NOVEL NEXT Arc III Chapter 9
III
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Arc III Chapter 9
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27th Anima Lunar VIII AAC 753
Aurora and her doll continued plundering the battlefield, stepping over the remains of the fallen. She mostly appropriated souvenirs that were easy to transport and carry in nature, yet her inventory was already bulging with loot. At this rate, she was running the risk of ending up overloaded. A realistic scenario considering her avaricious tendencies.
In the meantime, she came to notice the concentric nature of the battlefield. The corpses were all facing in the same direction. Her mind connected the dots, and the lines pointed towards the gate. Whoever or whatever they were fighting, the enemy was coming from the front, through the gate.
There, a proud silver longsword greeted her. The sword was stuck in the ground, buried deep in the stone floor. Six swords surrounded the longsword. The surrounding blades formed a geometrical formation, a hexagon, with the longsword in the middle. This was certainly no coincidence. The weapons were arranged deliberately, albeit their real purpose remained unknown.
"..." Aurora approached the formation. The surrounding aether shifted ever so slightly. Her senses identified an unknown presence, an intangible force. The peculiar aura originated from the swords.
The unknown presence distorted the natural flow of aether, yet Aurora abandoned any pretence of due caution. She could not care less about ancient machinations and secrets. What she knew was that she was interested in the longsword, a fine specimen of its noble kind, made of mythril of the highest quality. The blade was quite the profitable find, for sure. Certainly worth a little fortune. The only problem was how to transport it. She could not do it on her own. She would need help.
The obvious solution were Lambert and his party. She might even share her profits with them, compensating them for their troubles, transportation fees included. Something like 95% for her. 5% for them. Overall, that sounded like a fair deal.
Thus, Aurora commenced her retrieval operation, mobilising all the force which her muscles were able to muster. She kept pushing, and pushing, and pushing, but the rapier would not budge. The stupid longsword defied her will and her meagre muscular strength. The longsword remained stuck in the ground for good, forever sealed in the stone floor.
Circumstanced forced her to resort to more brutish methods. Aurora resorted to a nearby rock, using it as an improvised hammer. She struck the blade with full force. "Ting." Hit. "Ting." Hit. "Ting!" Hit. "Ting!!!"
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No results whatsoever. The longsword proved a troublesome opponent, but the blade was underestimating her stubbornness by a long shot. This was the moment when an immovable object met unstoppable force.
Aurora gritted her teeth, mustering her last remaining strength for one final push. For glory and for riches! Aurora pushed. "Aaarrrrrghhhhhhhh. Move, you stupid sword!!!"
And move it did. Her knuckles turned white, but the longsword finally budged. Not however the way she had hoped for. The blade snapped in half, and Aurora was rewarded with a painful rendezvous. The sword made her land on the hard ground with one of the blade's broken halves still in her hands.
"... ... ... Ouch." Aurora grumbled in malcontent. Stupid ancient sword ... Useless piece of scrap metal ... Worthless piece of junk ...
Yet unbeknownst to her, her thoughtless actions had set in motion events unplanned. The longsword rapier was far less innocuous than its appearance might have suggested. Unbeknownst to her, the sword had been part of a seal, serving as the seal's anchor to the physical realm. At least, until a certain girl and her doll had broken it. Unbeknownst to her, dark vibrant mana trickled from the broken blade, cursed essence of the past, finally set free from the shackles of the ancient magic binding it. Now that the seal had been broken, a demon of old plotted his return to the world of the living, a terrible demon driven by crazed bloodlust and thirsting laughter. His time had finally come.
For the time being, however, peace persisted, and little Aurora was more concerned about finding her way home after vacating her post without permission. Lambert was probably already fuming.
Her choice fell on the gate. Her hands knocked at the gargantuan monstrosity. A dull sound responded. It was the dull sound of metal. "Dung ... Dung ... Dung ..." The thing was ..., unsurprisingly, quite sturdy. No apparent weakness could be identified. Hardened, tempered steel blocked her way. No rust or patina. Time treated the gate kindly.
As a consequence, the gate had no intention of granting her passage. No wonder that no adventurer ever made it past the gate throughout the centuries. Thick, heavy, stubborn, the gate was built to last for an eternity and beyond, sturdy enough to even survive the apocalypse. It was impossible to dislodge without adequate firepower, or some specialists at your disposal. The usual motley crew of adventurers and looters possessed neither, easily dissuading them and other undesired visitors from ever trying their luck.
"..." Aurora lifted her head, inspecting her enemy thoroughly. The gate stood tall, massive in size and height. No doubt, she possessed the necessary strength to force it open by more conventional means if necessary ... The only problem was that the force required would inevitably attract a considerable amount of unwanted attention ...
"..." Aurora studied the gate further. Elaborate patterns of gold and silver and an arrangement of what appeared to be crests and emblems decorated the gate. No efforts were spared in their creation. The constructors displayed an eye for beauty despite their heavy emphasis on steel.
Aurora summoned her loyal fire. A purple flame sprang forth from her palm, answering her call. Her enemy forced her to deploy less sophisticated methods, albeit her attempt at cutting through met with modest success. The gate proved a worthy opponent. The ancient Valentian engineers were certainly masters of their craft and highly proficient in annoying a little girl a millennium later. Her flame barely scratched the gate's outermost layer. Cutting through was thus not an option. Not only was the alloy used for construction heat resistant, but also magic resistant. The gate counteracted her spell. A thin layer of aether lingered across the surface, attacking her flame. As it turned out, the gate was enchanted, heavily enchanted in fact. A vast array of protective spells and barriers shielded it.
"..." Aurora inspected the engraved patterns once again. The numerous gold and silver inlays suddenly made sense. They were not only decorative, but they also had a practical purpose. They were glyphs. The inlays served as conductors, as circuits, allowing the aether to circulate freely, stabilising the enchantments. The fact that the enchantments held strong even to this day spoke for the skill of their creators.
Her hand touched the lines to sense the aether. "A conductive enchantment ... Impressive." Their spells exhibited no signs of aetherial degradation despite centuries having passed.
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