I Awakened My Game System! Now Three Great Houses Want Me Dead!-Chapter 105: Friend Of God

Thankfully, the descent wasn’t as chaotic as last time.

Using the rock walls on each side, Xenos kicked back and forth, slowing his fall in a steady rhythm until his boots met the ground with a solid thud.

Dust puffed up around him, glowing a little red from the molten light filtering through the cracks above.

"Smooth landing."

He brushed his hands.

"See, Eris? I can be careful."

’You only say that after jumping into Tartaros twice.’

Xenos shrugged.

"You always get stuck on the details~."

The crust was the same as before, humming with life that shouldn’t exist.

But unlike last time, he didn’t feel that suffocating pressure pressing into his lungs.

His new Divine Mask shimmered in the face of Corruption, ridding every breath he took from what could so easily kill him, taking away that running clock on his life.

Finally, he could take his time.

’At least you won’t be forced to crawl out of here gasping again.’

"Yeah, let’s just hope I don’t get flattened by a Cyclops this time."

As if to mock him, the sound of heavy footsteps echoed through the cavern.

’Great timing.’

Xenos crouched, his eyes narrowing as the red glow ahead revealed the first of the Cyclopses, many of them dragging enormous chains for that little village of theirs.

Again, they were Tyrannos Class.

That meant Four Runes.

Each one was basically a raid boss.

’Don’t even think about it.’

Eris warned.

"I didn’t plan to."

With that, he began to move, slipping between broken stones and keeping to the shadows.

After several tense minutes of creeping through those narrow tunnels, something new caught his eye.

A small fissure in the wall, barely wide enough for his shoulders.

’Hm...’

He squinted.

’Maybe this is a way to the prison?’

Yes, Xenos’s aim was the prison in the upper crust of Tartaros.

It was where the strongest of criminals were banished in the distant past.

Of course, he wasn’t going to the criminals themselves; that’d be suicide. They’d kill him just by seeing him.

No, he was after the Runes those beings attracted, as their presence was somewhat of a magnet for them.

’Maybe, or it could just be a death trap.’

His grin widened at Calamity.

’Both sound fun.’

The crack went deeper than it looked.

Despite his size, Xenos managed to squeeze himself through, scraping his shoulder on rough stone as he crawled forward, following the path as it twisted, narrowed, and then suddenly opened into an empty drop.

He exhaled and slid down, his boots scraping against the wall until he landed softly again.

What now lay before him looked nothing like the caverns above.

...Metal.

Actual metal.

Rows of prison bars lined the walls, running in both directions until they disappeared into shadows, while strange, flickering bulbs hung from the ceiling, each buzzing faintly.

Here, the air was different, almost sterile.

Yeah, this place was... way too modern.

Relative to the Third Stratum, at least.

Was that electricity in those bulbs, or was it just an item of Arcane?

"Did someone install a government facility in the middle of Tartaros?"

Eris tilted Her head, not understanding what Xenos found so weird.

’It looks perfectly normal to me.’

He didn’t bother to explain and instead stepped forward cautiously, his boots echoing faintly.

Most of the cells were empty, their doors rusted open, obviously long abandoned.

A few had stains on the floor, remnants of... something.

His senses stretched out for Runes, searching for that familiar pulse of Divinity.

Nothing, yet he kept on walking, deeper, past many of these rows of dark metal.

Minutes passed before suddenly his head snapped to the left.

It wasn’t voluntary.

Something had grabbed his mind and twisted it toward one of the deeper cells.

And there, sitting in the center of it, was a man.

He wore rags, long since colorless, his body very lean but not wasted.

His gray hair hung down in thick, tangled ropes, spilling all the way to the floor.

Most of his face was hidden behind the curtain of strands... except for his eyes.

Cold gray eyes that pierced through the dark and locked onto Xenos.

’XENOS—BACK AWAY. NOW!’

Eris sounded more panicked than ever before.

And for good reason, a prisoner had caught them!

"Shit—"

Xenos tried to move, but his body wouldn’t respond.

His muscles were stuck, as if invisible strings held him upright.

And before he could try anything, the prisoner’s voice came softly:

"Come."

His legs obeyed.

He stepped forward automatically, closing the distance.

’Stop it—stop it!’

Eris slammed Her Will into his mind.

The world shook, his vision blurred, and then—

SNAP.

The control over him broke.

"Dammit!"

Xenos threw himself backward and rolled away, out of the prisoner’s range.

His heart hammered, but a grin broke through his face anyway.

"What in Tartaros was that?!"

’He caught you!’

Eris hissed.

’This prisoner is very strong!’

"Yeah..."

Xenos’s eyes were wide with excitement.

"I can tell. He’s fun."

Unfortunately, he was too fun for him to handle.

Xenos didn’t even get to move again before the air distorted around him.

"Ah..."

Gravity flipped, and the force yanked him straight toward the cell.

His boots scraped the floor as he fought to resist, but it was useless.

The pull was so strong it ripped his muscles and made his bones ache.

He didn’t even have enough time to activate a single Rune.

"Not again—!"

But just as his body hit an invisible threshold, the pull stopped.

He dropped like a stone, landing right in front of the bars.

"I see you better now..."

The prisoner’s eyes glowed brighter.

"Closer."

With his mind invaded, Xenos obeyed, standing up and stumbling forward.

Reaching the cell, he leaned a little, only to materialize his sword mid-motion.

"Break!"

He drove it straight toward the prisoner’s throat.

Xenos’s mind had resisted the control; his stumbling approach was an act!

It was all so he could reach him and attack him freely!

Yet that wasn’t enough, not even close...

"Stop."

The blade stopped completely.

"You’re too crazy, boy..."

The man chuckled, a rough, unused cracking sound.

It was obvious that he hadn’t spoken in a very, very long while.

"Calm it a little."

His control over the "boy’s" weapon loosened.

Sighing quietly, Xenos sent it away.

"Sure. May I at least know who’s going to kill me?"

The prisoner looked up slightly.

"Socrates."

Xenos blinked, only to quickly hide his surprise.

"I see."

Socrates grinned faintly beneath his mess of hair.

"But I’m not going to kill you."

"...Why not? Don’t you lot like to do that around here?"

"Maybe... But why do you sound disappointed?"

"I’m only a little bit."

Socrates gave a quiet laugh, or at least tried to.

"You’ve concocted another escape plan, haven’t you?"

Xenos nodded, not caring that he realized.

"Did you really think I’ve given up?"

Socrates nodded his head.

"No, and that’s good... I wouldn’t want my predecessor to be so weak-willed."

"... predecessor?"

Ignoring Xenos’s question, Socrates went on:

"You’re strange. But then again... maybe not. In this realm, the sane ones are..."

His gray eyes narrowed with curiosity.

"You’ve come here for power, haven’t you?"

Xenos didn’t answer...

"I can feel the System on you."

But that froze him up real quick.

"The same... construct that brought me here."

Eris, too, went silent.

’He... knows?’

Xenos didn’t say anything yet, wanting to ensure that Socrates wasn’t fishing for information first.

"Yes..."

The old man nodded slowly, as if hearing Her.

"’They’ sent me here long ago."

That one word was all that Xenos needed to confirm.

"At the end of the Second Epoch... the Age of Endless Chaos."

The end of the Second Epoch was many, many years back.

"...that long ago?"

Socrates hummed.

"Time means little here. But yes. I was what they called a Friend of God."

Oh...

For once, even Xenos was stunned beyond belief.

Because before him wasn’t just a strong prisoner.

It was a Class Three.

A Friend of God.