What the hell? My jaw drops at the magnificence.
Yes, it is a temple. A mysterious place that must have existed in ancient times and has never been seen by anyone until now.
As expected of a temple in such a secret location, all the ruins have been preserved intact. The shape of the roof and the huge pillars that look like they were carved out of a cave, the altar, and the stairs that are made of pitch black stone.
However, the last thing that happened here was a gruesome slaughter, and it was a mess. Gold-gilded altars lie strewn about, candlesticks shattered. White skeletons were strewn about, and there were many small bones on the altar.
I spotted a strange-looking statue and leaned down.
“A demon?”
“It’s a gargoyle*. It’s a type of monster that is said to have existed in ancient times.”
*(See picture below for reference.)
“Aha… ….”
It looks grotesque. It is a wild boar with protruding teeth, but its tail is like that of a snake. The wings were like bats. I shook my head and straightened my back.
“Giogio, Lashin. Find out where the exit is—-”
It was then.
Slash. A sharp pain arose, along with a horrifying sound.
It hurt—no. It does not?
My reflexive thought was that it was painful as I looked at the blood spattered across my white clothes. But then I realized: This is not my blood.
And this time, my heart sank.
“Shay, where are you hurt?
”
“No, uh… but you…”
“Thank God.”
“No, that’s not it. Now you, this, all of this—don’t tell me….”
My lips are trembling. I couldn’t finish my sentence.
Hot blood soaks my side. But it wasn’t my blood. It was flowing from Lacius’s shoulder. Yet his face remained perfectly calm, as if there was no problem since he had successfully protected me.
“Aww, that’s such a nice expression; I almost want to paint it and keep a copy for myself.”
A voice came from behind Lacius. Giogio, holding a pitch-black spear in his hand, was chuckling. The tip of the spear is still lodged in Lacius’ shoulder.
“What have you done……?”
Giogio shrugged his shoulders in response to my angry question.
“Well, I’m not really sure. I think I just stabbed the unsightly Sun God’s descendant.”
“… …!”
“To be honest, I should’ve just severed all his muscles. That would’ve been a lot more fun.”
The way he clicks his tongue in rueful amusement reminds me of someone. This feeling of déjà vu. That flirtatious tone and that sly smile. I was sure.
“You’re Aragon, aren’t you?”
“Hmm, who knows?”
“Why did you do this?”
“Balance, of course. Without a handicap like this, my new friends would be at a disadvantage. Like it or not, the Sun God’s descendants are indeed strong.”
As soon as those words were finished, Lacius grabbed the spear with his bare hand and pulled it out in one swift motion.
Immediately, a cracking sound came from where he gripped the spear, and it began to splinter.
Soon the spear shattered with a loud bang, sending fragments flying towards Giogio.
“Oh dear, don’t get mad. You’re the one I was aiming for anyway.”
“Such a long tongue*.”
*(Very talkative)
“I’m serious. I knew that by attacking her, I could then get to you.”
Giogio chuckled as he quickly stepped back. Lacius summoned Apollonius with his left hand and swung at him so fast that he was not able to avoid it. Giogio’s body was split in half faster than the blink of an eye.
“Oh my.”
A fountain of blood gushed out. The smell of blood made my head hurt, and though the wound was serious enough to kill him instantly, Giogio smirked at us as he fell to the ground. The grotesqueness of it made my forearms prickle.
“Ah, it hurts. You’re so mean.”
He was clearly human, bleeding red blood, but what should we call that thing that doesn’t look like a human at all? A zombie? Or Jiangshi*? No, it felt like he was possessed by a demon.
*(A jiangshi is a Chinese vampire and zombie that is revived by some force and steals the victim’s energy or bites the victim and turns it into a similar jiangshi.)
“Try to survive as best you can. I’ll look for you when you’re on the verge of death.”
Laugh.
With cloudy eyes and a stiff body, he already seemed dead. Yet his mouth moved, making the scene even more eerie. Lacius looked down at Giogio, who had finally stopped speaking, and slowly opened his mouth.
“You control the bodies of others, wield them as you wish, and then disappear when you are at a disadvantage. It’s a pretty convenient ability.”
He didn’t really answer the question of whether he was Aragorn, but that’s what my gut says. Suppressing a sense of foreboding, I held on to Lacius.
“Lashin, let’s treat your shoulder first.”
Among my talismans were paintings of first aid kits depicting bandages, gauze, hemostatic agents, thread, and scissors. I hadn’t drawn any medicine because I wasn’t sure if imagining an “ointment effective for wounds” would really work.
“I don’t have the power to heal like Daphne, but I can at least stop the bleeding.”
Someone had “kindly” warned us that more enemies were coming, so we had to move quickly. I pulled out the drawing and summoned the supplies, starting with the hemostatic agent. But my hands keep trembling.
If I were the one injured, I could have stayed calm. However, someone who was very dear to me was stabbed in the right shoulder, which is the most important thing for a knight. Lacius had taken the hit to protect me.
“Shay, let me do it.”
“No! You can’t even see your wound properly.”
Giogio, or Aragorn, had stabbed Lacius in the back of his shoulder, making it impossible for him to assess the injury. It all looked severe to me, and I wished Lacius could judge the extent of the damage, but he couldn’t. It felt suffocating.
I forced myself to calm down with deep breaths and sprayed the hemostatic agent. Even now, the red blood gushing out and its fishy smell feel like they are constricting my throat. I was supposed to put gauze on it, but my hands kept shaking, so I slapped myself on the cheek.
“Shay!”
Then Lacius opened his eyes wide and raised his voice.
“Ha, no. I’ve come to my senses now. I’m fine.”
“Why do you do this to yourself? There’s no reason to hit yourself.”
“I’m acting foolish when you’re not even dead.”
He’s not dead, and he’s not going to die.
While repeating that, I put gauze over the hemostatic agent and carefully bandaged it. Lacius watched with a pained expression, but I avoided meeting his eyes.
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