Chương 111: Forms of Chivalry

Ophelia kept her hands close to herself. Her visit to the Manabreak mine wasn't exactly authorized, and it was best to appear as non-threatening as possible. The miners wouldn't want a Mage Knight barging in on their authority. She was ruing the fact that she hadn't accompanied the Prime Minister and Marionys Ryland down into the depths beneath Arcoryx City. Then she could have slipped away in between everything going on and carried out her investigation without drawing attention to herself. …

no, who was she kidding? There had been that whole debacle with the Manabreak itself that had needed nearly everyone's input and participation. Ophelia would have cursed herself for the rest of her life if she had prioritized anything over the safety of innocents and the continued function of the Manabreak mine. Which meant her current investigation was the best choice. That thought was reassuring.

"We haven't noticed any issues since the sub-Academ correctly ordered the Manabreak," Head Miner Milva was saying.

"No issues at all since. Well, apart from the fact that we're having to redo our entire operational chain, which has made some in the city administration and upper echelons a little furious."

"But they aren't daring to say anything since the Prime Minister is claiming credit."

"Quite. Although, I suspect they will voice their grievance when the time is ripe…" Ophelia grimaced. Overall, Ryland had done the right thing. Even if the mine's operation was temporarily paused while the Miner Mages establish their new procedures, the slight delay in production would help in the long run. Fewer casualties among miners, fewer chances of any terrific breakouts from happening, less need for them to fear the Living Mana. So many benefits.

But many of those who slaved after money refused to look beyond the short-term. The disruption to their business was hurting their current profit margins. That was all they cared about. Obviously, the pressure affected the Head Miner far more than it did Ophelia, who was an entirely unaffiliated Mage Knight. Still. She could empathize. Ophelia had seen her mother, and her father too when she had been much younger, agonize over the current state of their family businesses for one reason or another.

When they reached the very bottom of the mine, the lowest Depth as the miners referred to it, Milva was proven right. Seemingly, there was nothing at all wrong with the enormous tear in space from which the miners would eventually extract the resources they were famous for. But Ophelia wasn't satisfied just yet.

"What is that?" Milva asked.

"This is a Glyphtech lamp," Ophelia said as she activated the purple light within the glass case.

"Built specifically to identify and recognize various Glyphs. Especially ones that are supposed to remain more hidden than most."

"Interesting. I suppose now is the time to take you to the Manabreak itself?" Ophelia nodded. What followed was a short tour of the various platforms and scaffolds that the miners used to get to the Manabreak. Ophelia had never been this close before, so she appreciated the guidance. She especially appreciated the opportunity to prove her suspicions right.

"You see," she said, pointing at the Glyph revealed by the amethyst light of her lamp. Milva was slowly starting to look concerned.

"What is that?"

"A Glyph. I can't recognize what it is right now, but it's powerful. Look at the colouring."

"Tier [25] at least. What madness." The Head Miner frowned.

"Hold on. Is this one of the Glyphs that the so-called sub-Academ used to set things straight?"

"No, it's older." Ophelia pointed to a display on the bottom edge of the lamp. It read just over a year. A time period where Ryland wasn't known to have been on Vyrd. She had checked. Which meant someone else had set this Glyph. Someone who was more powerful than anyone else in Arcoryx City, for no one she knew could manifest a Tier [25] Glyph. Milva was growing more and more concerned going by the hardening of her expression.

Ophelia was too, but the feeling was struggling for dominance against a strange sensation of triumph. She was right. Something was going on. All that was left was to figure out what and put a stop to this. They moved on to other sections of the Manabreak, travelling from platform to platform. Milva wasn't wasting any time, not even bothering to answer the curious queries of other senior miners. Good thing she didn't. In over three-fourths of the locations they went to, they found more of those powerful Glyphs.

Aside from the prismatic edge, they were black and red, as though they were constructed from blood. The more they found, the faster they went to their next location and discovered more.

"How are there so many of them?" Milva asked.

"We've been conducting all sorts of surveys throughout the years. Surely, we'd have spotted them long ago if they've been here for over a year." Ophelia shook her head, one of her theories coming to the fore.

"It was Ryland."

"What? No, he helped us to resolve the Manabreak's issue with its need for the missing Vestige."

