Chapter 481 - Scales

The fall kept slowing down to the point that by the time Sofia and Bookie reached the level of the tallest spires, they were going down slow enough to try to look through the tall windows. The unsettling purple light they produced completely obscured the interior of the gigantic spires, but shifts in the luminosity seemed to hint at things moving on the inside, disturbing the light. 

Despite that, the outdoors were completely devoid of any movement or life, and the city was deadly silent. 

“Sofia,” Bookie whispered, poking at her sides, “my blessing just activated.”

“Your bless- Wait, you’re right… My mana regeneration just went up too… This purple light is sunlight?” Does Sun’s power extend all the way to the Deep? Maybe it’s only because I have some of her essence with me…

Bookie meekly nodded, “I don’t understand…”

“It might be better not to think about it too much… We’re going to land in that big plaza down below… We’re perfectly lined up with the center of it, which is a bit strange too…”

One thing of note about the city that Sofia only noticed as she got closer, was the presence of a multitude of giant cogs sprouting from the tall buildings and the ground. From afar they looked like just parts of the houses, but up close it was clear that these were immobile mechanical parts, as if the entire city was one big sleeping machine.

Trying to get a proper sense of scale for the city, Sofia observed the doors to the spires near the ground.

Maybe fifty meters tall? Made of the same black stone as the walls. 

I might not even be able to open these doors if I tried.

Maybe in demon form…

Pareth appeared as Sofia neared the ground, the speed of the fall had become so slow that going down stairs would have been faster at this point; a few seconds later, their feet lightly touched the paved ground of the city’s central plaza.

The trio was ready to defend themselves, but there was no welcoming committee. Tall shadows kept moving behind the glowing windows, unbothered by the three insects who had landed in the city.

“Should we check the string?” Bookie whispered.

“It might be dangerous, but the other option is trying to enter one of these towers… I will call the name, if anything weird happens we fly away, so be ready to enter the storage ring, alright?”

Pareth and Bookie both nodded in agreement.

“Alright…” Sofia kept her mana ready to activate [Runeforged overlord] at a moment’s notice, then she whispered, “Yvraveteth.”

The red tether appeared as it always did, no longer pointing down but toward one of the plaza’s exits, leading to a large street within the city.

Sofia worriedly looked up at the windows, but the movements behind them were still just as sparse and uncaring.

The group cautiously walked following the tether, the silence of the city disturbed by the footsteps resonating through the oversized streets. Sometimes, the sound of a door opening or closing reminded them that they were not alone in this place, and it made them walk faster.

Finally, the tether took them to a broken down part of the city. Here, spires had collapsed, black stone debris littered the paved streets, giant glass shards from the shattered windows were planted in the ground. It seemed this place had been the theater of some violent battle of ridiculous proportions. Sometimes Sofia would get a glimpse at the interior of the half broken spires through a crack in the walls or the broken windows, and the things within were so far past her comprehension that her thoughts blurred, the more she looked the less she understood. In the end she had to stop herself from looking for fear of losing her mind and kept pressing forward through the debris, following the tether.

She reached another plaza. It was mostly clear of debris, though the spires around it were almost all collapsed. Two big legs sculpted in black stone, with a strange musculature carved in intricate details, stood in the middle of the plaza, the remains of a titanic statue broken at the knees, everything above them lost to time.

Someone stood beneath the legs looking up at the statue that was no more.

Sofia, Pareth and Bookie all stopped in their tracks at the sight of the lanky man dressed in white standing in the distance. His proportions were very wrong from a human point of view, with arms and legs twice as long as they should be, his long flowing white hair and white suit contrasting brightly against the black city.

Accompanied by the unpleasant sound of bones breaking which Sofia could easily recognize, the man’s shape and stature changed, becoming that of a perfectly average man, then he turned around. 

He had been standing hundreds of meters away from the group, but he was now just steps away from them, looking Sofia straight in the eyes. 

“Saintess. Welcome to the uneven city, Ser’Alhtra.”

The uneven city?

“Uncle!” Bookie was first to answer, jumping forward and hugging the man’s leg before Sofia could even react.

“Orator?” Sofia asked, uncertain, as she watched the man caressing Bookie’s skull with a smile. It could hardly be anyone else, and the likelihood of Bookie not recognizing his creator seemed low, but she still had to ask. Besides, she felt absolutely nothing from the man standing in front of her, no mana, and no presence. It was a very strange and confused feeling that her eyes were showing her something that did not actually exist.

