626 Two Puppet Parts (1/2)
As the silver longsword shook slightly, Rhine suddenly blinked to the behind of the gate that hadn't been closed, leaving a slowly disappearing shadow behind. He said in both amusement and anger, ”You met the monster that could pretend to be someone else, too?”
He sounded more or less relieved, as if he had confirmed that Lucien was authentic.
Lucien looked at him warily. After enhancing himself with Mechanized Mind and Mental Barrier again, he was rational enough to not directly attack Rhine. ”Mr. Rhine, how can I confirm that you are authentic?”
You should at least give me an undeniable fact, or it will be better for the both of us if we go separate ways.
Rhine pulled the gate and prevented it from being closed. He said with a smile, ”I understand that you cannot tell if I am impersonated by the monster by scent, blood, body or memories. I was injured because of that just now. However, I believe there's something that the monster absolutely cannot simulate unless he is the God of Truth.”
”What is it?” Lucien vaguely guessed Rhine's answer.
A pair of enormous bat wings appeared behind Rhine's red coat, and the vague moonlight glowed, announcing the arrival of the majestic, domineering air of a demigod. A silver moon seemed to be rising in the grey hall. He said, ”This is the air of the Primordial Ancestor. That monster cannot fabricate a demigod. The air on your left hand will let me know that you are not fake.”
Sensing the familiar air of Alterna, Lucien was finally relieved. He showed the air of the Silver Moon and the mysterious existence of the World of Souls in his left hand without reserve. ”Alright, I'm convinced that you are Mr. Rhine. If the monster can simulate the air of a demigod, I wouldn't be able to escape even if I was not deceived.”
Rhine coughed, with blood spreading out on his lips. Although internal bleeding was a serious wound for vampires, he simply smiled as if it were nothing important. ”It's a reasonable choice to be cautious. I was hit because I was too reckless.”
”The monster I encountered pretended to be you. What about yours?” Lucien retreated the Sword of Truth and kept the Shield of Truth, retaining his wariness.
Rhine coughed again. ”He pretended to be another prince among the vampires who's very close to me.”
”Oh, so to speak, the monster can simulate both the lives that entered the 'grey maze' and the experts outside of this place?” Asked Lucien in confusion. What was the mechanism behind that?
The 'grey maze' was the name that Lucien came up with for the grey halls and the black gates.
”Grey maze? Hehe, this place is called 'Realm of Gates'. At least, the legendary sorcerers who went missing in this place called it that way.” Rhine corrected him. ”I suspect that there's something wrong with this 'Realm of Gates'. Perhaps, our memories are open in this place. So, the monster pretended to be the prince according to my memories.”
The memories are open? What about the secrets from Earth? What about the spirit library? Lucien considered the problem seriously. Would he see Gundam, Super Saiyans or Starships that are simulated by the monster?
What a spectacular world it would be…
”The Realm of Gates? Mr. Rhine, did you find the things that Viken left behind?” Since he couldn't discuss the spiritual library with Rhine, Lucien asked another important question.
Rhine shook his head. ”I came to this place when I followed the mysterious piece inside Sard's body. I only found a few fragments before I was attacked. There's some information on them.”
Instead of keeping it a secret, he tossed a few pieces of grey paper to Lucien.
Picking them up with 'Mage's Hand' carefully, Lucien browsed through them.
”…There are countless black gates in this place. A surprise, and of course, a danger, may be hiding behind every gate. We have named this place 'Realm of Gates'…”
”…We accidentally found certain weird creatures behind the gates. They are somewhat similar to the research that we conducted before. If we hadn't already achieved some results, we probably would never have discovered them…”
”…Maybe, we can find a way to get in there by studying those creatures…”
”…Somebody seemed to be here before…”
Lucien recognized the handwriting on two pieces of paper. One of them belonged to McLeod that he learnt just now, and the other was Maskelyne's.
”Weird creatures? Are there plenty of such creatures?” Lucien said, feeling that his blood was freezing, while he considered the information on the last piece of paper. Somebody was here before Maskelyne and the explorers came?
Rhine closed the black gate and wiped the blood on his lips with a white handkerchief, before he shook his head and said, ”That's impossible. If there were plenty of such monsters, Maskelyne and his lot wouldn't have discovered them or written those notes in relief at all.”
He meant that Maskelyne and the team should've been wiped out soon after they entered. After all, they were not as strong as him, who could summon the Silver Moon. Also, since the team was rather huge, there would've been plenty of opportunities for the monsters who were adept at disguise.
”It makes sense. Even you were heavily wounded from the ambush, Mr. Rhine.” Lucien nodded. ”Right, Mr. Rhine, how strong was the monster you encountered?”
Rhine folded the handkerchief and put it in his pocket. ”He was undoubtedly the peak of legendary. I only beat it back after summoning the power of the Primordial Ancestor. However, if I hadn't been as carefully, I could've escaped even if I could not defeat it.”
After pausing for a moment, he smiled and said, ”I am now a level-three legendary vampire.”
”Why was the monster I encountered only level two of legendary?” Lucien was rather puzzled about that. ”Did we meet different monsters?”