Chapitre 89: 75. Secret Room?

Days passed until Lucifer finally informed Rei that today would be a rest day and that he shouldn't push his body by constantly training. However, since Lucifer reminded him to always use his wings since that day, Rei had been using his wings every day.

From sleeping, eating, bathing, and every other activities, he always had his wings out. Although he didn't really need to do any of these things because he was an Astral and a Primarch, his human mindset made him feel odd if he didn't.

As a result, he was quite troubled by his wings because they interfered with his daily routines. Sandalphon even remarked to him, "Why bother with all that when you don't need to do any of it?"

And all Rei could respond with was, "No, I will never skip a shower or my daily necessities!" That answer made Sandalphon shake her head.

So, today began like any other, with Rei opening his eyes in the morning as usual. And, as usual, he could feel someone cuddling up to his wings, prompting him to turn to his side.

There, he saw Lyria sleeping comfortably, using his wings as a blanket as she had mentioned how soft and smooth they were. She used them as a blanket because she found his wings very comforting.

And because of the wings' width, they had to make their bed even wider, so now the bed was incredibly large. Its width almost matched the size of the room where they rested.

"Oh, you're already awake?" Rei heard Sandalphon's voice, prompting him to look in her direction.

Sandalphon was sitting with a book in her hand and some tea by her side; it seemed like she hadn't slept at all and had been reading the entire night.

"You really like reading, huh?" Rei asked.

"Hmm, reading is quite interesting. I can discover many intriguing things." Sandalphon replied casually.

"Well... as long as Lyria doesn't recommend you any weird books."

"…..sure." Sandalphon answered hesitantly, slowly hiding the book she was holding.

Since Rei had just woken up and was looking to his right, where Orchid was, he didn't see what Sandalphon was doing.

~~~~~

"Hey Rei, when will you cook again? It's been a long time since I last tasted your cooking." Lyria suddenly asked while they were all eating in the dining room.

"Why all of a sudden?" Rei replied, looking a bit confused.

"I want to taste your cooking again!"

"What's the difference between his cooking and the food made with the tools in this shrine?" Sandalphon asked Lyria.

"Oh yeah, you and Orchid have never tried Rei's cooking, right? His cooking is the best! I've never eaten anything as delicious as Rei's food!" Lyria said enthusiastically.

"Really?" Orchid seemed interested when she heard that and turned to look at Rei.

"Well, I don't know about that. When I eat my own cooking, it just tastes normal, but Lyria and the others on the Grandcypher really like it."

"Then, can you try making it?" Sandalphon now seemed interested as well.

"Well, I don't have a problem with that, but can the tools that make things appear in this shrine also create ingredients?"

"Sure they can, as long as you don't make something too complex." they suddenly heard Malluel's voice from beside Rei.

"Huh, Malluel? Since when were you here?" Rei was a bit surprised because she suddenly appeared.

"I've been here since you started talking about your cooking, Rei~."

"Malluel!?" Lyria quickly looked around, searching for the danger that usually comes when she sees Malluel.

"Hehe. Are you looking for me, Lyria~?" And that danger was right behind her, holding her shoulder from behind.

"Ahhh, let me go!!" Lyria immediately ran toward Rei and clung to him, trying to hide from Halluel.

Ever since they met Halluel and Malluel, the twins had been hanging out with Rei and the others every day. They would all spend time together, talking about various things.

But each day, it was clear that Halluel wanted to get closer to Lyria, and Lyria would always run away from her.

Halluel already knew that Lyria had a boyfriend—Rei—but that didn't stop her from doting on Lyria, as she really liked cute girls like her.

Malluel, on the other hand, was just like her twin but with a different focus. She tried to get close to Rei, and every time she saw Rei train, it made her want to approach him even more.

Since Malluel liked strong men, every time Rei used his powers, she could feel the strength radiating from him, which made her even more interested.

At first, she held back, but as the days passed, it became more and more obvious that she wanted to get closer to him.

After they finished eating, Lyria sat at the dining table, thinking about what she would do today.

Meanwhile, Orchid, noticing Lyria deep in thought, slowly tried to sneak away as she didn't want to get involved in whatever Lyria was planning.

But before she could escape, Lyria had already decided what she wanted to do.

"Let's explore the shrine! We still haven't finished exploring this place, and Rei hasn't explored it with us yet!"

So, they all followed Lyria around the shrine together.

~~~~~

"Have you ever found anything interesting while exploring this place?" Rei asked, as he had only joined them once before on one of their explorations around the shrine.

"No. There's not much here except for corridors, more corridors, and some empty rooms." Orchid answered Rei's question.

"Well, what else is supposed to be here? We don't need much stuff, and no one lives here except when Lucifer wants to hold some meetings." Sandalphon added.

"Yeah, this place is usually empty because we archangels have our own place in the Sky Realm." Malluel chimed in.

"Eh? So we're just wasting time exploring this place?" Lyria sounded disappointed upon hearing this, as she had hoped to find some secret places in the shrine.

"Ohh. Don't be sad, Lyria. You'll ruin your cute face." Halluel tried to cheer Lyria up.

"So, what do you want to do, Lyria? Head back to the room?" Rei asked her.

"Well, since there's nothing here, we might as well just go back." Lyria replied, still sounding a bit disheartened.

"If you're bored, Lyria, how about we leave the shrine and fly to different places?" Rei suggested to Lyria.

"Really!? Then I want to!" Lyria looked excited when she heard that and quickly accepted the offer.

Seeing Lyria happy again made everyone else smile too. They were always pleased to see her cheerful like this.

Even though, since meeting Lyria, they had been constantly caught up in her adventures—being pulled around everywhere and doing all sorts of things with her.

