[TBATE] -More Than One Godspell-

Arthur Leywin

"..."

How much time has slipped away from me? Has it been an hour? Or perhaps two?

I'm completely unsure about the specific length of time that has passed since I began questioning Seris and Caera, as well as the total number of questions I've asked them.

From what I've gathered, Seris has become a wanted criminal in Alacrya for the crime of turning against her own continent. She is also the one who sent Caera to Vildorial in order to find me for help, but apparently things weren't going as well as they wanted due to being betrayed by a Lord from a Blood named Redwater, which led to Agrona sending that Lord along with a large quantity of those deranged Vritras to Vildorial.

Furthermore, Seris described herself being teleported from Sandaerene to Vildorial by purple particles, which are aether itself. However, what caught my attention the most was her claim that these aether particles shifted from purple to gold before teleporting her.

So who could have done this to her? Was it a Djinn, by any chance? If so, how? And for what purpose?

There is not a single name that springs to mind as a proper answer to explain Seris's sudden appearance in Vildorial, indicating that it must be someone or something entirely unfamiliar to me.

Throughout the entire duration of my interrogation, I was vaguely on the edge between trust and doubt at each of their words. I can tell there were some truths in their overall responses, but despite all the assistance they've provided me in the past, I'm still hesitant to fully believe in their words, or I just don't know how much I should believe.

'What are your thoughts on this?' I reached out to my companion through our telepathic link, but the only thing I received from him was an empty silence in response.

Normally, Regis would have made some jokes to piss me off, or at least answered me when I asked him. But this time, he didn't even utter a single word the entire time I was questioning Seris and Caera, probably still reeling from the devastating toll and the large scale of deaths inflicted by those deranged Vritras upon the innocent civilians of Vildorial, much like myself.

'Or maybe I just need a little rest after maintaining my large and magnificent beast form for way too long.' Regis's annoying voice resonated in my mind as he finally broke his silence.

'Oh...'

"..."

"Is there anything else you wish to know?" Caera asked in a soft and tentative voice as she shivered from the cold.

"Yes." I replied, turning toward her and gazing deeply into the depths of her scarlet eyes. "You said that Agrona sent one of his to Vildorial just because of you. Why? Why would he do that while he hasn't even finished dealing with the rebellion led by your mentor on his own continent? I admit that I don't really know much about that freak, but I do know very well that he would never give a f*ck about what he considers a lesser mortal like you. So there must be a reason behind his actions."

"Ah, right!" Caera exclaimed, her eyes widening with a realization about something. She undid the laces of her left boot and pulled it off, followed by the bloody sock beneath it. She fiddled with something around her pinky toe, struggling momentarily before it slid free, showing a thin, plain ring with a subtle aura of mana around her hand.

I tensed, forming an aether blade in my hand. I squeezed the handle as I waited for her next move.

Her movements immediately halted for a beat as she noticed my blade's sudden appearance, which also left Seris slightly startled. But, despite this interruption, Caera still managed to channel her mana into the artifact, allowing a white, roughed sphere to appear in her other hand. It was a bit large for her to comfortably hold with only one hand. The outer shell was very slightly transparent, offering glimpses of a subtle purple swirling within.

"..."

'No way... is that...' Regis words trailed off into silence as he faltered, unable to finish his sentence.

The jagged aether blade emitting a faint glow in my grasp disintegrated into small sparkling lilac particles scattering in multiple directions in the air before magically vanishing entirely, and my heart began to beat rapidly as soon as I came to realize it was a dragon's core.

Sylvia's core.

"Perhaps it's because I have this. I apologize. I forgot. I was supposed to give you this as soon as I met you." Caera explained, taking a pause to steady herself before she continued. "Scythe Nico gave this to me. He told me to tell you that you have to save her. That you...owe her a life."

I carefully accepted it from Caera, cradling it as if it were made out of brittle glass. It was empty, nothing more than a relic full of painful memories that were too bitter to forget. Nico must have known that, and yet he had risked sending it anyway with that message...

