-- Sora’s Perspective --

Looking at our destination, I’m starting to wonder about that place. Is that an exit? As far as I remember, we are looking for the lost treasure. I have become too overconfident in accepting this request, seeing my actions right now in desperate times. It seems I’m not fully aware of myself. Just like Sir Alfred once said, you wouldn’t know yourself unless you are tested in the middle of a crisis. I must control my outburst of emotions. I don’t want to end up killing the unconscious mage right in front of me.

Odd, it seems I’m starting to calm down. Maybe because of this place, the paddling of the knight at the back of us feels like we are just traveling to somewhere safe - I think. No one dared to talk when we reached the middle of the lake.

The knight in front of us, holding the torch, looked up. I saw a faint cyan light reflecting on his face, it’s coming from the ceiling. Most of the knights looked up in awe. The ceiling is producing bioluminescent light coming from different forms of life. The front knight smiled at me after looking up, I smiled back. The view in the middle of the lake is... mesmerizing.

We are getting closer and closer to our destination. The place is at the very edge of the lake, it’s the brightest place we saw in these treacherous catacombs.

** thud **

Our boat hit the edge of the dock. We finally arrived. The first one to step out was the front knight.

“What about the girl, Hero-dono.”

“Leave her somewhere safe, we don’t know what lies ahead.”

Our voices remained low, enough for all of us to hear. It would be troublesome if this mage woke up and had us all killed.

The building nearby is lit by numerous candles, I can’t count them all, but they vary in all shapes and sizes, making it shine brightly and fade to the edge of our boat. It’s enough for us to see even without a torch.

The wooden dock creaks as we all walk on it.

We gaze at the 4-story building made out of bricks of concrete sand, not much different from the rest, except it’s filled with intricate symbols at every corner & border of it. The entrance doesn’t have a door, it’s just a big cased opening.

Is this really an exit? or a treasure trove we’ve been looking for? Our only lead is that there’s a lost knowledge around here, it didn’t tell where it was specifically. The candles around here are lit up, even though no man has ever told the story about this place. There are literally signs of human activities around here.

I’m starting to get suspicious.

“Knights, stay on guard.”

All of the knights nodded in response, we slowly unsheath our swords. The knights holding the torch didn’t dispose of them, they remained on guard.

We slowly went inside.

The ceiling is filled with chandeliers full of candles, every part of it is lit up, lighting up the whole place. We saw a five-meter mysterious tombstone, there seems to be some kind of carved text written on it. In front of it, there’s a stone coffin filled with intricate symbols and figures.

“How dare you step on this sacred tomb!”

A ferocious voice coming from a woman at our rear. Before I could get a chance to look back, I saw myself flying, my body spun out of control and hit my back towards the side of the stone coffin. I lost my consciousness for a minute.

** ninnnngggggg **

All I could hear was my ear throbbing. My eyes are partially open, I could see the knights fighting in the dark. Most of the candles in the room withered in an instant, the only light we have now is coming from the side of the coffin.

** clang, gaching **

I could hear their swords deflecting, echoing inside the room.

“Wake up, Hero! Wake up! Wake up!”

A knight went to me, shaking my shoulders desperately. I opened my eyes, stood up, and my hearing slowly went back to normal. I regained my composure. After he checked up on me, the knight quickly faced the dark side. I’m the hero yet I feel weak.

** woosh, boom**

Debris flew off from my left side, it was painful. I saw the knight next to me, struggling to breath as the golden spear pierced his neck pinning him down to the stone coffin. The knight gurgled unconsciously - dead in an instant.

I tried to regain my posture. I’m trembling just by seeing the huge golden spear next to me. My palms are sweaty, my sword is shaking.

Is this how I will die?

I’m not even married yet.

I should have accepted one of their proposals.

I’m starting to regret my decisions.

I saw a three-meter tall woman looking down on me. Dressed in black, wearing a golden bracelet and necklace, blonde hair, and blue eyes... filled with irritation. There’s a beauty in front of me yet all I could feel is fear seeing her anger pour towards me. I felt small, my neck would ache just by looking at her.

“You seem to be the leader of these pests.”

She lifted me by the neck with her left hand, it was fast.

“!! Acchhhh…. Haaa.. mm.. Haaa.. mmmmm!”

I cling to her arm, desperately trying to grasp for some air.

“Why, did you, enter, this sacred tomb!?”

Her shout alone made the unlit chandeliers tremble. My ears are throbbing again.

“I am... Haaa… princess… Haaa... Sora Alexan...”

