The interior was as magnificent as the exterior.
The walls, benches, paintings and the central statue were all a little too well maintained. There was nothing to suggest that this was the site of one of the greatest massacres of all time.
No corpses to speak of. The church was empty and the four statues were arranged in the same way as in Orio.
Even so, Nathanaël's comment was still quite significant.
"They're slightly different. Their eyes are no longer gouged out and they look at the man in the center with grandeur. It's as if he's made a success of his descent."
Indeed, all the statues seemed to be singing the praises of the man in the central statue. In fact, they all had their hands raised, palms facing forward, and their expressions were genuine.
But something was bothering Marc.
"Where is she?"
In the only preserved churches they had been able to see, there was always a statue of the Lady of the Castle. The same one Marc had seen when he got lost in the other world. Yet her presence was missing from this place, despite how well preserved it was.
But the Emperor didn't seem worried about her disappearance.
"I know what you mean, but let's move on first."
Elie didn't much appreciate Marc worrying about another woman. Even if she was a statue.
As they continued their brief tour of the church,they walked towards the central statue again.
This time, it was right in the middle of the church and was positioned so that all the pews were facing it. The man seemed even more powerful than in Orio. He remained impassive, however, and still had the same look in his eyes.
The black stone had fewer cracks, and more details of the man's outfit were visible.
"It's a good thing his plans went awry. What would we have done with a guy like that on earth? What was his purpose?"
The statue looked at Marc as if it were alive. As if it simply didn't want to answer him.
"Let's move on."
So they continued their tour.
The church in Zvenne was by far the best of them all. The sheer originality of its circular design alone was proof that something different had been intended there.
The portraits had shown some wear and tear, but less so than those in Orio. Zordic was always depicted alone, with several different profiles, and no one else accompanied him in the images. There were more stained-glass windows, and even more statuettes, along with hundreds of unused ashtrays and candles. Even the birches on the walls were arranged in such a way as to represent the face of a being from the other world.
This created an even more oppressive and grotesque scene.
But they soon finished their search without finding any new clues, because aside from the fact that it was well-preserved, there was no text, no inscription, and no potentially useful object that could help them understand what had happened.
So they found themselves back at the front door. Everyone stopped and looked at the Emperor, who checked his watch and then turned to face them with a somber expression.
"Well. We've been all around the room, but there's one thing you've missed again. Look up."
They all looked up at the ceiling and then...
they saw them.
Hidden in the darkness, it wasn't possible for a normal human to see the horror that lay there...
Marc opened his eyes wide, Elie wanted to vomit, Exorian looked away, Jin could hardly breathe, Nathanaël began to cry in horror....
And the Emperor's words sent an even greater chill down their spines.
"It was probably necessary for that guy's descent."
In the middle of the ceiling were hundreds...
no....
thousands of hanging corpses that seemed to magically pile up.
Marc couldn't believe his eyes.
"How is that possible?"
And the Emperor had seen something else...
"No matter how many times I've seen it, I'll never get used to it.
Take a good look at all these people. Their corpses are still intact. There's aura holding it all together. But, Marc, you wanted to know where she was. Look closely."
Marc made the effort to look up.
Under the pressure, his heart was racing.
He could hardly breathe and his vision became blurred.
But the Emperor insisted.
"Look closely, Marc."
He raised his head to observe the corpses and discovered to his horror that a statue was holding all the ropes of the hanged men.
And it was her.
It was the lady.
"Ahh...."
Marc fell over in shock.
The lady was holding all the strings of the hanged men and at the same time...and she had swords planted in every direction in her body.
"I guess you weren't expecting that. You seemed to appreciate her."
His breathing quickened again. When he saw that the statue had a black tear running down her cheek, his heart nearly gave out.
This impassive-looking lady, with her cold, slightly hateful gaze, was weeping with the strings of the thousands of corpses she herself held.
Marc fainted in shock.
The aura in the room had just intensified abruptly. No one could withstand the pressure any longer. The group collapsed under its force. But only Exorian and his Emperor remained standing there, as if nothing had happened.
"It happened to me too. You'll wake up in a few minutes. I assume you've figured out where the blood came from in Orio."
