Approaching the statue, I carefully touched it, making sure of its realness.
"What is that..?"
Aria asked, following behind me.
Looking over my shoulder, she also watched the statue with great interest, albeit for different reasons.
While it piqued her interest due to it being a new thing for her, I just tried to find out what the meaning behind all this was.
"A statue — no, a former human."
"A human? Why is she in such a state then?"
"I don't know yet."
Furrowing my eyebrows, I let out a sigh.
Standing before my mother's face, I carefully analyzed it, looking for any signs that would give me a clue about the situation.
However, I just couldn't comprehend what was going on.
Turning my head around, I faced the same thing that she faced, namely a silvery barrier that separated us from whatever was inside there.
I couldn't look inside, as it distorted the view, but even without thinking much, I knew that it was a spell casted by my mother.
It had that familiar feeling of her mana.
"It's a seal."
Aria determined after scanning the barrier for a little more.
"A seal?"
While I had heard about sealing magic, I had never witnessed it, as the drawbacks of such magic were usually severe, often resulting in dangerous drawbacks such as death, regressing in age or-
Wait.
Severe drawbacks?
"Could it mean that..?"
Turning my attention back to the statue of my mother, I asked Aria.
Even though I tried to keep my voice as calm as possible, I accidentally let traces of panic slip into it.
Aria nodded, leaning forward with her head as she rested her chin on her hand. With narrowed eyes, she tried to examine the seal.
"I've never seen this type of seal before..."
Aria reached out to that barrier, about to touch it, as she paused.
Gasping, her eyes widened, as she immediately pulled her hand back.
I immediately knew why she did that.
As she was just about to touch the seal, for a split second, the tip of her fingers began to turn into stone. It looked like a similar material to the thing my mother was made of.
A black, stony material that resembled bricks.
"It's a petrifying seal."
"I can see that."
Earth magic was one of the types of magic my mother favored the most, as she had a very strong affinity for it.
She developed it so far that she even managed to wield the mutation of the earth element, steal.
In the end, her using a seal that was based on earth magic didn't seem surprising to me.
I smirked, my gaze softening, as I looked at the statue of my mom.
The fact that she was capable of developing such magic in the first place impressed me. After all, I had never heard of an earth-type seal before.
"What would happen if we destroy that seal?"
My face immediately hardened as a plan formed inside my head. It was just a speculation, but if I was right, then...
"It will break..?"
Aria furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, looking at me as if I was talking orcish.
"No." I rolled my eyes, letting out a heavy sigh. "What would happen to the statue then?"
Crossing her arms, Aria tilted her head to the side, thoughtfully knitting her eyebrows.
"...I think that nothing would happen, I suppose..? While I am not very well-versed in sealing magic, there usually should be no direct connection between the caster and the target, While in this case, it seemed like the effect also reflected on herself, it was probably just a drawback of the spell."
"I see."
If that really was true, then I had a way to finish this all without any casualties or losses.
While I rather want to wait until I could get someone here, we were on a time limit.
Whatever my mom sealed was probably the reason for the guardian of the second layer going on a rampage.
Taking in a deep breath, I pulled out Excalibur, raising it in the air.
The ether in the atmosphere rushed into my invisible sword, coating it with a purple aura.
"Aria, take the statue and take some steps back."
"..Alright."
Waiting until Aria was out of range, I readied my sword.
CRICK!
I struck down.
The impact of my strike vibrated in the air as a massive shockwave emitted, pushing Aria and the statue back.
However, she holds on with all her power, not falling over.
The silvery seal cracked slightly. However, it didn't break under the force of my strike, which was quite an impressive feat.
More importantly...
"Hmph."
I looked at my wrist, seeing the first signs of petrification.
Not being able to suppress it, I smirked under my mask in satisfaction.
As expected of my mother.
"Seems like I can't just do this half-heartedly."
If the petrification affects me with every strike, then I will just have to move at such an speed that the petrification wouldn't even have time to affect me.
Charging my ether into the sword, I took a stance, preparing to unleash my sword art.