"I'm not saying he set these Glyphs for some nefarious purpose, or that he set these Glyphs at all. He couldn't have, right? We already determined their age. What I mean is that the way he helped with the Manabreak might have something to do with why they're visible now."

"Oh! The rearrangement." Milva cursed.

"Right. It's entirely possible that the chaotic mixture of Realm pockets was obscuring the Glyphs somehow, but now that they've been ordered, everything they might have hidden is now revealed."

"Exactly." While that theory held credence, there was something else bothering Ophelia. Why hadn't Ryland noticed these Glyphs, then? Surely, he was capable of it. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. It was entirely possible he hadn't been bothered by it. Ophelia could be overreacting to something Ryland didn't think was of much concern. But things could be of no concern to a mage as powerful as him yet still be horrifically destructive for others.

"What does this mean?" Milva's face twisted with growing dismay. Clearly, she thought that whatever those Glyphs were supposed to do had already started.

"We need to act. We need to at least mitigate whatever is going on." Ophelia brought the hand she had been holding close to her mouth. The Glyph of Communication shone with a white light.

"Sir Bruten. This is Ophelia. I've confirmed my suspicions. There is something rather concerning going on in the mine. I'm requesting immediate reinforcements. Please answer as soon as you can. There may be no time to waste." There. Ophelia had enough proof. Her concern was justified. Now, even if she alone couldn't handle things, at least she had called for backup.

"These Glyphs look like nothing I've ever seen before," Milva said.

"I can't read their prints." Then she shook herself.

"I will inform my colleagues and take the necessary preparations, though for what would have been fantastic to know." Ophelia stared at the strange Glyphs. Now that they had been revealed, it almost felt as though the mana they were empowering was coming alive. That the magic they sought to bring about was sizzling into existence.

"There really might not be much time left," she said quickly. Milva nodded and hastily leaped away, yelling at the rest of the miners to get ready. In seconds, a chorus of calls and yells was ricocheting throughout the entire mine, machinery and Glyphtech moving in tandem as they all got ready. Ophelia turned and faced the Manabreak. Her magic began flowing, just as that of the bloody Glyph was. It was nearly time. She couldn't—refused to—falter here.

"Sartrap!" Valorous yelled.

"Hurry. We must find Chivalrous. Move along, now." The Titanomech construct carried off Valorous's new body without much trouble. This new forgean form that Valorous had taken was rather heavy. The rocky body was not at all to his liking. But such sacrifices had to be made for the betterment of the Flourinus Order.

"Have no fear, master," Sartrap said, metal bits and pieces clinking together as he moved across the Order's gargantuan base.

"We will arrive there in moments." They did arrive in mere moments, though Valorous wasn't entirely satisfied.

"Three seconds late!" he said as Sartrap pushed open doors taller than castle walls.

"Remind me to punish you as soon as we're done here."

"Right away, master. I eagerly await whatever it is you deem that I deserve." They both stopped right at the threshold of the room they had entered. Well, Sartrap had stopped, but Valorous didn't mind it. Chivalrous was tearing apart and eating a Calamity's carcass. Everything in sight was nothing but gore and viscera. It was all various shades of green too, so instead of blood, it just looked goopy. And disgusting. Not that it had ever stopped Chivalrous.

"How long has he been at it?" Valorous asked.

"I saw him in this state last time I was here several months ago."

"Nine years, eleven months, ten days, thirteen hours, thirty-nine minutes, and five seconds," Sartrap said.

"Six seconds. Seven seconds. Eight—""Enough." Valorous cleared his throat.

"Chivalrous! That's enough, now. We have important business to attend." Chivalrous didn't listen. All Valorous got as a response at first was the continued tearing and ripping sounds, followed by violent chewing and gnashing of teeth.

"Chivalrous!" Valorous shouted. No response still. So, he knocked on the head of his ride.

"Sartrap, I am about to send you in there."

"Oh, how horrifying," Sartrap said.

"Allow me to remedy the situation, master." For all that he was a Titanomech automaton, Sartrap was still smart. He plunged a mechanical arm into the green goop and unleashed a thundering jolt of electricity." Argh!" Valorous smiled, pleased by the cry.

"Your punishment has been reduced, Sartrap."

"Thank you, master. You are ever so generous and kind." Chivalrous finally came out now that his food was being cooked. His bulbous body rolled over, the beady eyes above his gaping maw staring hatefully at Valorous and Sartrap.

