Extra And MC-Chapter 94 - 90 - Astral Plane

-Crack…

-Crack…

-Shatter!!!

Aiden watched apathetically as the monster beneath him cracked and shattered into chunks of crystals, eventually dissipating into fine crystalline dust.

Following this, Aiden began to fall to the ground.

Even as he did, the youth was unable to muster any strength or either any mana to cushion or soften his fall to the ground.

As a result, he landed with a gracelessly strong thud akin to a useless and discarded ragdoll, at the very top of the staircase leading to the ruined cathedral.

-Thud!!!

Feeling a lingering sweet yet sour taste coming up from his gut, Aiden spat out another mouthful of blood.

-Splurt…

Lying down on the ground, almost seemingly half-dead, the youth now finally let go over his control of his bloodlust, and as he did, the adrenaline also left his body.

The moment this happened, Aiden felt the entirety of his being been assaulted by an immense wave of agonizing pain.

Every single fiber of his muscle screamed in protest, seemingly threatening to explode if the continuous wave of pain he was feeling persisted.

But even then, Aiden could not even let out a single groan of pain and neither could he lift a single finger.

He was too tired. He was too exhausted.

So, he just lay down on the ground, fresh blood slowly leaking from his mouth, all while staring at his younger brother below the staircase who seemed to be in pretty much the same sorry state as he was.

This persisted on for almost an hour, the atmosphere around them silent, yet, intermittently interrupted by the sounds of mineral-rich water dripping from the pooling ends of the stalactites and stalagmites on the ceiling.

-Drip…

-Drip…

-Drip…

Soon enough, after a few more minutes had passed, Aiden struggled to let out a few words.

"Flynn…" he quietly called out to his brother, his voice hoarse as he lay on the ground.

"You still alive bro…" he asked, the blood from the wound on his head slowly coagulating and gradually stopping.

Silence.

That was all Aiden was met back with.

However, a few minutes after, Flynn replied quietly, his voice similarly hoarse to that of Aiden’s.

"Barely…"

Aiden who heard his brother reply back after what seemed like hours to him when it actually was just a few minutes, had a genuine wave of relief wash over him.

And just like that, both brothers lay on the ground, beaten, utterly thrashed and bruised… but still, triumphant and victorious.

Another hour of silence passed between them, and with a lot of willpower and strength, they slowly began to push themselves up from the ground.

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Flynn had been the first to try and get up but even after trying for a few seconds, his limbs gave out and he fell back to the ground.

But still, just like Aiden was now also trying to get up, he persisted and soon enough, they both found themselves sitting on their butts, staring at each other from both below and above.

Another wave of silence passed between them and then, one of them spoke.

Aiden had been the first to let out a weak laughter.

"Hahaha… I really thought we were going to die… -Cough…" he feebly laughed and said, his voice unable to continue, causing him to let out a painful cough.

"Should you… even be trying to laugh…" Flynn asked in between pauses of exhaustion, a weak smile gracing his weary features.

"Maybe… -Cough… I… -Cough… overdid it…" Aiden responded in between fatigued and painful coughs.

Without waiting any moment longer, both brothers tapped on their spatial accessories and retrieved a mid-grade healing potion, downing its contents with quivering fingers, down their throat in an instant.

Although they could have used a high-grade healing potion, they both knew their injuries didn’t require that much healing potion to have themselves fixed.

Besides, it would be a waste to use it now that they had no more adversaries to battle it out with again.

Or at least they hoped that would be the case.

Giving themselves a few more minutes to let the potion do its thing, Flynn and Aiden sat still, taking their time to recuperate from their fatigue.

They both knew that the moment they headed back to their dorm rooms, they were probably going to sleep like a hibernating animal but for now, they still had a quest to complete and a mysterious energy to investigate.

Pulling himself up from the ground of the grotto, Flynn ascended the staircase with slow but tired steps, an occasional limp present in his current gait.

Upon reaching his brother at the top of the staircase, the youth extended his hands and pulled the latter up.

Giving him a thankful nod, both brothers finally began to make their way into the ruined cathedral.

Even as they were fighting with the giant Kraugr, they had realized that it was hell-bent on not destroying even a single crystalline pillar of the ruined cathedral behind it.

Of course they had sensed that the ore was probably in there, just as Novier had probably also did but even then, it was still yet to be seen.

Why it was so protective of it, Flynn and Aiden could only guess but now, they were going to truly find out if that was all it was trying to protect.

Stepping into the destroyed entrance that led into the ruined cathedral, Flynn and Aiden immediately spotted a single pedestal in the middle of the magnificently wide and destroyed hall.

Atop the pedestal was the crystal ore Novier had tasked them with retrieving.

The Eclipsian Prism.

