Capítulo 141: Sinking into Mystery (Asahi: Part 12)

Asahi had little choice but to rush down the rocks to retrieve his sword, grab it by the hilt, and bolt from the area. Seeing that the others were approaching, he planted his feet firmly and wiped away the perspiration of relief.

Then, he yelled at Toivo, clearly confused by the circumstances.

"What is that? Are those rocks moving?!"

Suddenly, sounds of shattering rocks echoed behind him.

The moment Asahi turned back to the mountain, he discovered… that it wasn't even a mountain at all; it was a creature.

The 'mountain' was ripped apart by a massive turquoise gap that weakened and fractured the rocks into distinct shapes that resembled a human body. Some of the leftover boulders rolled over to the moving stone tower and began to fuse together, brick by brick, to form a thick arm of glowing rocks. Asahi quickly spun to his left and saw another jumble of pebbles that resembled a sword and a human arm.

But what finalized this transformation was the two small blue dots of light emerging over the huge circular boulder on the center of what looked like its chest.

In all honesty for Asahi, it looked like those were their eyes.

Realization kicked in him.

"This isn't a mountain. It's…"

The deep voice of Toivo echoed over the valley.

"That's AN ANCIENT GOLEM! Asahi, get your butt back here and run! That creature is far too powerful for you to fight, even with the sword you have."

He had doubted Toivo's warning, going his way to approach the humanoid of rocks on his own. Soon he discovered that this match would be far from his ability.

. . .

Asahi did everything, even throw his fist at the golem, but it was of no use.

There was nothing he could do that would leave a mark on this beast.

His skin was covered in dirt, mud, and torn bristles of grass. His blade shattered from the likes of his own actions as he ran around the valley. Luckily, deep pits and slopes of green dotted about the area, making safe high-ground entry-points for this battle.

Yet even then, the strength of the golem's arms were enough to shatter and form deep pits into the cliffs around the valley. Kendra couldn't bear to see his new partner struggle. Even the look on her eyes was enough to express that she was worried.

So, the blue-haired girl vaulted off the cliff and landed on the river, swimming back up into shore and tightening her fists. As Kendra watched Asahi sliding and dodging for his life, she muttered to herself.

"Brother, sister, let me show you what your youngest sibling can do." With each footstep she made, the glowing blue sphere expanded. Streams of water started to float and lift toward the ball, as if the water itself was connected to her. Seeing that Kendra was willing to help, Canyon and even Brunella herself jumped off the cliff and stood at side with her.

(I know I feel weakness resonating in me, and it feels so… so painful to do so. But I don't want to fail in saving him.)

Although most of the group, except Joshilyn, engaged in battle, even with their flawed magic, Toivo on the other hand, examined each movement Asahi made. He looked down to his palms and muttered to himself.

"I didn't have this battle in mind. All I wanted for Asahi was to throw and carry the chair and show them the great view of Linuxina. But…" Toivo pressed his hand against his forehead and released a sigh of contempt, looking back at Asahi as he and the others encircled the gigantic rock golem in the distance.

"It seems that an Ancient Golem was lingering around here. Surprising that those things still exist."

Though he had his doubts, remembering Asahi's actions and all he had done to reach this point, Toivo chose to follow him and examine if he would destroy the monster.

Disappointment grew on him as he saw Asahi repeatedly throwing his fists over and over at the hardened rock surface, breaking his skin, and bones. His irritation got to the point where he had to call the young man out of his own mistakes, shouting.

"Idiot! You know well not to use your hands against this type of beast. Not even a brute like me, or the strongest one in the world would ever think of doing that! Do you want yourself killed?!"

Asahi, still bruised beyond compare, dodged each of the hard and long swings the golem did, before finally approaching a safe-point, in which he could hear and see Toivo's presence as clear as day.

When he heard loud sounds of sparkles and rushing water in the distance, Asahi scratched his head and shouted back at the man.

"What?!"

Toivo sprinted down the mountain and with frustration, grabbed Asahi by the neck and tossed him into the dirt, shouting with sweat sliding down his face.

"You have no idea what you were getting yourself into. Do you know anything about what the gigantic golem is?"

"Hey!"

