"I fought against it?"
"Yes, master."
"I was out of control?"
"Yes, master. You really don't remember?"
"I have bridles in my brain but I remember yelling at it very well."
"Yes. Then you fought him."
Marc held his head in his hand. He looked at the pedestal where the statue had originally stood and where it was after that. The church was a mess. The walls had holes and cracks everywhere. The beauty of the church had been smoked out after the fight.
"I'm...sorry."
"That's all right. You didn't necessarily help us in the search, but you did get us to confirm something. The man was Zodric. The question now is where do you know him from?"
Marc looked desperately at the Emperor.
"In Orio, you assured me you didn't know this man."
The Emperor advanced slowly, while Marc backed away with difficulty.
"There, you just shouted his name. He reacted and said you reminded him of someone."
Marc began to sweat. He didn't know the man, but this was already the second time he'd proved otherwise.
"I just called out his name because it was the only possibility. There was no guarantee he'd move. You would have said his name too by now, now that you know him."
"I don't know the man, but you do."
"I assure you it came that way. Besides, you saw that he didn't recognize me after all."
The Emperor's eyes looked intensely at Marc. Marc wondered if he would be spared this time. They stood in silence for a long moment, then the Emperor dropped his sword.
"Let's finish the tour."
Jin sighed. Marc too. Exorian entered the room with Nathanaël and Elie. Elie ran to check on Marc. Exorian went to his Emperor.
"You're not killing him, Majesty?"
"Stop telling me what to do, Exorian. Stay in your place."
"Yes, Majesty. "
"But you're right. We'll have to keep an eye on him. Even if we have to go by force."
The Emperor turned his gaze to Marc and his group.
"No. We'll have to keep an eye on all of them. They're probably the biggest threat Earth has ever known."
After they had all gathered, the Emperor spoke of the continuation of their exploration.
"Orio's room was already pretty good, but the rest will still surprise you. There are probably beings in white down there, which makes exploration almost impossible. I couldn't get all the way there myself. But we have nothing to fear, since we have with us the man who overcame a mighty statue."
All eyes turned to Mark, who had regained his blank expression more than ever. The Emperor then led the way. They soon found themselves in front of a door leading to another floor. No beings in white stood in their way. In the middle of the way, the Emperor asked Marc a question.
"Tell me Marc. Why are you so worried about a woman who's probably been dead for years?"
"I don't know."
Marc lowered his eyes. He didn't know why he wanted so badly for this woman to be safe and stop crying. Her story was probably from a long time ago, but Marc had this thought filling his heart.
"It's all right. Just try to find out why before we go."
They walked for another ten minutes or so. The corridors were immense. They had no doors on the side but just engravings. Indecipherable engravings. Marc recognized one of the symbols from Orio. There was a circle and inside it, a kind of i that twisted to resemble a wave. At the edge of the circle, three symbols seemed to emerge from the outside. A second circle, a sort of flame and a horn. From a distance, the circle looked like a strange monster.
"It's good that you're interested in the engravings in this church now. Look at them carefully."
Marc scanned the walls. The engravings began to look more and more like drawings. Drawings of things they could understand. Marc recognized more and more drawings of people. At first, they were monstrous, then their silhouettes gradually became more refined. A smiling sun, a lake of lava, light coming down from the sky - Marc could see better and better. He continued forward to look at the drawings, but soon bumped into Elie, who had stopped.
"What's the matter, Elie?"
Elie was pale. She was paler than ever, and her complexion would deteriorate further before she collapsed completely. No words came out of her mouth. She paled even more.
"Elie!"
She no longer noticed the presence of the others. No one understood what was happening. But Elie had no doubt. Before her was engraved the end she had seen in a vision that day.
Marc looked at the wall and saw what Elie was on the ground for. Ruins, flames, blood, monsters, angels, beings never seen before, and in the middle of the drawing...
"I see you've noticed. These are the most visible drawings in the corridor. You can see destruction everywhere. It looks like our world, but it's probably not what it looks like today. If this is what you saw in your dream, I'm afraid we're all going to die here. The strangest thing about all this is that everyone seems to revolve around this man dressed in black holding his sword. His fallen angel appearance, his black wings, that monstrous aura earns him this place right in the middle of the corridor. Right in the middle of the stage."
...the man in black sat, holding his sword with nothing to do. He wasn't staring at the fallen world, he was staring at the people watching him. He was staring at Marc, who was staring at him. He was staring at Marc.
"Observe here as long as you like. I'll be waiting. But they won't wait as long as I do."
Hundreds of beings in white burst out of nowhere.
