Chapter 78: Door to the Underworld: The Price of the Seal

This is the gateway to the Underworld.

We don't know what happens to humans if the miasma touches them. So stay back, all of you.

Geldbariss, you too. Just because you've drunk the secret essence, it doesn't mean you can handle the miasma.

I know. Be careful, Garam.

I will. Born with titan strength and a human-like body, I can finally do what I was always meant to do...

Wha?!

Oh... With my physique, the door won't accept me as a titan.

I'm sorry... Looks like I can't help you after all.

Garam...

No, it's not too late. If the door refuses to accept you, I refuse to accept the door!

I'll take your place, Garam! Back me up!

Why...why would you do that for me, Geldbariss?

I can't let you give up on your dream halfway through. Okay, muster all your strength, Garam!

Geldbariss...

You're right! My will isn't so easily broken! Let's open this up! For the future beyond...

It opened! Get back!

Garam, Geldbariss, are you okay?

I'm fine. Any longer and it might have gotten dangerous though.

More importantly, what about you, Geldbariss? Just because you have the secret essence doesn't necessarily mean...

Ngh!

Geldbariss!

Agh... Garam... Run... Quick...

Aaaaargh!

I-Isn't that an ogre?

Why would a titan turn into an ogre?!

No, wait... I've heard that before. The titans are the ancestors of the ogres.

Could it be that the curse of mutation was the thing that turned the titans into the ogre race?!

Grargh!

Geldbariss? It's me! Don't you recognize me?

Grooorgh!

Ngh!

Geldbariss, stop!

Graaaaahh!

Urgh...

He's gone insane... And it's all my fault. It's all because he helped me.

Get back, Garam! We'll take care of this!

But...

We've got to stop Geldbariss! We can sort everything else out later! Come on, you lot!

Guagh!

Geldbariss!

Wait...he's still got some strength left!

It doesn't matter! If I abandon my friend, I don't deserve to live! Geldbariss! You wouldn't let me give up, you opened the gate with me! I'm just a friend, yet you did that, for my future...

Grooorgh!

If you want to kill me, kill me! You've given me so much. The heavens won't punish you for taking my life! But please listen to me, Geldbariss! Hear my voice, and come back to yourself!

Graah...

He's stopped moving...?

Hmm... Now's the perfect chance.

Ogre Rancorem?!

Your sword!

Allow me to feed on this one!

Geldbariss! Are you okay?

Huh...? I... What...

I'm sorry, Geldbariss. I put you in harm's way, all for my own selfish reasons.

Oh...yes, I... There's no need...to apologize.

What?

I wanted to see this new world beyond the gate, just as you did. I'm a fool, choosing a dream over my friend's safety. I'm the one who deserves to be punished.

Geldbariss...

Maybe the likeness in the legend didn't refer to us. Maybe it referred to Geldbariss.

In spite of our height difference, my likeness is...Geldballis?

Yeah. You were raised as brothers, you had the same dream. And that's why you were able to open the gate together. Even when he was consumed by the darkness, your voice reached him because you share that same dream. Though it was Ogre Rancorem who removed the miasma.

What a turn out for the books! I always thought I was an onlooker of Garam's sad fate. I never imagined I'd be a part of it...

By the way, what is that sword of yours? How did it absorb all that power welling up inside me?

That's Ogre Rancorem, a demon sword that swallowed the souls of the perished ogre clan, who lost the war against the humans.

A sword that swallowed the souls of the ogres? Are these ogres what we will one day mutate into?

Yeah, I think so. Though I didn't see it coming. I never thought when the titans mutated, they'd end up as the ogre clan...

In other words, this race of giants, these titans, are actually the ancestors of the ogres.

Come to think of it, the Sacred Blade of Palsifal was said to have been created by the titans, long, long ago.

Which means that the ancestors of the titans who live in Pador must've made it.

So the Sacred Blade of the titans' ancestors changed into a demon sword that consumed the souls of their descendants, the ogres?

Somewhat ironic, no?

Wait! Is that true? Then that demon sword or whatever you call it was made by our ancestors, and is inhabited by our descendants?

