Gate Guardian - Song Of The Frozen Soul

After the fight against that weird Necross Eidolon, I immediately delivered Rikkun towards the weird uphill forest that exists in the Dradecim outskirts. Since both Rikkun and my memories are now back, there would be no problems if I showed him the eerie church. I also texted Jecchan that we"ll be going to the cathedral.

The night has fallen, and everything is almost dark. It took us a couple of minutes in venturing in the forest until we finally managed to get to the top of the hill where there are buildings that looked abandoned. 

Rikkun was fascinated by the dragon-and-maiden fountain that stands at the center of the wide oval. Even if there"s no water running through that statue, it is truly a sight to behold. Not even the night is good enough to hide its features.

We finally stopped when we are in front of the cathedral. Just like before, the windows provide light from the inside, which means that there are people. I slowly opened the giant door and finally, three ladies greeted us.

It was Z, Guinevere, and Jecchan. They are standing right after the door which means that they have felt our presence the moment we step our foot on the hill.

"Welcome, dear guests." Guinevere greeted us with her innocent smile. Her charming princess-like aura still captivates me.

"So this guy is Aeternos, huh? He looks weaker than he looks." Z pressed her face forward to look at Rikkun, but then her witch"s hat poked Rikkun"s forehead.

"Ow! Watch it, you cosplaying runt!" Rikkun scolded.

"Teehee~" Z withdrew herself as she knocked her head. "You kinda sound like my master there."

"I never thought we were able to recover you, Alaric," Jecchan said with a smug on her face. "So, how was this timeline?"

"Huh?" Rikkun had this surprised face and his mouth is now as round and wide as the letter O. After three seconds, he erased that facial expression and looked at his hands. "I see. So this is another timeline. I thought the Necross Ascension was just a bad dream of my u003cPresageu003e. That calamity should have happened for real then."

Rikkun glanced at me in which I immediately apologized. I already know what he"s thinking, so he"s going to scold me!

"Auuu! I"m sorry, Rikkun… I know we talked about not using the u003cSong of Timeu003e again, but I can"t help it…. I can"t just let you die…" I wept.

Much to my surprise, Rikkun"s punishment is just ahead pat and a kind smile to raise my spirits up. I thought we"ll play that master-and-dog punishment game again, but I guess I don"t really know much about my boyfriend"s logic.

"No, you didn"t have a choice, Tiara. You actually did the right thing." Suddenly, Rikkun frowned. "By the way, do you feel something weird? Did s.h.i.+rayuki haunt you again?"

"N-No." I shook my head and then projected a smile. Then I pumped my fists. "I"m well and fine, Rikkun! I didn"t get cursed, so you don"t have to worry about me! Believe it!"

"That"s good, then."

My eyes were glued on Rikkun"s kissable lips. Somehow, I felt like smacking it once again with my mouth. I know Rikkun feels the same way for me too, so he drifted closer. Our eyes met. And then...

"Heeeeeey, are you done with your lover"s reunion?" Jecchan stared at us who are about to kiss publicly. "You can save that for later, you know!"

"Spoilsport…" Rikkun stood back as he glared coldly at the blonde girl.

"Ah-Ahahaha!" I scratched my head. The romantic atmosphere has completely been removed.

"Let"s return to the main issue at hand." Jecchan wiped her left ponytail from her shoulder as she turned her back. She started to walk, together with the princess and the witch. "Follow me."

u003cu003e

At the back of the altar of the church, there is a long oval table that looks like a dining table of dukes and d.u.c.h.esses. We only occupied one side of the table as there are only five of us. Z baked an apple pie for all of us to fill our stomachs for this dinner, so I had my precious time to chow down as they start to discuss the issue at hand.

"The heck is this s.h.i.+t! Bland, not seasoned, feels soggy! Disgusting!" Rikkun ranted as soon as he had the first bite of the apple pie. He immediately set aside his plate and he no longer had an appet.i.te.

