Amid a maze of ancient protection, statues of unknown origin with runes of incomprehensible meaning fought against intruders who entered their territory.
Metal clashed against stone as Raymond's spear impaled the first machine's skull with the ferocity of a beast.
Sparks burst like dying stars as the impact rattled the cavern walls, sending pointed stalagmites to the floor in droves.
The sharp tip of his blade spun with mana-steel, dripping with the thick black liquid that poured from the stone's head.
He had launched himself upward towards the creature's face, further accelerating himself off the statue's arm that soared through the air.
As he drilled the spear deeper into its skull, he felt the stone become metal, its mechanical brain only a couple of centimeters deeper.
The grinding shriek that emerged from its internal structure echoed throughout the room, and his ears twitched involuntarily to the horrific sound.
Forcing his arms forward in a light thrust, he felt the spearhead graze the edge of its mechanical brain before a deafening snap could be heard around him.
The colossus's hand flew upward, batting at him like a flyswatter with immense strength.
An explosion of compressed air washed over the chamber as Raymond raised his leg outward, stopping the massive stone limb in its tracks.
His hands still clung to his spear that dug into the beast's head, his left leg pressing outward on the machine's palm.
A smile crept along his strained face as he retracted his arms, bringing the spear to his chest and slamming it into the monster's wrist.
The raw thrill of breaking something impossible to break sent flurries of emotion throughout the perfectionist's heart.
「Burning Scabbard」
Pitch-black flame erupted from his hands, coating the staff in the burning substance, the air itself being pulled into the abyssal glow.
The world around them dimmed, colors bleeding away as black fire drank greedily at the light.
Using his right leg that rested on the giant's nose, he pushed off its face, digging his spear deeper into the stone creature's arm.
KABOOOM!
Rock shattered instantly, the veins of liquid mana burned with black fire that consumed all light and life from the decapitated limb.
After losing his support, Raymond fell to the ground, crashing down in a roll that cracked the floor below him, immediately spinning around to face the machine again.
Its gears had worn down to a barely operable degree, nearly a thousand years of inactivity damaging its circuits beyond repair.
"The boss would've loved to study you."
Hopping backward, he held his spear in both hands, spinning it slowly to build up a burst of friction.
Bolts of crimson lightning jolted around the pointed tip, a sight only witnessed by the azure-eyed monster whose body erupted into a flurry of creaks and groans.
Leaping forward, the navy-haired man dove into the creature's ankle; however, a firm kick from the monster's leg sent him flying backwards.
His body collided with another titan with a ground-shattering thud that echoed throughout the entire cavern.
On the other edge of the room, Stein Brevmore looked up for a moment, noticing the man's predicament.
At the very same time, the sound of air whirring and gears groaning shot through his ears and body.
Above him, the giant hand of another statue slammed downward, threatening to crush him into dust.
Stein didn't even look up at first; the statue's shadow shrouded him in growing darkness as it drew dangerously close to his head.
Not showing even a sliver of care, he yawned, and with an effortless swing of his hand, he threw one of the metallic playing cards at the monster's palm.
The queen of hearts, Camilla Buckley, shot straight through its stone hand, boulders the size of people tumbling to the ground.
In a flash, he had appeared above the statue's head, three cards appearing between his fingers out of nowhere.
With another flick of his wrist, each one burst forth, digging into the beast's vital points regardless of its defenses.
Taking a glance over at Raymond to brag, he noticed two giants dead at his feet, their azure eyes a blank black void.
Frowning slightly, he curled his lip upwards, thinking inwardly.
Two already… How marvelous…
Dropping down onto the titan's head, Stein slammed his fist into its hair, which was a slightly different shade of gray, and reached through its skull into the mechanical brain.
The feeling of mana coursing through the countless veins running through its head sent a ripple through his own core, an emotion similar to pleasure oozing around his body.
Tightening his grip on the veiny mechanism, he pulled a massive clump of metal and wire out of the hole he had made, effectively ending the creature.
Looking around quickly for another, he noticed the white-haired child being swarmed by the remaining five.
Esme's staff shot brilliant bursts of magical energy that evaporated anything that dared touch them.
These beasts, however, endured the mana's fury with their resistant armor glinting like molten mirrors.
The silver-haired man sighed silently, grinning as he shuffled the cards in his hand faster than the eye could see.
