Return of the Fallen Volume 12 Chapter 31
(Kazuki, take the invitation and go inside.)
Arc’s sudden suggestion was odd. Arc knew the time crunch they were currently under yet it wanted Kazuki to spend more time here. Kazuki though knew Arc was not one to waste time. If it was saying this, then there must have been a reason for it.
Kazuki trusted Arc and so with a smile he accepted the invite.
“If you’re inviting me in, I see no reason to refuse.”
Lana’s eyes lit up.
“Really Mister Brous you’ll stay!?”
Kazuki pat her head.
“Not for too long so don’t get excited. Just for a bit ok.”
Lana nodded before pulling on Kazuki’s hand and leading him inside.
Her father Verian and her mother Selda and Lana’s uncle Mashu all gave shared a knowing look before they too followed along. Walking in the castle, through the many long wide open halls, Kazuki passed many people. They were maids and other servants and to his surprise, just like in the city, these people all gave Kazuki an odd feeling. Their smiles were fake and hid something deep down.
To check their souls when he was a guest would be considered vile so he kept his thoughts to himself. Still, the more he thought about it the odder it all appeared. It was as if there was a veil over the entire city. When Kazuki checked earlier, out of the billions of souls he sensed only a few seemed to react normally.
Kazuki was wondering why Arc still had not absorbed the energy from Sofie’s medallion but soon some dots connected. Lana led Kazuki to a large tea room where Verian, Selda, and Mashu followed. Along with them were a few guards.
Verian gave them a look.
“You all may take your leave. Borus is our guest.”
The guards stared at Verian for a moment before one answered.
“Don’t you think it would be best if we stayed? After all, this man is suspicious.”
Kazuki couldn’t help but raise a brow.
(Is this the way a servant talks to their master?)
To his surprise, Verian went along with it.
“Hmm, I suppose your right but still, there’s no need for so many guards. After all, me and my brother, along with my wife are all Gods, we can deal with trouble should trouble arise, so most of you can leave.”
The guard glanced at Kazuki before bowing slightly. After that, the guard snapped his fingers and everyone left except two guards who stood side by side one another. It was weird though. These two guards did not stand by the door fully but instead almost in front of it, as if they were blocking it so no one could escape.
Kazuki was unafraid. He felt he could escape even if these Gods blocked him but he noticed that these guards were barely paying any attention to him. Not only that, Lana’s mother Selda had a wary look on her face. She couldn’t help but flash a side eye every now and then at the guards. Varian also noticed this and took her hand before leading her to a luxurious couch.
Lana showed off the new gift she had received from Kazuki as no one was speaking for some reason. A moment later a maid came in and a small cart of food floated behind her. The food floated onto tiny serving plates with floral patterns. The woman stared at both Kazuki and the toy horse Lana played with the whole time while wearing a fake smile.
“Please enjoy!”
With those two words, she left and never looked back. Sitting in this silence was awkward.
(Arc why did you have me accept their invite? What is it you sensed.)
(Brat, there is someone watching you, no not just you but everyone in this city. I couldn’t sense it clearly earlier because it seems this begins attention was greatly divided but ever since we entered this place, this being has concentrated much of its focus on you and the people in this room. Whoever or whatever it is is quite powerful and they do not like you.)
Kazuki was surprised. He thought after fusing with a piece of Artifact, his senses had been improved to the point of matching Arcs but it seems he was still a ways off. Arc was clearly sensing something Kazuki could not and that was worrying.
(This stranger doesn’t like me, but why I don’t even know them, and yet they are paying me this much attention.)
(Kazuki, there is something off in this city, you’ve felt that at least. I believe the cause is this hidden figure. They are unaware of us Artifacts for now but just in case we should be careful and not talk too much. The reason I asked you to go inside is that whatever this thing is that’s watching you, it looks like Lana’s family is aware of it as well. If I try and absorb the Origin energy from the medallion and this hidden thing attacks, it could be disastrous for us. Whatever it is it has its talons dug deep into this city. For a city with millions of Gods to be under the same influence and it looking at you with an unwanted gaze that you cannot sense…Let’s just say the danger is real. If I were to attempt to absorb the medallions energy and it takes notice of me, we could have a situation where we are going against a city full of Gods.)
Kazuki felt his soul shake for a split second. To escape a few Gods here or there he knew he could do it with his Gauntlet Artifact but against thousands or millions. If they start launching wild attacks left and right, Kazuki could not guarantee a safe retreat or a retreat at all.
He suddenly realized that this entire city was one big cage and he had walked right into it like a fool.
(Arc, what can be done? You have more information on this observer than I. Surely you have an idea?)
(Brat, unfortunately without Origin energy my senses are just barely up to snuff to stay under this thins radar. The information I have, you already know everything I do now. I can only suggest staying as mysterious as possible. This thing may be powerful but the fact that it has allowed an outsider like you inside means there are still gaps it cannot cover. If that’s the case it most likely does not wish to deal with the unexpected.)
(That makes sense. If it’s observing my every move and has yet to attack, it means it doesn’t quite know what it is dealing with just yet and doesn’t wish to take the risk of confronting me if I really could pose a problem or am a threat. So then why is Lana’s family seemingly unaffected?)
(That is the question now isn’t it? Appear mysterious and unafraid. Either try and find a way to escape this city or find out how they are not bound to whatever this thing is and use that to escape instead. Either way, escaping is your number one priority.)
Kazuki glanced over at the toy he had given Lana and now realized why the maid had kept looking at it.
(If this thing can move a city of Gods with whatever power it has, then manipulating the maid earlier would be no problem. It must have used her to get a closer look at both me and the toy I gifted Lana. Can it not figure out this toy or is it trying to guess my identity through it? That may be difficult. The toy is an original and I inscribed the ancient language more like code in a computer instead of just relaying basic inscriptions. If it is unaware of binary then it would be extremely difficult to figure the toy out.)
In his eyes the toy he made was simple but to others, it was a wonder of complication. He had created it based on Golems he had made with Danny and those were based on the foundation of blueprints of Golems he had received from Glacious. Add to that he had used magic in a fundamentally different way than others. The small toy horse had many functions and could be used as a toy or it could do trillions of other things. Kazuki used magic in a way similar to programming. In this way, he built in the many functions it was now capable of. The more Lana played with it, the more these functions would come to light.
For someone or something who knew nothing about Earth, the inscriptions in the toy would just seem bizarre and appear like a completely different language.
(The horse would not be impossible for a God to figure out but it would take a bit of time. The maid only got a glance at it. Interesting.)
Kazuki waved a hand and sent out some chaotic energy. He changed some things around within the tiny horse toy and rearranged billions of inscriptions and added far far more. In this way, he made the inscriptions needlessly more complicated and added a special lock to it all. Now if one wanted to figure out these inscriptions one would first need an expert understanding of the countless energies within Chaotic energy. This was a knowledge that as far as Kazuki knew, only a handful understood. Those that knew, all just so happen to be the Artifacts that were right there with him.
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