Chapter 134: First Encounter

"Who are you?!" (???)

The man who had torn down the statues—and was even now making them float —stepped back and approached his group while staring at the person who had appeared out of nowhere.

He was being cautious, since they were now inside the mirror dimension, where the rules of this world were different, and he couldn’t gauge the strength of the entity standing before them.

But the fact that this entity could see them and even seemed to have entered this dimension on its own made it very clear to them that it wasn’t an ordinary person.

Even so, there’s always an exception to the rule, and among their group, there was someone who could determine such things even in this place.

The man glanced sideways at a girl in the group.

She was short, with light blonde hair, and was wearing a thick blindfold that clearly prevented her from seeing.

But despite that, the man and the others present knew that she was the one best able to see things.

With a quick glance, she could determine not only that person’s strength but also break down their very existence in such a way that they couldn’t hide anything.

Once she gave the signal, their next actions would be decided, but...

"I can’t see anything... I can hear it, just like you can, but I can’t see it. It’s as if it doesn’t exist... No, it’s more than that. I feel like something is watching me. No, no, no! Stay away!" (???)

The woman seemed so bewildered that she didn’t even remember their secret signals and simply blurted out what was happening.

And not only that, she began acting as if she’d lost her mind.

It wasn’t clear what she was looking at, but it was the first time something like that had ever happened.

The man grew even more cautious and signaled to another member of the group to knock out the girl with the blindfold, who even seemed intent on stabbing herself in the eyes.

"Whoa! What just happened? Is that cutie okay?"

Once again, the person’s voice was heard.

What had just happened made it abundantly clear to them that this was not someone the group—now consisting of four members—could deal with.

That being possessed such a level of power that even fleeing seemed out of the question. No one said a word, and they stood there, unsure of what to do.

"Huh? Come to think of it, why does everything around me seem to be fragmenting? How crazy! It’s like being surrounded by mirrors, but I can also see outside. Ugh! It’s making me a little dizzy."

"...You, who are you? Why are you here? Are you one of Delphia’s hidden cards? Was this a trap to catch us?" (???)

Finally, the group’s leader spoke up and asked questions. It was dangerous, and he could die at any moment, but he had to get as much information as he could.

He secretly activated a device to record everything that was happening there. Even if they died, the information would be sent to headquarters.

"Huh? Guard, what are you talking about?! Hey, wait—now that I take a closer look, you guys don’t look like the Guardians of the Twelve Constellations who uphold the cosmos. Who are you?"

"...What does all that mean? Weren’t you part of Astraelyon?" (???)

At that moment, both sides realized something: neither seemed to be what the other had originally thought.

"Hey, who answers a question with another question? Well, it’s obvious you’re not guards. Phew! Seriously, you scared me for a moment. I thought you’d caught me stealing the wing from the statue. Wait—you’re trying to steal this statue, aren’t you?"

"If you’re not from Astraelyon, does that mean you’re taking advantage of the chaos we caused to also take one of the Eyes of Argos? Are you trying to take advantage of us?" (???)

"Eyes of Argos? What are you talking about now?! Wait, did you say you caused this chaos? Hmm, now that I think about it, you’re all dressed like weird cultists. Ah, wait—are you some kind of evil organization or something?"

"Evil organization? You! Don’t you know who we are? We’re the Vigilia del Umbral!! We’re the ones who, instead of the Ten Kingdoms, will guide the world down the best path!" (???)

"Ugh! What a lousy name and what a cliché premise! It seems like the creator didn’t have much imagination. Does this really happen in real life? Yeah, I should’ve noticed. Red and black in their outfits—it screams ’second-rate evil organization’... Well, that doesn’t matter to me. The important thing here is that you’re an evil organization that started this terrorism."

"Blasphemy! How dare you say that about us?! We are the—" (???)

"Hold on there. Yeah, I know you’re going to say something silly like ’we’re the chosen ones’ and who knows what else. Ugh! Who would’ve thought I’d run into such weird people. Well, it seems there’s a misunderstanding here. I don’t want Argos; all I wanted was a piece of the statue. Wait a minute."