Saving children instead of selling them…
Deciding against leaving the child to die, Stein leaped forward, the remaining playing cards shuffled under his grip and thrown faster than anything could react.
His movements were a blur as he raced forward, deflecting one of the beast's swords from striking the girl while landing effortlessly behind her.
Each of his previously tossed cards dug into a different titan, the thickly black goo that oozed from their wounds sticking to the floor.
Raymond's spear also soared through the chamber, impaling each of the remaining beasts straight through their chests, shattering their armor into pieces.
Crimson lightning danced through their circuits, frying any remaining energy they had while giving Esme enough time to prepare her attack.
With a deafening roar that sent rocks falling from the ceiling, she opened her little lips to utter a spell.
「■■■■■」
For a breathless moment, the world held still, mana itself freezing.
Her words came from a language beyond human comprehension; however, the entire labyrinth shook as a light so bright that it rivaled that of the sun emerged.
Moving her staff in a straight line, the beam of utter destruction ripped across the giant figures, eviscerating their forms in an instant.
For one moment, they appeared as stoic defenders of the tomb; the next, they melted into droplets of black that stained the ground.
With one spell, she had erased them from the face of the world, a feat that neither Stein nor Raymond could replicate.
Heat and silence lingered; the smell of molten metal and stone filled the air where colossal beings once roamed.
In tandem, the two men's thoughts collided, each thinking the same thing.
Devils spawn.
…
Chains whirred around a mystical ball of energy as a certain horned figure admired it from a distance.
Far above his head, the moon had reached its fullest, the constellations aligning for the first time in centuries to allow for this event.
"It is time."
Two voices spoke through the same mouth, the antler-like horns glowing a faint crimson as the suited man stood up.
Straightening his tie slightly, he grabbed his top hat from a rack he had built out of human bones, the very same ones he had recovered from Sea Fallen one month ago.
"That silver-haired woman's bones make for an excellent rack."
Laughing lightly, the devil that inhabited the body of the Seven Head Order's commander felt the original hosts would shrink slightly.
"She was an interesting pawn, I must admit; however, to make her into a coatrack is truly displeasing…"
The devil ignored its other half's words, instead posing a quiet question to the man.
"Have I ever told you about the Era of the Architects?"
An unusual hint of fear was laced into his voice, the crackling of candles at the edge of the room increasing the tension.
"You have not."
The original host's words were curious, a hint of confusion mixed in as the devil furrowed his brow slightly.
"I suppose not…"
Pausing for a moment, he stared at the Core of Chains, marveling at its complex and intricate design.
"When I was born, they had reached the pinnacle of craftsmanship, constructing seals that could restrain heavenly entities beyond that of mortal understanding."
The mausoleum groaned ever-so-slightly as a strange earthquake hit the island of Svall in the dead of night.
"The imprisonment of two Great Ones had shaken the balance of power throughout the land, with even the gods taking notice. Only one creature had resisted their Seals of Time, the very same monster we now wish to unseal."
Still talking, he took a step forward, and the ground below him shifted, the air tightening as the powerful figure began his ritual.
"They innovated and persevered through this, placing four ancient seals upon this great being and launching his true form far from this planet. These humans were truly remarkable, and I, a young demon in the Abyss, could only watch from afar, waiting for the moment they would cross the borders and hunt me."
There was another long pause, the pale man's posture straightening in full as he finished his story.
"Yet, that day never came. Something, whether it be mortal or god, erased them from this world, leaving not a trace of where they went. And for one moment in time, the entire universe shook with a horrific laughter, one that resounded from a single location forbidden to all."
As he reached the outside of the mausoleum, the bright light of the moon shone down onto the man's face, illuminating his jet-black hair.
"Nowhere throughout the universe could one escape the noise; the sound of one elderly man's voice shook the cosmos to such a degree that time and space stood still for a moment. That day, with thunderous laughter, a new era was born in the ashes of another."
- - - - - - - - -
Special Character Meaning(s)
「Italics」= Regular Forms of Magic
『Regular Text』= Highly Advanced Technique (Sea Kings, Marshals, etc...)
『Italics』 = Penelope's inward thoughts
"Italics" = When two characters are in a conversation with no indication markers of who is speaking, then one or the other will have Italics (typically the one inside the mind). It could also be whispers or a silent conversation.