The Waterfall Cathedral was a grand structure that had long since been abandoned. Even after years of neglect, the exquisite carvings on the stone arches remained vivid, and over half of the complex gilded runes had withstood the test of time. The once-glorious gates were now submerged in murky lake water, and the collapsed, heavy gray stone walls were covered in dark green moss and various creeping plants. The roots of giant trees were slowly and resolutely splitting and disassembling the stone foundations of the collapsed lower walls of the cathedral. Perhaps in another hundred years, the submerged parts of the Waterfall Cathedral would completely crumble into rubble and silt.
Thick green canopies blocked Solomon and the witch's view of the cathedral's spire, but they had seen it on their way here. To construct such an intricate spire would require mathematical and architectural knowledge far beyond the era in which it was supposedly built. Any scholar familiar with history would immediately realize that this structure could not have been constructed by human effort a few hundred years ago, as this region never had the population or productive capacity to support the construction of such a large building at any point in time.
Only magic—a power beyond reason—could explain this phenomenon.
Solomon thought Lara Croft would definitely like the Waterfall Cathedral ruin, but unfortunately, she still had expeditions to conduct in the Middle East and South America. The Arcanist figured he could introduce this place to her after completing their current mission. After all, Richard Croft had dedicated his life to uncovering the secret of immortality, and Lara Croft was following that same path. If she knew about this place, she'd probably jump for joy.
He held Lara's work in high regard, to the point of allocating resources from the City of the Immortals to her, revealing to an ordinary person some of the mysteries hidden in history. Lara Croft's work was to unearth humanity's past and define what it meant to be human as a species. Even if humanity were to lose all technology, even if it began interstellar colonization, this definition would once again unite the human race and reassign its history, legends, myths, behavioral patterns, and ways of thinking.
"Little one, are you alright?"
The witch's voice brought the distracted Arcanist back to reality. Solomon noticed that the boy seemed to be experiencing another headache, as if this building had stirred some memories. However, the boy simply shook his head, not recalling as much as he had in the past. The Arcanist glanced at him. "Looks like you're okay. I thought you were going to play projector again."
The boy bared his teeth at Solomon in frustration, forgetting his headache in the process.
"You're too mean, darling," the witch said with a roll of her eyes.
Although the entrance to the Waterfall Cathedral was submerged in the lake, this posed little challenge for the Arcanist and the witch. They found a window and made their way inside.
However, what truly puzzled them was what they saw once they entered. Inside the cathedral, numerous oddly shaped gray stone steles stood atop circular steps. The steles were etched with dizzying runes, and at the center of the circular platform was a massive rhombus-shaped device.
Before the Arcanist and the witch could make sense of the runes or the device, the boy involuntarily walked up to it, immediately putting the Arcanist on high alert. At that moment, both Solomon and Bayonetta felt the mysterious connection between the boy and the cathedral—some kind of indescribable will was guiding the boy's movements.
He raised his hands and released magic, channeling it into the device at the cathedral's center. A tremendous surge of magical energy, like the tidal currents of a fjord during low tide, rushed into it. As the boy moved unconsciously, the device began to operate.
The Arcanist and the witch looked up and saw the cathedral's broken dome being restored. Fallen bricks returned to their original positions on the wall. Even a speck of dust dislodged from a stone returned to its place, as if rewinding time like a stretched spring snapping back. Both the witch and the Arcanist had witnessed such exaggerated time manipulation before—in the circular coliseum at the Sun Island, the former home of the witch clan, where they first encountered the Archangel of Fortitude from the Four Virtues. As spectators, they had to dodge the paths of flying debris. After all, "a bullet has the highest battlefield clearance," and this kind of spatial movement was even more unstoppable.
"The Eye of the World," Bayonetta murmured. This town was even more closely tied to the World Watcher than anyone had imagined.
She raised her hand to shield her eyes from the storm of sand and debris swirling through the cathedral. Solomon nodded. The boy's power closely resembled that of Bayonetta's Eye of the World. The Arcanist was reminded of the time he met Bayonetta's biological father on Sun Island. When the boy used cards in battle, his power had been too weak to detect the similarity, which was why the witch and the Arcanist hadn't recognized it earlier.
"This boy," Solomon muttered, just as a large chunk of debris slammed into his shoulder armor. Since he had been shielding the witch, who was wearing only a combat bodysuit, he had taken most of the hits. The stones drummed against his armor with a loud clatter. "This boy is connected to the Eye of the World. No wonder that sage wanted him dead. Maybe the loss of your summon and Joan's death are all tied to this. Darling, looks like we're in serious trouble. I'll have to take a good look at what's going on inside his brain."
Originally, Solomon had planned to question the boy using force after he finished casting, to see what memories he could recall. But reality didn't give them that chance. A blood-red teleportation circle suddenly spread across the cathedral's dome, and a gray-blue metallic coffin engraved with spiral patterns crashed down in front of them.
The coffin began to transform. Segmented gray-blue metallic pieces, featuring complex mechanical structures, stretched upward along their seams. Two absurd, spiked wheels extended from the top. The metallic blocks then reassembled into a rectangular head, from which two limbs extended, each composed of three bladed sprockets embedded with skulls.
"A demon?" Bayonetta said with some confusion. "Looks like they're not here to make friends."
This creature was named Pain. It let out no roar, no threat, but its aura of evil was palpable. It felt as if the cold metal was constantly slicing through its flesh and tormenting its spirit, making it frenzied and eager to attack. This demon was different from the animalistic demons usually summoned by the witch. It was a manufactured being. The rough process involved tormenting and breaking the soul of a lower-plane creature, then stuffing it into a prebuilt machine. Solomon didn't need to think hard to guess whose handiwork this was. He badly wanted to grab Malphas and ask how many such creatures the Fifth Demon Pillar had created in the lower planes just to kill time.
No wonder Malphas had been so eager to help when he learned Solomon was heading to the lower planes. He must have already known Solomon would encounter his past "products" sold to certain hell lords. In order to keep Solomon from pursuing his past deeds, Malphas had ramped up weapon production without a single complaint.
"The force that keeps all things balanced is starting to feel... off."
That's what Rodin had said before their departure.
As a fallen angel blacksmith who frequently made supply runs to the lower planes, Rodin definitely had the authority to say so. Perhaps this explained why the witch's contracted demons had started to break their pacts—they couldn't defy some even stronger power. There was no doubt this force was weaker than Madame Butterfly, proven by the fact that she still maintained her contract with Bayonetta. Perhaps some lord-level demon had meddled. But before entering the lower planes, they could never find the answer. Solomon was certain an enemy was already waiting down there for Bayonetta to walk right into their trap.
But that bastard surely didn't expect Kamar-Taj to get involved as well.
(End of Chapter)
[Get +20 Extra Chapters On — P@tr3on "Mutter"]
[Every 50 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter Drop]
[Thanks for Reading!]