She clicked her tongue after she saw my face turning bluish. Unclenching her left hand, I dropped to the ground with a **thud**.

“Haaa… Haaa… haaaaaaa…”

I kept looking at the ground gasping for air. I continued.

“I’m princess… Sora Alexandria, I'm the daughter of King Hiroshi Alexandria… the 130th Ruler of the Kingdom of Arcadia.“

She remained silent looking down at me, I could sense her anger. I must choose my next words wisely.

“We are here to seek help from… our ancestors.”

I think this will do. I’m still trembling.

“Ancestors? I don’t recall making any direct descendants from you.”

I’m dead! I’m literally dead!

“Ugh.. kugh!”

She kicked me in the stomach. I stiffened my body in pain.

“Don’t lie. I’m getting impatient now, I will kill you if you don’t spill it out!”

“It’s true! We came down here because our sources point towards the catacombs.”

“Then why! Quick, say it!”

She snapped her finger and clicked her tongue with irritation. She’s more impatient than me. I might get killed here if I don’t play it right.

“The Kingdom will soon fall.”

“...”

I looked her in the eye, still lying on the ground in all four.

“We could no longer maintain the Kingdom floating up in the sky, The Manikas are slowly deteriorating, flying ships are starting to fall down and won’t ever fly again. We need that knowledge to return the Kingdom’s former glory.”

“...”

“Will you grant that knowledge to us?”

I just noticed she has four blacked wings. She looked at me with disgust and fluffed her wings before turning away her gaze. She raised her left hand to her chin and laid her elbow to her right wrist - Doing a thinking pose. Her eyes narrowed, her brows started to form ハ shape.

A moment later she looked at me.

“I don’t know how to fix those.”

She said it plainly. I stared blankly at her eyes for a moment, and gaze down to her feet. I’m still lying in all four. It seems this would be the end of me.

“But I know the person you’re looking for...”

“M-may I know who that person is?”

“Right there.”

She switched her look to the stone coffin beside me.

“I-is he alive?”

“..... I think.”

I slowly stood up and turned around to the coffin. Her spear is still pinned in the knight. I wonder what would have happened if it was me. I must remain calm and focus on our mission. I'm sorry knight-san, if I managed to get out of here, I’ll bring your body to your loved ones.

“May I see it?”

“... ...”

Her long pause is scary. It looks like she’s hesitating. Still in a thinking pose, she began to walk back and forth, slowly.

I faced her once again. I must remain calm and respectful, forcing her won’t do anything good.

“May I know who this person is?”

“...”

She stopped from walking and stared at the coffin.

“He’s the very founder of this Kingdom of yours.”

“...”

“His name is Demon King Belphegor, the first ruler of the Great Floating City of Arcadia.”

“... a-a Demon King!”

She clicked her tongue and snorted through her nose.

“Did I stutter?”

She gazed at me with irritation.

“N-no, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to.”

I bowed my head as I apologized in front of her.

“It seems you pesky humans have already forgotten the ones who helped you from the start.”

I turned away my eyes from her. “I don’t know anything about it”, I wanted to say it, but I’m scared that she’ll kill me in an instant after hearing those words.

“You even changed the name of the city.”

She clicked her tongue with irritation. Her attitude is far worse than my mother's.

“My deepest apologies, I didn’t mean to forget our founding… King. Which is why I’m here to retrieve his knowledge and share his glory to everyone.”

I bowed once again to her while putting my right hand to my left chest. She lightly noded several times and smiled slightly at me. It seems she’s happy when her King is praised. I don’t know if I should believe her. In our history, humans built this city alone. Only time will tell if she’s lying or not.

“May you allow me to see the Demon King?”

“...”

She’s still hesitating.

The three-meter woman walked right next to me, looking at the coffin. The spear beside her shone brightly and faded away in a flash. The dead knight’s body finally leaned on the ground.

“Give me another good reason why should I show it to a mere human like you?”

She didn’t look at me, she just stared at the cover of the coffin.

“Don’t you wanna see your King once more?”

I’ll just say it to her honestly since I’m curious too.

“True, It’s been 3000 thousand years already since I’ve seen him.”

A-aree~, 3000 thousand years! How old is she!

** tremble **

The stone coffin’s pedestal began to rise up. I could hear and feel the huge gears rumbling underground.

** don **

The gear stops after reaching the level of her waist. She put her two hands on the cover of the coffin and pushed it forward. I could hear the grinding of the stone until it fell to the other side.

