[Completed] Legend of the Five Knights III: Song of Divine Wrath

Episode 52: Depths of the Heart

My eyes darted back and forth across the white room I found myself in. It wasn't the room where we male knights would sleep, but its walls and ceiling were just as white.

I squatted and touched my forehead. Last I recalled, I had sat Setsuko against the wall after she had passed out. After that, I blanked out as well.

I eyed the floor. Its structure was reminiscent of ice with a trace of mana akin to that of Baldo.

"Seems that our trials have begun," I said, standing up. I smiled. Did Baldo initiate this, knowing that I wouldn't want to be behind Setsuko?

That makes me the fourth one to undergo the trial after Hideo, then presumably Tetsuya and Setsuko. Honestly, I will not be shocked if that pervert also is undergoing his own angel trial. But why would our guardian angels awaken one after the other? Did our angels figure the time for action was now? Or maybe this is all a part of the angel tool's creator's plan.

I stepped outside of the room, only to end up in a long blue corridor. Various snowflake designs covered its shimmering floor. It almost felt like I had been transported back home, but I knew that wasn't the case. There was no corridor with empty blue walls like this one, and especially not a pure white room like the one I was just in.

I closed my eyes like Setsuko had shown me while she trained in zen mode. It was an impressive but delicate technique. Even the slightest thought could disrupt it. It was somewhat surprising that someone like her would opt to learn it rather than focus on activating Third Heaven. As a kid, she was always so hyper.

Then again, she did use to act before thinking.

I took a deep breath and quieted my thoughts as much as I could. Though the silence was peaceful, there was also an eerie feeling to it. It reminded me of when I was a kid, and Kohri jumped out from behind a couch one night while I was alone in the library.

I shook my head, pushing aside the embarrassing memory. After a while, a map of my surroundings came into view in my mind's eye. There were various other hallways up ahead, some leading into dead ends and others pouring into even more corridors.

I opened my eyes and continued walking.

"A maze, huh?" I said, glancing up at the wall in front of me. I pulled my sword out of its sheath. "Usually, I try to figure these things out, but I don't exactly have the time to be playing games. Baldo, cut a straight path!" I swung my sword, unleashing a stream of blue mana, which sliced through the wall and several others beyond.

I took a deep breath and slid Baldo back into its sheath. "I hope this isn't the entire trial. If so, this is pathetic."

"My, what a haughty young man you are," an androgynous voice called out. "Reserve those words for when you have entered my chamber."

Just like the walls of the maze from the abysmal palace, the wall in front of me suddenly reconstructed themselves.

Mana converged on the index and fingers of my left hand, forming a knife. "If you're my angel, then you must know that this won't work on me."