Yes, I guess so.

So that's how the sword was able to absorb all that terrifyingly powerful energy surging within me.

And it explains why the sword wants to destroy pretty much all living things.

Let's leave the tittle-tattle there, shall we?

I didn't expect that... Though I was traveling with you, I had no idea where the demon sword came from.

Just who the heck are you all?

We're adventurers. By some strange turn of events, we've been journeying across time and space.

Did you just say time and space?!

Yeah, we've been wandering through different time periods and countries across the world. The Underworld on the other side of that gateway is just another place on that list.

We don't know what we're gonna find through there, but we have to keep going. To get back someone we care about... And to restore the world back to how it was meant to be.

What exactly is going on here? I may have asked where you were going, but perhaps I should've asked where you came from. Just who are you people?

We're adventurers. By some strange turn of events, we've been journeying across time and space.

Did you just say time and space?!

Yeah, we've been wandering through different time periods and countries across the world. The Underworld on the other side of that gateway is just another place on that list.

We don't know what we're gonna find through there, but we have to keep going. To get back someone we care about... And to restore the world back to how it was meant to be.

......

We should be on our way, Aldo!

Yeah, we should.

Wait!

What's wrong, Garam?

Will you let me travel with you through that gateway and beyond?

What, really? But, we're...

I know. You have your own objective, and you should press forward with that. But I can't shake the feeling that I'll find the answer I seek on such a journey.

Why was I the only titan born this size? Where do I belong? What is it that only I can do? What is it that I am meant to do? I have to find out, whatever it is.

Why was I the only titan born this size? Where do I belong? I want to see a different place. A different world. What is it that only I can do? What is it that I am meant to do? I have to find out, whatever it is.

Garam... If you're really sure about this, then we'd be happy to have you with us.

If your ancestors made the Sacred Blade and your descendants are the ogres... Then maybe it was destiny for us to meet here.

Garam...

Geldbariss, I will go. What we dreamed about since we were young will finally come true...

Geldbariss, I'm going to see the big, wide world outside of this valley, the one I've dreamed of ever since I was little.

I'm not going to stop you. You wouldn't listen anyway. But you should take this. It's a letter to you from Siodglase.

I dreamed of the same thing. I won't stop you. But you should take this. It's a letter to you from Siodglase.

From Siodglase?

She must have known this was going to happen. She asked me to give you this letter if you said you wished to accompany Aldo.

Siodglase...

I wish you well, Garam!

You too. Take care of Siodglase and the rest, won't you?

Shall we go then? A new future awaits us on the other side of that door.

Go, Garam. You will always be the pride of our people.

So this is the Underworld...

It's even weirder than I thought. It's so calm, yet so melancholy.

This is my first time here also. The miasma doesn't appear to be an issue here, but we should still be careful.

Got it. If this is the Underworld, then the Chapel of the Goddess of Time must be here somewhere. Let's keep going.

What is that?

Hmm... I think I recognize this. But why would it be here, of all places?

What's wrong, Cyrus? We should keep going.

Oh, it is nothing. I'll be with you imminently.

So this really is the Underworld.

We came here to find the Chapel of the Goddess of Time. It must be around here somewhere. Do you know anything about it?

The Chapel of the Goddess of Time? You must mean that building that appeared out of nowhere. It's just beyond this town.

But there's mist covering the road. It's known as a temporal confusion.

Time is at a standstill in the underworld, but this strange phenomenon makes time flow unevenly. It is difficult to judge whether it will speed it up, slow it down, or even rewind it.

If we who live here, the children of chaos, were to touch it, maybe we'd grow old, maybe we'd regress into a baby... Either way, it would not be good. Don't get too close to it.

Oh no... Then how do we get through?

You'll find time regulating drops in Zero Point. They can clear the temporal confusions.

Time regulating drops? Sounds like the drop we picked up earlier.

Oh, you already have a time regulating drop? Then go ahead and use it on a temporal confusion.

A time regulating drop? I think we may have passed one on the way here. Let's go back and look.

If you find a drop, stand in front of a temporal confusion to use it. I'm sure they'll come in handy.