Wrought King of Iron

Chapter 24: DEATH

Charging onwards to the next trial, we climbed the stairs at a steady pace. Again, they spiralled upwards for an incredibly long time, and scaling it was more and more difficult. 

Suddenly, despite not having reached the top yet, the staircase started to rearrange itself, continuously building itself as we travelled across the newly formed passage.

'Wasn't that some great team building? You got to know each other much better, with an introspective look into the trauma that defines you. Indeed, hearing your blood-curdling screams brightened my day.' Her condescending voice spoke to us again.

'You're twisted. Forcing us to relive past suffering and be forced to suffer physical pain in doing so. I will definitely defeat you.' I had a new reason to be angry at her. I wanted to avenge Luvia's mother and put her regrets to rest.

'What's the complaint here? There wasn't any long term harm, so its fine. Then again, the pain you felt must have been more intense than anything you have ever felt before. Especially you, Shirou Emiya. For someone like you, who views their existence equivalent to sin, the pain must have been on an astronomical scale, equal to the length of time you have been alive for. But you lived, so all's well that ends well.'

'Why are the stairs leading us to a different place than originally intended?'

'The original third trial was going to be quite awful I must say, however there is something else I can do which will be way more difficult than the challenge I had previously created. An annoying cockroach refuses to die and keeps on moving through my castle unhindered. Therefore, I will force you to fight. Watching two insects fight for survival is entertaining, especially with vicious insects.'

'So it's like poisonous insects in a jar, waiting for the winner to appear having killed the rest. You intend to pit the two most poisonous insects  together and ascertain which is stronger. Not that it matters, because I won't die to any pathetic poison you throw at me.'

'I wouldn't be so sure about that. The fact I have yet to kill this intruder means they are quite an impressive foe. Anyway, good luck, and may the strongest win.'

As her voice faded from our minds, and she no longer spoke, we reached the end of the stairwell. The door opened before us, to reveal an empty room of grey stone, with a layer of water forming across the floor. However, it didn't flow down the staircase, likely prevented by a bounded field.

Carefully walking into the next room, I looked around the room, and to the ceiling in case anything was lurking up there. It was brightly lit, for once, with candles burning in a chandelier on the ceiling.

However there was nothing there, except for empty space. It seemed that the foe we had to face had not yet appeared. I kept on guard in anticipation.

A chilling feeling ran down my spine, in response to murderous intent. I rapidly looked around the room to see where it was coming from. There was no one there, however there was a distinct direction of the flow of this aura. Coming through the wall to my right, the intent was directed at Luvia.

Drawing my blade, and standing in front of Luvia, I shouted 'They're coming!'

The wall literally exploded, with rocks flying everywhere. It did not seem as if it had been destroyed with brute strength, but that the rocks were no longer capable of keeping the wall intact, and strangely... died.

Bursting through the spray of rubble was a young man dressed in full black, wearing a black jacket and trousers, and a thin, unzipped black coat over the jacket. There was a bandage rapped around his left hand, and he was wielding a switch blade. He had short black hair, and his eyes were... they strangely lacked colour, and appeared to be hollow. It was as if he was staring into the void and it was reflected in his pupils. This phenomenon, was likely something Rin told me about - Mystic Eyes.