Chapter 151 Vandread: Origin (Two)

Victor picked himself up, holding his arm that was bent the completely opposite way it should be with his forearm sticking out from his skin.

“Ghh…” Victor winced.

Julius looked at him, “Just tough it out for another second.”

As predicted, the broken state of the blonde youth’s arm was mended as black tendrils extended from the point of affliction, fixing his bone and sealing his cut. Still, Victor scrunched his nose during the process and let out a long exhale once it was finished.

“…That never feels good,” Victor muttered.

Julius looked over at Vandread, who was still laying down amidst the veil of dust that obscured all of their sight, “How long do you plan on laying there?”

Attempting to get up again, Vandread tried lifting his body, but found his legs to be unresponsive, “…I can’t get up.”

“You can’t?” Victor looked over concerned.

“Hold on…” Julius squinted, moving closer.

As the dust finally parted, they were able to see the situation that persisted in the dark, clammy depths: the boulder was laying on the dark-skinned adventurer’s legs.

“Vandread, your legs…” Julius said in disbelief.

“…I thought as much,” Vandread calmly said, though there was obvious stress on his expression as sweat trailed down his forehead.

Victor gasped, moving quickly to try and push the boulder, pressing his body up against it.

“Julius, help me…!” Victor said, pushing against the rock.

It took a moment for Julius to come to as he jumped into action, stepping up and aiding with his strength, which was substantially more than what Victor possessed.

Together, they began to move the large boulder, though it took an incredible amount of strain and effort as the two began to sweat beads.

“Raaagh…!” Julius roared.

Despite only being in his teens, Julius had the strength of an ox; the combination of his superb physicality and his strength technique stemming from the formidable Mountain God Style gave him enough push to move the boulder.

In comparison, Victor was equivalent to moral support, but he still tried his best nonetheless.

Vandread gritted his teeth, feeling the heavy weight roll off of his legs as sensation somewhat returned.

“…Can’t hold it long! Move!” Julius grunted.

Being told such, Vandread pulled himself across the ground, moving out of the way of the boulder just as Julius and Victor let it drop again, managing to successfully free Vandread.

Still, it didn’t solve all their problems as the two turned to find Vandread sitting there with his legs stretched out.

“Shit…are they broken?” Julius asked, squatting beside him,

Vandread winced a bit as sweat slid down his cheek, “…No, don’t think so. But my shin is definitely fractured. Both are bruised to hell, too.”

The dark-skinned youth pointed out his worst leg, being his left as it was sensitive to the touch.

Scratching his head, Julius fixed his leather gloves before reaching down and helping Vandread to his feet, giving him his shoulder.

“Say the word and we can turn right back around,” Julius said.

Vandread sighed, looking up, “Even if I wanted to, we can’t exactly turn around, can we?”

They all looked up, remembering the less-than-ideal situation they had fallen straight into, finding themselves faced only with moving forward through the dark corridor before them.

“Urk…Guess there’s no road left but the one ahead,” Victor said.

“C’mon,” Julius said, walking with Vandread at his side, “Don’t fall behind the guy with battered legs.”

Victor promptly followed, “–That’s not fair.”

It was noticeably grimier in the lower portions of the temple; less overgrowth stuck through the gaps in stone, but more dust laced the air and darkness crowded the width of the corridors.

“I didn’t know it went this deep,” Julius commented, keeping Vandread’s arm slung over his shoulders.

Vandread was breathing heavily, putting up with the searing pain flowing through his legs, “If I had to guess…this is probably where we were supposed to go, anyway.”

“You think so?” Victor asked, glancing back nervously.

There was something ominous about the maze of halls that inhabited the bottom layer of the abandoned temple; it was quiet and expansive in its enigma. Victor was already one that was easy to fright, so it didn’t take much to put him on edge.

“Just a guess, nothing more…” Vandread replied, “…Still, doesn’t a grimy, creepy area like this sound like a place a warlock would store his precious belongings?’

Julius glanced around, “Now that you mention it…”

“…Definitely a warlock’s kind of place,” Victor finished.

The slow pace they moved with Julius supporting Vandread made it easier to carefully scope out their surroundings for further traps.

Just as Julius lifted his boot to take another step–

“Don’t step there. Pressure plate,” Vandread warned casually.

Julius looked down, keeping his boot in the air before stepping over the loose tile of stone, “Ah. Nice catch.”