No, it wasn't just an empty organ. It did bring back painful memories, but it also brought hope.

"..."

"..."

"..." I took a deep breath and slowly exhaled it out, watching how it turned into a misty white cloud that drifted away into the chilly air. I continued to attentively observe her core, running my thumb along its smooth surface for a while before carefully stowing it in my dimensional storage rune.

I rose up, turning my back to them. "Come or don't. I don't care." I stated.

'Oh, such an aloof bad boy. How attractive.' Regis's annoying laughter echoed in my head like a clanging bell.

I ignored him, striding forward with my eyes rolled around, scanning the surroundings. I didn't forget to pay close attention to the soft crunching of their following footsteps trailing just a few paces behind me.

"You're still wary of us," Seris spoke with a gentle timbre in her voice.

"You could put it that way," I said, not bothering to look back.

Shortly afterward, the first flakes of snow began to fall gently from the gloomy sky. From my back, Caera and her mentor started to engage in a hushed conversation about something. Their voices were too low, making it tricky for me to catch a word they're saying. Basically, it's out of reach.

But soon, their little conversation ceased.

"Do you plan on finding the boy named Barry Warden that Caera mentioned earlier?" Seris then asked me, her tender voice slicing through the wind's howl.

"..." 

Barry Warden, as Caera described, is a young man of her age with black hair and golden eyes who has always kept an eye on her to ensure she remained confined in her cell under Bairon's orders until I returned from the relictombs. He unfortunately disappeared without a trace after he crossed through the portal from my Ascension Portal Relic with Caera and Seris.

"Are you asking me that question on Caera's behalf?" Curious, I asked her back, pausing to consider if I should answer her question or not.

"To some extent, yes." Seris conceded. "But I'm also curious myself, so I do want to hear your answer as much as Caera does."

"..." I thought that I wasn't going to answer her, but after a moment, that was neither too long nor too short.

"I don't know." I replied with honesty. "I have no idea where he might be or whether he's alive or not right now, and this zone appears to be a large one, meaning that searching for him does not yield a guaranteed result. So if he's still indeed alive, I hope that I will somehow encounter him while I navigate my way out."

Though a part of me really wanted to only focus on finding that boy, my responsibilities as both general and Lance demanded my return to Dicathen, where millions of my people need me.

"I see..." Seris simply said, accepting my reply.

***

The snowfall is becoming progressively more intense, making it difficult for me to see into the distance.

Using my hand to block the wind and snow from getting into my eyes, I continue trudging through the snow storm, noticing that the deep imprints of my footsteps are quickly being covered up by the snow, somehow leaving me to wonder if Caera and Seris are still trailing behind me.

I stopped, turning back to have a look. And, of course, they are still following.

"W-what???" Shivering, Caera crossed her arms together and shouted perplexedly, her voice nearly lost in the ferocity of the howling wind. Lacking the mana to erect a barrier for her body to ward off the cold turned Caera's exposed skin into a worrying shade of blue, leaving her on the verge of freezing to death.

"..."

Seris, on the other hand, appears to be able to withstand this weather's deadly cold for a time, for I can sense that she had herself covered entirely in a layer of mana thick enough to avoid the low temperature.

The thought of stopping for them to rest crosses my mind, but there's nowhere nearby that provides a shelter for some respite.

All of a sudden, I felt the impact of something cold against the back of my head. It didn't take long for me to realize it was a snowball.

"HEYYYY!" A shout pierced through the wintry air, along with a chorus of barks.

Following the source of the call, I turned my gaze toward a hill, where the inviting glow of two torches shined brightly up there within this snowy storm, successfully capturing my attention.

"HEYYYYYY!!!" The call came again, more clearly this time. At the crest of the hill, two figures were waving their arms wildly at me while sliding down the slope to us with their sleigh, drawn by a team of five wolfish creatures.

