WIEDERGEBURT Act II: Chapter 28

“Are these the ruins?” Catalyna asked of no one in particular.

Kari answered her anyway. “Whether they are the ruins on your map or not, they are definitely ancient ruins from before the Catastrophe.”

She walked underneath an archway, which was a massive slab of stone with Runes and motifs etched into the surface. The archway was being held up by statues of creatures that seemed somehow larger than life. This might have had something to do with their size. The status were four or five times larger than an adult human, after all, but there was more to it than that. Kari couldn’t explain it as she touched the stone statue on her left, feeling the smoothness of granite, but these beings that looked almost human seemed to be anything but.

Of course, they didn’t appear completely human. The thickness of their arms, legs, and chest were slightly distorted, as though she was looking through an unclear glass window, which gave rise to the sense that these statues were depicting beings of massive size.

“So few documents exist that tell us what these ruins are,” Kari continued in a soft voice. “There was one biography I read about the Explorer King Olaf I Trggvason, who proposed the theory that these ruins are actually temples built in service to long-forgotten gods. Looking at this now, I can see why he would say such a thing. These creatures really do seem god-like.”

“Who cares about that?” asked Marko. “We can’t afford to stand around here all day! Let’s get inside and hide out until those Demon Beasts stop going into a frenzy.”

“Do not be rude, Marko!” Catalyna snapped.

“I’m not being rude,” Marko replied back. “I’m being honest. We can’t afford to stand around here. There’s no telling when the Demon Beasts will find us.”

“Don’t snap at this princess’ big sister!” Lin yelled at Marko as she drew herself up on her tail, allowing her to reach such a height that caused her to tower over everyone there. She crossed her arms and glared down at the man.

Marko paled as Lin glared down at him like he was worth less than a worm. While she didn’t really seem very intimidating to Kari, she knew that Marko was infatuated with Lin. Upsetting her was definitely not something he wanted to do.

“Marko is correct,” Kari suddenly said, diffusing the tension. “We really do not have the time to spend indulging in my desire to study more. Let’s head further into the ruins.”

As she spoke, the others agreed. Lin reluctantly backed down, but not before she tossed Marko a hateful look that made him wince. Catalyna began directing the rest of their ragtag group, while Kari and Lin wandered past the archway and stepped further into the area surrounding the ruins.

The archway was basically like an entrance. After stepping through it, they were introduced to a massive area that seemed like it had been a garden at some point, but the trees, plants, and weeds had completely overrun everything. Gigantic stone walls remained upright even after thousands of years, but they were covered in vines. If Kari had to guess, she’d say this place was similar to a courtyard--a giant courtyard that put the ones at the Imperial Royal Palace to shame. Built into the mountain as it was, surrounded by trees and walls, the only way into this area was through the archway they had just walked underneath.

“So these are ruins,” Lin murmured with her arms crossed. “They look different than the ones in the Endless Desert.”

“They have ruins in the Endless Desert?” asked Kari.

“Of course.” Lin nodded several times. “There are several that this princess knows of. The Lamia’s home village is also built around ancient ruins.”

“I would like to visit your home some day.” Kari smiled softly.

Lin returned her smile with one that seemed uncertain. “This princess… does not know if that is the best idea.”

“Why not?”

“Lamia and humans… do not get along in the Endless Desert,” Lin admitted reluctantly. “Her people have been at war with the humans for longer even than this princess’ mother has been alive. She does not know why.”

“But you don’t hate humans,” Kari pointed out. “Surely there is a chance for our people to make peace.”

“Maybe… but this princess has always been considered odd,” Lin said. When Kari just gave her a confused stare, she smiled in a somewhat self-deprecating manner. “This princess has always been fascinated by humans and would often sneak away from her home to watch human villages from afar.” Her smile turned into a frown. “It was actually because she got careless and let a human see her that she ended up being attacked while hunting. Her guards sacrificed their lives so she could escape, but it was really her fault. If she hadn’t gone to see a human settlement the day before…”

A strange aura of despondency exuded from Lin’s figure as her shoulders became more and more slouched, as if a great weight was pushing her down. Guilt. Kari was sure that Lin was feeling guilty over what happened to her guards. Her friend and future sister was filled with self-recriminations over a mistake she’d made.

“Lin, come here.”

Kari spread her arms wide, and Lin didn’t hesitate to slither into her embrace. She wrapped her arms tight around the Lamia girl.

Because her clothing was torn in several places, Kari could feel her skin touching Lin’s, which was much colder than her own. This didn’t trouble her much. She, Fay, and Eryk had grown used to Lin’s colder temperature during the last several days—even before heading out on this journey.