"You've got to be kidding me."
They were all about to fight when one of them opened his mouth. Marc saw him and immediately understood his intentions.
"Plug your ears."
"Aregis."
The word echoed throughout the corridor. Marc twisted on himself to endure the pain.
"No. I mustn't leave them alone. "
He did all he could to get to his feet when he realized he was the only one touched by the word.
"Are you all right?"
"No. It seems this note only affects you. I thought you were invincible."
They were all fighting against the beings in white. Looking at them, Marc thought he probably didn't need to help them. Especially when he saw who was protecting him. Elie dealt them violent blows, while Jin mastered them with every possible fighting style. Nathanaël was quick to slice them up, watching the Emperor to do the same and learn from him. He saw nothing but an opportunity to further protect his friends. His aura grew and blew across Marc's face, giving him the impression of an angel fighting for him.
But the surprise came from Exorian. He had a gun that never stopped aiming at his enemies' heads. He didn't miss until his gun ran out of ammunition.
"Exorian."
"Don't worry about me. I'm his majesty's butler after all."
A white being charged at him. With no fear in his eyes, he grabbed its arm before breaking it. He then grabbed its head and turned it 180 degrees. When that wasn't enough, he tore his head off for good. Marc couldn't believe it. The butler was without doubt the strongest human being he'd ever seen after Jin.
Jin was just having fun in his corner, but could see Elie weakening. She hadn't quite recovered from the engraving. She had only acted suddenly when she saw Marc writhing in pain. Jin stepped in to save her. He leapt above his master and kicked the first white being to approach. The latter caught his foot and stepped back a good three feet. Marc understood that they had adapted. After a while, he noticed that the white creatures came back stronger and more numerous, making it impossible to defeat them. Real killing machines. He also understood why the Emperor had never managed to finish his visit to Zvenne. They were there to keep the church's secrets.
But that wasn't going to stop Jin from enjoying himself. His smile widened again, but he turned back to his master first.
"May I, master?"
Marc didn't understand why he was asking him.
"Of course."
His smile widened again. The being in white split the air to reach him while his back was still turned, but that didn't stop Jin from landing on top of him the next second and delivering a violent punch in the back. A second came up, trying to land a roundhouse kick which Jin easily countered before driving his knee into his abdomen.
"Does it hurt?"
Jin then grabbed his arm before twisting it, but while he was doing so the first man stood up and tried to catch him. He grabbed Jin from behind before slamming his head into the floor.
"Judo?"
Jin was already out of his arms. Surprised, he took a huge fist to the face, completely deforming it. The second accompanied by the third charged at Jin, but none of them managed to hit him. His dodges were improving with time. The Emperor watched Jin's fight, for he had drawn most of the white beings to him. He contemplated the boy's movements.
"What do you think, Exorian?"
"He's really very strong."
Jin struck and dodged like a master. No blow did any real damage to him. His agility and speed clearly surpassed that of his opponents. It was as if Jin was the final villain in a gang story. It was as if he were the being from the other world. If the beings in white didn't wear this kind of clothing, Marc might have been confused.
In the midst of all these corpses. Jin stood there exhausted.
"That feels good."
Everyone looked at him as if they were going to have to fight him next.
"What's the matter?"
"Nothing's the matter."
"I don't think this is the time to relax. There's more coming. There's always been others."
The Emperor stared worriedly at the wall. Every time he'd passed this way, more had come out of the walls. He'd faced thousands of them. He'd sliced through thousands of them, but each time he'd failed to reach the first-floor door. It was the closest he'd ever come. But unfortunately, beings in white began to emerge from the walls.
"Listen to me. We're going to run to the door. Avoid unnecessary fighting. They'll get stronger anyway. So run."
Marc looked once more at the engraving of the ruined world. He stared at the man in black staring back at him.
"I'll kill you."
Then they all began to run, avoiding as many white people as possible. The corridor was immense, but with their speed, they could cross it quickly. They jumped, ducked, dodged every enemy in their path.
"Quickly."
The path, though short, seemed longer because of all the beings in white coming out of the walls. Their hands and legs protruding from the walls reflected a scene from a horror movie.
"What if there are more inside?"
Elie had said this without thinking, but she was right. They had no idea what was behind it. It could be death or the man in black, but they were still going for it. The Emperor thought for two seconds before telling them...
"We'll see."
It was the only answer he could give them. It made the group laugh. Even Exorian, who was blindly following his Emperor. Hearing the laughter, the Emperor himself let out a small smile. The door was closing fast.
"Come on."
With a shout, they opened the door before entering the room.