"Ascenders..."

Watching them approach, I couldn't help but notice a wolf among the pack bore a ridiculously striking resemblance to Regis, except it looked smaller and not as bulky as him.

'Look at that one, Regis,' I said. 'Doesn't it remind you of someone?'

'Haha! Me, of course,' he replied proudly. 'It may not be as majestic as me, but I can see great potential in it.'

Once those two people had arrived, a man clad in layers upon layers of clothing to keep himself warm stepped out of the sleigh with a torch in his hand. "Hah! Hi there! I'm Gavin. We're here to help, and we mean no harm to you guys. We promise! See? No weapons." He declared, spreading his arms wide to prove his words.

"Idiot! Saying that just makes us look more suspicious." A woman scolded him as she descended from the sleigh and approached me, offering some of their coats. "Here, take this. Don't worry, we still have plenty more left."

"Thank you, but I have no need for it. They do." I replied, stepping aside to allow her line of sight to fall on Caera and Seris.

"..." She gave me a nod with an astonishing expression on her face, then promptly made her way towards Seris first.

"Let me give you a hand, Elysia." Gavin offered, casting a warm glow from his torch to illuminate Elysia's path as he followed her. The warm light soon came to envelop Caera and Seris, putting them into a clearer view, along with their horns, which also happened to appear.

Witnessing not just one, but two individuals with Vritras's blood coursing through their veins made Elysia drop all of the coats and stand immobilized in shock.

"T-two Scythes... we're saved..." Gavin stammered, struggling to keep the torch steady in his hand.

"AHH! I-I'm terribly sorry! Here, please, take this!" Elysia blurted out, snapping out of her daze. She hurriedly collected all the cloaks on the snow, handing one into Seris's arms before wrapping the remaining two around the shivering Caera.

"What do you mean by 'we're saved'?" I asked, confused by Gavin's statement.

"We've been stuck in this zone for... years, and—I'm sorry. I'll explain on the way back to our base. It's not far, so please come with us. The blizzard isn't going to subside any time soon. It will only grow more intense." Gavin said, gesturing for us to follow him.

'Again? How many more ascenders are stuck in this relictomb anyway?' Regis wondered to himself.

"..."

I follow Gavin as he heads to the sleigh, suspecting nothing. Not because I'm subjective, of course, but because of the simple fact that I can actually swat them both like insects if they try to attempt anything.

I placed my hand on the wooden surface that creaked under my weight as I hoisted myself up. Subsequently, Caera, Seris, and Elysia swiftly climbed on board one after the other. The cold winds and snow began to brush against my cheeks as soon as the wolves started to pull us forward.

"Besides us, there are many other ascenders who are also stuck in this zone, but thanks to Draven's leadership, we have been able to continue to survive until now. he's an elderly ascender who was also the first to get stuck here, and he has been stuck here much longer than us." Gavin explained as he promised after about fifteen minutes of traveling. "As for me and Elysia, we've been stuck here for almost two years or so. I'm not sure, but it feels like it. Time works differently in here."

"But I believe things are going to be fine now." He continued with a soft laugh. "After all, we've got two Scythes right here. Maybe the High Sovereign has given his people a new Scythe while we were stuck here for almost two years."

"I-I'm sorry, but you're mistaken." Caera's soft, slightly trembling voice piped up from behind me, "I am Caera of Highblood Denoir. I'm not a Scythe. Although it is true that there's a new Scythe, it's just not me."

"Ah, so you must be Scythe Seris's new Retainer then." Gavin asserted.

"No. I'm her student." Caera corrected sharply.

"Oh..."

"Are we nearly there yet?" Seris inquired, carrying a subtle hint of impatience in her voice.

"Yeah, we're almo— Ahem! I mean, yes, we are almost there, Scythe Seris. I apologize for my casual tone towards you and your students. I shall now be quiet." Gavin corrected himself with a sudden stiffness, realizing that he had been too informal.