This touching moment between friends was interrupted when Catalyna wandered up to them. “I hate to bother you two, but we need to begin setting up camp. Since you both have done more for us than everyone else, you don’t have to help out and can get some rest, but I figured you two wouldn’t be able to sit still and thought I’d ask if you want to help out.”

Lin and Kari broke apart and turned to Catalyna.

“This princess would like to rest,” she admitted. “All this traveling and fighting has exhausted her. She also needs to treat her injuries.”

Catalyna nodded. “In that case, please go see Alexandria over there. She has a water affinity and specializes in healing Spiritual Techniques.”

Lin thanked Catalyna before heading over to Alexandria. Kari watched her for a moment as she spoke with the brown-haired and somewhat plain-looking woman. The Lamia made several hand gestures as she spoke, and Alexandria nodded before gesturing for Lin to sit down. Kari waited until she was sure Alexandria was actually healing her before turning back to Catalyna.

“What are you grinning at?” she asked.

“Nothing really.” Catalyna shook her head, though she was still grinning. “I was just thinking about how protective you are of Lin.”

“Lin is going to become my sister in the future,” Kari answered as if the words were obvious. “She’ll be family, and besides, I like Lin. Despite her haughty nature, she is very kind to everyone and very naive. I just feel like I have to protect her. I’m sure Eryk feels the same way.”

“Hmph. I’m envious of her.” Catalyna glanced at Lin, crossed her arms, and then looked back at Kari. “And you’re sure I can’t join you three?”

“I won’t say it’s impossible, but honestly, I also can’t see it happening,” Kari admitted with a shrug. “Not only would you have to convince me, Lin, and Fay to let you join, but you’d have to earn Eryk’s love… and that is no small feat.”

“Well, fine. It’s not like I’m particularly enamored with your boyfriend.” Catalyna shrugged and seemed to give up. “Anyway, we don’t have any tents or even blankets anymore, so while Marko and his group try to find some food, the rest of us are traveling into the ruins to see if we can’t find a place that will be warmer than out here. Nights on mountains like this can get quite cold.”

“You’re asking me to head deeper into the ruins?!” Kari felt a jolt race through her as she leaned into Catalyna’s personal space.

The other blonde woman leaned back as she placed a hand on Kari’s face and pushed her away. “That’s right. Though if you get in my personal space like this again, I’m not taking you with me.”

Realizing what she was doing, a soft heat caused Kari’s cheeks to flush as she leaned back and coughed into her hand. She’d let her enthusiasm get the better of her again. The idea of exploring ruins was something she’d always dreamed of doing ever since she was little, so she felt it was only natural that she was excited by the prospect.

“S-sorry about that.” Kari smiled.

Catalyna gave her a slightly aggrieved look, then shrugged. “Well, whatever. Anyway, let’s gather at least two more people and head inside.”

Marko had taken four people with him to hunt for food, which meant there were seven people present. Lin declined to go exploring when Kari asked if she wanted to come with them. That was disappointing, but Kari understood how exhausted the Lamia was. Truth be told, she was tired as well, but the idea of exploring unexplored ruins was simply too good for her to pass up. Of the seven people they asked, two agreed to come with them.

“I would be more than happy to accompany you into the ruins,” Finn said with a bow. He had actually volunteered himself after overhearing their conversation.

“You seem awfully enthusiastic.” Catalyna frowned at Finn.

“I merely wish to aid you,” Finn replied with a refined smile filled with boyish charm.

Catalyna narrowed her eyes. “And yet, this is the first time you have ever accompanied me on an expedition. You normally refuse whenever I have asked.” Her eyes briefly flickered to Kari. “I wonder if something has changed for you to change your mind so suddenly like this.”

Finn’s smile remained fixed in place. “Nothing has changed. I just thought it was finally time to expand my horizons.”

Kari wasn’t sure she liked this man. He’d been alternating between staring lustfully at her and glaring hatefully at Eryk ever since their expedition had begun, but she also didn’t have a reason to deny him right then. They were in a tight situation and couldn’t afford to create tension between members in their group. She sucked up her feelings for the sake of survival.

“Well, whatever.” Catalyna sighed as if giving up. “Now we just need one more person to come with us.” Finn looked like he had something to say about that, but Catalyna ignored him as she looked around before spotting a figure sitting on a rock somewhat removed from the others. “Come on.”

