【Story】(Route B) Chapter 3: After Looking into the Tower

Ch. 3　After Looking into the Tower

Part 1

“A Lifetime”

Ingrid: So what do we do with him?
With the help of Cang Bi and Leonard, Enoch and his companions successfully prevented the crumble of Heaven, as well as the Enochian Tower. They came to the war-torn hall in Heaven and stopped in front of Laplace, who was lying on the floor.
Laplace curled himself up and shut his eyes as if he were asleep. The peaceful and sacred look on his face made Enoch hesitate.
Enoch: We can’t just leave him here. Let’s bring him back to our base.
Ingrid: …Enoch!
Just when Enoch was about to lift Laplace up, Ingrid detected a smouldering hostility and held him back immediately. Almost instantly, a powerful elemental attack blasted right at the position where Enoch had been standing just a few seconds ago. Specks of dust and sand were scattered in the air.
A man leapt to Laplace’s side and held him around his waist. Laplace was awoken, his golden eyelashes fluttered like a hand fan, his gloomy eyes reflected the face of the man.
Laplace: Baal…
Baal: Why didn’t you fight back?
Laplace: I was tired.
Baal: Then let me do it for you.
Laplace: Whatever you do, you can never get what you want.
Baal: It’s okay, I don’t like to get things so easily. I wouldn’t be motivated…That’s why I’ll spend my life satisfying you.
Laplace: …It’s your choice.
Holding Laplace in his arms, Baal was about to make his departure through a crack in the wall—
Enoch: Stop!
Baal: Goodbye, my dear principal.
Enoch: Huh? You—
Enoch was taken aback by the way the man had addressed him. It took him a while to react, and he could only watch them leave.
Enoch: “Curiously, the demon looked quite familiar…and he called me ‘principal’…Could it be…No, that’s impossible!”
Ingrid: Darn it! They’re gone. Should we chase after them?
Enoch: …No, we have more important things to do.
Hong Ai: Should we help Mephibo in fighting the demons?
???: There’s no need to do so; the demon army has retreated.
Enoch: Giemsa! And Novalis, Ursula! You’re all safe and sound…
Giemsa: Yes, we wouldn’t be able to catch up with you without them showing us the way.
Enoch: Thank you. It must’ve been extremely hard to defeat the demons.
Giemsa: No…We didn’t actually defeat them; they had been overpowering. But at the end of the battle, their leader left the army all of a sudden. The army didn’t know what to do and got into a mess, that was how we turned the tide.
Enoch: The leader left…Oh! It must be the one who just saved Laplace—Hmm!
Some eerie noise was sent from above, which sounded like a horrid curse or the cry of a newborn. They looked into the sky through the holes in the wall. Everyone was terrified by what they saw. Their bodies trembled, their mouths wide open.
Enoch: What… what happened?
The azure sky was filled with multiple shades of ominous colors, in which the massive shadows of other planets appeared. Visibly, the planets were getting closer.
Novalis: He…will awake soon.
Ingrid: It’s the destructive origin…
Hong Ai: Huh…I don’t understand!
Ingrid: Sigh, to put it simply, if we don’t stop it now, I’m afraid everyone on the Continent Tarones would die.
Enoch: Die… You mean all of these planets will fall onto Continent Tarones?
Ingrid: Yes, it should be the result of the elemental disorder…We should find Pompeii; only he knows the solution.
Enoch: Got it! Hong Ai!
Hong Ai: No problem, we’ll get there in no time once I shift into my dragon form!
Giemsa: Be careful, Enoch. The libra of laws will show you the right way.
Nodding thankfully towards Giemsa, Enoch hopped onto Hong Ai’s back together with Ingrid and headed to the entrance of Mech City…

Part 2

“Agents Assembled”

