A plan abruptly flashed through Emperor Katsuki’s mind. Instead of immediately disposing of the worm’s corpse, he could have it taken and tested. He looked back at the line of people, which was now huddled into a ball from fright. After a second or two of tense silence, he sighed and stepped forward.

  “Let us continue, next person, please step forward.”

  …

  “We can tell it’s old because of the style of candle wax.” The red-haired Pollinator gestured to a candle perched on the wall.

  The candle was dark in color, with small traces of red and blue within the wax. The candle's handle was made of bronze and iron, with small intricate details carved into its surface. He stepped forward, his gloved hands wrapping around the candle and removing it from its hollistor.

  Ayumi and the other Pollinators watched in curiosity as he turned back to face them. He raised the lantern he had in his other hand, showing the candle in full, vivid detail.

  “The red and blue you see here is Dragon Wax. Back in the earlier eras when dragons weren’t as rare, poachers would harvest the scales from slumbering dragons, and have them traded among the empires for a fortune. One of, if not the most profitable investors, were the Adligon Clans. They used the dragon scales in their armor, weapons, and even their lighting as you see here.”

  Ayumi visualized the following scenes. A group of poachers, clad in all-black attire to remain hidden amongst the crevices of a dark cave. They moved with spider-like precision, knowing exactly where to step and move to not disturb the slumbering dragon. The dragon was titan-like, covered entirely in shimmering azure and crimson scales.

  The poachers would slowly peel a bucketful of scales off of the dragon's body—the process similar to peeling off adhesive covering an object. When their metal buckets were filled to the brim with the shining scales, they’d slowly leave the cave and disappear across the rolling hills.

  “And the dragons didn’t wake up or anything?” Ayumi asked speculatively.

  The red-haired man shook his head. “Have you heard the Myth of Bardon?”

  “No, I haven’t. I still find myself unfamiliar with everything here.” Ayumi looked around the dimly lit space.

  “Bardon was a great and powerful dragon poacher—”

  Humphrey abruptly extended his hand, covering the other man's mouth. “Tyler, we’re down here for research purposes, not stories. If these ruins really pre-date two-thousand years, and it’s the source of Madame Fitzgerald's corruption, then perhaps we should get moving.”

  The dark-skinned man looked back to Ayumi. “We observed the bodies of the individuals being dragged underground. The bodies either disintegrated underground or they’re somewhere within the ruins.”

  “The bodies…” Ayumi thought back to Wilfred, her eyes stinging from the dust and grief.

  Captain Silas cleared his throat, a sound that echoed through the underground chambers. “We brought the Purifying Chamber in case anything goes awry. But we won’t need it unless a truly powerful existence is down here.”

  He turned to Ayumi, flexing a rare yet genuine smile. “Ayumi here is a Prism Warden, she naturally emanates an aura that deters evil.”

  “No wonder Madame Fitzgerald only showcased any abnormalities after Ayumi came into contact with her. Who knows how long or why she was under the influence of the corruption; she’s one of the most powerful figures in Seraphis Kingdom and we suspected nothing was wrong with her.” Humphrey reflected to himself as he started walking forward.

  “What about that incident a few weeks back at her house, or the Blood Moon?” Ayumi inquired.

  “The Blood Moon is… different. We don’t know why it happened, but after the quantity of maleficent entities diminished so suddenly, we’ve only found ourselves to be a little colder during the period, with no need to go out hunting. Though, the content of those criminals' wings is… fascinating.”

  “Don’t call him that.” Ayumi grumbled.

  “The criminal? Murderer of two men and almost an entire party? We’re lucky we shot him while he tried to escape. It’s not advised to defend such an individual unless you’re well aware of their true nature.”

  Ayumi fell silent, her boots sending reverberations across the mottled stone walls and pillars of the ruins. She parted her lips, drawing in a seep of cool air. “Can you keep a secret for me?”