He sat down in a chair with Exorian at his side.
"Everything all right, Exorian?"
"I'm still having a bit of trouble. But I won't leave you alone in that place anymore."
"You may sit down."
"Thank you, Majesty."
The Emperor looked intently at the statue. His emerald eyes met its black ones.
"What did you want with our beloved world, motherf.cker?"
Receiving no reply, he continued to observe the statue.
However, he was surprised to find that Marc had already risen to his feet.
"Well, well. You're mentally strong."
But Marc wasn't listening.
He moved forward, clenching his mouth and fists so tightly that he began to bleed. With his hand over his heart, he struggled towards the statue. His blood trickled to the ground and evaporated under the pressure emitted by his aura.
"Marc, where are you..."
The Emperor did not, however, stop him from advancing towards the statue. Exorian was shocked by the lack of respect he showed towards him.
"You insolent fool. You're going to..."
"ZODRIC!!"
Marc was so angry that he tore at his vocal cords to shout at the statue.
"WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER ?! WHAT DID YOU DO ?! ANSWER !!"
Elie opened her eyes.
She saw Marc shouting at the statue with all his might.
She envied the one he was waxing for. Then she looked at the statue.
It gaze had gone to Marc.
It had moved.
"Marc. No..."
Under the effect of the aura, she fainted again.
The Emperor looked at the desperate boy who had lost his mind.
"Marc, what are you th..."
But the aura emitted by the statue increased violently. It swept across the room so strongly that all the windows shattered and the door opened wide. The benches were thrown back and the statues began to tremble.
Marc, however, stood proudly in front of this one. Yet the last time he'd faced an opponent with such a terrifying aura was the time he'd confronted Goagi.
Then the statue began to move its lips and speak, its gaze fixed on Marc.
"You. Who are you really?"
The statue looked at Marc, then slowly began to move.
The Emperor and Exorian couldn't believe it.
Marc stared at the statue with all the rage in the world; he wasn't even aware of what was happening around him or the transformations his body was undergoing as his aura raged. For in the midst of his crisis, his eyes turned a blood-red so intense that they began to glow inside the church.
But the statue didn't seem impressed.
"You're him, aren't you? Or are you someone else?"
It rose from its pedestal. From its height, it stared at the group as if they were mere ants.
"I'm going to find out soon anyway."
Before they could see anything, a powerful blow was thrown towards the ground. Marc and the Emperor barely had time to dodge.
"Exorian ! Take the kids and get out of here !"
"Yes, Majesty !"
Exorian rushed to carry the other three and take off running.
But Jin suddenly woke up, sensing the smell of battle. He violently pushed Exorian away and sprang to his feet. His dark eyes widened as he saw the statue; excitement surged through him as it charged straight toward his master.
"Magnificent, master. I was right to choose to follow you all the way."
In an instant, the immense statue was in front of Marc. It had no trouble moving. If anything, it moved faster than they did. Marc had trouble dodging its blows. He brushed against it every time. But his anger only increased as the fight went on.
"You're getting on my nerves."
But it replied calmly.
"I know."
The Emperor, who had managed to shake off the statue's attention, split the air again. The trace of the blow was marked on the ground, but the statue did nothing to dodge it. On the contrary, it took it head-on, but it didn't affect him in the least.
It charged at Marc again, as if the Emperor didn't exist.
"Such insolence. You'd better look at me a little."
In the blink of an eye, the Emperor appeared right in front of the statue's face and with a few visible strokes, he launched a flurry of blows at it.
"You're annoying me, Emperor. You don't belong in here."
Turcan was surprised that none of his blows managed to make a large cut on the statue.
He soon found himself in front of a finger that swept him away with a flick.
But Marc on his side continued to desperately dodge the stone giant's blows. If this was stone.
"What did you do to her?"
"You should know."
The statue's blows became faster and faster.
"You're not him."
His right hand like a peg, he struck towards Marc with such violence that the whole town thought it was an earthquake.
But strangely, Marc was not under his hand.
"Tell me what happened to her."
His red eyes shone in the dust.
