Mirion Altair POV

“Explain yourself one more time. Are you saying you can help us?”

I stood face to face with a masked figure of unknown origin. A mixture of dark and gray robes and cloth covered the stranger's body, making them look as if they just crawled out of a tomb. Though I could not see the person’s face, I could tell by the long tail that this person belonged to the draco race.  

 “I can help you fulfill the conditions; you just have to follow my instructions.”

The voice, coarse and rough, hinted to me that this person was most likely an older man.

Though his mana wasn’t anything spectacular, his presence had a strange effect on the ambient mana, almost like a rippling effect with him at its center. Like the sound waves from bells going off in the distance, you feel the vibration in your gut, but you can’t hear the sound. 

Who and why did this person enter this place? I intended to find out.

“I don’t recall ever asking for aid, so what makes you think I need your help?” 

The stranger cleared his throat before chuckling.

“Well, for one, you’ve been running around like headless chickens, trying to eliminate a few weak shadows.”

Though this did hurt my pride somewhat, he was right. These shadows aren’t particularly strong, it’s just that they have been a pain to get rid of.

Shadows are, as the name suggests; shadows of the past, though they are cryptids, they contain a soul of a long dead individual. You cannot simply kill them like a normal cryptid, we must meet certain conditions. 

These conditions are often just desires, lost wishes, or a lingering regret that causes the soul to cling to the material world. They do this by possessing a non-living object, making it almost the perfect nuclei for the formation of a cryptid. One that often surpasses the average strength. 

They are barely sentient, and they have a limited understanding. Their actions and words are often in line with the soul’s personality at the time of death, or at least that’s what we think. 

Unless we find what binds them to the physical world, it doesn’t matter how many times we kill them, they will just respawn, as good as new. 

You would often find just a single shadow lingering in a cave or ruin, but this is the first time I had encountered so many in one place. 

 

We thought we could find said condition while also trapping them in one place. This would have prevented any effect, be it battle or that awful mist from being felt, but then several days passed and we found ourselves stuck and scratching our heads. Now this person comes out of nowhere and suddenly has the answer to our issue. 

I couldn’t be anything less than suspicious of this person. 

“So you know the condition?” I asked. “For every one of them?” 

“Yes, and you have it wrong. There is only one condition.”

He sighed.

“No wonder you are stuck.”

I rested my hand on the hilt of my sword and glared at the stranger. Ignoring the fact that he mentioned that we only needed one condition. 

“And you know of this? How?”

He held his hand up in a placating manner.

“Because I have been watching this place for a while and I can assure you, my intentions are not malicious. You can even say it would benefit us both.”

I turn my attention back to the others, pinpointing their mana signatures as they moved through the maze created by the artifact.

The massive six armed monster was currently being contained by Carina and Dalmund. Their combined efforts have kept it sealed for the past several days, which is a testament to their large mana pools, but something like this would strain even them. 

It is the biggest threat amongst the others as it holds the most destructive power. Luckily, that one seemed to lack the half sentient nature of the others, so the seal proved effective. 

I turned to look at the stranger once again. 

 “And why should I believe you?”

He sighed before bowing slightly. 

“I can only give you my word.”

I looked away from him for a moment, sensing his sincerity. I would like to believe that this person just wanted to help, but too many people relied on me to make such a rash and unadvised decision. Maybe what he says is true, but I am still not convinced. 

The situation seemed strange, and somehow orchestrated. 

“I cannot accept.”

I then drew my blade and pointed it at the masked person.

“And I cannot let such a suspicious individual wander around in this small subspace.’

He then backed up, holding his hands up to avoid a fight. Regardless of how casually he spoke, this person’s mana was but a fraction of mine. He knew I could easily kill him if I wanted. 

“You are making a terrible mistake,” he said.

I ignored him and walked closer.

“I will simply restrain you.” 

He backed away again and his voice grew more desperate.

“Are you sure you are willing to face the consequences by not accepting?”

I then pointed at him, uttering a simple chant 

“Stone coffin”

The earth then reacted to my mana infused words, enveloping him and encasing him in a prison of stone. I had no intention of killing him just yet, as I wanted to interrogate him later, so I made sure to keep his head free, less he suffocated. 

“I suggest you remain quiet and prepare your statements for later.” 