"Please ignore him. We'll arrive shortly." Elysia declared, instilling a sense of assurance as she uttered the words.

After a period of travel, a large spot of light appeared intensely within the snow storm. Even though the strong wind continued to blow aggressively into my eyes, I could still clearly see that it was located on the slopes of a mountain. The mountain's enormous size not only overwhelmed me with its majesty but also with its eldritchness.

"We are here." Elysia announced.

"Up there?" I asked, pointing my finger at the distant glow clinging to the mountain's slopes.

"Yes! It's really great up there. Believe me, you'll love it." Gavin replied, letting out a small chuckle.

As the sleigh stopped at the foot of the mountain, I got off and followed the others to walk closer to it. I took a moment to let my gaze wander around to see a multitude of other sleighs dotted across the snowy expanse, each one tethered to a pack of five to six slumbering wolves.

My gaze then switched back to the mountain's steep, almost vertical slopes, where Gavin stood, tapping the solid surface with his fist. At his last touch, a handle made out of stone magically protruded. He grabbed it, and with just a simple twist and pull, an entrance yawned open before us.

Inside was a narrow space. Its only feature is a cumbersome staircase leading strain up to the light, where lots of cheerful voices and laughter floated down to us.

"..."

I began walking up the stairs with Gavin and Elysia ahead of me, their shadows growing larger as they got nearer to the light above.

With a final, echoing step, I crossed the threshold and found myself in a vast, open cavern carved deep inside the mountain, filled with Ascenders who stopped whatever they were doing and turned to greet me with their stares before starting to babble something about me.

However, the moment Caera and Seris stepped in after me, silence fell over everything as chatter died away instantly. Their ordinary expressions were quickly replaced by a palpable reverence as they took in the sight of the two women.

A man with his beard streaked with silver from the snow was the first to react. "Our gods have come to save us!" His voice boomed with the kind of thunderous shout that reverberated through the cavern.

"We're saved! We're saved!"

"I-Is this really happening?!"

"Am I... hallucinating again?"

"Ah, my Vritra!"

Eventually, they all dropped to their knees, continuing to chant praises and prayers to Caera and Seris as if their lives depended on it.

"This way," Elysia urged, trying to lead us through the worshippers as she wove through them, glancing back a few times to make sure we followed.

Meanwhile Gavin was trying his best to push aside those who were blocking our way.

"You must be exhausted."

"Surely we are."

***

Barry Warden

"A-Ah..."

A sliver of light pried open my eyelids. It was too much, too fast. I flinched, squeezing my eyes shut again for a short moment to let them adapt to the muted light reflecting from the overcast sky. Slowly, I let them flutter open, gradually bringing the world into focus.

"Ahhh!... Ouchhh..." A weak and painful whimper escaped my lips.

Where am I?

Am I dead?

Why is it so cold?

Is that snow?

Am I lying on snow?

What happened?

I rolled myself to the left, pressing my palms on the ground that was covered in snow as I struggled to push my body up. The icy surface's biting chill stung my hands, creating an unpleasant feeling of numbness as it sank down into the snow. But soon, with effort, I was able to rise up on my feet.

Not allowing myself to relax, I carefully inspected my entire body, making sure everything was fine, before reaching my fingers out and fumbling them against my chest to search for my dimensional necklace's presence. When I finally touched the cool, smooth metal part of my artifact, I let out a long sigh, knowing that it was still around my neck.

Next, I let my eyes wander around, only to see nothing but an endless expanse of white snow stretched out before me and hugely large trees.

"Caera!" I shouted as loud as I could, screaming her name, but the only response I received was the reverberation of my own voice bouncing back at me.

"General Arthur!" I then called out for him, hoping for a response from him, but none came.

I continued to call out the last person I could think of, although I was a bit hesitant to call out for her. "L-Lady Scythe!" I still did it anyway, just to get the same result as the silence swallowed my words completely, offering no response.