Suddenly, the statue took a huge punch to the left cheek, pushed back against the church wall.
Before it could get up again, this time it caught Marc's knee in the face. From a position of strength, Marc landed a series of punches to the statue's face.
In his rage, Marc's world narrowed to the statue whose face he was savagely beating. The aura concentrated in his eyes, which turned even redder; his fists were stained with red blood—his own blood—and a trickle of blood flowed from his mouth, which he didn't even try to stop.
Marc was lost. Lost in a rage so powerful that nothing could pull him out of it. There was nothing left but the statue.
Destroy the statue...
Destroy Zodric...
"Not bad."
Suddenly, the statue's aura threw Marc to the other side of the room.
And when he opened his eyes again, it was gone.
"I suppose I'd have an easier time of it, if I were your size."
The statue came up behind Marc, who noticed it too late. It left fist now filled Marc's vision who could do nothing but accept it.
But someone stepped in between him and the inevitable.
"My turn."
Fortunately, Jin's foot deflected the fist's trajectory. The fist narrowly missed both of them, plunging a good meter into the ground and causing the church to shake once again.
Jin, feeling happy, got back up to continue his fight.
"I'm going to..."
But Marc followed up with a direct fist to the face. And began to advance toward where he'd thrown it.
"Master?"
Jin looked at his master with concern..
His gaze was terrifying; he was covered in blood, no longer looking like the master he'd known. Resembling a ball of rage that moves solely on its own blood. He didn't even notice his student standing beside him, continuing on toward his prey.
Under this vision, Jin chose not to intervene in the fight.
Further on, beneath the dust of the debris, the statue's voice could be heard, as calm as ever.
"You're definitely not him. He'd have killed me by now if he wanted me dead. But since you look like him, I'll have a little fun."
It stood up and came face to face with Marc again.
"Let's have some fun, human."
Marc's red eyes left a trail of light across the room. In a flash, he leaped over the statue.
"A circular kick."
The blow was quickly countered by the statue before they disappeared again due to their speed. Marc followed up with a heel kick. The statue avoided it. Front kick. The statue avoided it. A Brazilian kick. The statue avoided it. All Marc's punches ended up being countered or avoided until the statue started to attack.
Simple jabs to start with, then more and more lunge punches. It followed up with scissor punches and uppercut punches, all of which were narrowly avoided by Marc. The church was gradually deteriorating under the blows. The powerful wave of aura swept away the debris. Hundreds of blows were exchanged for a long minute. But suddenly, cracks began to appear on the statue's body.
It was clearly deteriorating.
"Tch."
It soon noticed, but it was already too late. Marc, who could no longer see anything but combat, was hitting harder and harder. The cracks increased until the statue's right arm exploded under one of the blows. One-armed, it took a magnificent roundhouse kick right on the right cheek and was thrown onto the door, which Exorian quickly closed.
"You're lucky I only have this body to fight with..."
Marc jumped on the statue and poured a series of fists into its face.
Jin stared at his rampaging master, his red gaze lost in rage.
"Marc!"
The Emperor stepped in front of him, but received no attention. On the contrary, he could hardly stop Marc from striking. Jin also tried to stop his master. He managed to get him to back away from the carcass.
"Perhaps we've met again, strange boy."
The statue lost its aura, seemed to fade as if it had never been lit.
"No. Come back. Tell me what happened. Tell me."
"Marc. That's enough of that. He's gone. We'd better save our strength for later."
Marc suddenly snapped out of his trance and realized just how badly damaged the church was. And it wasn't just the church—the statue now stood before him, completely battered, and was in a position completely different from the one it had been in on its pedestal. Elie and Nathanaël were on the ground a short distance away, and Exorian, staring right at them, had never looked so frightened.
Jin and the Emperor were holding him tightly, as if he had done all of this, even though he had no memory of it whatsoever.
His eyes slowly returned to normal as his aura settled and began to float around him like a gentle breeze.
"What happened?"
"Don't you remember? It's really sad."
The Emperor looked at Marc's face to see if he was somewhere else. His anger had made him shiver for a moment.
He didn't want to make a decision yet, but Marc had to be watched, if not eliminated.