I then turned around, feeling that this would be enough for the moment, but against my wishes, the man spoke, and what he said sent shivers down my spine. 

“If you do not do this, your daughter will die.”

I spun around, a sudden wave of anger rushed through my body. I was on the brink of slicing his body in half, but I then recognized the tone of his voice. It wasn’t a warning or a threat, as I first perceived it. It was a plea, as if to him, this was the worst possible outcome. 

I saw his eyes through the mask and what I saw was a look of conviction, but also a deep-rooted fear. 

He spoke as if he knows this to be an outcome, if I chose to not accept. As if he had seen it happen right before his eyes.

“Who are you? What do you have to do with my daughter?”

“I cannot say.”

“Are you an oracle?”

“Something similar.” 

I rubbed my temples as I tried to comprehend the situation. 

“I still don’t understand why you want to help me.”

“Like I said, it will benefit us both, so I am not doing it completely out of selflessness.”

I had heard enough at that point. I waved my hand, and the stone bindings crumbled around his body.

“I will hear your plan, and will travel with you to enact it. But if I sense even a shred of betrayal from you, forget being imprisoned. I will kill you on the spot.”

Swallowed, not answering right away.

“I understand.”

…

We made our way deeper into the maze after hearing what this person wanted to do. 

The largest of the cryptids, the 6 handed beast that mindlessly attacked anything around it, was the first piece of the puzzle.

“The smaller shadows are only casualties of a bigger tragedy, and are not her because of their own regrets or wishes. The large one, however, has something that connects it to another place. One of you needs to go there.”

I stopped and looked at the stranger.

“Are you saying that the conditions lie elsewhere?”

He nodded.

Unlike the others, we haven’t killed it since it would be a pain to have it resurrect itself. Instead, we chose to subdue it with sealing magic. 

“There it is,” I said to the masked figure as we reached an opening in the maze.

I approached the two as they looked over the cryptid. Its arms had been bound to its body by black chains, and five towering pillars encircled it. 

The black chains belonged to my wife Carina. Her magic had a strange effect that causes the internal mana of others to ignite on a microscopic level, causing a strange form of mana burn. The black flame emanating from where the chains contacted the cryptid and the cracks in its skin were all I needed to see. The more mana it draws, the more the chains burn away. 

The pillars from Dalmund’s magic formed a barrier that prevented the cryptid from dragging itself out. If the cryptid as much as touched it, a surge of mana would blast it back towards the center. 

Both of this formed a double layered seal that ensured nothing got out.  

They both looked at us with a weary glance before turning back to look at the cryptid.

“Looks like you’ve brought help.” Carina said.

I stopped, pulled out my sword, but paused, unsure of what to do next. I then looked at the stranger to verify the plan.

“Do not spare any strength.” He said, “You need to destroy its body.” 

Dalmund, a dwarf, short in stature, but firm as a mountain, walked up to the stranger while scratching his long white beard. His wrinkled face furred into a curious squint as inspected the masked stranger.

“An interesting individual.” 

Carina then held onto my arm and pulled me towards her.

“Destroy it? Won’t it just regenerate?”

“It will,” the stranger said. “But that would be enough for what we need to appear.”

“I see,” she responded.

Understanding our lack of better options, the two of them deactivate their magic. 

The black chains faded away, and the pillars crumbled into a fine brown dust. The cryptid’s mana flared up not a second later, and it turned its hate-filled eyes towards us.

I held my sword up and poured mana into it, not for a second turning my eyes away from the cryptid.

“Since I’m the one with the most firepower, I’ll do the honors.” 

Awaken to my will, Gram

The sword shined in golden thunder while brown specs of earth swirled around it. 

The cryptid felt the buildup of energy and aimed its six arms at me. 

“I’ll take care of that.” Carina said.

She summoned her scythe and leapt several tens of feet towards the monster. With her body wreathed in dark attuned mana, she regarded the beast with a look of disdain. 

“Calm down won’t you?”

Whispering dusk blade magical art- revolving guillotine.

In a haze of black mist, all six arms of the cryptids flew from its body. She swung her scythe around with scary precision, even going the extra mile of cutting its eyes. 

“All on you now, darling.” She said with a satisfied smile.