** bam **

I unintentionally closed my eyes and stiffened my shoulder to the sudden impact of the cover hitting the ground. I started to cough as the dust went through my mouth and nose, I closed it with my hand and swayed the dust away. She snorted after looking at me. It seems the dust didn’t reach her due to her height, how convenient. I couldn’t see what’s inside the coffin, will she carry me like a kid? That would be awkward after what happened.

“I do not know if he’ll ever wake up…”

She began carrying something in the coffin. Was it the King’s body? I do not know. If it were, it might be scraps of bones, and I’ll dead straight tell her we can’t wake him up in such condition.

The dust has finally subsided, I could clearly see what she’s carrying. It’s a three meter body, it's… it’s made out of metal! The Demon King’s body is like a ragdoll as the limbs hang in the air.

She fluffed her wings and kneeled next to me, giving me a full view of the Demon King’s body. He’s like a human, but one could notice that he’s different, just by looking at the odd linings in his body. Like tiny pieces that were put together. He resembled the Manikas, but this one is far more advanced than the ones we have in the royal palace.

“Let's make a deal... If you managed to revive him… I’ll forget what happened here and let you live. ...You might be able to get what you want after this.”

She said it with sincerity while looking at the empty shell of the King. I do not know if I have the power to revive this person. Still, I have no other choice but to accept anyway.

“I promise, I’ll use every inch of my power to revive the first ruler!”

I put my right hand to my chest and looked at her. She didn’t look at me and stood up. Well, assuming she agreed, I’ll just play along.

“Come with me to the royal palace, I’ll properly check on him from there.”

She nodded.

“Is there a shortcut to get out of here?”

Since she’s far more mysterious than these catacombs, I’ll just ask her straight.

She nodded.

“W-will you lead the way?”

She nodded and snapped her left fingers while carrying the King’s body. A yellow light came out, It’s bright. It began to move slowly, lighting our way towards the exit. I could see the dead bodies around us. I began to vomit, it’s gruesome, the ground is drenched in blood, I couldn’t explain what happened to all of them.

She waited beside me.

** cough cough **

“J-just a sec.”

I’m slowly losing my adrenaline rush, I’m starting to feel the pain all over my body. The bruises started to pulsate in my face. I quickly searched for the supplies carried by one of the knights and took it. This would be enough for me to last throughout the journey.

“Let’s move ahead.”

I would love to carry those men back with me but she might take my words as far too demanding after she let me live.

We walked towards the dock, I saw the mage who seemed to have just woken up. The Mage is standing next to the boat looking at the lake. She’s assessing her current location in panic while holding her shoulders.

“Waaaaahhhhh!”

She began to cry again after seeing the woman with black wings beside me carrying a body. She’s tall and intimidating which is understandable. Just like before, she didn’t look away from the body she’s carrying but her wings fluffed and her brows furrowed a bit after hearing the Mage’s wail.

** thud thud thud **

I shook my head, clicked my tongue and strided heavily towards her. I unsheath my sword and pinned her down. I put my left hand onto her mouth and pointed my sword close to her neck, a small amount of blood came out. It all happened after I went on top of her.

“If you don’t stop crying I’ll kill you right at this moment, I’ll leave your body here and mark you as a coward if you don’t listen to my orders.”

I gritted my teeth while talking to her, my brows furrowed, and my eyes remained expressionless.

“One of my loyal servants died because of your incompetence, you’re lucky I let you live! Are you going to defy those orders again?”

The mage shook her head while looking at me with her bloodshot eyes.

“Good... follow that yellow light and start paddling.”

I stood up and pulled her hand to stand right away. The mage quickly boarded and went to the rear carrying the paddle. Next was the mysterious woman who sat at the front facing the rear, I came aboard next, sitting in the middle, facing her.

The boat started moving, following the yellow light ahead of us. Because of her height, her shadow cast towards us. She began to snap her left fingers again. Small reddish lights came to the side of the boat, we could now see 10 meters ahead of us.

I can clearly see her face from here. She just stares blankly at him with sincerity. Just who and how powerful is this Demon King? I’m still confused and full of doubt on what she just said to me earlier. She never talked again after touching that body of his. She fluffed her wings and her brows furrowed. I quickly took away my gaze.

I grabbed some painkillers to ease the pain in my body since my potions broke apart after the battle. The only things we have now are dried meat and some spare water.

“Take this.”

I stood up and gave the mage some dried meat and a jug of water with a shoulder strap. She ate it along the way while paddling.

An hour or so later, we finally reached the dock with dozens of boats parked around it. They vary in sizes from small to big. Our boat seems to be medium in size.