The blackish-purple eye in the Rift vanished in an instant, and the woman in scarlet armour on the ground looked up and sighed.
"Damn it… I failed. Their tricks were way too powerful for me alone to stop."
"It seems they were too strong despite being severely weakened, even for me. But, this doesn't bother me too much. They weren't my original goal anyway…"
She lifted herself from her current position and looked around. Meanwhile, William looked at her with severe concern in his eyes.
"…Who are you?" She asked.
Now William was even more confused.
"What do you mean who are you? I was just speaking to you!"
She scratched her head and tried to remember.
"…No, you didn't speak to me. Instead, you were probably speaking to my Clone of Ashes that I specifically instructed to guard the labyrinth entrance… ha… I'm sure she would've told you this already."
This version of Leslie, presumably the original, had even longer hair than the one he met previously. And, she looked more elegant and mature, while also exuding the sickening aura of someone extremely powerful.
She was also far more experienced than any clone of hers, and that was for sure.
'Wait… does that mean it's already over? The task that the Gods gave me six months to complete is over, and all because of her? Did they not know about her existence or something? Did they make an error in judgment?'
'…No… that's impossible. From what I can tell, the Skies Beyond rule this new world. It's more likely that they intended this to happen, maybe for the sake of bringing me here for whatever reason. I can't guarantee I would've willingly walked here without such a strict reason otherwise.'
'But then, why didn't they just tell me upfront about the goal here?'
"Hey, kid! What are you still doing here…?" Leslie asked while stretching her arms.
William paused his thoughts as his heart skipped a beat. He merely shrugged in response.
He had no idea what he was going to do now. From what he could tell, all the werewolves had supposedly sacrificed their lives for whatever powerful beings Leslie fought against in the Rift, and so the Sorcerer King would have to hold up his end of the bargain and bring him back above ground as promised.
"Unexpectedly, I guess my job here is already done," William muttered, "I don't know what the Gods were, or still are planning for me…"
"Hm… Gods?" Leslie said, staring right at him for the first time in her original body.
"…Yeah…?"
Leslie approached William and gazed into his eyes. What she could see as she somehow peered into his soul was unknown to him, but then, she smirked.
"You have a very unique power… one that even reminds me of a kid from back in the day… I'm sure I can make use of you…"
"Heh, whatever plan the Gods had for you here was for you to meet with me, I bet," Leslie said, chuckling and roughing up his hair, "If you can, meet up with another one of my Clones of Ashes aboveground and show her this."
She handed him a silver insignia of a two-headed lion.
"My ash clone should be with the Fearless Lion Mercenaries, and she could perhaps help you in ways you may not understand right now."
"I'll be staying deep underground for the meantime, so if you ever wind up anywhere underground near somewhere close, find your way back to this place! I'll help you out of whatever predicaments you find yourself in."
William nodded, and with that kind of reassurance, he felt a small smile creep up onto his face once he left.
…
"Phew… he's not here, so I think he's still alive. I had a chilling feeling that he was dead and that all effort to go down there would go to waste." William said, referring to the Sorcerer King as he made it out of the depths.
The platform that held the statue of Mara and the five obelisks was barren of life. However, to William's surprise, the shattered crystal ball wasn't there either.
'…Did he pick it up? Why didn't the guy learn the lesson of not messing with taboo magic..?!'
' ...Well, if something happens again, then it's not my fault. I hope that doesn't obstruct my way out of here though…'
With a map laid out in his mind, William snapped out of his thoughts and quickly sped his feet towards the grand hall which held the Sorcerer King's throne.
But, once he returned, this time there was no audience of subjects that stood by.
There was only a patiently waiting old Naga, whose face lit up upon his arrival.
"Ah! So quickly! Did you completely wipe out the werewolves like I hoped?!" The Sorcerer King asked frantically as he slid down the throne.
William awkwardly laughed, rubbing his chin.
"Well… not exactly—no, wait, I guess I did… and it was way quicker than I expected as well." He replied.
"And also…"
He wanted to ask the Sorcerer King if he could use the crystal ball again, and ask that barbarian man or whoever was going to appear this time what exactly the Gods were planning. However, he felt a little bit anxious.
'…Crap… do I still feel anxiety sometimes…? This isn't the time!'
"…Ugh… Sorcerer King! May I please… use your crystal ball?" William asked, regretting his question halfway through.
This question also surprised the old Naga, but he didn't refuse.
"Since you put so much effort into beating the werewolves black and blue, there's no reason for me to decline! Just be careful, since the crystal ball's current state is still unstable."
William nodded, and the Sorcerer King placed the crystal ball into his hands this time.
"Imbue it with your ability. I think you'll be more likely to achieve results this time."
William did as he was told, and just like before, the Relic began to shimmer and shine with a brighter glow every passing second.
The energy that blasted out of it weighed heavily on William's spirit because he held it more closely, but once he was able to handle it, a potent, golden energy created the shape of the same spirit he had seen before.
The spirit of the barbarian man from the distant Era of Adventurers. And like before, time had paused for everyone around them.
"Hahaha! I knew you'd come back to see me! What did you feel while meeting with her? Did she leave an impression on you?"
William looked bewildered at first from the sudden questions, but then he looked perplexed.
"How… how did you know I met…"
The barbarian man laughed again.
"Your first misconception is thinking that I can't see beyond this stone hall. And, you realise that sword dancer is from the same era as I am! I was once known as the Lord of the Mountains, but she was known as the Witch Queen of Daggers back in the day."
"Somehow, she managed to make a deal with the God of Death and kept her relatively young appearance to this day. However, because of that, the God of Debts is sure to hold her responsible when she dies. I wonder what she'll do when that happens."
William was speechless.
"Wait, so does this mean the Gods didn't give me that mission, at all?"
"Nope. It was all me! It'd be outlandish to believe the Gods would interfere with reality to the point that they'd send a spiritual envoy to carry out their message. Hah! They don't even manage the Sovereigns to that extent."
"Truth be told, they're way too powerful to care for mortals that much."
"…But… how?" William asked, "If you're dead, how were you able to…"
"Because this special ball of sorcery allows it." The barbarian replied.
"You'd be able to speak to anybody in another realm or dimension if you wanted to. It's just that neither you nor the Sorcerer King knows its full functions, so I took advantage of that."
"The reason why I did that, however, is because I wanted to see what she was up to nowadays and to acquaint the two of you. As it turns out, it seems her favourite band of mercenaries have also survived all those hard years of strife."
"…Wow… Honestly, that's a bit messed up for you to do. But, thanks for answering my questions. That's all I had in mind to ask you."
The barbarian raised his thumb and smiled in satisfaction, before vanishing into thin air and letting everything turn back to normal.
"…No luck?"
He shrugged.
The Sorcerer King sighed in response and took the crystal ball back.
"Maybe it'll work the next time you visit…"
'Ha… the next time I visit?' William thought.
He knew there was little chance he'd be returning to this place without a good reason. He was far too worn out of this earthy environment already.
However, there was a small chance he could pay a visit, once in a while.
And so, finally, the Sorcerer King was preparing to bring William out of the underground.