It was an unnamed one that I created myself, but it was one that fit the best for me.
"Mutilate."
A single strike from below.
That's how it started.
Crick-crack!
Crick-crack!
Crick-crack!
However, it wasn't how the attack stopped.
My sword and arms blurred as I swung the sword, slashing it at an overwhelming speed that was impossible for the naked eye to see.
Mutilate was a series of rapid slashes that were done at an unfathomable speed, by using short bursts of ether to quickly accelerate my slashes.
Neither speed nor ether was wasted, as I only used bursts of ether to maximize the speed of my strikes.
The ether coating my sword was also strengthening its sharpness, massively strengthening the power of my strikes.
Crick-crack!
Crick-crack!
Gradually, more and more cracks began to appear on the seal.
I was sure. It would only take a few more seconds before the seal would break.
Tink!
The barrier broke apart like a wineglass, as the broken pieces flew in different directions, filling the floor in a silvery glass-like mana.
"What the..."
Aria mumbled from the back of the room, her voice filled with a mix of admiration and disbelief.
Ignoring her reaction, I focused my attention on the thing that was before me.
While I had expected a being or something else to appear, I was greeted with something way worse.
Another gate,
However, this one was different from the one we used to enter this room.
First, it was the design of the gate.
This gate was made of a completely different material than the golden one we used to enter this room.
It was sturdier and rougher.
However, that wasn't the thing that bothered me.
It was the second thing that differentiated both gates from each other.
It was the color.
I could see why my mother tried to seal it away, even at the cost of her own life.
While her seal wouldn't be able to contain it, she probably cut off the ties between the world and that place, lessening the influence of whatever was in that place.
I grit my teeth, realizing why the signs of the first incident reappeared.
Although one could say that it was because the seal was getting weaker, I disagreed. The barrier that was created from that seal was strong enough to withstand a few blows from me.
It was the worse option.
Whatever my mom tried to cut off from our world was getting stronger, thus slowly gaining enough power to defy that seal.
"Aria."
"..Y..Yes?"
Aria, who just silently stared at the gate, shrieked as I called out to her, seemingly snapping her out of her thoughts.
Gulp.
She swallowed her saliva before taking a deep breath.
"Just stay here and watch over that statue."
"Huh?! I can't just let you enter it alone! We can get some help at least!"
"No, we can't." I shook my head, a heavy sigh escaping my lips. "As we already broke the seal, it won't take long until whatever was in there tries to escape."
"...but..It's a red gate! You can't possibly do it alone!"
Aria retorted, her voice carrying a glimpse of worry and fear, as she took a step forward, willing to enter such a dangerous place to help me.
"Stay there."
Hissing in a sharp tone, I stopped her as I raised my arms, pointing at the statue of my mother.
"This statue is currently more important to me than my life. Don't take my orders lightly and watch over the statue."
Adverting her eyes, Aria sighed in defeat, not wanting to bother with any more discussions.
"Alright, then," Aria said, before turning her head away, whispering in a silent tone. "...who are you to give me orders, anyway? What are you? Lux?"
While I could hear her complaint, I decided to ignore it, turning my attention back to the red gate, before letting out a deep chuckle.
"Don't worry. I'll be alright."
"I'll take you by your word, then. You wouldn't dare to lie to a saint, would you?"
"How cheeky." Snickering, I put my hand on the handle of the red gate, narrowing my eyes as I prepared myself for what was about to come. "Should a saint talk like that?"
"There are no real guidelines to being a saint, except being kind and having a pure soul." Aria released a short laugh before her voice switched to a serious tone.
"But seriously. Please survive. I am not a fan of people I'm fond of dying. I don't want to experience such a feeling again."
"I won't die."
And with those words, I opened the gate, stepping past the threshold.
As I fully entered the gate, I could feel how the opened gate behind me faded into nothingness.
Taking another big breath, I readied my sword.
This will be a pain.
The gate I just stepped past wasn't just any gate, but a very special one.
It was the gate to a ruin.
And a red one at that, which could only mean one thing.
A prison ruin.
It was a prison ruin.