Kari followed the woman curiously as Catalyna walked up to the man sitting on the ground. He was older than the rest of them, with distinguished gray hair that was slicked back and a beard. Dark eyes stared out from beneath a rugged face that radiated experience. He wore the leather armor of a Nevarian Spiritual, but it was covered in dings and cracks, signs of the tumultuous battles they’d all been in. Despite this, he seemed to be in good health and was relatively calm.

“Princess Kari, Miss Catalyna… Finn, do you need my help with something?” asked the man. Something about the way he said Finn’s name struck Kari as odd. It was filled with tension. Did they have a rivalry?

“We’re going to explore the ruins in search of a place to spend the night,” Catalyna said. “Staying out here where the weather is cold and the potential to be attacked by Demon Beasts is high isn’t in our best interested. I would like for you to come with us, Ander.”

The person who Kari now knew as Ander stood to his feet and nodded. “I will accompany your group.” He glanced at Finn again, and this time, Kari thought she saw sparks flying between them.

Now that they had four people, Catalyna led them over to the entrance that would lead into the ruins themselves. It was a large archway about five times bigger than a full-grown adult, marked on either side by a pair of artfully decorated towers that stood even taller than the entrance. Watchtowers? She didn’t know. However, these odd towers had a balcony-like walkway connecting them together. It seemed like an odd thing to add.

Just before they entered the ruins, the entire mountain suddenly shook with a fierce and powerful force that sent nearly all of them to the ground. Two of their members screamed. Kari and Catalyna bent their knees to keep their center of gravity balanced. Even then, Kari felt like the intense shaking rattle her bones.

The shaking eventually stopped. However, just when she and the others were about to resume their activities, it began again, louder and more powerful this time. It stopped, and then started, and then stopped.

“What the hell is going on here?!” demanded Catalyna.

Unfortunately, no one had an answer.

***

Fay had removed herself to what she deemed a safe distance from Eryk, but she hadn’t gone so far that she couldn’t see what he was up against. A chill ran down her spine as she stood on a large boulder. Her breathing had almost completely stilled. Even from this far away, the monstrosity that Eryk was up against caused a pressure to well up inside her chest, like a massive weight was slowly crushing her ribcage.

While the monster was so large she could see it even from several kilometers away, Eryk was barely a speck. She couldn’t see much more than a tiny black dot. Of course, that was only when he was standing still, which he didn’t do often.

The monstrous being Eryk was fighting roared. A powerful soundwave was unleashed from its mouth, causing the mountain near them to shake and Fay’s bones to rattle. It felt like her body was being shake apart. She could only imagine how Eryk felt. He was right next to it.

Raising its hands above its head, the creature brought them down in a powerful and explosive attack that caused the ground around it to explode. However, this wasn’t just an explosion of force. Large spikes of earth suddenly sprang from the ground as though trying to skewer the tiny figure darting all around it. Each spike was easily ten or so meters tall and several wide. What’s more, as the spikes grew, more spikes erupted from their surfaces, smaller but no less deadly.

This was a Spiritual Attack.

Upon reaching B-rank, Demon Beasts gained the power necessary to use Spiritual Attacks, which were like their version of Spiritual Techniques. This was also why Eryk could sense them once they reached B-rank. An A-rank Demon Beast was even more powerful. Having gained an intelligence that was near human, they also acquired the ability to manipulate whatever element their affinity was tied to.

Giant Rock Golems were tied to the earth element.

After realizing its attack was unsuccessful, the Demon Beast unleashed another soundwave. Fay was forced to cover her ears. Even so, it did very little good. It felt like this attacked more than just her eardrums. The most horrifying thing, however, was knowing that this wasn’t a Spiritual Attack. It was just a really loud roar.

A brilliant, pale blue light suddenly erupted from the sky. Fay looked up. The tiny speck of glowing blue light was emitting a Spiritual Pressure that actually pushed back the power erupting from the massive Demon Beast. As she continued to stare at it, a massive bolt of lightning slammed into the giant monster, striking the red rock covering its head. This caused the creature to stumble back a few steps, but there didn’t appear to be any damage.

“Eryk…”

Clasping her hands tightly together, Fay could do nothing but pray for Eryk’s safety.

***

I landed on the ground after my unsuccessful attack to the creature’s head. I had assumed that red layer of rock would be its weak spot since it looked different than the rest of it, but that appeared to not be the case. As I wove between the creatures legs, swinging my Dragon Tail Ruler to little effect—my weapon just glanced off the Giant Rock Golem with a loud clang!—I also dodged the spikes that shot from the ground to skewer me.

Left. Right. Right. Spin.