Seeing Lyria's bright smile and her eyes light up with excitement seemed to bring a sense of warmth and joy to everyone. Her enthusiasm was contagious, lifting the spirits of those around her.

"You really know how to make her happy, huh, Rei?" Malluel, walking beside Rei, said to him.

"Yeah... She's always like that. She easily gets disappointed by anything but can just as easily get excited by anything, too."

They continued walking toward the exit of the Shrine so that Rei could take Lyria flying around the island. But as they were passing by a particular room, Rei suddenly stopped and stared in its direction.

"Hmm? What's wrong, Rei?" Orchid asked, noticing that he had stopped walking, causing her to stop too since she was right behind him.

Everyone turned to look at Rei when they realized he stopped walking.

"This place seems... familiar." Rei murmured before slowly stepping into the room.

"What happened, Rei? We've already been in this room before, there's nothing inside it." Lyria said, a hint of curiosity in her voice.

Rei didn't respond to Lyria's question and kept walking further into the room, leaving the others a few steps behind. As he walked in, just like Lyria had said, there was nothing particularly interesting about the room. It was filled with old tables and what appeared to be some ancient machinery.

Rei ignored all of it, his eyes fixed ahead, until he stood before a wall at the far end of the room.

"This place..." Rei reached out, touching the wall in front of him.

"A wall? What do you want to do with a wall?" Sandalphon sounded confused, knowing well that there was nothing in this room but those old tables.

"Open the door." Rei suddenly commanded.

"???" Everyone looked puzzled, but before anyone could ask what he meant, they suddenly heard a sound.

A faint, low rumble began to emanate from the wall Rei had touched. Dust fell from the ceiling as the wall slowly shifted, revealing a hidden doorframe that had blended seamlessly with the stone around it. The grinding of ancient gears filled the air as the hidden door gradually opened, revealing a dimly lit passageway beyond.

Lyria's eyes widened. "Wow... there really is something here! How did you know about this, Rei?"

Rei stepped back, slightly surprised himself. "I... I don't know. It just felt familiar, like I'd seen it before somewhere..."

Malluel looked intrigued. "You mean this hidden door? This is the first time I've ever heard of anything like this in the Shrine."

Orchid tilted her head, trying to peek into the newly revealed passage. "There's more beyond... What do you think is in there?"

Sandalphon, still processing what just happened, gave Rei a curious look. "A hidden door inside the Shrine. This isn't in any of the records. If it isn't an illusion, then we should proceed carefully."

Rei nodded. "Yeah, let's be cautious."

With a mix of excitement and caution, the group began to make their way into the hidden passage, wondering what secrets lay beyond.

They continued walking through the passage without lowering their guard.

Not knowing if there were traps hidden in this place, they remained cautious, especially considering that the Shrine was built by the Astrals.

"It's kinda dark in this place..." Orchid murmured, unable to see clearly through the darkness.

"Yeah, me too. I can't really see anything." Lyria added.

Since both of them couldn't see in the dark like he and the others could, Rei considered using his power to create a small flame to help them see.

But suddenly, the entire passage lit up with a soft, white light emanating from the walls, allowing both Orchid and Lyria to see more clearly.

"Huh, that's convenient." Lyria remarked, glancing around at the now-illuminated corridor.

Malluel chuckled softly. "Looks like the passageway is enchanted to respond to movement. It seems the Astrals thought of everything when they designed this place."

Orchid still looked around warily. "Convenient or not, this is still very suspicious. Why would they hide this place so well?"

Rei continued to walk ahead, his gaze focused. "Maybe it leads somewhere important. Or to something they wanted to keep secret."

Lyria stayed close to Rei, her hand brushing against his as they walked. "I hope it's not something dangerous. But… at least we're together, right?"

Rei smiled softly, giving her a reassuring nod. "Yeah. We'll handle it, whatever it is. Let's keep moving."

After that, they finally arrived at a bright room that allowed them to see everything inside clearly.

"Wow, so many books here! And so much stuff too! Look at that machine!" Lyria exclaimed excitedly, quickly running ahead of the group as she marveled at the sight.

"Wait, Lyria! Don't run like that!" Halluel called after her, chasing her down to make sure she wouldn't hurt herself on any of the strange objects in the room.

Rei ignored the commotion and walked over to a desk cluttered with various old-looking equipment. Most of it seemed ancient and worn, but what caught his attention was the book lying on top.

"Primal Beast Structure..." Rei read the title aloud.

"Huh, you can read this?" he suddenly heard Sandalphon's voice next to him, sounding surprised.

"Huh? What do you mean? Isn't this just normal writing?" Rei asked, looking confused.

"No? I don't recognize this language at all." Sandalphon replied, shaking her head.

"What...?" Rei's eyes widened as he looked back down at the book. The letters on the cover looked completely ordinary to him—like any text he'd read before.

"Are you sure? It looks pretty standard to me." Rei insisted, flipping through a few pages. As he scanned the text, everything seemed perfectly legible to him.

Orchid, who had been listening in, came closer to look at the book. "Let me see."

"...No, I don't understand it either. It's like a bunch of strange symbols."

Rei frowned, trying to make sense of the situation. "So only I can read this?"

Malluel joined them, glancing over at the book. "Maybe it's something related to your Astral heritage. There might be hidden knowledge or languages that only you can decipher."

Rei nodded thoughtfully. "Could be. If that's the case, there might be more useful information here. We should look around."

As they continued to explore the room, Rei kept glancing back at the book, wondering what other secrets might be hidden within this room. Maybe there's something inside that can let him actually use his Astral power without getting consumed by it's instincts.