ReZero: The Mastermind and the Simp

Chapter 57: Lugunica's Renegade Knight

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One Month Before

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Echidna: Here we are! Just like I told ya!

Kiyotaka: This better be well worth the time spent. 

Echidna: Hey, just cuz I made you walk across the kingdom to find a fake ruin doesn't mean you have to give me back talk when I clutch up with a real one.  

Kiyotaka: Your word choice has been getting awfully influenced by the crude maners of speaking from my world. 

She pouted. 

Kiyotaka: Whatever, who's to say this isn't different from the other 'ruins' that had fragmented witch Cultists from Petelgeuse's command?

Echidna got serious. 

Echidna: Every other place we've been to has just been gathering spots set in stone for only a decade or so. Right here...is a temple that's far more ancient than anything encountered before. I'd say this one dates back to the age of us witches. 

Kiyotaka got off his ground dragon and left him away from the Witch Cult ruins. 

Kiyotaka: If you sense danger, run away. Otherwise, stay right here. 

The ground dragon acknowledged its master's order as it sat down under a tree and covered in vegetation. 

It was particularly dark for a full-moon night. Light didn't appear to want to permeate into the Witch Cult Ruins. 

He walked cautiously as he ducked below a broken down-arch and saw that vegetation had already taken over what remains of the temple was left.   

Kiyotaka: Months of investigation and I've still yet to encounter another archbishop. No wonder they've been walking the world for some time. The hardest part is to track them down.

Echidna: Hey, don't sell yourself short, darling! Even though we've been at this for months, half of that time's been spent training with me. You're by far one of the best students I've ever had!

Kiyotaka shrugged his shoulders and picked up pieces of rubble from the ground with his chained arm and wrapping them in cloth to be studied later. 

Echidna: Aren't you curious about who I'm comparing you to?

Kiyotaka: Not really. I'm more focused on what I can find here. 

Echidna pouted. 

Echidna: Fine, even if you're dying to know in the future, I ain't telling you. 

Kiyotaka: Ok. 

Underneath a large wooden shelf covered in vegetation, Kiyotaka picked up the withered pieces of a black book. 

Echidna: Oooh. That looks like a gospel. 

He opened the book but saw the pages all shrivel away in dust. 

Kiyotaka: Useless. 

Just in case, he threw the book away as it disappeared into a dark void. 

Kiyotaka continued to walk around the ruins, finding ornamental objects, pieces of gospels, and a black robes that would tear at a single touch. 

Kiyotaka: This sort of degradation most likely means anything that isn't preserved underground is useless. Would there be an underground crypt at one of these temples, Echidna?