On The Shoulders Of Giants [2]

"Was that supposed to happen?" Raphael questioned.

"I don't know. Maybe it opened like this because the Citadel wasn't there to support its opening." Azrael then flew towards the black hole and entered it without hesitation.

"That crazy bastard! who knows what's inside after all these years." Raphael hesitated no longer and quickly followed.

After a momentary lapse of pure darkness, the duo went through the other side of the black hole and landed in a room. Before they could have their bearings, the entrance behind them blipped out of existence.

Raphael quietly complained, "great, now we're stuck." Towards the front of the room was a looming gate that was inscribed with unfamiliar runes. Cautiously, the two crept up to the gate inspecting it to see if they could open it. At closer inspection the gate seemed to need some key to open it.

Upon realizing this, Raphael looked at Azrael helplessly. "How are we even going to find the key for this thing?" he questioned.

"Well, I have a key but it's for the treasury itself not this gate." Azrael paused and took a closer look at the runes surrounding the gate. "Have you been brushing up on the Runic language?" Azrael asked while he began to touch the runes.

"Nope." Raphael un-bashfully said.

"You're hopeless. Great, now I must do all the work." Azrael then began to move the runes around like he was trying to solve a jigsaw puzzle. A few minutes pass and in the lull of silence, Raphael awkwardly asked, "I've been wondering, how did you even find this planet?"

Azrael suddenly stopped moving, he thought for a minute then began, "I sent one of my scouts to this realm to find a suitable place to build a base. He did a masterful job at it, detailing multiple locations where we could set up shop. He even found this planet despite it being hidden in a spatial fissure. Unfortunately, he tried to trick me into thinking that this planet is nothing but a desolate rock, but my instinct told me otherwise. Under further investigations, I uncover the lost mythical planet, Ulmoria." Once again, Azrael begins moving the runes in a rhythmic manner.

"What happened to the Scout?"

"Dead, I destroyed his body and soul."

"Why?"

"Because this secret is too huge for me to think he will keep his mouth shut. And I can't risk the lords of the underworld knowing it either. Dead men tell no tales, remember that." Azrael then stopped moving a rune to look at Raphael, "Any other questions you might want to ask?"

Raphael looked at Azrael's annoyed expression and knew he wanted to be left alone. Defeated, he shook his head and flew towards the opposite wall. Sitting down in silence watching his brother work.

Hours come and go in this manner. With Raphael checking in once every so often, bothering Azrael asking when he might be done. Almost a day after their arrival to the treasury, Azrael finally put the runes in the correct order, making the previously dim gate shine with a luster they never thought possible. The gate trembled; the inner gears swirled around with great speeds. And with a loud bang the gate opened fully.

"Took you long enough." Raphael with disdain written all over his face said.

"Fuck you, it would've been faster if someone took the time to study runes. This civilization was truly ahead of its time, their rune encryption was too sophisticated." Azrael combated.

"Oh, stop being so dramatic. You've done your part and as we discussed before, if there are any traps, I'll take care of it. Don't you know? I'm a master of detection." Raphael puffed up his chest as he confidently strode in. Azrael took a long exhale and shook his head in dejection thinking, why did I even bring him? He then walked forward into the gate slowly engulfed in darkness.

After walking a few dozen steps ahead, the gate behind them rapidly slammed shut. The inner gears once more swirled until a loud click resounded. There was silence once more. A second later automatic torches lit up systematically, fully lighting up the room.

With a sour face Raphael looked at the gate and complained, "okay, is that going to happen every time?"

Ignoring him, Azrael begins to look at the walls of the room. The walls contain a massive mural that seemed to tell the story of Ulmoria. From the very birth of its civilization to the end of it.

Ulmoria was always special. Even in its early days, wars were few and far between. Rare resources abundant, land bountiful and blessed with great harvest, and mana so dense magic crystals would fall from the sky like rain. It was once a place of true prosperity. Even the lowest of serfs were well off. At the height of its civilization, it was said to have born new technologies that further developed the Heavenly Realm as we know it.

One hundred million years ago, the forces of Hell invaded the Heavenly Realm in pursuit of said resources. Ulmoria was their prime target. No one suspected such a fierce assault and were annihilated. Unable to fight back, the residents of Ulmoria teleported themselves and their planet far away. When the planet teleported to the spatial fissure, it was a blessing. No longer shall outsiders threaten the stability of their planet; they can finally develop in peace. Which was the case until civil war erupted. The mural did not go into detail as to why they went to war. Instead, the aftermath of the war was shown. And it was catastrophic, the total surface area of Ulmoria shrunk by half, the mana density became scarce, and the total population fell by trillions. It is no secret why the remaining population devolved back into the stone age.

Standing shoulder to shoulder with his brother, Raphael rolled his eyes, "I'm sure the Nevalon Empire's historians would foam at the mouth over this key piece of information. But we are not them. So can we please get a move on." He began to move onto the next corridor leading to the next room. Azrael continued looking at the mural for a few seconds before following behind.

When the two exited the room, Raphael stopped and looked at the gate; that they had just passed. "Huh I'm surprised it didn't—" the gate rapidly closes and locks. "Oh. My. Lord! I'm half tempted to—"

"Hey dumbass, the runes aren't just for encryption. It would be a miracle for you to survive if you attack one." Azrael continues to walk as he grabs a torch from an adjacent wall and walks with it. Raphael, completely fed up with everything, sighs and decides he's had enough.

With Raphael taking charge the two men quickly walked through the passageway. The passageway was constructed in a manner resembling an old medieval castle. From the ceiling you can spot multiple chandeliers, dusty rugs that had cobwebs, excrement, and high humidity that would have made the journey unpleasant for most. The passageway would often narrow at some points. So much so that the duo was forced to walk behind one another. The passageway also had multiple forks that ended up being dead ends.

Often, Raphael would blunder upon such a route. The duo had to carefully consider their route each time it happened. Every couple of kilometers there would be traps sprawled about. At first the traps laid out were very crude and benign. Such as flaming needles that shot from the walls, crushing anvils that dropped like thunder, and a collapsing ceiling tripwire that almost buried the doublet. As they continued walking down the path the traps became more sophisticated and harder to spot. From gigantic pitfalls that connected to the abyss. All the way to sudden spatial fissures that crackled and threatened to engulf them. The duo experienced it all.

"Some master of detection you are. Can you even handle this anymore?" Azrael questioned.

Raphael felt a bit annoyed at that sudden jab. "Did I criticize you for how slow you were taking to unlock the gate?"

"You didn't, but what you did do is bother me without reprieve so I'm simply returning the favor."

Raphael took a brief side glance then looked away; "Whatever" Raphael muttered. Silence then resumed with only the sounds of their footsteps echoing in the path.