Just before Kendra's fists could even touch the golem, all the water she had gathered from her fading magic ability immediately collapsed into a storm of wet droplets, leaving her to fall flat onto the solid ground. Toivo hurriedly tilted up and saw the water rush down to him, pushing him and washing him away from the area.

Not only had Toivo been caught up by the storm of water, but Joshilyn, Canyon, Brunella, and the others were swept away into safety.

After taking a brutal hit from the golem, Asahi lifted himself up and rubbed his eyes. Immediately, he saw tiny pebbles among the dried brown earth rock back and forth, bouncing like balls. His throat tightened in panic. His eyes shuffled back and forth, trying to find where everyone went.

Then, from a distance, he heard voices scream out to him.

"Asahi, GET OUT OF THERE!"

"LOOK DOWN!"

"RUN!"

Terror thundered down to him as he noticed the ground beneath them splitting open. (Aaaaaah!)

With a loud crash, Asahi fell into the crack in the earth. The ground opened up like a giant crevasse with a river rushing through it. Then, screams that sound like it came from a girl resounded over the collapsing rock. It was an aqua-haired girl, screaming for her life. Kendra was right behind him.

"HELP!" She screamed.

Before her words reached his ears, Asahi and Kendra felt themselves being dragged into the strong current of the collapsing rock. As he kept sinking, the sounds of the collapsing river became louder, echoing across every wall underground.

Even as the sun's beams faded, rocks smashed into his face, and the cries of the people above him followed his descent; Asahi still maintained to keep himself alive.

Then, after he had watched the ground recede further and further away, a huge boulder crashed down and struck his face, knocking him out.

* * * * * * *

When Asahi woke up, it was dark, and the sound of flowing water echoed in his ears. He tried to stand up, but his limbs wouldn't respond. Everything felt like it was wrapped in thick layers of cloth.

"Where am I?" he thought to himself as the feeling of pain in his stomach and body crept back to him.

Suddenly a voice; a ceremonial-sounding voice, a creepy, and eerie voice shouted out to Asahi from the darkness.

"No. Could it be. That the God of Hope returned?"

Asahi turned his head towards the voice and saw a shadow of a man standing over him, wearing a brown robe, with a mask of a grotesque looking S mark inscribed on its wooden surface. He was wearing a black collar around his neck, and in his right hand he held a strange-looking long dagger.

"Yes." He screamed with exaggerated happiness. "The Adtraic. They returned! He fell from the heavens here to greet us all!"

"Huh?" Asahi replied with a raised eyebrow. "Are you referring to me?!"

"Why yes." The man shook his head, with his voice shaking. "It is prophesied by our lord Alaunus, that soon the original rulers of this world will return! This is the Adtraic Cult's wish!"

As the man stood there, staring and admiring Asahi, a flash of lightning lit up the dark room of rock, and when the light hit his eyes, he caught a glimpse of several others wearing almost the same outfit as the man, menacingly standing in front of ruined, stone ancient structures. This sight before him couldn't help him but make him gasp.

"Wait a minute." He mumbled as his head moved back and forth.

"T... These are edifices... from my old era. I... I could have sworn that all of these were destroyed."

As Asahi recalled the destruction of his world, a horizon filled with burning fire and collapsing earth, the man laughed.

"Ahaha! You must excuse me for laughing so loudly." The masked-individual said as the others bowed to Asahi. "We thought the sky had disappeared into complete darkness. That our world had been banished from the heavens, never to see light again. But then..."

He leaned over to Asahi with a strangulating and obsessive force and pressed his wooden mask against his skin, whispering with his croaky voice.

"You… YOU returned! You fell from the sky to greet us all! You allowed light to enter our world once more. Our lovely, lovely, Asahi. I knew it."

Confused and surprised at this discovery, Asahi stared at the masked man and noticed several markings written in ancient language inscribed on his mask.

[The Second Incarnation will live on!]

[We will no longer live in the shadows no longer!]

After he observed the markings, Asahi stepped back. If he were to make a single wrong move, any of these strange people would become hostile and suspicious.

But there was another thought that came into his mind as he stared into the seemingly endless sets of structures expanding deep in this colossal, open, underground expanse.

A thought so provoking he couldn't bear to ignore it any longer.

(Did the old world not get destroyed?)

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