Chapter 1529: She Needs Help With The Rooms In The Back
"So... I’m assuming you need an army?" I asked, looking at Chancellor Vastraea carefully.
She nodded her head slowly, "Yes... I was worried that I might have needed to recruit the other professors and maybe even the students to fulfil this order given to me by my Goddess... But I see she had foreseen this and sent you to me."
I’m honestly not sure about her sending me to Vastraea for this but I believe it’s more of a case of her hearing about Director Vesper’s oath and figured that I might come and tell the Chancellor next so she gave her that mission to fulfil.
She clasped her hands together, "It would bring me great honour if you would aid me in this, Apostle Aster... For I fear if I were to do this on my own, I might fail my Goddess."
I shrugged, "I don’t mind, I guess? Since this was something that Isre wanted you to do, right? And she probably wanted me to be involved given the timing of when she gave you this work."
She bowed her head, "I thank you, Aster. I will not forget this debt."
It really isn’t that big of a deal... I mean... I also get to see what is down there so I see it as a win, to be honest.
Come on! This was supposed to be some kind of rift or something that formed after the island was floated up into the sky right? Surely there’s something interesting down there! Maybe even awesome loot too!
Then again... I guess part of the reason here was the fact that I kind of also want to test out my new crown and staff to see how well it might work in a real fight.
I smiled at her, "There’s no need for you to go that far. Like I said, this was something that Isre had wanted as well and I am also your apprentice so things like helping you with something like this is normal."
"Still... Nevertheless, I thank you. I understand that you have also told me this secret of your Shadow Guards in confidence so I will strive to ensure that this remains a secret and that you would be able to learn even more through it."
That’s exactly what I hoped to begin with but hearing her say it definitely made me feel more at ease.
"So... When do we head to the rift?" I asked.
She straightened herself, "If your schedule allows it, Aster... Right now."
Eh? Right now? Err... I guess... It’s not like I have anything to prepare but...
I hesitated for a moment, "Should I call my party members?"
Vastraea seemed to consider my suggestion for a moment before shaking her head, "I would like to keep this as quiet as possible and involve as few people as possible, Aster... If you don’t mind? You may tell them after we have at least scouted this rift to see what we are up against and whether we are able to handle it on our own."
Hmm... I suppose she’s doing that because she didn’t want to cause a mass panic within the Academy. And she wants to keep my girls out of it as well since this was a task that was given to her by Isre and involving others might make her feel like she wasn’t able to serve the goddess on her own.
My participation didn’t count because I am an apostle in her eyes so it was fine for me to aid her without diminishing her standing as a Comissar.
At least.. That’s what I believe was going through her mind.
Since this was her mission anyway, I decided to just go along with her request and followed along with her plan.
I nodded, "I understand. In that case, I am ready when you are. Ah... This won’t... Impact my studies, right?"
She shook her head, "For now, I only intend to see what the place is like and whether we might need more help to deal with it. We should be back before it gets dark."
Oh, then there really shouldn’t be a problem with me accompanying her then.
Seeing that I was ready, she also made her own preparations which was simply picking up her staff that she had placed at the side before she was ready to go.
I was wondering how we might head to that rift which she claimed was under the water below the island when she waved her staff to tear open a space in the air, making a portal for us to step through.
From here, I couldn’t really see what was behind the portal as it was just inky blackness behind it, which I wasn’t sure if it was because the portal doesn’t show what was on the other side or it was because the other side was really just an inky blackness.
She turned to give me a curt nod before leading the way into the portal, letting me step through right after her.
When we were through the portal, I realised we were actually underwater and surrounded by an air bubble that was suspended in the middle of the ocean.
The thing that gave away the fact I was underwater was the sight of a single fish swimming away the moment it saw us, disappearing into the darkness of the sea.
I opened my mouth to ask where the rift was until I realised that the illumination I was seeing around me did not come from the portal I stepped through but something else behind it.
I turned back and found an even bigger tear in space that somehow was not affected by the water surrounding it, the portal glowing in hues of purple and pink that lit up the darkness around it in an ethereal glow.
I gulped, "Is that..."
"A spatial rift that was created due to the remnant mana that was used to lift the island up into the sky? Yes," Vastraea confirmed with a nod. "And we have to figure out how to close it..."
"How do we even close something like that?"
"A rift like this is usually opened by someone or something tapping into the mana in two locations to use as a link between two different places... If we can find who or what has linked the mana of their place with this one to create this portal, we could possibly shut this off."
"So... We’re going in? Just like that? What’s even in there?"
Vastraea held her staff tightly in her grip, "I have attempted to divine what might be on the other side of that tear in space and the only thing I’ve felt was what felt like death and despair waiting on the other side."
I paused and tilted my head at her, "Are you sure we should be going inside then? Should I... Send one of my Shadow Guards ahead?"
She nodded, "Please."
I summoned one of my Shadow Guards, one of the more recent summons instead of Eins or any of my usual summons, and directed her through the portal.
She stepped out of the bubble and floated into the portal without hesitation, my senses linked to it as I looked through her eyes.
The moment I stepped through the portal, I found myself standing in a... Really odd looking space.
𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎
More specifically... I was looking at what looked like some kind of subliminal space in the middle of an empty room with yellow wallpaper and... Wait... Are those fluorescent lights on the ceiling?
Those are definitely fluorescent lights...
Looking around, the empty room had no doors and just continued until it abruptly opened up into what looked like a maze of corridors all framed with the same yellow walls and empty corridors.
There was a distinct humming sound in the air as well, the hum you might hear of electricity running in the background.
Aside from that humming sound, the place was completely silent, almost like I had stepped inside a tomb.
No... It felt even more quiet than a tomb...
I took a few steps forward, looking around to see if the corridors lead anywhere else but... It really did look like it was just an endless maze of yellow corridors with no end in sight.
In fact, there was literally nothing around, not even a single object could be seen within these rooms.
Despite the fact that there was quite literally nothing around me, I felt a chill go down my spine and I couldn’t help but feel like there might just be something terrifying right around the corner of one of these walls.
I decided that this wasn’t really a place I wanted to be in so I turned my Shadow Guard around, preparing to walk it back through the portal to return to me... Only to see that the place where the portal should have been was a featureless, yellow wall with no tear in space in sight.
...
Crap...