Re: Timeless Apocalypse-Chapter 185: Golden Gate: Shedding Future
"You really need to learn to hold back."
Uriel sat in a large wooden tub, enough to fit dozens of people, the inside filled with steaming emerald water infused with aether, able to soothe pain and relax the body.
He bathed in it, rubbing the multiple bruises lining his body with a frown of annoyance.
Not far away, the soaked Emrys lay, relaxed and utterly unbothered, having come around to truly enjoy the wonders of baths.
The little fox didn’t even register Uriel’s words.
’Idiot.’
Uriel shook his head and slicked his hair back. He took a deep breath in, then exhaled. A smile crept up his face.
They’d been training for a week already. And the fruits of their hard work had paid off, to say the least.
’Once I buy all the guides, our growth should be even more exaggerated. I can’t wait.’
He released a groan of satisfaction. Then he stood up.
"Alright, bud bud. It’s time to go."
Uriel jumped out of the tub, his warm feet touching the cold steel floors. He winced, but rapidly adapted. He snapped his fingers, and his body dried.
Still, a towel appeared, wrapping around his waist as if guided by a spectral force—his Simple Domain.
Uriel turned back to Emrys. "Hey, I said let’s go."
"We need to pack."
The pup didn’t listen.
Uriel ignored him. He moved, beginning to store away all the items he’d used to set their small camp, mostly things he’d gotten from his abode mark.
Originally, he hadn’t wanted to use them in the Spiral House, but seeing how magnificent the hall was, he didn’t mind. Either way, it’d only be temporary.
The wooden tub was one such item.
SPLASH!
Uriel stored the tub away, leaving Emrys’ warm and soaked body to drop onto the freezing ground. The pup yelped, then roared out, his voice shaking the hall.
He glared at Uriel.
"What? I told you we needed to go."
...
After an hour spent packing up and cleaning, the hall was now empty, and the duo stood facing the looming gate of gold.
"Emrys."
Uriel wore his usual scholar’s tunic, white and pristine, but he’d donned the garb over it, the dark robe overlapping with the fabric of the tunic to form beautiful, undulating waves of black and white.
With his hair styled and presence looming, he looked quite dashing.
Nothing like the corpse he’d once resembled.
"Kih?"
Emrys had shrunk down, but not back to his tiny base form. He stood at a meter and a half tall, and two and a half long, his tails fluffy and undulating, reflecting his excitement.
His bestial eyes of gold sparkled with anticipation.
"You think one of our ancestors is here?" Uriel said as he pointed to the gate—more specifically, its etched depictions.
Depictions of an ancient war between man and beast.
"Maybe both?"
Emrys did what Uriel assumed to be a shrug.
"Of course, you don’t care." Uriel chuckled.
It was time to go.
But before that, he had one more thing to do.
[You have achieved a Great Deed!]
[Trigger Moon Formation?]
[YES/NO]
He clicked on yes.
WHOOOSH!
Uriel felt his mind shake. Deep within him, he sensed what he could only call his soul stir.
He suddenly gained sight of a small, trembling spark of gold and white, tinged by hues of crimson. The small flickering flame was impossibly beautiful. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞
He blinked, and over the flame, a sphere appeared, looming—the sphere was of silver-grey hues, emitting bright ivory light and consumed by a deep silver flame.
The moon shrank, then dove into the depths of Uriel’s soul.
SHAH!
His vision snapped back to his body, and he immediately felt his mind open up to the universe in ways hard to describe, his will blooming like a radiant star and his spirit invigorated to no end.
He felt freer.
’I feel...’ he looked at his palms. ’...fantastic.’
His body had suddenly been shrouded by a silver flame, radiant like the moon that now rested deep in his soul. The flames shrank, then receded back into his body.
[Nothing Moon of Steel has successfully formed!]
[1/10]
Uriel took a breath.
"Let’s go."
He stepped forward, then extended a palm to the gate, finally touching its golden surface. His fingers traced the intricate details of the etchings carved into the material.
For a moment, nothing happened. But then, the gate shook, and a link formed between it and Uriel.
[Spiral Candidate detected!]
[Spiral Path of Origin has been unveiled!]
[Open Spiral Lock to proceed.]
Seeing the row of notifications, he nodded.
’As expected.’
His rose-ivory eyes sparkled, then peered into the runic fabric of the gate, and he was suddenly met with a stretching void lit by silver runes, each more complex than the last.
’How interesting.’
The lock in front of him was strange.
It was strange because it was entirely made of what he’d begun to call ’Will’ runes—the expressions of a person’s intent made law, made true.
What this meant was that, to open the lock, he had to...
’...shatter their wills?’
His gaze narrowed. ’I have to accept it.’
’I have to burden myself with this Will.’
The lock wasn’t the same as the one he’d solved upstairs. If he brute-forced it, he was almost sure that the gate would collapse.
And beyond that, he doubted he’d be able to shatter the will that made the lock. In part because it was beyond his scope, but mainly because it wasn’t just a single will.
’There are millions of wills here, meshed to form this ridiculous lock.’ He paused. ’What the hell are they hiding behind that gate?’
"Grah!" Emrys impatiently growled.
Uriel threw him a glance. "Yeah, yeah, I’m getting to it."
’Fine.’
Sensing his acceptance, the fabric of runes—the fabric of wills—shook. The gate trembled, and the hall trembled.
The crimson light drowning the hall deepened, and it suddenly felt like a thousand shadows loomed over Uriel, each holding a presence deeper than he could fathom.
The runic fabric rippled and—
"Come here!" He rapidly grabbed Emrys, keeping his hand on the gate. "Brace up!"
—they vanished.
[End of Vol. 2 Part One: Shedding Future]
