before the other had calmed himself.
"I've said too much."
One step after a slower one. The luminescent stones against this tranquil boy's skin made it felt like he was glowing. Vedial would have admired how ethereal they must've looked if it weren't for the ashes of his fellow researchers still dancing in the air.
Then the boy collapsed. It wasn't much of a surprise, considering he could barely stand, let alone walk.
The other was quick to catch his body from falling, as if expecting it.
"———..."
The voice uttered something that Vedial couldn't seem to grasp. He had heard it clearly, yes, but the words came off like inaudible murmurs overlapping against each other. The mere thought gave him headaches.
Runic language. An incredibly complex one.
The boy's bare feet were lifted from the ground as the other carried him.
"You." The boy in soles, bronze-skinned with golden dust clinging to his skin like fine mica. He had gotten so close that his feet were only a few centimeters away from Vedial's head.
"You humans are all the same. Fearful yet brazen enough to run their mouths recklessly. At least you seem to be the quiet type."
He could feel an intense gaze boring onto his soul, like needles prickling his skin, assessing him. Still, it wasn't hostile. And that was enough.
"You're a scholar, so I assume you have a good head around those shoulders."
Cold wind billowed gently, and their presence disappeared completely. Just like that. As if they were never here.
Only after they left could he breathe properly and raise his head. Now, he had the chance to analyze what happened here.
The monolith had been shattered. It looked like it was initially split cleanly from the middle, then exploded afterwards.
But it was the walls that told him the real story. Dozens of swords, all made from the same black ice, thin and long and tapering to dangerously sharp points. They had been thrown with such force that they were embedded into the marble, like paper darts through canvas.
Some had melted halfway, trailing black rivulets down the walls like tears. Others pulsed faintly, still alive somehow, humming with energy that made his mana recoil.
He had been right, there was a scuffle before the two came to some sort of agreement. He had a strange inkling that sparing him was what made the other finally cooperate, and he could never guess why.
Vedial was too late, but the mere encounter had confirmed many things. He gained such precious information and managed to spare his own life.
Signals flared in the room. He stood there calmly, expecting it. They had caught on. And they were heading here with significant manpower. It didn't take long for a set of footsteps to resound clearer, until they came to view.
"Your Excellency! Are you alright? I was informed you immediately rushed here to secure the test subject." Vedial took a side glance at his timid junior, who was panting at the side.
He had never told his apprentice where he was going, but one look was enough to know that he had caught on and covered for him.
Which was a relief.
The Headmaster stepped forward. "Save your excuses for later. What happened here?"
Vedial walked slowly, his breath fogging in the air, though the room wasn't cold. And yet everything inside him was shrinking.
"That is a difficult question, father—" he turned around, "because I have no idea either."
***
Amethyst wisps coalesced within the dungeon and formed a youthful humanoid figure carrying another. The flames danced along as if welcoming his presence.
"...Centurion Antares?" Lursein's hoarse voice resounded. His eyes trembled as though in disbelief, gaze shifting towards the one propped onto the other's shoulders.
He did not ask questions, and still relief painted his face as clear as day.
The boy who was called Antares stared back at Lursein with unreadable expression. He then conjured an incorporeal wisp of weak red embers and used it to reach his pockets, taking out the keys he stole from one of the gatekeepers.
The keys were roughly tossed to the side, just within arm's reach of the prisoner. Lursein stared at it for a few seconds before nodding.
"...Thank you."
"What about the others?"
"I was...the only one here who survived."
Antares stared at Lursein's state before turning away. He had no luxury to worry about others. It was no longer up to him whether or not this man lives afterwards.
"Let their souls be cradled."
With that, he silently took the stairs back up as the flames rage above them without a care.
The escape that came afterwards were smooth sailing. Having memorized the Grand Lysis's blueprint, Antares knew which areas to avoid and which route to take to reach their target destination: the coastline.
The salty scent of the sea stung his nose as a grand view greeted him. Far away, he could see an abysmal tree at its full splendor; its bright trunk of gilded starlight twists magnificently, low branches stretching far and wide as if enveloping every corner of the sky.
The celestial tree at the center of the world, the one that connects the mortal realm to the divine kingdoms.
Yggdrasil.
He had always hated the sight.
Even when the world had descended into chaos, this celestial tree had remained standing lofty and indifferent to their cries.
But now was not the time to mull over some divine tree. For one, there's this other boy he was carrying.
He placed him down roughly on the sand and kneeled, clasping his hands.
"I, Cinder Judgement, pray under the witness of Yggdrasil." He solemnly chanted with his True Name.
"Root of endings, keeper of silence,
I am a lost lamb that clings to your veil,
Draw me into your eternal night."
'Open your divine gates for us, oh Land of the Nameless.'
And thus it did, as though the sky and land were reversing, letting them sink and float as the space warped and a symphony of colors fogged Antares's vision.
The fog receded as Antares moved his gaze upward, his amethyst eyes bathed in the sight of northern lights similar to the ones they had in Vendalius—shining brightly in gold.
It was the realm's own semblance for a source of light in a sky with no heavenly bodies in sight.
Alas, Abyss had opened its gates upon his pleas.