To stop the calamity, Enoch and Ingrid came to the entrance of the Pilgrimage in the Mech City underground.
The members of Magic Agency have all arrived, even Zana, Behemoth, and Bahamut, who had gone missing before, were all here, right beside Pompeii the machina. Everyone came forward as they saw Enoch and Ingrid.
Dagda: Principal, why are you so late! If you could arrive earlier, Mephibo wouldn’t have been…Darn it!
Enoch: Huh? What happened?
Qingxia: Sigh…let me explain to you.
Afterwards, Enoch and the others learnt from Qingxia that Mephibo was killed by the infiltrated demons before he made an ambush.
Enoch: How-how could it be possible…Mephibo is dead…No! I won’t believe it! I…I…have to verify in person—Ah! 
Standing before Enoch, who was about to turn around, Ingrid slapped him across the face mercilessly. Calmed by the pain, he held his gaze at Ingrid, the girl exuding such an awe-inspiring aura.
Ingrid: There’s no time for sorrow. Enoch, get yourself together if you don’t want his death to go to waste.
Enoch took a deep breath, holding back the pain and anger, just as he had faced the death of Glauox. Finally, he regained his senses and turned to his companions.
Enoch: …Forgive my manners. What’s the situation?
Madam Heidi: There are shadows of planets in the sky up ahead, suddenly. We can’t be sure of what’s going on. But I can tell it’s really not a good sign.
Pompeii: …I’m afraid that the disorder of the elements has disturbed the balance of the creatures; the planets will crush onto the continent Tarones.
Enoch: Then what should we do now? If the planets crush on us, not only will Continent Tarones be destroyed, but so will the entire world!
Ingrid: Seems like we only have one choice left.
Enoch: …Release Monesis, the power of creation, so as to reset the order of the elements. Am I right?
Pompeii: Yes, you are.
Hong Ai: But won’t the horrifying power be released too if we do that?
Pompeii: True. Without Monesis, the origin of destruction will reappear… In the past, I decided to guard Monesis with all machinas and keep the destructive origin under control. But the consequence was that the blessings of Monesis diminished, causing the withering of other planets.
Enoch: Hold on. Is this the reason why resources on the home planets of the Holy Gods and Protodemons have drained?
Pompeii: You’ve guessed it. I had but two choices back then: the first one was what I did in the past, the second one was to keep Monesis free and allow the awakening of the destructive origin to take place. But then the world would be doomed…
Pompeii: So I chose the former even though I knew it was at best an expedient measure. Now, things are different— 
Pompeii reached Enoch with his hand in such a solemn manner as if he were handing over the entire world to Enoch.
Pompeii: We have you now, Enoch. You are chosen by destiny, and you possess the power of the destructive origin. You’ll be able to annihilate that creature and save the world from the shackles of the curse.
Hong Ai: Huh? What’re you talking about? I don’t understand a word.
It was indeed hard for Hong Ai to understand, but Enoch knew exactly what Pompeii had meant. He had been to the miraculous dimension where his secret history and mission were revealed to him.
Enoch: Not only me…I’ve received so much help from different people during my journey. I wouldn’t have gone so far without them… I believe in every one of you, and I have faith in those who have always strived to protect the continent. You will all assist me in rewriting the destiny of this world!
Pompeii: “All lives are somehow interdependent… It’s interesting how it is manifested again…”
Ingrid: Let’s not waste time and break the seal now.
With a nod, Pompeii stepped on the stage and placed his hand on the metal wall, his body emitting beams of gentle, crimson light. Phoom! The beams grew stronger and illuminated the Pilgrimage. A cornucopia of elements was dancing in the air.
Pompeii: The Great Monesis, all creatures are vital and lively in your embrace. We are all your children, who shall eventually become one. You have granted us lives, and we live in your glory…
Pompeii poured forth his prayers devoutly as he folded his hands on the kinetic core in his chest. A shimmering stone, which was spinning round and round, gradually became visible. The metal walls of the Pilgrimage started to shrink, and the hidden part of the gigantic puff of light was finally unveiled.
Enoch: “This is… Monesis… It’s beyond description. All I have inside of me is an irresistible urge to worship… and an ineffable affection…”
Overwhelmed by the scene, everyone held their breath as they fixed their eyes on Monesis. Ingrid, who still remained fully rational, was the only exception. A hint of uneasiness flickered across her eyes, and she soon caught sight of the purple shadow that stuck out behind Monesis.
Ingrid: Pompeii, watch out!
Pompeii: Urgh!
But the purple shadow reached Pompeii faster than Ingrid’s warning. It jumped over Monesis and trailed Pompeii like the vines of a tree. Pompeii struggled, but the shadow was simply immovable. Worse still, tentacles emerged out of the shadow, and one of them grabbed the soulstone in Pompeii’s kinetic core.
Enoch: Pompeii—!