  …

  Tyler and Captain Silas, alongside a few other Pollinators, continued their expedition through the underground chambers. Behind them, the sound of boots and talking had long dissipated, signaling to them that Ayumi and Humphrey were long away from them. Captain Silas extended his hand, making everyone else behind him freeze in their tracks.

  “While we wait for them to catch up, search a small section of the surrounding area. See what you find, any clues, murals, paintings, even ritualistic symbols can and will be clues.”

  The others obeyed, all dispersing across the darkness with lights in hand. Captain Silas clutched the Purifying Chamber tightly in his grip, his thoughts flashing back to Jasmine. When he had visited her following the incident a mere half-hour ago, the woman’s temperament hadn’t faced any changes—only slight annoyance and irritation with the cauterization of her wound.

  As these thoughts ran through his mind, he suddenly shivered violently. Captain Silas habitually snapped out, his guard raising like a pillar as he straightened his back. His grip on the box in his hands marginally tightened, bordering on a faint tremble.

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  “Are you all right, Captain?” One of the pollinators approached him with a concerned look.

  Captain Silas didn’t immediately respond. His face was pale and clammy, dripping with sweat and gathering a sheen on his cheeks. His dark-colored eyes darted around the space, breath catching in his chest.

  “Captain, what is it?” Their tone grew firmer, more insistent. They wanted to reach out for him, but the captain’s trembling body deterred any contact without risk of an outburst.

  At that moment, Captain Silas looked up. Before him, he saw a figure—a figure clad in armor. Long, blood-red hair cascaded from their head. Above the head of hair were two curled horns resembling that of a goat's. In the figure’s hand was a weapon, a spear twice their height, the pointed tip coated in fresh, dark-colored blood. Large, fleshy bat-like wings protruded from their back, spreading out.

  A pair of beaming crimson eyes emerged from the shrouded, featureless face, looking down at Captain Silas. The moment Captain Silas looked back at them, an inscrutable wave of fear coursed over him. He let out a deafening wail of pure anguish and fear, like a child who was afraid of the dark. His trembling hands reached for the lid of the box, opening it and allowing a beam of radiant light to shoot through.

  The beam of light hit the wall of the underground chamber, bouncing off and colliding with the floor. The towering, malevolent figure had vanished in an instant, alongside any traces of its existence. The other Polliantor cursed out loud, ready to scold the captain for his recklessness, while also exhibiting concern regarding his current condition.

  Captain Silas wasn’t an irrational person. What the hell could have caused that erratic, fearful outburst?

  “What is it?” They asked, their voice now laced with more worry than annoyance.

  The man with curly black hair shot up from his knees, taking a hold of the man across him. His face was feverishly pale, clammy, and cold.

  “We need to leave, now!”

  “Captain, you’re not acting alright.”

  They took a step back. “What’s wrong, what exactly did you see? What… made you use the box?”

  Captain Silas fell silent, eyes darting around. He drew in a deep breath, continuing to speak. “I saw God.”

  …

  After leaving Damien’s room once again, Olivia let out a low sigh. When she turned down the hallway, her body tensed the moment she caught sight of Aizawa in the hallway. The man's face was pale, and a sheen of sweat pierced his forehead.

  “What happened? Did you find him?” Olivia inquired.

  “I couldn’t find him anywhere. On the way back, I stopped by the cathedral for another search, hoping to find either Shinso or Ayumi, and I also ran into dead ends.”

  Olivia clenched her fists. “How do we know if they’re safe or not? You stated the rule about having someone accompany them when they left the apartment building! Why not enforce that strongly enough?”

  Aizawa felt his breath hitch in his chest. “I…”

  He didn’t know how to respond at first. His eyes drifted to the floor below. “This past week has been very, very difficult for us all. We don’t know if Isaac’s dead or not, Aaron’s in critical condition, and everything seems so much more complicated than I initially thought.”

  Aizawa strutted into Olivia’s apartment room, sitting on the bed as he slammed his foot into the base of the bed. “It’s been so, so long since we’ve been in our original world, and I have no idea where or what my students are doing! What if it’s been years, what if they’re all dead because I wasn’t there to lead them and help them?