Weirder yet, no matter how much she looked at the man’s face, she was incapable of understanding what he looked like.

“Please,” the man answered, his voice different than it was just a few seconds ago, “use my real name whilst we visit here. So, how do these young ones like this remote part of our reality?” 

“It’s creepy!” Bookie answered, looking up at the Lord’s ‘face’. 

“It’s… Unexpectedly safe, so far?”

Orator laughed. Every time he opened his mouth, a different voice came out. “What about you?” he then asked, looking in Pareth’s direction. “Interesting,” he then continued, “Evidently you were safe because it was your fate to come here, this one’s prophecy was this way, after all,” he explained, putting his hands on his waist.

“We were safe thanks to you, Uncle?” Bookie asked, as he pulled back to be next to Sofia.

“It is not so, you stayed out of harm’s way only because you followed one’s words. For the most part.”

Sofia had an awkward smile, “I see. Bad things happened when I strayed from the prophecy by mistake…”

“You should be thankful for Ormoncleth’s generosity, Saintess, the essence you bear is the sole reason you survived your frankly embarrassing act of carelessness.” 

“At least I still kept the most dangerous name out of my mouth…”

“As you should,” Orator approved, “now, let us conduct our business here, I have led you to  Ser’Alhtra for a reason, this Lord shall give you some motivation in your quest,” Orator said before turning around and starting to walk away.

Sofia and Pareth exchanged a glance, and they followed.

“Motivation? Sofia is very motivated, Uncle!” Bookie enthusiastically told Orator as he ran up to him.

“I know, little one, but the mortal mind has its faults. I exist to see the tasks I give be accomplished, so I shall see to it that the initial conditions lead to a satisfying result. That is how I operate,” Orator explained in an unusually relaxed tone.

Sofia called out to the Lord from behind, “Say, Yvraveteth.”

“Yes?” he answered without bothering to turn around.

“Can we know what Aphenoreth is busy with?” she asked, curious about her benefactor’s whereabouts.

He answered with a question of his own, “You have witnessed the true expanse of existence when you invoked the Regulator’s name, have you not?”

“It’s hard to describe… Was everything I saw real?”

“Certainly so. And yet still, what you were exposed to was but a glimpse of all that has been and will be. Our lot is as vast as reality itself, but single entities we still are. This Lord and the Inquisitor, we have grown tired of scattering our will.”

Vast as reality itself…

How ‘vast’ are Gods? They only draw their power from our one world, do they not? Sun is only one sun, right? 

Sofia’s internal thoughts led her to another question, “If what you say is true… Then why here? If reality is so vast, why settle here in particular? Why not one of the heroes’ worlds? Or anywhere else?”

“Ahahah, is this truly where your thoughts led, Saintess? Your instincts are sharper than you realize. The reason we stay here is precisely our current destination. Speaking of which, we are here,” Orator announced, turning around to face Sofia and her skeletons, opening his arms to show the scenery behind him. Sofia could perceive a smug smile on his face despite not being able to see it clearly.

Despite the Lord’s words, the place he had stopped was just the middle of another of the giant black city’s ruined streets full of debris.

“W- What are we supposed to be looking at, Uncle?” Bookie asked, completely lost.

Orator’s smile widened, “Look harder, my guests, this here is also the reason a certain ‘admin’ came knocking at our doorstep. Watch closely, reality is not always what it first appears to be.”

Look harder? The admin?!

Sofia followed Orator’s words, and focused her attention on the scenery behind the Lord. At first, nothing happened, but as she concentrated, the black spires of the city around her started to warp. The stone debris on the ground flew back to the broken walls, the large cogs of the city started turning, the purple lights dimmed, and finally, the gargantuan figure of a dead Dragon was revealed, its rotting mangled corpse impaled on the city’s tallest spire.

Author's note:

Heya! So, any guess on what we're looking at? :p

Originally I wanted to post the poll's chapter today, but that felt a bit wrong. It also feels wrong to post it tomorrow, considering the steep cliff I'm leaving you on today, so it'll be for Friday, hope that's alright with you. ;)

Happy commenting! (｀• ω •´)b