A brightly lit room with a sofa near the door and a wall that showed what seemed to be a television… tables with picture frames, ceiling with floating light… and tiny creatures cleaning the area.
As soon as he opened the door, the cleaning creatures stopped what they were doing and looked at Caelus. There was a creaking sound like rusty metal being twisted when they suddenly made the movements.
He didn't even have time to ask the question as Caelus was given the answer.
"I-I-In…tru-u-u…der!" The robotic sound came from the tiny creatures that were cleaning. They tried to formulate sound but they were malfunctioning.
In between awe and wariness, Caelus gaped at the unknown creature.
He couldn't for the life of him think that the abandoned village would have robotic creatures inside the shabby house. Shouldn't advanced technology have amazing houses? Yet, the village was as simple as an old era's house.
*No! That's not the end of the weirdness!*
He instantly looked up at the flying light above them. Yes… it was really floating. And unlike the robots, the light didn't seem to be a creature of advanced technology.
"W-what?"
The floating light didn't have any logic in it was so opposing that he was at a loss for words.
"Magic? And mecha?" He didn't want to think of it. It felt impossible. But when he thought deeply, isn't the System a magical mecha itself? Isn't what happened to him so far, were all impossible?
It was just that the original Sho's romanticism towards mecha had rubbed into him and he also thought that mecha should be… well, mecha. All those cool mechanisms that were logical and scientifically explained, entangle into one strong robot machine. It was a dream of all guys. Even wanting to know how such a wonderful creation came to existence and find how to create their own, just like how many guys like to assemble their own personal computers.
But now, his dream shattered and got slapped because it was clear that magic and mecha needed each other to be the most advanced machine possible.
"A-le-lert!" The broken robot who kept trying to call for help made Caelus stop himself from crying with his shattered romanticism of the robots.
*At least, they should still be able to shoot beams…*
He walked inside the bright house.
He knew that the robots won't be able to harm him because they were already broken. If they wanted to kick him out, they should have done it within the one minute he was staring at everything.
It might be because they were left alone for too long and didn't have maintenance or maybe they needed a supply of magic. Just thinking about it made Caelus have the urge to disassemble the robot to know how they were created. He still wanted to create his own, albeit not as how he imagined it would be.
Either way, the robot didn't attack him, it continued to clean and brokenly trying to create a sound alerting the house of an intruder. Every single robot that he saw was doing the same thing.
As he looked around, he realized that the light was not the only magical thing in the house.
The fireplace automatically lit up after he came forward, a dancing flame sang along with the harp that started to play itself. The plant in the house, although wittering, started to wiggle excitedly, as if finally able to rest in peace knowing that they weren't left alone. After they wiggled, all their withered trunks turned into piles of dirt.
As he walked, he realized that the house was full of sadness and loneliness. Even when it was bright, being left alone for too long, no living beings were present. Even plants had died. The lingering things he saw were magic that were stored to only activate when a person comes near, and that's the only reason it was still functional.
The more he looked around, the more he felt an aching tug in his heart.
"What disaster did they experience to leave all of this behind?"
He couldn't understand it.
The world he was in was far less advanced and magical. But they were able to establish shelter. But this place which was so advanced in both technology and magic collapsed.
"What are Zones? If they really are a lull between two worlds… is this place just something between two worlds? It doesn't make sense. Thus this look like something out of just a lull between two worlds? I don't get it…"
Or was it his fault for not getting what does it mean to have a lull between two worlds?
"Portal… hmm… maybe it's better to imagine it as an entrance, hallway and exit. The two worlds are the entrance and exit while the Zones are the hallway… hm? Yes. if it's a hallway, does that mean it is a place where residents could settle in?"
The more he thought about it, the more it made sense. He thought of the murlocs. They only knew how to hunt. And anyone who invaded there would be played by the murlocs. Next was Fenrir's and the wolves. According to Alpha, Fenrir was not entirely a killing machine. It has its own intelligence.
Fenrir might even have his own story as he did tell Caelus to come back when he knew how to really destroy the chains.
Was the Zone a residency place for the two worlds?
Was it a place for exile?
Was it a place to orchestrate a war?
Caelus could only let out a sigh. So many more questions had piled once more.
"I know I need to be at a higher rank to know more… but after seeing this, it made me wonder. Would Sho's world end up like this? Did my world end like this? If so, what are we really fighting? Who are our enemies?"
He felt so complicated that he stopped walking.
There was a knot tied in his stomach the more he voiced out his questions. It was different from when he questioned everything.
This time, he gathered more conclusive evidence, but still, he was unable to reach any conclusion. And without even formulating any hypothesis, he was just walking blindly towards who knows that might be his death.
"Are the Wandering Souls living beings who perished here?"
No.
There was something else.
"Are Wandering Souls the souls who got corrupted, that's why they need help getting ferried?"
He thought that probability was higher. Every Wandering Souls he had seen had black corruption in their smoky body