  “They’re still my students! They can be a pain in the ass most of the time, but I still care about them!”

  Olivia slowly placed a hand on Aizawa’s shoulder, gently squeezing the fabric of his shirt. She continued her state of silence, not interrupting Aizawa.

  “I’m supposed to be logical, I’m supposed to be the one my students look to until they have their own pair of feet to stand on! How the hell am I supposed to fill that role if I can’t even watch three students who aren’t even in my class!”

  “It’s not your fault. Isaac’s current state, and wherever Shinso and Ayumi are… it’s beyond our current scope of control. But control isn’t something that can always be seized, but it’s something that we can try to control.”

  “I’d recommend listening to her, stop moping around.” An ethereal voice sounded in Aizawa’s mind.

  Aizawa’s gaze shot up, catching sight of his Spirit Body hovering above him, clad in a purple and black robe.

  “It’s you…” Aizawa muttered under his breath.

  “Who… are you talking to?” Olivia’s brows arched.

  Suddenly, the surrounding room darkened. As Aizawa’s mindscape gradually came into view, pillars and marble floor forming around the three of them in the void, Olivia gasped, clinging to Aizawa like a lifeline.

  “If… you’re here to give me a pep talk, I’d rather you didn’t.”

  The other Aizawa’s robe billowed from an unknown wind as he turned around, sighing. “I’m not here to tell you to get back on your feet. If you can’t find them, you aren’t deserving of your potion.”

  Aizawa suddenly felt his stomach bubble. “What the hell are you saying?”

  “The Pathway you’re inhibiting is based around memory and speech. Whatever you may speak will eventually come to pass. So, actually, in a way, I’d say this is a sort of pep talk.”

  The black-haired man rubbed his glabella, groaning. “That’s great and all, but I don’t remember who gave me my potion. What if it was an accident or some assasination attempt?”

  The other Aizawa laughed out loud, an illusory sphere of purple energy forming in his palm. “A voice is only spoken because of the memory within it. Within your speech, within the commands you utter, one can find the truth.”

  The sphere of light in the other Aizawa’s palm suddenly grew in size, expanding and turning geometric in shape. The light abruptly retracted, turning into a massive book almost the height of Aizawa.

  “The hell is this?”

  “Every word you’ve ever spoken. Good luck.”

  “Do you expect him to read all of that?” Olivia asked, still bewildered from the environmental changes.

  The other Aizawa clad in robes scoffed before smiling. “No, I don’t. Aizawa is smart, capable, yet he can be slightly emotional at times. But, with his powers of logic and speech, I trust fully that he’ll know where to look. And even if that book doesn’t give him the answers, he has friends and allies he can leverage—allies like you, Catherine, and Carter.”

  “Damn…” Aizawa marveled at the massive book before him, opening it to the last few pages with a herculean effort.

  “Why didn’t you show me this book sooner?” He grumbled, looking up at his floating counterpart.

  “I see what you cannot. Nothing truly exists outside the scope of my vision, and everything is done for a reason."

  “So you know exactly where Ayumi and Shinso are, and if Isaac’s alive?” Aizawa scoffed at the absurdity of it all. If his own mental projection knew knowledge regarding very relevant topics, wouldn't he subconsciously begin generating ideas adjacent with such knowledge?

  “All Spirit Bodies reside in the Ocean of Subconsciousness, and every spirit body contains an unlimited sea of knowledge and information. For example, I know when you die, when you’ll get married, etcetera. But for now, I want to see what you’re capable of.”

  “You should already know, shouldn't you? If you can see all, why not tell me if this goes awry.”

  “Because that's the agency being ripped apart.” At that moment, the other Aizawa created a sphere of energy, crushing it between his fingers.

  “Don’t pry where you shouldn’t, Aizawa. I may be your perfect self, but being perfect isn’t all it seems to be…”

  The floating figure gradually diffused into the air of the mindscape, the entire scene falling silent aside from Aizawa and Olivia’s shaky breathing.