Walking by them with laughter, Victor strutted forward, “See, as clumsy as ever, Jul–”

Before the blonde-haired, young adventurer could finish his sentence, a resounding ‘click’ sounded out, causing all three to pause for a second.

“Ah,” Victor looked down.

“You idiot–” Vandread said.

On either side of the trio, multiple sections of the grimy, stone walls gave out, revealing hidden contraptions that swiftly shot out lethal arrows. The swiftness in which the trap activated from the moment the weight of Victor’s step fell on the false tile and the arrows launched was ruthless, leaving Victor no time to react.

Oh, crap…! Victor thought.

The sharp projectiles sailed close to him as he began to move, but it was too late.

However–

Acting with precision and speed that Victor failed to embody in that moment, both Julius and Vandread moved forward, using their blades to slice the arrows out of the air.

It took a moment for the young adventurer to realize that he was, in fact, not pierced by the arrows as he patted his own chest and head to make sure.

“…Phew…” Victor sighed in relief.

Julius furrowed his eyebrows, tucking his trusted sword into its scabbard, “Who’s the clutz?”

“I, err…” Victor chuckled embarrassedly.

“Gh…” Vandread winced.

Nearly falling over, the platinum-eyed adventurer caught himself against the wall before being helped up by Julius.

“You alright?” Julius asked Vandread.

The shaggy-haired youth nodded, “Yeah, just…moved without thinking.”

“Ha-ha. I knew some bruised legs wouldn’t be enough to stop ya’,” Julius laughed.

As they began moving again, Victor coughed into his hand nervously, scratching his cheek as he averted his gaze, “…Thanks, you guys.”

“Huh? For what?” Julius looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

“You know…for saving me?” Victor clarified.

Julius exhaled with a smile, “That? You’d do the same for me–don’t think about it!”

“Yeah. It goes without saying,” Vandread added.

It was a relieving dynamic to have; though there were clear holes in their strengths and weaknesses, trust was the foundation of a good party.

–

After enough stumbling around over traps, some of which spewed out venomous snakes and spiders, and some that led to pits of spikes and bones, at last, a promising chamber was found.

“Woah…check it out; totally giving me the jitters,” Julius remarked.

It resembled a cathedral, lined with velvet carpet, but devoid of any divine grace as robed skeletons sat in the chairs–silently and for eternity, all seeming to pray to the shrine that sat in the front of the ominous chamber.

“What’s that…?” Victor asked, stepping closer.

The shrine was the statue of a faceless man, wearing only a cloth around his nethers with loose hair and horns protruding from his skull. At the base of the statue were melted candles and a bowl filled with crimson liquid; stagnant and lukewarm.

“Dunno, but it creeps me out,” Julius responded.

Vandread glanced around, “…Either way, I’ve got a feeling that our goblet is somewhere in here. Let’s grab it and get out of here. I’m sure none of us would like to spend any more time than we have to in this place.”

“You can say that again…” Victor muttered.

There was nothing normal about the underground chamber of worship; the torn-up, reverse-star flags that sat on the walls, the melted candles, and the array of skeletons that sat in the chairs like worshippers of the faceless statue.

Perhaps weirdest of all was the still bowl of blood that sat at the statue’s feet; something struck as odd to Victor.

Julius and Vandread checked around the seats, looking beneath them and even around the robed corpses, but nothing was found there. Scoping out the walls for false tiles found nothing, either.

“Urghh…Are you sure it’s here?” Julius scratched his head.

“I said it was just a feeling. If it’s not here, we’ll have to go back and scope the higher floors again,” Vandread said.

“Urghhh…” Julius groaned again.

While the two were talking, something caught Victor’s eye within the bowl of blood, causing him to focus intently on it.

“What’re you staring at over there? Kind of creeping me out,” Julius asked Victor.

“Nothing, I–”

Just as Victor was about to turn away, a small ‘plop’ sounded from the blood, causing him to look again as a ruby-forged goblet surfaced from within the bowl.

The goblet…? He thought.

Reaching in, he dunked his hand into the bowl, taking the goblet out without a second thought. A smile stretched across his lips as he felt himself proving his worth on the mission at last. However, he realized something else was latched onto the goblet as he retrieved it.

Huh? He thought.

Yanking the goblet from the bowl, he realized a skeletal hand resided in the bowl, extending from the bottom and gripping the jeweled cup before breaking away.

What was that…? Victor questioned.