"Must you disturb me so?" he growled. His voice was thick, like he still hadn't swallowed his last bite. He probably hadn't.

"Yes, you glutton. It's been a decade—a decade —of eating. You are rounder than a moon. And probably just as heavy."

"This is a great experiment! The Great Calamity is dead, but there is yet a chance for rebirth. A chance for something new to rise. Through me!"

"Yes, yes, spare me the sermon. Now come, we have an important event to witness."

"There is nothing more important than my holy wo—""A new Calamity, you gluttonous oaf. A new one is about to rise. Righteous's efforts are about to bear fruit. Do you truly wish to miss that?" With a heavy grumble, Chivalrous decided to follow Sartrap and Valorous along. It took them a while to find the bay from which Righteous was observing his creation. When they found the chamber he had hollowed out from the interior of an apocalyptic meteor, they had to work their way inside to get into position.

The whole room was filled with pipes and cables stretching from various devices all along the walls and floor, each of their other ends connected to Righteous herself.

"Ah, visitors." Her face was a literal mask of glass. A screen that projected crude drawings of different expressions. Right now, she was showing them the smile of a madwoman.

"Just in time. You are about to witness my fifty-eighth crowning glory. Oh, and the rise of one of our beloved Great Ones too, of course." They all took position in front of the gigantic screen showing a view of darkness. Valorous didn't need long to recognize the location, and Righteous was already aware, of course. It was Chivalrous who kept grumbling and mumbling until Sartrap finally informed him what they were witnessing.

"The location," the Titanomech automaton said.

"Is the Realm of Vyrd, the nation of Androvia, the city of Arcoryx. There lies a mine. One that contains a Manabreak. The first one." Righteous cackled.

"See the pockets of other Realms in the Manabreak? Those are mine. My connections. See the Glyphs within? All mine. This is my greatest achievement, my truest victory—""Ahem."

"Mine and Valorous's triumph. We have worked hard to make this dream of ours a reality. We have—""Can we get on with it already?" Chivalrous demanded. Righteous shot him a glare, but she proceeded anyway.

"You wouldn't need to glare at me if this was planned and scheduled in advance," he grumbled.

"I set my magic to activate at once in case it was discovered," Righteous said." Someone tampered with the Manabreak, which revealed the Glyphs I had carefully placed ages ago. So, don't blame me, Chivalrous." Chivalrous had pulled out a large chunk of Calamity meat from somewhere. Valorous smothered his frown. His munching and chewing were a smidge better than his grumbling. But then, Sartrap came in with a complaint.

"Would this someone not interfere again?" No one answered because Sartrap was merely an automaton, Titanomech or otherwise. It was only when Chivalrous finished his munching and echoed the same complaint, just with bits of meat spewing out of his mouth alongside his words, that there was finally an answer.

"He has been waylaid," Valorous said with a wide smirk. He still remembered being tortured by that madman, that mongrel, that malcontent of a mage.

"He will not interfere. And even if he somehow manages to break free of our trap, it will be too late by then. Isn't that right, Righteous?"

"Indeed!" she said, then cackled as her power came alive. The pipes and wires connected to Righteous all trembled and glowed as her magic zipped through them. Her mana was so potent that their entire base was starting to shake. Everything rocked and trembled, dust raining down from the ceiling above. Valorous just looked on intently. The blood-red Glyphs were glowing with furious energy, mana churning into a magical storm that would soon envelope the entire world.

One aspect he loved about it was the way it sent everyone scurrying. There were a handful here and there preparing to fight, ready to face off against the devastation awaiting them. Fools. Feckless, faithless, fathomless fools. It would only be right that they were eradicated for they weren't even worthy of worshipping the new being about to be born. They all stared with unrelenting intensity as their dreams were about to be realized. Then a crack resounded through the magic.

Spell circles bloomed all across the Manabreak, each one looking identical to the next. Then the rifts appeared on top of the array of Realm pockets.

"No!" Righteous cried out as the rifts began eating the magic from her Glyphs. Even Chivalrous had stopped eating as he stared.

"Is this… him?" Valorous felt himself shaking, felt everything within him fry and burn and come alive all at the same time like he was becoming a living lightning bolt.

"No, no, no." He grabbed Sartrap by his head and shook hard." Ryland!"