Carn was stunned. He had assud the gargoyle inquisitor was just a similar version of those from his forr world, not an actual being from there.
He glanced at Caesar, curious if he could hear the inquisitor's words. Noticing Caesar's trembling lips and his wide-eyed stare at the priestess, Carn couldn't help but think the guy had already lost his jewels.
Taking this opportunity, Carn coughed and raised his index finger to his lips, signaling the inquisitor to hold back.
The inquisitor paused, observing Caesar, and then nodded.
"Understood, my lord. I shall keep your identity here a secret."
She shifted her focus to Caesar, giving him an icy glare. After a mont, she turned and resud her statue pose at the front of the lecture hall behind the podium.
Once she was gone, Caesar fell off his lecture chair. He crawled toward the elevator with all his might and unmuted his microphone.
Caesar yelled, "E-Ergency, code V! I-I need a suppression team at ECD-6677's containnt, NOW!"
Carn raised an eyebrow, finding Caesar's reaction a bit extre. He tried to pacify him, "Relax, she might have just wanted to say hi."
Caesar turned around, shooting a death glare at Carn. "Just to say HI?! What are you, a blond bitch in a horror movie?! She talked directly into my head and threatened to kill if I didn't leave! This has never happened before! I have to report to the general!"
Carn stayed silent, watching as Caesar crawled on all four into the elevator. He repeatedly pressed the buttons, forcing the door to close faster.
*DING*
The elevator doors were closed. The guy really left Carn here.
Being alone with the gargoyle, Carn snorted and stood, moving over to where a petrified man in an orange jumpsuit sat. He patted the stone prisoner, which crumbled to dust, leaving only the jumpsuit behind.
Carn brushed off the seat and tossed the jumpsuit aside. He then sat down and looked at the inquisitor.
He couldn't rember her even though she claid to be his old subordinate. He also couldn't rember asking fellow gargoyles to call him as "Lord".
As Carn was cautious of the surveillance caras and hidden voice recorders, Carn activated a telepathic skill, consuming a silver mark.
Half of a silver mark faded, leaving Carn with 147 marks and half a stick.
Carn started speaking, but his lips didn't move. His voice resonated directly in the gargoyle inquisitor's mind.
"What happened to you? I thought all inquisitors had lost their reason. When did you regain sentience, and how did you end up in this world?"
Without moving, the statue's gaze shifted to Carn. She replied telepathically.
"I'm not entirely sure. But when the devil invaded the Great Lord's Tomb, my mind was already cleared. I even rembered my life as a human. As for ending up in this world, I made a deal with heroes here. They said mimics had infiltrated their world, and they needed my help identifying humans from monsters. I asked for offerings to replenish my Aether, and they agreed to supply with criminals.
This is my new ho now."
Carn frowned at the ntion of Aether, worried humans might exploit it if they discovered its true nature.
"Did you explain Aether to them?"
"No. They call it 'Mana.' I didn't ntion that we can acquire Aether by completing vengeful spirits' unfulfilled wishes."
Hearing that the secret was safe, Carn was relieved. He pressed on. "So, how did you cross this 'rift'?"
"That's what they call it. Indeed, I was transported through a rift. It looked like a regular long-distanced portal of an archmage with so extra instability cracks. Crossing it once and twice is already risky enough. It could collapse or change destinations at any mont. We were lucky that the portal didn't act up."
Carn nodded, recalling the portals that human mages once used to breach his dungeon's defenses. If a rift could connect this world with his forr one, he wondered if he might find a way back and revisit the demon lord's tomb. He hoped that the 'hidden' chamber hadn't been discovered yet.
"How much ti has passed since I fought the devil and got sealed?"
"I lost track after 300 years… so about 400 years in total."
"Has anyone else crossed over with you?"
"As far as I know, it's just . The devil destroyed or buried the others along with the dungeon," she replied, then hesitated before asking, "And you, my lord? How did you co here, and why are you in a human body?"
"I don't know myself. My last mory was fighting the devil and getting buried. When I regained consciousness, I was in this body."
"...That explains a lot." The statue smiled.
Carn stared at her, sensing she might know sothing he didn't. "Do you know sothing?"
"Among my forr human comrades, one of them implied that he had experienced death before. When he betrayed , he bragged that he was a reincarnator with his forr life's mory and he was the chosen one. I assu that you might have experienced sothing similar, my lord."
Carn's interest piqued. "What happened to him? Is he still alive?"
"No, you killed him two days after you issued a sortie order during the 52nd hero's invasion. I was there with you, and I saw you stomped on that man's tiny nuts and ripped his head off his shoulders. It was satisfying to watch, actually."
Carn slapped his forehead, getting cringe. It reminded him of his impulsive and hot-blooded period when heroes never stopped trying to get their hands on his father's treasures.
At that ti, he had just overco the infighting crisis between his father's children and ambitious subordinates, who sought the demon lord's artifacts and secrets. The political strife always put him in a bad mood, causing him to go berserk every ti heroes suddenly joined the fray.
He gave the priestess a aningful look. He glanced at the mark on his right arm, noting that the leftover 147th line flickered and was about to fade. As the conversation wasted so of his energy, he tried to cut it short.
"I'm short on Aether. I can't talk like this for too long or I won't have enough energy for self-preservation. I forgot to ask. What was your na again? Inquisitor number 52 or 53?"
"My human na was Rosa, but you used to call I-57."
Carn nodded and let out a sigh, ending the telepathic connection. He spoke aloud, feigning exhaustion.
"It seems I'll be getting stuck here for a whole day. I'll be taking a nap. I hope you won't turn into a stone."
The inquisitor grinned and continued splurging her Aether, talking in telepathy, "You're always rock hard, my lord."
Carn rolled his eyes. He flipped the lecture chair's armrest and leaned over, pretending to take a nap. After he covered his face, he closed his eyes and started thinking about his life goal.
'Should I be content here, or should I find a way back to that world? And what about the devil?'
His thoughts drifted to the image of the monstrous creature with its many unblinking eyes. The last ti, ddling humans had sealed them both within the collapsing dungeon.
If possible, he hoped to get a rematch and end their little grudge. Also, he still wanted to crush the person who created the devil and make them fight each other.
Carn still rembered the mage's na.
'Ariel…Don't you grow old and die before I get to kill you. Wait in that world and wash your neck for . I'll be coming for you!'
Carn made his decision. He was determined to cross the rift and head back ho, the demon lord's dungeon ho.
.
.
.
LOG ENTRY #15
Date: 12/02/2019
Logger: Dr. Eve [Redacted]
Incident Report: During the ECD employee examination protocol, ECD-6677 displayed anomalous behavior. Instead of remaining stationary and exhibiting its usual proximity-based petrification phenonon, it directly confronted [Data Expunged] and the Special Examinee, [Redacted].
According to [Data Expunged]'s account, the entity communicated telepathically with him, expressing hostile intent to an elite researcher for the first ti.
Aside from the inflicted trauma on [Data Expunged], ECD-6677 showed no additional aggression toward other researchers or qualified examinees. Following the CCTV footage review from that day, a special protocol was initiated to monitor Special Examinee [Redacted], the sole surviving witness to the incident.
…
LOG ENTRY #16
Date: 12/02/2019
Logger: [Data Expunged]
Incident Report: [Data Expunged]
…
ECD FACILITY EMPLOYEE ARCHIVE - INCD-6677-6
Date: 12/03/2019
Logger: ECD-8888
Event: Following [Data Expunged]'s procedural breach on December 2nd, 2019, the employee's contract was terminated in accordance with INCD protocols. All records pertaining to the employee and the related incidents have been purged from the database. No investigation will be taken.
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