"Damn it!" From my dimensional necklace, I took out a compass that turned out to be useless when I saw its magnetic needle spinning like a pinwheel. No matter how many times I checked, I didn't see any issue with it, so I'm absolutely sure it's not broken.

Probably because I'm in the relictomb? Caera said everything here is weird and absurd.

Disappointed, I put it back inside my necklace and pulled out a sweater and a coat to wear. For now, food and water, along with other necessary things, aren't a problem for me since I already have them all secured within my necklace.

"..." 

I began to trudge along, following the cold wind as it flew in a fixed, specific direction.

After what felt like an hour, or maybe even longer, I noticed the snow was gradually growing heavier, somewhat increasing the possibility of an upcoming blizzard. But lucky for me, I found a perfect spot large enough for me to use one of my other artifacts to make a small tent.

Before I dared to put myself inside the tent, I gently pushed, then pulled it, and repeated with more intensity to make sure it was truly sturdy. 

Based on how I feel, it seems cozier in here, but not significantly. 

To make it more cozy, I extracted a cubic artifact. As I activated it, the artifact pulsed to life and turned into a mesmerizing blend of orange and red that bloomed across its surface, causing it to radiate warm heat when I held it as if I were warming myself in front of a real campfire. I hung it from the tent ceiling, and the temperature seemed to rise a little further, filling the tent with a soft sense of warmth.

I extracted a few pieces of torn clothes and spread them around in my tent. Finally, I allowed myself to relax and lay my back down. 

"Ehehehe..." This is great, I guess. I never thought that one day I would have the chance to use some of the artifacts I made from a bunch of scraps I found.

Now, all that's left to do is lay here and wait until the storm passes. I hope it won't be too long.

"..."

Since the blizzard started, thirty minutes have turned into an hour, then two. The blizzard still raged on, unabated, relentless, and unyielding. I had tried to keep myself awake by drinking coffee and killing time by reading the same books over and over again while nibbling on some snacks I had.

It felt more like I was waiting to die than waiting for the storm to end.

What if the storm is really never going to end? The mere thought dreadfully gnawed at me.

No, no, no, no, no. I must be just overthinking it...

Abruptly, a very strange but oddly familiar feeling slammed into me that had my skin covered in goosebumps and helped me exit out of my thoughts.

I know this...

The world snapped into high definition, and every whisper of sound that existed around me became incredibly detailed.

The fingerprints on my fingers, the texture of the fabric on my clothes, the sounds of each crystallized snowflake falling outside the tent, and even the sound of my own breath and the thud of my heart beating within my chest like a drum.

Everything is just so indescribably clear...

A rising shrill noise broke into my awareness, pressing against my eardrums as it grew louder with each frantic beat of my heart, like an alarm bell ringing in my head.

"...!"

"AUUGHHHHHH!!" 

A full, deep, resonant roar with an undoubtedly terrifying intensity blew, nearly erasing all of the other cacophonous sounds that reach my ears. Right after that, my tent was shredded open by sharp and pointy claws, creating a gaping hole through which a bear with bloody white fur locked its eyes onto mine.

Its claws immediately swung down towards me as my senses screamed frantically, urging my body to dodge its attack to preserve my life. 

But I couldn't...

No! Not this again!!!

My body couldn't react in time like it was supposed to. I only had enough time to enhance my entire body with mana and use both arms to shield myself from the attack. The impact sent me crashing through a couple of trees, making my body go numb for a few seconds before I could realize some of my bones might have broken.

"A-ah... Kah! Ah...!" Getting back on my feet, I focused on the white bear that was about ten meters away.

I reached for the pendant that normally hung around my neck in order to find a sword, a dagger, or anything. I just need a weapon!

But it was gone. My necklace was gone, including everything I kept in it.

When did it fall out? My mind raced, trying to recall any moment when I might have lost it.

But the bear didn't allow that as it advanced again, charging straight at me with such incredible speed for a bear four times the size of the biggest bear I had ever faced.