With enough energy gathered, I closed the distance, and put myself below the towering cryptid. With its arms gone, it struggled to put itself upright. A wail that sounded like hundreds of souls weeping escaped its malformed lips.

I then gathered all the elemental energy to the tip of the sword, and a single beam of light, as bright as a thunderbolt, rushed forth.

Once the light faded, I looked to see a crater stretching all the way to the maze wall. Even though the attack vaporized rocks, the maze endured it with ease. The attack even took a quarter of my mana. 

As for the cryptid, only a few chunks of flesh remained at the edges of the creator. 

I then looked deeper into the crater and noticed a white platform untouched by my attack.

“Is that what we need?” I asked.

He nodded again before jumping down into the crater and gestured for us to follow.

“This will take us-” 

He then held his hands out, gesturing for us to wait, and looked at the platform for a moment.

 “Oh I almost forgot, none of us can go nor can the human named Delta Acumen.” 

“Why is that?” 

“For a reason I can’t say, but I hope you can understand, the five of us must not go.”

The red mist was now gathering to our location, and blobs of red flesh were now reforming around us. 

I thought about the members present. All seven of our founding members ranked above the grandmaster realm, with our strongest member being a transcendent 1st class. We all had experience dealing with shadows, but some members were more trustworthy than others. 

I may be a founding member, and acting guild-master, but I didn’t hold complete control over the guild.

Someone came to mind, and I immediately reached out using telepathy

“Lautaro, how are things holding on your end?”

It took a few seconds, but he responded with a bored tone. 

“Observing two of those cryptids.”

“How are you feeling?”

“Bored, but I can manage,” he replied.

“Great, I have an assignment for you.” 

With that done, I turned to Carina and Dalmund.

“Dalmund, Lautaro is on his way. Switch with him. I will remain with carina to keep this thing sealed.” 

He nodded before he dashed into the maze. 

Just as he disappeared, a blur of feathers then appeared before me. 

Lautaro, an avian and warrior from Aztlan that dragged himself to the realm of venerated second class.

His eyes were like a gray cloud, turbulent and threatening. His tanned skin contrasted almost perfectly with the green and red of his feathers. It jutted out from his arms and grew from his head like a magnificent crown. His hands displayed sharp talons that could rip flesh from bone.

I trusted him a lot, and he seemed to have an almost pious relationship with Ellen, almost as if he revered her. Which made him the perfect candidate for this. 

I had a feeling that Ellen might be wrapped up in all of this, so he would most definitely ensure her protection. 

“I am here. This better be good.” Lautaro said as he approached us. 

There the stranger explained to Lautaro the situation, and he listened with a disinterested look. 

“Once you enter, you should easily be able to find the condition. It will stick out like a sore thumb. I want you to eliminate it.” 

He scratched his chin for a moment and then walked up to the platform.

“Very well,”

The stranger stood next to Lautaro and placed his hand on the platform. Mana gathered to him, some of which was the mana belonging to the cryptid. The space below us shook several times, as more and more mana flowed into the masked stranger. He then whispered a simple chant, and the platform vanished. 

A portal tore through the air and opened at his feet. On the other side, a battle raged on. A tall sword wielding cryptid took on hordes of soldiers all bearing the insignia belonging to the children of the red star. 

A smile crept upon Lautaro’s face, and his feathers flared up.

“So they were responsible for this mess.”

I should have known. The cult was notorious for digging up dangerous relics, and using them in experiments or as straight up weapons. A group of shadows would be no different, then another potential tool for their ideals. 

“Mirion?’ Carina said. Will he be fine?”

I understood her sentiments. Lautaro was someone who reveled in battle and was known for not shying away from a fight, especially if that group is involved. 

If even one of a particular set of individuals showed up, it would be over for him, and knowing Lautaro, running would never cross his mind.

Luckily, they didn’t seem to be present, so I felt somewhat at ease. 

“He will. I don’t sense the presence of an elder.”

He then jumped in without a word, and the portal snapped shut. At that moment, I wondered how Ellen even got herself in this mess and if this would really solve it. 

I still could not help but think that the masked stranger kept several details from me. This seemed too simple to be all we needed to fulfill the condition.

“What do we do now?” I asked.

With his eyes glued to the spot where the portal had opened, he let out a deep breath.

“Now we wait.”