Extra's Perfect Ending

Chapter 114: Main castle

Reeva and Hommack traveled toward the main castle. The journey was as uneventful as the rest, for along the way, there was nothing of interest—no monsters, no people—just him and Hommack walking through the endless expanse.

The surroundings didn’t help Reeva either. Even when following directions, everything blurred together in his memory. After the initial awe of the architecture, it all began to look the same, the same color, the same walls, the same style. Nothing had changed for the past few rooms and hallways, and it felt like he’d spent an eternity walking through it.

For a moment, he envied his bodyless companion. Hommack didn’t even need to walk! While he had to do all of this labor but.. at least Reeva didn’t feel tired, and he had someone to talk to as he navigated the monotonous corridors. After passing the same bland corridor for the fifth time, Reeva broke the silence.

"Why are you like this?"

"You hate me, great one?" Hommack asked, concerned.

"No, I mean… why are you only a head?"

"Oh, that…" Hommack shifted his eye away in embarrassment. "I was caught stealing food from the kitchen. As punishment, they threw me into one of the plates, and my body was eaten by the monsters that live in the soup."

"…"

Reeva couldn’t help but look at Hommack strangely. He had suspected that the strange mouths of the water monsters did something nasty. And it turns out to be true.

"Should we get it back?"

"I appreciate your sentiment, great one, but I’m afraid that’s not possible," Hommack replied. "The monsters have a rather fast digestive system, and I’m sure they’ve had plenty of time to finish by now, especially since I was trapped under the piles of bones for so long."

"A shame."

Reeva truthfully wanted to know what Hommack looked like with a full body. "Then why haven’t you died yet?"

"We are in Heaven, great one. There is no concept of death here. Only those who have suffered death were brought here."

"So, this is the spirit realm, after all?"

"You could say that, great one."

They chatted a bit more before continuing in silence. Reeva used the time to think about his next move in the real world. Connecting the dots, he began to suspect that the god the heretics worshiped might be the Absolute One. That was a troubling thought.

From the architecture and the location in the spirit realm, Reeva guessed that this place had existed for a long time—probably longer than the Sun God had been around. The novel takes place in the Sun God era, with little to no mention of the past.

The only information the novel revealed was that there had been a period when power was relatively easy to obtain, fitting the description of a god bestowing his power upon his followers.

By that logic, this place was ancient, possibly constructed at the beginning of the world. From the way Hommack spoke, the god he worshiped was immensely powerful—powerful enough to inspire absolute loyalty among his followers. Even the Sun God couldn’t achieve that.

If this place truly was the last residence of the god of old, then the field of reeds was likely the domain of the Sun God.

"Do you know anything about the field of reeds?" Reeva asked.

"Reeds? What’s that? If you mean vegetation, then yes, this place was full of them, but now… it’s as you see," Hommack replied.

From that, Reeva could tell that the Sun God wasn’t a being of this era. He must have risen to godhood sometime after Homamck got trapped inside the pile of bones. This didn’t narrow things down much because Reeva still didn’t know exactly how long ago the gods of old ruled, but he at least had a timeframe.

However, the most terrifying thought was how this place fell into ruins. Something big must have happened on "That Day" Hommack mentioned.

The one-eyed man knew something had occurred, but his knowledge stopped there. On that day, he just happened to be punished. It was a blessing in hindsight since he seemed to be the only one here who survived.

Or a curse, depending on how you looked at it.

Soon they reached the entrance to the main castle, but instead of a tall archway like everywhere else, there was a door—a massive one, rivaling a skyscraper in height. Its texture looked surprisingly plain for a door leading to the most secure building in this place.

"There… wasn’t supposed to be a door here," Hommack murmured.

"??"

Reeva raised his eyebrows at Hommack’s remark. Looking more closely, he saw it too. The archway that was supposed to be there was blocked by the door, its architecture clashing with the rest of the structure. Now that he focused on the details, the door felt out of place, as if it had been hastily put there.

"Last time I saw this place, there were no doors. Great one, there might be grave consequences for entering," Hommackcautioned, unsure of why the door was there. Reeva shared his caution but was also more curious. Why would there be a door now, after this place had already fallen? Was something being kept in, or was something being kept out?

And Reeva wanted to find out. After all, he couldn’t die in this place anyway.

"Do you know how to open this door?" Reeva asked.

"It looks like a simple locked door. One of those blue gems from earlier would probably open it…"

As soon as Hommack said that, Reeva let out an audible sigh. He didn’t want to go back and search through the rubble of tableware again. It would take too much time and sanity to find the blue gem and bring it here.

Worst of all, he also had to be wary of Raphael, who would attack anything that exhibited mystic power…

"Hommack, do you think Raphael could open this door?" Reeva asked, a hint of strategy in his voice.

"Sir Raphael? Of course, his power is far beyond that of a mere door, even in his current state… wait," Hommack caught himself mid-sentence, realizing what Reeva was implying.