Part 3

“Getting out of Hand”

Enoch wanted to save Pompeii, but it was all too late— Crack! Pompeii’s soulstone, along with the iridescent power inside, was shattered and engulfed by the purple shadow almost instantly.
???: 
The shadow let out a roar that was imperceivable to humans. It expanded rapidly and generated more limbs. It became so great in size that it eclipsed the brightness of Monesis and dominated the scene.
The enlarging shadow grew into a matter of abysmal blackness; its thin slices eventually formed a three-dimensional sphere. It looked solid, but it could flow as freely as liquid. The noise it made resembled the sound of the movement of a wet, fleshy object. The sounds invaded Enoch’s ears from all directions.
Enoch: “Ugh…! It feels like someone is touching my bones and stirring my brain.”
From the sphere stretched out countless tentacles. They went by the centre of the Pilgrimage and reached the Enochian Tower.
Enoch might not be able to see it from underground, but anyone who looked down from the sky would have noticed that the walls of the Enochian Tower were covered with vein-like violet tentacles. 
Hong Ai: Hmm… Something was excreted by that strange thing!
The dark sphere rotated, dripping thick, inky liquid down onto the floor, which eventually condensed into huge oval eggs. As the eggs cracked open, the species possessed by the tentacles were exposed.
Enoch: They are Saruman, the Solar and Lunar Sirius, and Odin!
Pompeii: He…devoured the Enochian Tower and the lives in it…just to gain more power…
Enoch: Pompeii! Are you alright?
With the help of Delta, Pompeii came near Enoch and turned his face slightly to inspect the sphere. It was simply impossible to look right into the sphere, even for someone as intelligent as Pompeii.
Pompeii: Just now… my seal was broken forcefully, and Monesis couldn’t control the excessive power of destruction—
Hong Ai: Oh no! Will all of us be eaten up?
Bahamut: Fear not. The sphere was just a part of it. Its main body is still in its long slumber underground. As long as we obliterate the sphere and weaken the power of the main body, it’s possible for Monesis to regain control.
Ingrid: But how do we do it? Do we have to demolish the Enochian Tower?
Pompeii: No… We don’t. We simply have to cut the source of the power… 
Enoch: Source of power?… You mean Saruman and the others?
Pompeii: Yes… Before the main body wakes up, we have to destroy the nucleus, extract Saruman’s power, and stop the black sphere from delivering the power to its main body.
Sonata: But they look so powerful, can we really defeat them?
Ingrid: If we can’t, it’ll be our… no, it’ll be the apocalypse for the whole world. As hopeless as the battle may seem, we must fight on!
Madam Heidi: Haha, the valor of Ingrid has always impressed me.
Hong Ai: I’m gonna help too!
Enoch: Everyone… Right, we can achieve anything when we’re united. We’ve been working together like this all along; this time it’s no exception.
Feeling the support of his companions, Enoch’s eyes brightened in confidence.
Ingrid: Let’s split up to defeat them one after another. Enoch, where’re you going?
Enoch: I…
Ingrid: Don’t worry, wherever you go, I’ll go with you… It’s… It’s my responsibility as an agent!
Enoch: Thanks, Ingrid, then I’ll…

Which will you choose