I wove past several stakes as they came at me, using the Flesh Step Version 3: Lightning Step to keep myself one step ahead of my opponent’s attacks. Coming out from the underside of the creature’s body, I suddenly found the sun being blocked out by something large. I looked up. It was a massive tail that must have been over a dozen meters in length.

Gritting my teeth, I raced away from underneath the tail before it slammed into the ground, and then leapt into the air. A loud sonic boom erupted from where the tail struck. The ground cratered beneath it, indenting and forming cracks that spread rapidly, but that wasn’t all that happened. Several rocks ranging in size from small pebbles to large boulders flew in my direction.

Coating my Dragon’s Tail Ruler in a combination of lightning and water, I quickly sliced apart the projectiles that came at me. A boulder about the same size as me was split cleanly in half. As I spun my arm around using myself as the fulcrum and my sword as the weight, I unleashed a tornado of lightning and water, tearing to shreds several more giant projectiles.

Rather than landing back on the ground, I created a platform beneath my feet and performed a Flash Step in mid air, allowing me to ascend even higher. The Giant Rock Golem tried to look up at me, but it had a limited range of head movement and could only glare up with its eyes. Of course, since its eyes were located on either side of its head, that also meant I could only see one glowing golden eye, but it still managed to stare at me before I disappeared above it.

One of the only weaknesses of a Giant Rock Golem was that it had a limited field of view. It couldn’t look at things directly above it. Of course, being airborne was also an advantage. This creature was of the earth element, meaning it could only affect the earth and couldn’t do anything about opponents in the air.

At least, that was my theory until several strange protrusion appeared on the reddish armor-like sediment covering its head and some of its back. Those strange protrusions soon fired off several rock projectiles that flew toward me at speeds a normal Spiritualist wouldn’t be able to avoid. Even I couldn’t avoid them in midair. Left with no choice, I channeled as much Spiritual Power into my ruler as I dared and unleashed a gigantic wave of lightning and water.

While it was a combination of lightning and water, it looked like a crescent of pure white energy. It met the projectiles head on. A loud number of detonations created airbursts that pushed me higher into the sky. Meanwhile, the projectiles and my own crescent attack were negated.

Crack!

Hearing that sound, I looked at my ruler and grimaced. Even before this battle had begun, my weapon had been slowly breaking. This ruler was made of steel. It wasn’t like the mythril weapon created for me by the Dwoergs. It couldn’t handle my Spiritual Power.

I knew this weapon wouldn’t last much longer. With this in mind, I oriented my body until I was pointed head first toward the ground, and then created another platform of Spiritual Power beneath my feet, which I used to activate the Flash Step Version 2: Jump Step again. The world around me blurred only for a second as I swung my legs around and landed on the Giant Rock Golem’s back.

I was right next to one of the spikes.

“HYYYYAAAA!!!”

Swinging the Dragon’s Tail Ruler with all my might, I poured everything I could into it and slammed it against the spike. I only felt a moment of resistance before the Dragon’s Tail Ruler sliced straight through the spike. An anguished scream echoed all around me as the Giant Rock Golem began thrashing about like it was in pain. Seeing how I’d found this creature’s weakness, I went on the offensive.

There were a total of four spikes on its back. This didn’t include the one I had just sliced off. Running up to the other four spikes, I proceeded to hack each and every one of them off. The spikes fell off the Giant Rock Golem’s body and landed on the ground with a thundering rumble. I could finally see my attacks doing damage. Black blood that looked like sludge oozed from the areas where the spikes had been. It seemed as if these protrusions were not as hard as the rest of its body. They were probably some form of extrasensory nodes that helped it navigate or something to that effect.

As the Giant Rock Golem thrashed even harder, I leapt off its back and created multiple platforms in the air. This wasn’t a very elegant method of transportation. However, I lacked the power currently needed to fly, and so I leapt from platform to platform until I was several dozen meters away from the thrashing Demon Beast.

I landed on a ledge jutting from the cliff face. Looking at my weapon, I saw that the number of cracks had increased. It would be good for maybe one more attack.

“I guess it was too much to think I could use a normal weapon,” I muttered.

After taking a deep breath, I let my Spiritual Power flow uninhibited through my body, and then I converted it into lightning and water. Pain erupted in my chest. An electric heat filled my body, frying me from the inside out, but I used the water element to continuously heal myself. This caused a vicious cycle of my internal organs being simultaneously fried with lightning damage and healed with water. It was painful, but I ignored it.