"You really do sound like my master… and you"re extremely rude too…" Z mumbled as she took a bite of her pie.

Honestly, Miss Z"s pie is not that gross. I think it"s just average as I have tried other pies, but it is still delicious and edible. Rikkun"s pie would be a waste if n.o.body eats it.

"Um, Rikkun? Can I have-"

Rikkun did not let me finish my sentence as he already knows what I meant. He put the plate in front of me, making it clear that this apple pie is mine now! Yum!

While I"m busy chomping down, the geniuses started their discussion.

"So, what do you want to discuss?" Rikkun crossed his arms as he leaned on his chair. "I know that this is about Necross Ascension, Hades, and that Heretic. I"m sure you guys have a lot to share."

"Yes," Jecchan said. "To start the discussion, let me introduce formally to you. My name is Jeannette Amiella Fontaine von Noctis that was saved by you from the Underworld. I"m Jeanne, not Amy."

"I know that. That level of b.i.t.c.hiness is not like Amy."

"In my universe, there is a group that specializes in dealing with Necross Ascension, which is the Cathedral Exa. I"m part of them, together with Guinevere and Z. Cathedral Exa had different branches across the multiverse, and sadly, there is none in yours. So we"re planning to establish this place as our first haven."

"So you guys are just like Jehovah"s Witnesses who just knock on anyone"s door and lead everyone to salvation," Rikkun said.

"Ohoho! I wouldn"t put it that way, because we are fighting a multiversal calamity." Guinevere laughed with sarcasm. "Necross Ascension is a disease that affects all universes, and we are here to fight it."

"So Necross Ascension is like coronavirus…" Rikkun muttered.

Jecchan slammed the table, but there"s still a smile on her face. She"s suppressing her anger at the arrogant prince, and I think she"s about to kick him. I won"t intervene though. Rikkun deserves it.

"I feel like we"ll be wasting our time explaining Necross to you, so let"s just move on. I"m pretty sure you already had a general idea of what that world-ending ritual is since you experienced it yourself beforehand."

"Yeah, yeah. I"m taking this seriously too, but it won"t hurt to add some jokes in it." Rikkun said.

"Okay, so we"ll move on to the next issue." Guinevere sipped her tea and then continued the discussion. "About Necross Hades and the Heretic Esperia."

"Necross Hades and Esperia failed to stop Tiara in singing the u003cSong of Timeu003e thanks to the Aether Armor," Jecchan said. "That is why this timeline in this universe has been reset, and they got caught with it. This means that they will be coming for you again, Alaric."

"I"ve heard that Aeternos or Alaric Eisenhower has died more than seven million times," Z said. "To summon Necross, they only need 6,666,666. Absolutely demonic, right?"

There was a brief silence, in which the only noise in this room is my mouth chomping down the food. Everybody looked at Rikkun"s side of the table. Curiosity also made me look at my boyfriend beside me.

There was an arrogant grin on Rikkun"s face.

"Hahaha… Hahaha! Fuhahahaha!!!" Rikkun chinned up as he covered half of his face with his hand. I swear he sounded like an evil villain right now.

"What"s so funny?" Jecchan cringed.

"I"m just laughing because you"re trying to scare me about that G.o.d and that flower b.i.t.c.h is going to get me," Rikkun said. "I already had a hunch on how they sabotaged the G.o.d Cores. Since that operation was highly isolated, I already narrowed down the suspects on who Necross Hades may be. d.a.m.n, I"m such a genius that I"m so scared of myself."

Guinevere and Z had this amazing look at their face. I really think that Rikkun is smart. However, Jecchan and I know it very well that Rikkun is currently using the G.o.d Fragment of Athena to boost his intelligence. The divine aura around him is proof of that. He even had the left u003cAethernusu003e gauntlet deployed secretly under the table.

"So, what will you do now?" Jecchan asked.

"They"re not going to come at me." Rikkun smiled. "I"ll be coming to them."