Chapter 1240: The Watchman’s Locker

Watching everything happen, a figure smiled in the distance. Her satisfaction only grew seeing Shiro manipulate reality and turn back time. A longing could be seen in her eyes as her heart pumped with adrenaline.

Clutching her chest, she couldn’t remember how long it has been since she’s felt this excited.

“Is it finally time…” She muttered.

Looking back at the mountain and towards the fake Aria, the figure smiled.

“She should be rewarded to spur her onwards. The destruction of this world shall be stopped. And I suppose I’ll let them meet who they want without much interference.”

Waving her hand, a pulse of energy spread through the world as the wounds that the Destruction energy had caused started to heal slowly. Flicking her finger, the figure disappeared with elation in her heart.

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Walking down the path, Shiro suddenly stopped and turned around. She didn’t know what happened but one of her sensors picked up a strange pulse of energy. The source couldn’t be determined but it seemed to spread throughout the world.

“Is something wrong?” Lyrica asked curiously as Shiro shook her head.

“No nothing’s wrong. But it seems like the world of creation is starting to heal. I don’t know if it’s the fake Aria or if there’s another third party involved in this.” Shiro replied with a frown before focusing back on the path.

There was only one visible pathway which was strange. Even if ‘Aria’ helped them by opening the gate, Shiro should be able to sense a pathway to the world of chaos considering the fact that ‘Aria’ placed the God Beast above this gateway.

But there was nothing. There was only one path, one road that they could take and that was towards the Watchman’s locker.

As they were walking down the road, Lyrica jogged next to Shiro and whispered her question.

“Do you think it’s the third party? I know the other Shiro mentioned that she was watching and now there is only one path to the locker. I can’t help but think they’ve got a hand in this.” Lyrica whispered as Shiro nodded her head.

“It’s the most likely explanation. Even when I came to this world using the Bifrost, I could still somewhat sense other pathways. But here, there’s only one route that we can take unless we want to go back to the world of creation.” Shiro explained while conjuring up a holographic map. On the map, it compared her route using the Bifrost to the route they’re taking now.

The road she took before was akin to an ant’s nest. A myriad of pathways to different locations. But now, there was no divergence from the main road.

Furrowing her brows, Lyrica couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable with the invisible ‘assistance’ that they were getting.

The fact that she was watching and could censor things out at will was concerning since they don’t even know who’s watching them.

Not to mention the fact that the third party probably knows they’re going to save her parents. Thinking about what could happen, Lyrica couldn’t help but bite her lip in anxiousness.

Feeling Shiro’s hand hold her own, Lyrica looked up in surprise.

“Don’t worry. It’ll be fine.” Shiro reassured with a small smile.

Nodding her head, Lyrica could feel her anxiety calming down.

It didn’t take them long to reach the end. Even though they looked like they were ‘walking’, they were in fact travelling as fast as they could.

At the end of the road, there was a single ‘door’ that blurred everything on the other side. Glancing at Lyrica, Shiro nodded her head before taking a step through.

Immediately, she was overwhelmed by the amount of mana present within his world. Her senses were flooded by a myriad of energies that she had attuned to. From the most basic of the elements to the energies of the soul.

Stumbling back, Shiro was about to fall when Lyrica caught her. Readjusting her senses for a moment, she thanked Lyrica before looking at the realm they were now in.

Widening her eyes, Shiro could only describe this place as a prison.

Tall walls surrounded on all sides and stretched as far as the eye could see. The faint flickering of brazier flames was the only thing that provided light within this dark tower. No sun, moon or stars could be seen above.

Embedded within the walls were faint turquoise canisters that swirled with a hollowed blue as Shiro recognised that to be the soul of the captives.

Taking a single step forward, the sound echoed throughout the chamber as she turned her gaze towards the platform in the centre of the tower connected by several bridges that suspended it in the air.

She could faintly feel the pulse of life from above but it was weak.

Jumping up, even Shiro couldn’t help but become stunned at what she saw.

One of her most hated enemies, the one that took Isilia away from her, was now pinned against a throne. Large metallic stakes pierced through his limbs, stapling him against the seat. His tongue had been torn out and thrown against the table while blood leaked from his mouth.

The only sounds he could make were gurgles while struggling in futile attempts to pull out the stakes.

Even without Error, Shiro could sense that the stakes were slowly shredding his soul away.

Meanwhile, Lyrica couldn’t help but grit her teeth. After all her training, her vengeance was robbed from her. Her greatest foe now laid helpless against his throne, powerless to fight back.

Out of anger, Lyrica conjured up her blade and decapitated him in an instant. Shredding the last remains of his soul while barring him from being reincarnated.

Patting Lyrica’s shoulder, Shiro watched as she sat down on the steps to reorganise her thoughts.

On the table, aside from the Watchman’s tongue, was a single note and two vials.

[A reward for your efforts. You’ve found out about my existence but don’t know who or what I am. I intend to keep it that way. I have torn out his tongue and stopped his healing so he cannot use his magics. Deal with him however you wish, it is my gift to you. In the coming days I hope you meet my expectations. Rise up and seek out the truth with your own two eyes. In the vials contains the souls you wish to find. You will need to make new bodies for them, but it should be no issue for you. I await your arrival my dear Shiro. I sincerely hope you don’t disappoint me like the others.]

Reading the note, Shiro frowned and picked up the vials carefully.

“Shall we head back? I’ll need to make new bodies for your parents.” Shiro asked as Lyrica nodded her head.

“What should we do with this place?” She asked. Even though the Watchman was her enemy, she knew that this location held importance within the system. While it was faint, Lyrica could sense evil within some of the containment that should not be allowed to return to the cycle of life.

“I’ll make a new warden. He will take over the role and maintain this space I suppose.”

Scanning the Watchman’s code, Shiro found the section that detailed his role within this great prison. Copying it, she couldn’t help but notice the previous identity.

‘An administrator…’ Shiro thought with a frown. He was stripped of his role and sent to this prison after breaking the rules himself. He tried to save someone he cherished, but the previous Watchman took her.

Banished from his role as administrator, he was given the job of the Watchman, repeating the actions he tried to prevent and dooming others to an eternity in the same location.

Sighing softly, Shiro created a robotic counterpart with a similar outfit. Instructing the new Warden on their role, she turned back to Lyrica.

“Hold onto these for now while I make the portal.”

Handing over the vials that contained the souls of Isilia and Edvimar, Shiro brought out the Bifrost and prepared to open a way back.

The journey to the world of creation was not fraught with the danger she had expected. But instead she had found out about a third party that overlooks everything. She doesn’t know what expectations they had for her, nor does she think she’ll find out any time soon.

‘At least I found Lyrica again and saved Isilia and Edvimar.’ Shiro thought to herself while opening the portal. Stepping through with Lyrica and the others, she could feel the familiar sensation of destruction mana once more as her core started to readjust itself so that she wasn’t overwhelmed.

Thinking back to how Lyrica had stayed in the world of creation for more than 70 years, she couldn’t help but wonder how much time had passed in the world of destruction.

Theoretically, it should only be a short moment for Nan Tian and the others.

However, when they arrived at the mage tower, they didn’t see Nan Tian or Aarim.

The tower seemed to be devoid of power, which was strange since Shiro made sure Asharia could function even if she wasn’t around.

Sending out her mana to survey the city, she realised what had transpired.