I looked at my hands and saw that my body had been converted into white energy. This combination of lightning and water was my greatest trump card in my previous life. I suppose it could have been considered Version 4 of the Flash Step, but this wasn’t just a movement technique that made me faster. It was a technique that turned my entire body into the water and lightning elements. Into the power of a storm. At the height of my power, I had even been able to add the light element, which had been gifted to me by Kari before she died.

This technique wouldn’t last long. My Spiritual Power was not strong enough to maintain this technique yet. I only had one shot to end this.

Narrowing my eyes at the thrashing Giant Rock Golem several dozen meters away, I leapt lightly into the air, pressed my feet against the cliff wall, and shoved off.

The cliff exploded beneath my feet. A sonic wave of energy spread from where my feet impacted the cliff, causing a strange undulation to erupt from the rock before it ruptured. A massive landslide formed as the cliff came crumbling down, but I was already gone by that point.

It happened in an instant.

It was just like that first time I had used this technique, back in Jordiskger, where I had faced off against that Sekbeist Warlord. However, unlike that time, I was more accustomed to this type of high-speed movement. That was why I could see how my body shot straight through one of the areas gushing blood on the Giant Rock Golem’s body, explode through its chest, and emerge from the other side of its body.

Of course, I hadn’t thought about how I would land.

Striking the ground hard, I released a yelp of pain as the bones in my leg snapped. My body had already reverted to flesh and blood. The snapping of my bones created a white hot pain inside my mind, but that was secondary to the blurring world around me as a tumbled across the dirt, hitting rocks and smashing through boulders. My body was battered relentlessly for what felt like an eternity before I finally landed on my back and stopped rolling.

I stared up at the sky. My vision went black. Then it returned. Then it went black again. I knew I was fading in and out of consciousness, though I didn’t know what I could do to fix that. I was all out of Spiritual Power. Actually, why were my thoughts so lucid? I was almost surprised by how clearly I could think, but maybe that was because I felt numb. When I first began practicing the technique I’d just used, this was how I’d felt after using it, and this young body of mine wasn’t used to it either. Hmm… maybe I should begin practicing it more when I got home.

“Eryk!” a shouted reached my ears. I tried to turn my head, but I couldn’t. All I could do was blink. About a minute… was it a minute? Yeah, it was about a minute. Anyway, about a minute after the shout echoed to me, a face appeared in my vision. Long red hair. Stunning emerald eyes with a seductive, narrowed appearance. Plump lips that were totally kissable surrounded by a pale face.

“Fay,” I said with a sigh.

“Are you okay?! Can you stand up?! How are you feeling?!”

Fay was panicking as she bombarded me with questions, but I thought that was actually really cute. Fay was so charming in her earnestness. She worked hard at everything she did, had no trouble chasing after me, but seemed to get embarrassed when I did the chasing, and she worried over me like a mother hen. I really wanted to sleep with her now.

I realized my thoughts were taking an odd turn. This was definitely the result of some kind of brain damage. Maybe I had a concussion. I would have shaken my head, but I couldn’t actually move.

“I can’t feel my body,” I confessed to Fay, whose eyes had widened. “Listen, Fay, I know it’s troublesome, but could you help carry me somewhere? We should find a cave or something to spend the night in.”

“R-right. A cave. Yes, I’ll give you a hand. Um, hold on while I pick you up.”

As Fay stuttered out a series of short and choppy sentences, she slid on arm under my leg and the other around my shoulder. Standing up, she took me with her. I could feel my arms and legs dangling limply in her grip. My head lolled from one side to the other as though all the muscles in it had vanished. Despite how every part of me had gone numb, I was aware enough of my situation to realize what this was.

“Huh. You know, I feel kind of like a princess being carried off by a gallant knight,” said with a smile.

Fay snorted. “That’s… well, I suppose I understand how you feel—except I think it is normally the knight who slays the monster, not the princess.”

“Hmm. You have a point there.” I tried to nod, but all that happened was my head falling onto her shoulder. I really had spent every ounce of my strength defeating that thing.

As Fay carried me off, I was able to see the Giant Rock Golem. It had fallen over onto its stomach and was no longer moving. Both eyes were still open. However, the vibrant glow of life had vanished from them. There was also a massive pool of black blood expanding from underneath its body.

“I still can’t believe you managed to kill an A-rank Demon Beast on your own,” Fay muttered in shock.

“You’ll eventually be able to defeat them as well,” I said, but Fay shook her head as if she didn’t believe herself capable of such a thing. I didn’t argue with her. She would understand eventually that she was much stronger than she gave herself credit for.

As Fay carried me away, I closed my eyes and slowly slipped into darkness.