• Chapter #23: [PREPARING]

Impossible… The Lady of Sorrow…?

But how…? The Deity’s already dead right?

There must be some reason on why the Black Zodiac chose this location of all places. Does this also mean that they have other hidden agendas other than stealing the Tyrant’s Blade and destroying LightWays Media?

So far everything is still unclear. But whatever that is, I’m sure that the Black Zodiac has other plans on this planet.

[Aptitude – Acting: Active]

“We need to hurry.”, I calmly said, thankfully because of my [Talent] Skill. But still, I’m still quite wary of everything that’s going to happen. The calamity must involve the Deity of this place, one way or another.

“… Understood.”, Lisa replied, after contemplating for a few moments.

“But… I still need to gather my group, Lord LightSeeker. I know that you don’t like being disturbed, so I’ll head on my way and bring them here.”, She added hesitantly.

“Yes, that would be the best. I’ll work on finding the exit here.”, I nodded in agreement, if worse happen, I can just use [Shade Walker] to drag them in shadows back to earth.

With that, she also gave me a nod of confirmation before walking a few feet away.

[Rime World Mirror]

Ah, dimensional magic.

An intricate mirror made of ice crystallized before Lisa. Giving one last nod to me, her body slowly dissolved into snowflakes, which entered the now glowing magical mirror.

With the spell ending, the mirror stopped glowing and shattered.

As my [Plotter’s Discernment] was still active, I was able to analyze the spell. Looks like it works similarly to my [Shade Walker], only that she’s able to create portals almost anywhere, though it doesn’t seem to possess my pocket dimension like abilities, and is only for transportation purposes.

*Sigh*

Welp, back to work.

I wandered around the maze-like halls of the Temple, taking in the Runes and the sights of the place. Many of the images littered around the walls were monstrous creatures, like ones from horror movies or otherworldly stuff. The most recent creature I saw was a giant spider with a woman’s upper body. Well, the figure was almost like a woman, since it’s body was littered with countless spikes and long claws were on it’s hands. Her face also had 6 eyes and 2 noticeable jaws, as well as 6 breasts…

That’s right, the spider’s upper body had 6 tits, quite large too…

I shuddered at my useless thinking and shook my head.

Anyways, this is actually one of the rare times I had activated multiple skills at once, namely:

[Plotter’s Discernment] Well, it allows me to get a better grip of this place and an ability to interpret what’s inside here.

[Bloodlust] Enhances all of my senses, just in case.

[Aptitude – Explorer] Allows me to venture and explore this place much easily.

[Shade Walker] No obstacles, no hassles.

To be honest, activating them doesn’t exhaust me actually. It felt like some huge power surge washed over me. Ha! Power over 9000!

… Or so like that…

Anyways, back to work.

…

“Lady Yumie!”, The relieved voice of one Kazuto Hiro called out to the woman who appeared on thin air. Hiro smiled at her, which she returned with a nod and an impassive stare, before her gaze panned to the rest of the group.

“…” Wordlessly, Yumie scanned the rest of the group. She never really did pay attention to Hiro, given her aloof and stoic manner. Even when she met a fallen LightSeeker, who people call legends, her mask didn’t break. Though admittedly, she respected him and obeyed his orders without question. For some odd reason, it was good and sensible.

So what’s the fuss about this guy who had a compatibility with an Ancient God? Hiro wasn’t just called as a genius because of him being the Heir of the Kazuto Clan, he also possesses adaptability. Even though his rank was naturally low, he was able to quickly climb through ranks in just 2 years. And apparently, this earned him an acknowledgement of the Ancient War God, which is quite the rarity, as the Divinities never really acknowledged humans personally.

“Where is Shido?”, Yumie turned to Hiro, noting that the missing one from Hiro’s group, was Hiro’s self proclaimed rival. No one knows why this is, but he just came up and yelled that Hiro should be his rival… Though everybody sure knows that he’s a clean freak.

“O-Oh… H-He reminded us of a trap before being cut-off…”, Hiro weakly said. He looked down in guilt, he should’ve convinced him to go with him much harder. He knows of Shido’s cautious nature, and should’ve done something.

“Elaborate.”, Lisa’s eyes narrowed, the current count of the people in the area were 32.

“It was this…”

.....

“I see…what a naive way of thinking.”, Lisa muttered looking at Hiro, before scanning the group once more. The other notable missing one was the other Supreme Rank, Tony Mayers.

“We still do not know what’s happening to the others, for now all we could do is buy some time and hope. I will try to contact the Union…”, She said to the group, with them nodding in acceptance, and some with sadness, notably, Hiro.

Raising her hands, she summoned a magic circle which glowed with power.

[Glacial Guard – Arctic Squall]

*Rumble*

Spiky walls of thick, dense ice sprouted from the ground and continued going for several meters. The group could only stare in awe as it surrounded them completely.

But the spell wasn’t done yet. Clouds gathered, but only outside the walls and not on the inside. After a few moments, it bombarded the outer wall area with hail, winds, and snow, making it seem like an intense blizzard has hit.

The enemy probably had already known that their plan had been leaked, and would now just proceed to pick them off directly. All she could do now is provide defense to protect the others while preparing for a trap, then contacting the Union.

Plus, Lisa still has hope to the LightSeeker inside of the Monument. So creating a defense and harsh terrain would both protect them and slow the enemy down, buying them more time.

As for the other groups, it would be wise to message them so they could gather up and do something.

…..

“Damn it…”, Kogi cursed, as he stared at the 100+ Black Zodiac members scattered around the area outside LightWays Media, with some trying to decipher the Wards and other defenses in the barriers. He alongside Carter had been hiding with Space Concealment Magic. The last thing that they saw was the rest of their group being forcefully dragged off to somewhere, and they still couldn’t contact them.

What’s worse, is that the 2 Supreme Ranks were also transported. Thankfully though, the LightWays Media building was already durable and was littered with additional defenses, at least making them at ease.

However, at this pace with no one stopping the enemy, it wouldn’t last long before they could break through the building.

Besides him, Carter frowned deeply, glaring at the hooded men. Kogi turned to Carter, before saying.

“We need to do something…”

[•END•]

Revised by BaNaeNae.