‘Book? BOOK! I’ve been had…’
It was only then that I realized something. Since she had just woken up not too long ago, and since she was still stuck in my body, what kind of book could she have read? Rather, what book did I come across recently?
Other than that black leather book, what other books were there!?
Anger about to boil over, I reached out and snatched said book from Mo Na and burned through its contents. Yet no matter how many times I read it, I simply couldn’t find any mention of a Soul Array.
[You lied to me? There’s nothing about any array in there at all.]
At that, Ferti’nier sneered before using that bewitching voice of her to explain: “Why would this one lie to you? Little Brother, there’s no use just flipping through the pages, the information about the array is on the back cover of the book, don’t you know?”
‘Back cover…’ I hurriedly closed up the leather book and flipped to the back.
All I saw was a black leather cover that had this line of words etched into it: “The Soul Array can be used to activate the Abyssal Golems, but the use of the Gem of Authority as a medium is required…”
It then proceeded to list the specifics of the activation.
‘I’ve…been defeated…why are Devil books so ridiculous? Shouldn’t important information like that be written within the pages? Why would you etch it on the back?!’
‘Does your family know that you are such an amazing author?’
“See it? This one wasn’t lying to you so make sure to remember our little deal, hohoho…” After that round of gloating, she slowly disappeared into the recesses of my mind, laughter trailing in the distance. Even without asking, I knew that she had entered popcorn mode again.
“Mama, what are you looking for?” Because she just had her book snatched away from her abruptly, Mo Na was still a little confused by this whole debacle. “Mo Na isn’t done reading yet…”
“Papa has found the method.” I handed over the book to her, back first. “Look there, Sweetie. It says there’s a Soul Array carved onto the floor and we just have to use the Gem of Authority to activate those golems.”
Curious, she gave the back a careful look through for a good long while. “Ooo, even Mo Na wasn’t able to discover it…to think it was on the back all along…still, Mama is amazing, being to able to discover it so quickly!”
“Ahaha, it’s luck, pure luck.”
‘I’m definitely not going to say that I only managed to find out the answer after jumping through a million hoops for Ferti’nier. Speaking of which, she really dug a deep hole for me to jump into this time…to think I actually had to pay for something so simple. Hmph, you’d better watch your back next time, else this brother will…ahem…dang it, I almost forgot, she can hear me here…’
“Mama is the best! Mama is amazing!” My little baby stared at me with such worshipping eyes that even I was beginning to get a little weirded out. This awkwardness continued for a good long while before she asked as such, eyes filled with hope: “Mama, since we’ve found the activation method, how about we give it a try now?”
“Mhm, that’s what I was thinking too.” I gently reached out to ruffle my little baby’s hair before placing her on the floor. Having done that, I breathed in deep and took a moment to quietly memorize what was written on the back cover. I then reached out for the Gem of Authority and chanted: “Spirit of destruction, slumbering soul, life that burns, a broken corpse…thou shall accede to this one’s command, awaken, and bow before this one’s sovereignty…where this one’s sword points, thou shall follow…”
I continued chanting phrase after phrase of middleschoolish gibberish, while I gently infused my mana into the Gem of Authority. As I did so, the gem began to slowly rise into the air and give out a strange red glow.
Bit by bit, golem by golem, the eyes of over a thousand Abyssal Golems started to undergo a change. It first started with their eyes turning red and their bodies starting to shake. Their vibrations started off slow and completely in sync with each other, but as time passed, the magnitude of their shaking started to grow exponentially to the point where even my eyes began to ache. With how much shaking my ear drums seemed to pick up, it almost felt like the entire world was turning topsy turvy as a wave of unconsciousness started to wash over me…
It was at that moment that a gigantic array appeared on the ground, red mana bursting forth from its insides like a roaring sea of fire. What appeared carved before us was a huge pentagram that almost covered the whole warehouse, and blanketed every single inert golem that was awaiting activation. As the red mana rushed out of the array like fiery tendrils, they started wrapping around each golem, whom allowed the flames to lick their bodies unopposed. From the outside, it almost looked like they had turned into gods of death from Hell –cold and murderous.
Even amidst all that, the golems continued vibrating as before, seemingly ready to jump out at a moment’s notice. Truly, it was a strange and mystical sight. I could vaguely feel them undergo some kind of change that just seemed to elude my understanding.
Such a state continued for several minutes, or perhaps it could have just been several seconds. Either way, the shaking suddenly stopped and in that moment, I felt like this entire mountain was about to come crashing down on me…
Yet the cave held up and the worst never came to pass. The fire had also disappeared in that instant as if nothing had ever happened…
I stood there, eyes glazed over and hands still grasping the Gem of Authority. Had it not been for the fact that half of my mana was missing right now, I would have honestly questioned if everything that had just happened was real.
However, there was no doubt it was all real –because the golems were all moving!
The outside of these Abyssal Golems were all rocky and yet seemed to resemble metal at the same. As they lumbered about, their sturdy exteriors would give out a sonorous clanging sound that seemed to drown out all sound in the room, especially given how numerous these golems were. With over a thousand golems crammed into this warehouse, even a single step forward was enough to cause a deafening tsunami of clangs.
Then, without any warning whatsoever, they half-knelt. My ears pounded furiously from the resulting cacophony of bangs but that did nothing at all to drown out the drumming in my heart as I swept my eyes over an army of kneeling golems. Given how excited I was now, I wouldn’t be surprised if my heart suddenly leapt out of my throat.
‘It’s done…the array actually worked! Ferti’nier wasn’t lying to me, it actually worked!’
……
The moment I emerged from the tunnel, bringing with me an entire army of golems into the palace gardens in the process, Nola’s reptile eyes went wide as saucers. Seeing so many golems come marching towards her all of a sudden, she had almost charged into them, and would have, had she not spotted us in the second row.
“What’s going on?” She asked, mind still in a state of shock and disbelief. Given how densely packed this sea of golems was, she herself was starting to question her sanity.
Prior to leaving, I had only mentioned that we were going to scavenge around the weapons factory in the bottom of the palace. Yet merely half a day later, we came back with what had to be the most awe-inspiring army ever on our backs. Even dreams couldn’t be so generous!
