45. Split (part 1)

Character : Nathan Fiore, Split

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After we boarded the Steelbird, we were lifted into the air and immediately started flying straight to the location.

As Frisena already mentioned, the location of the summoned ancient buildings were not that far from our new base, mainly because the new base was located in the desert near Ellen. We just have to fly across the desert to reach the ancient buildings and put a stop to whatever the headmaster is planning.

"Any plans on facing the headmaster?" Jonah asked the passengers of the Steelbird, and everyone is still quite concerned about that.

Facing someone that has two origins isn't simple, but we had to keep in mind that the opponent is also extremely powerful. The headmaster is fast, and his abilities were specifically suited for killing. 

Zero, on the other hand, was quite the flexible one with his various uses of the darkness origin. He can use illusions, conjure shadow objects that can block or stab, and even blend with the darkness itself.

They also have an ability that I'm not too sure how they have. The ability to teleport and make portals.

Back when we were talking at the academy, the headmaster very easily concocted a portal right in front of my eyes. It was dark, so it's the same to assume that it was the ability belonging to the darkness origin. But when we were fighting Zero, the headmaster also appeared instantly after a bright blinding light. So, not only can he teleport with light origin, but he also can make portals with the darkness origin.

His ability to escape is definitely a hassle, so we should keep in mind not to let him get away. But before we can think about that, we first have to think about how we can defeat him considering all of his annoying and powerful abilities.

"There is a way." All of a sudden, Eric said aloud to everyone, and we all turned to him.

"The headmaster and Zero… they are two different people. We can use this weakness against them." Eric mentioned, and that quickly reminds me of what their dynamic was when we were talking at the academy.

"The headmaster and Zero do get into disagreements. I saw it with my own eyes." I supported Eric's idea, and he nodded at me before turning to the others.

"Does anyone know how we can try to rile them up? Maybe, based on their personalities, we can try splitting them from each other and make them confused." Eric continued with stating his idea, and everyone else started thinking.

I know the headmaster and Zero best, and I tried thinking about their differences. Truthfully, it's not hard to figure out what's so different about them. The headmaster is very calm and collected, while Zero is the complete opposite. 

The headmaster is a thinker, and he will always solve things in the most efficient and logical way. On the other hand, Zero loves chaos, and he will do just whatever he wants.

"There is… a way." I said to my four friends plus Frisena, and they all listened to me. "But if we want to split them up, then we will have to split up ourselves."

I began telling them about my plan, and everyone listened closely. After a while, our Steelbird had finally arrived at the location, and everyone turned their gazes to the tall triangular building in the distance.

"There it is… the triangle building. 'The Tryamid', Omega's castle." Frisena introduced us to the massive triangle in the distance that has no windows whatsoever, and it does look like it was made out of stone.

There's multiple, over twenty smaller buildings surrounding it with a similar design. Some have four corners, others have five or more. For sure, all of them were set up in such a way to form this odd pattern that can be seen from above.

"Does the buildings seem like they form a pattern to you guys?" Lily pointed out, and she might've been right.

"They are. There's exactly twenty four smaller buildings surrounding the triangle tower, and all twenty four were placed in such a pattern as they circle the tower. 

If you look closely, only the four cornered buildings are right next to the tower's three corners. Then, three five-cornered buildings were positioned on the three faces of the triangle tower." Frisena explained exactly how the pattern seems by studying the map that was made by her soldiers, and Lily understood the meaning right away.

"Those buildings are the summoning circle to summon the demon." Lily muttered, and we all knew what the demon in question was.

"The headmaster must be in one of those buildings." Jonah said after listening for a while, and everyone seemed to agree.

"But, which one…?" Frisena stared at the pattern that was drawn by her soldier, and nobody could really answer.

"Wouldn't he be at the tall tower, instead?" The silent girl, Nyssa, finally spoke out her thoughts. Everyone turned to her with confusion, wondering how she came to that conclusion.

"If he wants to operate a device, shouldn't he be located at the main control room?" Nyssa explained her thoughts, and it looks like everyone has missed that thought.

