Chapter 394 Age of Empyrean III (1/2)
CHAPTER 394
AGE OF EMPYREAN (III)
Lino jolted off his seat, his brows furrowing deeply as he sensed a talisman burning inside his void world. Looking through it, he quickly realized it was Ion's, surprising him -- not only because it was quicker than he expected, but also that it was Ion rather than Jack who sent him the alarm.
Getting up on his feet rapidly, he didn't dare dally around; a bad feeling surged inside his heart as he leaped out of the window and the fortress itself, using his Will rather than his Wings to fly. He knew that he couldn't rip the space open and arrive there as it was most-likely locked, so he had to do it the old-fashioned way.
He quickly whipped out a talisman of his own and burned it, an image forming in front of his eyes shortly after, morphing into a figure. Ella appeared to be alone, slightly surprised when she saw his serious expression.
”... already?” she mumbled, frowning.
”Yeah.” he replied.
”Something's wrong.”
”... yeah.”
”... burn a talisman just before you're trapped,” she said. ”I'll arrive right after.”
”Tell Val to cease phasing back in for as long as possible,” he added quickly before they cut the conversation. ”Something's really off about this...”
”... be careful.” Ella added with a worrisome expression as the image of her in front of his eyes vanished into smoke.
Focusing, he entirely ignored the blurring world beneath him that he sped above, cleaving right through the clouds yet not getting wet in the slightest. Myriad of thoughts cascaded through his mind at that moment, each trying to take precedence over another, making it all merely a jumbled mess.
”... you have to calm down.” a voice of a stranger, by this point, suddenly echoed inside his mind, startling him faintly.
”You're alive?!” he exclaimed flamboyantly, shrugging right after. ”This isn't the time to calm down.”
”It is,” Ataxia said in the same, robotic voice as always. ”You are walking straight into their den. Being overconfident can doom you.”
”... I'm not overconfident,” Lino said. ”Just worried.”
”You've planned it all too loosely, leaving far too many variables in the playing field,” Ataxia said, causing Lino to ponder why he was so chatty today. ”There was no need to rush it; though better if they fall earlier, it won't doom us if they fall a bit later.”
”I had to rush it,” Lino sighed. ”You know that. Exactly because there are too many variables at play.”
”You could have been a bit more patient and entirely removed the Descent as a variable,” Ataxia added. ”Now, however, they will be your main problem.”
”... I know,” Lino said, frowning faintly. ”That's one of the reasons I'm not overconfident. At the very least, I hope they underestimate me. If not... haii, it's gonna be a bitch of a battle to win.”