This person seemed easy to talk to and so calm that, at some point, the group—without even realizing it—stopped feeling the pressure and tension.

And at their own pace, the person quietly disappeared behind the statue once again...

Zzzzzrrrk!

A sound was heard that, now that everyone thought about it, had already been there when they first arrived.

It was a sawing sound,

After a few seconds of not knowing what to do, the person spoke again.

"Ha! Well, now I have my souvenir!"

The person emerged from behind the statue again, holding one of the statue’s gigantic golden wings. Then, that gigantic wing disappeared.

"..." (???)

"Okay, now then... I think there’s a misunderstanding. I was just doing that. I don’t think we’re at odds, so we don’t have to fight, right? Or do you want to take that wing away from me—the one that took me so much effort to cut off? ?_?"

"...N-no, that’s not it. What we want is in the center of the statues... But your earlier blasphemy against our glorious—" (???)

"Stop! Hold on a second! Before you give me a lecture, I want to ask you something! Once you answer me, I’ll leave, and you guys can keep these statues. Everyone gets what’s theirs and we’re all happy, right? Or do you want to fight right here? ?_?"

The moment that entity said that, issuing a clear warning, everyone tensed up.

Yes, the way it acted and spoke made the leader, for a moment, forget that he was dealing with a dangerous being.

The good news for the group was that it didn’t seem to be part of Astraelyon nor opposed to their organization; rather, it seemed as though it had only just become aware of their existence.

The important thing was that its words seemed to be true, so the man nodded—though if the entity asked crucial questions about their organization, he would resist, even if it led to his death.

"Yes, Major. You may ask." (???)

"Major? Well, never mind. The thing is, I’m wondering: why did you decide to attack right now? Ahem... Was it by any chance because there was a problem with Argos recently and you took advantage of the moment?"

"Huh?... Well, the Major is right. We launched this attack because Argos failed. We don’t know what caused it, but Argos’s flawless surveillance system went down for a few seconds, allowing us to carry out our plans ahead of schedule."(???)

"(/_ ), damn it! So after all this, it really was my fault—damn you, Sistem-chan... Wait, did you say ’ahead of schedule’? You were going to launch this attack anyway, right?"

"You aren’t trying to buy time with your questions, are you, Major?" (???)

"No, just answer quickly—we might get caught. I’m not exactly doing anything that’s exactly legal either."

"I see. Yes, it’s just as the Major says. We had planned another method—one we’d been preparing for decades to create a breach in Argos—which involved the sacrifice of a thousand people and—..." (???)

"w(?Д?) Damn, you really are cultists—and extreme ones at that!By the way, how far ahead of schedule is your plan?"

"About two months. It’s a shame that, because this opportunity came so unexpectedly, we couldn’t gather more resources to deal a heavy blow to the academy, but the Eye of Argos takes priority... Wait, why are you saying so much? What did you do to me?" (???)

"Huh? Me?... Nothing. You just started talking on your own. Well, now I see that this whole thing revolves around stealing these statues, which are sort of like Eyes of Argos, right? I guess they’re terminals connected to the main Eye, the one in the capital."

"..." (???)

"Huh? You don’t want to talk anymore? Well, whatever. Like I said, I won’t interfere anymore. But, on second thought, after all, I think it’s a bad idea to let such an obviously evil organization achieve its goal."

"Huh? major? But...!" (???)

"Yeah, honestly, I don’t know why you wasted your time arguing with me. A mere Rank Two, when obviously all of you are so strong. But it was good to know that in this world there are a few cultists who’ll serve as my scapegoats. Well, goodbye!"

In an instant, the statue in front of them vanished, and the very next moment, the person disappeared as well.

"..." (???)

Those present were baffled by how abruptly it all happened.

Their goal, their decades-long plan... Everything had been thrown away. They had achieved nothing and wasted a great deal of resources.

However, they had survived the encounter with a being of unknown power, and now, at least, they were aware of its existence—and their organization would no longer be caught off guard.

It seemed that someone else had been collecting fragments of the fallen deities during the Age of the Gods, just like them.

..

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