"That's right. The headmaster must be in the center tower." Jonah said while pointing at the tall triangle tower, and I began to formulate my plan.

"Then, we can proceed as we planned. Team A will be outside, waiting for the headmaster. Team B will approach the middle triangle tower." I explained after thinking about it deeply, but Frisena seemed to have a question.

"But, what if the headmaster doesn't bite the bait? Team B will be left to face him alone." Frisena asked what's on her mind, and I just giggled hearing that.

"Let's hope he does bite, then." I said with a grim smile, and everyone else realized just how risky this plan is. 

However, we don't really have much of a choice aside from splitting the headmaster and Zero from each other. Because once we've done, then we can finally have a chance to win.

The Steelbird lands only a couple hundred meters away from the nearest five cornered building. We noticed that this side must be the entrance towards the center triangle tower, so we decided to land right here.

"Are you sure you two will be fine on your own?? If the headmaster doesn't leave, then…" Lily asked out of concern as me and Eric stepped out of the Steelbird.

I turned my gaze to Lily after my feet deepened on the sand, and I just showed a confident grin at her. "Lily. We'll be fine. Trust us." 

Next to me, Eric is lifting a thumb up, as if also telling Lily that we'll be fine. Seeing that we're both quite confident, Lily just shook her head from this foolishness. Jonah and Nyssa are also staring at us with concern, though it's quite hard to tell what Nyssa's expression was. But I can tell they are also concerned.

"We'll be fine! You guys should just prepare for the headmaster to come! He will be the most dangerous opponent!" I told the three staying on the Steelbird, and they all realized their mission.

"Then, we wish you good luck." Jonah said while waving his hand, and I just waved back at him.

"You too, big guy. I'll see you guys later." I said to them before turning around, and Eric followed right behind me.

The Steelbird started flying upwards and causing sand to fly all over the place, and I coughed from the amount of sand flying in the air. The five cornered building is only about five hundred meters away, but reaching it is not a problem. The heat of the sun is barely there due to the skies gradually turning dark, which I do find odd because the sun was out brightly back at the base.

"Eric. Do you think the skies are weird?" I asked him while staring at the cloudy world above us, and the guy with the blue scarf nodded.

"For sure. Everywhere else in the desert is a bright sunny day. And yet, this place looks like it's about to rain. Nothing's right about this." He explained his thoughts, and I'm sure he thinks about the weather differently considering he is a lightning origin.

Wind origin and lightning origin always have a way to tell the weather. It's funny that water origin doesn't have that, but water origins can tell if it's raining or not from inside a building or underground.

"Then, we'll have to hurry before things go bad." I said while speeding up my footsteps, but Eric is already one step ahead.

He activated his Limit Break right on the spot and started flying forward like lightning. I was quite shocked to find lightning nearly zapping me, but then I realized that was Eric being impatient and rushing forward all by himself.

That's Eric, all right. He does that, sometimes.

I followed behind him while using the micro explosion footsteps on this sandy ground, and I arrived right behind him at the entrance to the five cornered building. The entrance is massive, and it looks like an entire Steelbird can fit in the entrance.

"Something tells me that the path to the triangle tower is through here." Eric guessed, and I just followed behind him as he led the way.

The interior of the building was surprisingly quite bright. There's torches lit all over, and a set of stairs leading downwards was found at the center of the interior room. Eric was right, and this stair kept on going down until we arrived at another, much larger space underneath the triangle tower.

This place… is definitely not a place for tourists.

The big pentagonal room had five massive statues placed at each corner of the room. The statues each held different weapons and had different styles to their attires, but one thing for certain is that each of them represented each of the five basic origins.

Fire, water, earth, lightning, and wind. All five statues had those symbols and marks from each elemental origin, and they all faced the same direction, which is at the center of the room.

At the center of the room… is a small sarcophagus. A coffin. A very ancient looking coffin, and a rather big one.

This whole room… no, this building itself is a tomb. Surprisingly, we know exactly who is inside that coffin.

"Welcome to Omega's tomb." A voice was heard from the other side of the tall coffin, and both me and Eric prepared ourselves.