Vile Plan

Dragging out the corpse of the Vile Thieving Bird's Spawn, Pleiades rummaged through the luggage memory and took out four supreme soul shards.

Looking at them with a pained expression, he hesitated and contemplated for a few moments.

'Should I really try this? What if this doesn't work? Would it just get rid of these shards and not give me an echo?' The thoughts plagued his mind like a storm, and his eyes knitted in worry.

Regis paced in slow, curious circles around the bird's corpse. Occasionally, he gave a distasteful growl, his claws scratching fruitlessly at its skin. His nose scrunched at the stench—it had been dead for a month, yet it still hadn't decomposed at all.

Turning his gaze toward his thoughtful master, Regis approached with a questioning look.

"Why the face? You're starting to resemble the bird." He snickered, pulling Pleiades out of his thoughts.

"Uhu, well, I thank you kindly for your worry and comparison, my ravenous little pup, but I'm thinking of something important. So, if you could give me a bit more time to think without the comments, I'd appreciate it."

Rolling his eyes at the response, Regis took a quick glance at the bird's corpse and hummed. "What's the big deal? Just shove those little things inside and finish."

As he finished speaking, he perked his head up and looked at Pleiades, who was giving him an exaggeratedly dirty look.

"Let me rephrase that—put those soul shards into the corpse of the bird and then 'finish' this whole plan of yours."

Nodding at the rephrasing, Pleiades sighed before hearing Sunny's voice in his head.

(Give me a second to understand this. Instead of making memories out of the supreme soul shards, you're going to use them to get a Great Devil as your Echo?)

"Yeah, pretty much."

Sunny paused before transmitting again. (I know I suggested it, but now that it's being set into motion, I'm not too sure about this. Shouldn't you wait a bit until the knight becomes an Echo?)

Pleiades stood motionless, staring at the shimmering supreme soul shards in his hand, their brilliance stark against the dim light of the cathedral's looming shadows.

His fingers absentmindedly drummed against one of the shards, the sound faint but rhythmically sharp. Exhaling, he responded.

"Yeah, I also had the same thought. But it does take time for it to turn them into echoes, I think. It is my first time using it."

Looking upward, Pleiades closed his eyes. 'When I was making the enchantment, I imagined it taking longer to turn. It would take less time to turn a weaker creature into an Echo... but a stronger one is the real question.'

He didn't know if it would take a few weeks or possibly even months just to turn the knight into one.

Who knew how long it would take for a creature that was a whole two ranks above it?

(This plan is insane. You've barely had time to understand the sarcophagus' capabilities, and you're going to throw four supreme soul shards—our rarest resource—into this experiment?) Sunny's tone was somewhere between incredulity and anxious concern.

(Not to mention, we don't even know how long it will take for it to produce an Echo out of something this powerful.)

Pleiades opened his eyes and sighed, turning the shard over in his hand as though inspecting it for hidden answers.

"I know," he muttered, his voice strained with uncharacteristic hesitation. "But waiting for the knight alone could take months. So, i just wanted this as extra insurance, but now i don't know…"

Regis snickered, breaking the heavy atmosphere.

"If this works, we'll have a murderous giant pigeon on our side. Talk about poetic justice." He paused, giving his master a toothy grin. "Though, if it doesn't, we're out some very shiny rocks, and you'll look very silly."

Pleiades shot him a sharp, mock glare, his lips curling into a dry smile. "Ah, my ever-supportive mutt. How kind of you to remind me." He tapped his chin thoughtfully. "But you're not wrong. These shards could be turned into memories instead of this gamble."

Sunny chimed in again, this time with less apprehension. (If it's really a matter of time, why not test the sarcophagus with weaker creatures first? See how the process works before we risk the shards.)

Pleiades nodded in agreement. "I was thinking the same thing. I do think it would be better to do so—I can always just turn this into an Echo after we make sure it works."

With that, Pleiades stored the corpse along with the soul shards into the luggage and dismissed it.

"Although I would have wanted to have two devils on our side during the expedition, I think it can wait."

(What horrors await us exactly? If it's something that requires a great devil on our side, I'll take control and not bother going.)

Shaking his head, Pleiades made his way into the cathedral. "Of course not. I'd just like to have them for extra insurance, you know, just in case. There would be no harm in doing so."

(Right. So tell me what we're going to encounter, at least.)

"That depends. It's only been two weeks since we entered the city, and things are moving much faster than they should have. It would normally have taken four months for all of this to transpire, but it's only been two weeks."

Regis, who had been watching from a few steps behind, gave a wry chuckle. "That's comforting. Faster unraveling doom. Just what we needed."

With a small chuckle, Pleiades entered the cathedral. He navigated behind a particular wall while speaking. "You were actually supposed to go crazy and live alone here for those four months, and later save Kai from a well."

Sunny was baffled and sent over a worried response.

(Why? What happened?)

