Chapter 58: The Lord of…

“What? Was that all?” Ishiki asked frowning.

The young girl nodded.

’Gods? Corrupted? what does that mean?’

Ishiki was out of context here. Just the two words can mean a lot of things actually. Some meanings were disturbing and some… might be good if he wanted to stay optimistic.

But, what kind of fool would want to think of a optimistic meaning here? Sure things would be different if they were not in middle of an all devouring forest.

or wait… wasn’t something optimistic in place all this time?

’One meaning I can infer is that the gods are fighting the Corruption. The forest being the Corruption, and the god would be… well, the deity of this temple.’

He shrugged, mentally.

That… made a lot of sense, didn’t it?

’Hmm… Screw that.’

Ishiki was too much paranoid to accept that simple meaning from that cryptic text. Sure that would explain most of it, but what about the people who lived here? What happened to them?

If the god was actively fighting and keeping Corruption away, why did the villagers leave? Why flee protection? And why go so far as to destroy the idols of their supposed divine protector?

On that note, even the assumption that they destroyed the idols was not confirmed yet. Maybe, something else did?

The other message that could be deduced from the scribblings would be much more dangerous and… ominous.

Ishiki’s jaw clenched and a dark expression found its way to his face. ’The Gods are Corrupted…’

That was what Ishiki came up with. Maybe this was the message that the unknown writer wanted to tell the people.

This meaning could be taken as a warning. And to say that the God was corrupted that’s why the people left this place and even destroyed the idols.

It was better to abandon divine protection than trust entity that had been perverted into mockery of what it once was.

And the trees stayed away from the clearing because, after all they would not be able to fight a god.

Thing’s made a lot more sense if seen from this perspective.

’But… there is no proof to either.’

Ishiki gritted his teeth in frustration. There was a barrage of questions and he was frustrated because he was standing at the very place where he should find the proof.

The Temple.

The four of them carefully walked a little deeper into the darkness, the flames created dancing shadows that made walls seem to writhe with life they didn’t possess.

The floor creaked and more dust flew up with each step. At first there was nothing but darkness, then the princess abruptly halted and raised the torch.

As the flames went higher up, its light illuminated and chased away the darkness in a large circle. Bringing into view the astonishing and terrible beauty of the temple’s interior.

“There are Sconces on the walls all around.” The guy names Swirk spoke with a pinch of relief in his voice.

The Princess approached the wall-mounted torches and lit them methodically with her flame. One by one, ancient sconces accepted fire they hadn’t held in centuries and the hall of lit up by dancing light.

And what they saw beyond the darkness could only be described as marvelous and baleful.

Illuminated by the luminance of the dancing flames, the darkness revealed a statue painted with shadows.

Almost three meter tall Idol of a human figure with graceful hair, that fell to his waist, a clam and composed expression adorned his face. His eyes were sharp and felt as if they were piercing straight through the hearts of one witnessing it.

The statue had a nimbus carved from stone behind its head, but unlike the rest of the statue which was preserved by unknown means, the halo seemed to be crumbling and was already half gone.

The figure had a calm smile plastered over it’s face, the expression suggested benevolence or perhaps cruel amusement.

Its hands rested in front of chest, posed as if holding something precious.

But the hands were empty.

Whatever they had once cradled was gone—stolen or was never there to begin with.

The statue stood atop an obsidian platform that seemed to drink the light and never reflecting it back.

Ishiki’s attention stopped specifically at the platform, because the [Black Tether] had been made up of the same material, but it broke somehow.

Apart from that, the area surrounding the platform was littered with several skulls and some skeletons, which were so thoroughly covered in dust that it was hard to say they had ever been white.

’Huh? Skeletons? What are skeletons doing in a temple?’ Ishiki frowned, but then nodded.

That had nothing to do with what they were here for. Wait… what were they here for exactly?

’Something like… finding woods to burn, yeah.’

Throwing the trivial matters aside, Ishiki walked towards the stone slate positioned near the statue—its surface was covered with inscriptions in same language as door markings.

The princess was looking at the very peculiar objects that were perhaps used to prey here. Ishiki called Nina over to make her have a look at the writing.

She gave him an annoyed look and focused on the slate for a while and then spoke. “Here… rests… the… lord of…”

she stopped and narrowed her eyes.

“The last word is a bit difficult. It has two meaning for some reason.”

Ishiki looked at her and let out a sigh. “Tell me both.”

She frowned and then again focused on the text and whispered. “Illusion… or Deceit.” Then she looked at him and winced.

Standing up straight she looks straight at Ishiki who was lost in his own thoughts. “Hey, big brother?”

Ishiki flinched and looked at her.

Nina let out a heavy sigh, displacing a bit of dust from her surroundings. “So, it says ’Here rests the lord of Illusion.’ that’s what i could read.”

“Nina, come here.” The another guy— Swirk called her over.

She turned and left without waiting for thanks Ishiki had been about to offer.

’How rude.’

He stood alone before the inscription, staring at words he couldn’t read but whose meaning echoed in his mind:

“The Lord of Illusion or Deceit?”

He Whispered to himself, testing how the title felt on his tongue. Then rubbed his head in frustration and shrugged.

’Huh? What am I even thinking, damn it.’

’I need to go find wood.’

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