That was the termed name Novier had written on the parchment of paper he had drawn a picture of it on.

Aiden and Flynn upon now also seeing the ore, understood why Novier had probably been entranced by it.

The crystal ore possessed a surface that shimmered with iridescent hues that shifted and danced, as if capturing the very essence of its seemingly ethereal nature.

Its multifaceted structure also refracted light in such a soft, celestial glow, its hues ranging from delicate shades of rose and amethyst to deep blues and velvety blacks.

"Well, we can’t keep staring at it all day now, can we?" Aiden asked his brother and soon, they both walked towards it.

Flynn removed the eclipsian prism from its pedestal, which had an intricately beautiful design in its own right, and quickly, placed it into his spatial bracelet.

Now that that was out of the way, Flynn and Aiden angled their gaze upwards to view a set of worn-out crystalline stairs that seemed to be as old as time itself, leading up to a singular levitating platform.

Both brothers had realized from the moment they got closer to the cathedral that the strange, mysterious, familiar yet unfamiliar energy they had been feeling since the moment they found the runes on the fifth floor, was probably as a result of whatever was atop the floating platform.

Taking a deep breath, Aiden and Flynn prepared themselves for whatever it was they were about to find atop it.

Glancing over at each other, both youths gave each other a slight nod and slowly, began to walk up the worn-out stairs to reach the platform.

The closer they got, the closer the weird connection they felt with the whatever thing was atop the platform.

Upon finally reaching the top of the platform, Flynn’s eyes immediately widened, utter disbelief present in his expression and his words stuck in his throat, unable to utter a single word.

Atop the platform and just in front of Aiden and Flynn was a floating sword of ethereal and unparalleled magnificence, its defiance of gravity almost as if held by an unseen hand of cosmic energy.

A sword of pure light and power, its blade forged from a luminescent crystal that continued to emit a steady yet faint radiant glow, all while casting a soft, celestial light.

The sword’s hilt itself was an intricate lattice of ethereal metalwork, adorned with swirling and beautifully handcrafted patterns.

Aiden at first, upon seeing the thing, although quite impressed by it, could not understand what would cause such a strong reaction from his brother but, the more he stared at it, the more his expression began to resemble Flynn’s.

"This…" he muttered in complete disbelief as he continued staring at it.

"Aerion…" Flynn spoke, his voice barely above a whisper, after which then spoke again, this time his voice far louder as he asked a question that he seemingly had no answer to.

"What is Aerion, Amael’s signature weapon doing here?!"

-Shiinngg!!!

As if responding to his words, the sword which had been stably floating, suddenly tilted towards Flynn and Aiden, almost as if consumed by a sentient will of its own.

Without even giving both of them time to react, the sword shot at the speed of light towards Aiden and Flynn, piercing their hearts in double-quick time.

Unable to even realize what had happened, Aiden and Flynn held their chests while staring at it.

Not a single drop of blood was oozing out of it and neither did they feel any pain but yet, the two brothers slumped onto the platform in an instant, dead.

Yes, Aiden and Flynn Belmont, had just died.

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White…

White as far as the eyes could see…

That was the plane Aiden and Flynn found themselves in.

Not actually themselves, but something akin to an astral projection of themselves.

Like a soul removed out of the husk of its body, both brothers found themselves floating, existing in this space aimlessly.

Despite realizing that they had just died, both of them felt oddly comfortable in this space…

Like it was somewhere they ultimately belonged to…

It was strange.

It was mysterious.

It was unfamiliar.

And yet, it felt like they had been here for the longest time…

For years, decades, centuries, millenniums and dare they even thought, aeons…

It just felt so natural to them…

But alas, even as they watched, unable to do anything asides just staring at the expansive white space, their ambience was destroyed.

Suddenly, the seamless expanse of the white space slowly began to crack apart like a rupture in the fabric of time and space to reveal a reddish dark hue to a disturbing realm beyond.

It had an unsettlingly eerie and ominous feel to it, like something that shouldn’t even be existing in the white space.

However, just as the two brothers started getting wary about the disquieting tear, a ripple of energy traveled through the expanse of the white space, repelling and closing the disquieting ominous tear of trepidation in an instant.

Following this, everything returned back to the way it was, and both brothers felt at peace once again.

Before they could fully settle back into their sense of relaxation, a booming ethereal voice rang through the entire space, directly speaking to them.

"Oh?"

"And how exactly did you get here?"

"Hmmm… things are moving faster than I thought then?"

"Well, it doesn’t matter…"

"Right now, you shouldn’t be here."

"Now isn’t the time."

"Go back!"

The moment those last words of command boomed and cascaded through the expanse of the white space, Aiden and Flynn’s astral projections lost contact to the white astral plane and their sense of vision went completely and totally dark.