Pleiades moved through a hidden passage that led underground, twisting and turning through the mass of stone. It opened into a larger room directly beneath where the statue of the goddess should have been.

As he walked, he thought carefully about how to respond to Sunny. The passage ended in a deep well leading further down. Pleiades grimaced slightly as he descended the staircase, admiring the intricacy of the perfectly carved bricks.

"You were shaken by the fact that things were aligning with Cassie's vision. You were afraid of what it meant, and one day you made a fatal mistake that made you even more unstable. After that, you decided to leave the group following a fight you had with Nephis."

As he finished, the staircase opened into a vast chamber carved from the bedrock. On the far side, a massive black steel door loomed, illuminated by two burning torches.

The flames were pale and ghostly, their light casting shadows that remained eerily motionless, paralyzed by the torches' strange glow.

Sunny, distracted by the splendor of the underground chamber, responded.

(Ohh... but that still doesn't really sound like me.)

Pleiades chuckled softly, pressing his palm against the frigid metal of the door. "I know, Sunny. It doesn't sound like you at all—at least, not the you I've come to know. The Sunny that never met me or was influenced by me is a completely different you."

As his palm touched the door, ancient mechanisms groaned to life as he activated [Door Opening].

The grinding of gears filled the chamber, and the door began to creak open. Cold, damp air rushed past Pleiades, carrying the faint scent of mildew and rust.

[But no worries, Sunny. As long as I'm here, all will be well.]

Pleiades stepped inside, Regis following a few paces behind. The wolf glanced warily at the walls but kept his thoughts to himself until the oppressive silence became unbearable.

"Well," Regis muttered, his voice faintly echoing. "That wasn't so bad."

Pleiades frowned, looking down as he walked. "Yeah, of course it isn't. What did you think would happen?"

Regis snorted, his tension apparent despite his mocking tone. "I thought the ceiling was going to collapse."

Pleiades smirked at the rare show of concern and teased, "No worries. There's still time for that."

Regis groaned, repeating the words in a mocking tone. Moving ahead, he paused near a hunched corpse lying at the center of a circle etched with runes.

Pleiades approached the corpse, his gaze fixed on the monstrous mask it wore. A slight smile graced his lips as he studied the grotesque yet regal features.

'>>Are you going to take the mask for yourself?<<'< em> Regis sent privately.

'[No]' Pleiades replied. '[I already have my own concealment ability. It's stronger than anything this mask can offer.]'

To Sunny's confusion, Pleiades relinquished control. Regaining his bearings, Sunny gave Regis a questioning look, but the wolf only shrugged.

[Take the mask] Pleiades instructed, his voice calm. [Consider it a 'You Didn't Go Crazy' gift.]

Sunny tilted his head, momentarily taken aback. He glanced at Regis, who stared at the mask with mild disinterest but an air of expectancy.

(A gift? Really?) Sunny asked incredulously.

Regis smirked, his sharp teeth glinting faintly in the dim chamber. "Don't get sentimental. Just take it before the thing comes back to life."

Panic flashed across Sunny's face, and Regis snickered. Realizing he was being teased, Sunny shot a glare at the wolf, who grinned mockingly.

Hesitating, Sunny turned his gaze to the mask. Its monstrous visage was unnervingly detailed, its gaping maw and exaggerated features both grotesque and strangely regal.

(If this thing was so powerful, why didn't he take it?) Sunny asked, his brow furrowed.

"Pleiades already has enough tricks up his sleeve," Regis said dryly. "Besides, he doesn't like hand-me-downs."

Crouching next to the corpse, Sunny hovered his fingers above the mask. (Fine. But if it turns me into a mindless puppet, I'm haunting both of you forever.)

Regis quipped, "Go on. Try it. What's the worst that could happen? You're already the size of a puppet anyway."

Ignoring the jab, Sunny took a deep breath and grasped the mask. The corpse crumbled to dust as soon as the mask left its face.

Relieved it hadn't come to life, Sunny gasped as the mask dissolved into sparks of light.

Wide-eyed, he summoned his runes to examine the memory the mask had become:

Memory Rank: Divine.

Memory Tier: VII.

Memory Type: Tool.

Memory Description: [Weaver believed that knowledge was the origin of power and so always hid behind numerous lies, wearing them as a mantle. No one knew Weaver's thoughts, Weaver's face, and Weaver's heart. Even the gods could not see what hid behind the mask.]

Memory Enchantments: [Mantle of Lies], [Where is my eye?], [Simple Trick].

Enchantment: [Mantle of Lies].

Enchantment Description: [Hides the identity of its master.]

Enchantment: [???] 

Enchantment Description: ??????????

Enchantment: [Simple Trick].

Enchantment Description: [Reverses the effect of one's Flaw.]

Staring at the runes his eyes widened and his mouth dropped, Regis looked on with a grin and couldn't help but throw a quick quip.

"Cool gift right?"

Next Chapter: Secret of a Lineage