Hishiri Adashino asked the question through the comms more out of hope than expectation.
To her surprise, Wayland's voice responded immediately.
"I have."
"Wayland?"
Hishiri had considered several other possibilities, but Wayland hadn't been one of them. He had simply been at the Clock Tower for too short a time.
"Yes. My studies under my mentor, Lord El-Melloi II, focused heavily on the use of Runes."
Hishiri was silent for a moment before she replied, "You truly are a box of surprises, junior."
'Wait, wait... where did "junior" come from? I'm eighteen, you know.'
Wayland didn't dare say it aloud. He focused his attention on the screen.
His expression was unreadable.
Was it a coincidence, or something more deliberate?
The rune on the screen happened to be the only Divine Age Rune he had truly mastered.
"Because I specialize in Runes, Lord El-Melloi II granted me early access to some of the library's more specialized texts," Wayland explained. "I've seen this symbol before. Its phonetic value is 'Light'."
Hishiri was about to respond when she felt the ship begin to vibrate.
"What's happening?"
She instinctively looked up as the entire Ocean Phantom began to shudder violently. It felt as though a giant were stirring the waters beneath them.
"An earthquake?"
'Impossible.' This region wasn't anywhere near a seismic fault line.
Hishiri's face suddenly went pale. If the ship was shaking this much, what was happening to Wayland and the others on the seabed?
It was a nightmare of an experience.
In an instant, Wayland felt himself being hurled upward by the force of the water.
The violent tremors had caused the water pressure to fluctuate wildly. He was held in place by his lifeline, swinging back and forth like he was on a carnival ride pushed to its absolute limit.
The sensation was beyond words.
But beneath him, on the seabed...
The entire rock layer was shifting, moving upward as if a ten-thousand-year-old zombie buried in the earth were struggling to claw its way back to the surface of the living.
Fissures split the earth, and massive clouds of silt and debris swirled into the water, turning the surrounding area into an impenetrable gray void.
"Pull them up! Now!"
Hishiri's voice barked through his headset.
The lifeline began to reel in.
Wayland used a quick reinforcement spell to steady himself, and the feeling of nausea began to fade.
Through his diving mask, he caught a glimpse of a brilliant, snow-white light radiating from the seabed.
'What is that?'
He didn't have much time to think.
Wayland instinctively suspected that his speaking of the Divine Age Rune had been the catalyst for this transformation.
"Get back to the ship!"
Wayland broke the surface and scrambled up the boarding ladder onto the deck. The violent shaking of the world had finally ceased.
He pulled off his helmet, gasping for air.
The deck was crowded with most of the department's magi, who were all channeling their prana into the air.
Wayland looked up and saw a massive magical barrier enveloping the entire cruise ship. It was this protective shell that had shielded them from the worst of the vibration.
But outside the barrier, the island looked as though it had been scoured by a category-five hurricane.
The lighthouse at the highest point had snapped in half, ending its century of service.
Boulders were rolling down the slopes, massive cracks had split the ground, and trees were being uprooted as though they were made of matchsticks. It looked like a scene straight out of the movie 2012.
Then Wayland looked toward the sea.
The sound of rushing water was deafening.
The ocean was boiling, massive bubbles bursting in rapid succession as the entire surface began to rise. Finally, a massive structure erupted from the depths, sending a torrent of seawater cascading back into the waves like a torrential downpour.
Ripples raced across the surface like panicked ants.
A temple manifested before their eyes.
It was shrouded in a thick, black mist, but through the gaps, they could see the pale, white columns standing tall within. The entire structure was a massive, black rectangular block.
Was it a shrine... or a demonic tomb?
Hishiri Adashino took a deep breath and removed her glasses.
In an instant, her eyes radiated a pale, crystalline blue light.
The Mystic Eyes of the Snake.
The hereditary Mystic Eyes of the Adashino family, a rare and powerful gift possessed only by a chosen few.
A Mystic Eye turns the eye itself into a magical circuit, similar to a Crest. Anything within the user's field of vision is subjected to the eye's influence.
Because they look no different from a normal eye, they are exceptionally difficult to defend against. Possessing a Mystic Eye is considered proof of a first-class magus.
However, artificial Mystic Eyes are generally limited in power. The truly terrifying eyes--those that possess abilities that can never be replicated by magecraft--are always innate.
Like Medusa's petrifying gaze, or Ryougi Shiki's Mystic Eyes of Death Perception.
The glasses Hishiri wore were a specialized magical item designed to suppress the power of her eyes--a "Mystic Eye Killer."
[Translated and Rewritten by Shika_Kagura]