Instinct took over. I launched myself onto a branch of a tree, narrowly dodging its lethal claws. I continued to move back and forth between the trees surrounding where the bear was located.

The bear stood below, and even from my elevated position, I somehow had this feeling that its predatory gaze was tracking and following my every movement.

After a short while of observing, I couldn't find my necklace anywhere, but I did notice something strange. Despite the bear's formidable advantage in speed and strength, I felt no mana from it.

The bear started to behave bizarrely. It inhales deeply and exhales forcefully, like a buffalo. It kept repeating that until it let its body fall to its left, then dashed off, leaving a vague afterimage before disappearing.

In a span of a heartbeat, it had already reappeared directly in front of my face, so close that my nose almost touched its bloody fur.

Once again, the bear swung its claws at me. Reacting purely on instinct, I flung myself backward, accepting to let myself drop off from the tree branch so I could dodge the attack.

Pain exploded through my body as my back hit the ground. I ignored the pain and rolled myself to the side, moving away from where the bear would land as its massive form crashed down, making the earth shudder with the impact.

Seizing my fleeting opportunity, I willed myself to stand, igniting my arms in a blaze of flame as I lashed myself towards the bear.

I leaped onto its back, utilizing all of the strength I had in my grips to firmly grasp its fur. I took a deep breath before exploding a large amount of mana from my core, causing the flame that was covering my arm to grow stronger. In a flash, almost all the pieces of clothing I was wearing were burned to ashes.

Manipulating my flames to spread out, they soon came to embrace the bear's entire being. It roared in agony, thrashing its back against the tree trunk, and then tumbled around in the snow, desperately trying to remove me from its back as the flame raged on.

When there was nothing left for me to keep clinging to the bear's back since all of its fur had been burned off, I dug my fingers deep into its flesh. The bear roared more fiercely, becoming more aggressive in its attempts to shake me off.

I don't think I can keep going like this any longer. If I fall off, it will definitely tear me apart.

"..."

Clenching my teeth, I channeled more mana into the flames, making them burn even stronger, knowing it would be dangerous. But I believed this would finish the bear quickly enough for me to be fine without any further harm.

The pain kicks in as things begin to heat up. I focused on maintaining my grip and staying steady. 

The bear decided to drop both of its upper legs so that it could stand on all four of its legs and instantly run straight forward. It seemed to be using up all of its remaining strength as its speed gradually increased.

"Oh no..." 

I realized what it was planning.

At its peak speed, the bear came to an abrupt stop. The sudden inertia flung me forward, launching me away from the bear.

I braced myself, feeling a sharp pain shoot through me as some solid objects collided with my head, my hip, and other parts taking the brunt of the impact before I landed heavily in the snow.

As if throwing all of the most obscene curses, the bear roared, putting all of its rage into it.

Before I could gather my thoughts to prepare for what came next, the bear's spike teeth were already right before my eyes.

My right arm moved on its own, reaching out to block the bear's bite as each of its teeth sank deep into my flesh.

"GAHHHHHHHH!!!" I screamed, overwhelmed by the pain. I could do nothing as the bear lifted me up with its jaws, shaking me like a ragdoll.

My legs clamped around its neck, and my left hand repeatedly punched its head. Finding that my attacks weren't doing enough damage, I plunged my thumb into its eye, but this only made it gnaw my arm harder.

My throat felt destroyed from screaming as I tried to pull my right arm free from its mouth. My arm ended up tearing off, leaving only a part of the shattered bone filled with blood where my full forearm used to be.

It was so painful that I cannot describe it in words. 

I forced my body through the pain, dragging myself closer to the bear. With that shattered bone of mine, I stabbed its last other eye, using my whole body to create as much pressure as possible to push it in deeper and deeper.

"Hgrrr...! AGHHHHHHhh!!!"

Little by little, the bear fell down on top of me. It was no longer breathing. It's dead. 

I won.