Chapter 51: Heavy Metal

There was utter pandemonium as the first lance of light rocketed through the air, crashing into the ground and virtually glassing the dirt released by the spell. Marcelle was already forming a second when Goetia countered with a dozen beams of light aimed back at the golem.

The golems were far from idle, already forming their own spells and unleashing them in the direction of the students. Goetia waved his hand to the side, a thin barrier forming around the group and blocking the spells, the golden spears crashed against the barrier and exploded in bright flashes. Goetia instantly established the threat of the golems.

Far more so than he had been expecting.

Especially when the shield collapsed after the third spear crashed against it, a sound akin to shattering glass filled the air before the spear continued on its path, then was intercepted by another burst of magenta coloured light slamming into the side of the spear and detonating it early.

Marcelle stumbled backwards as Goetia's counterattack rained down upon it, the spells scorched sections of its chassis and chipped away at the metal. Marcelle raised their arms in a blocking motion before the air around them seemed to distort and shift into a pale golden hue, seemingly absorbing the remainder of the spells before the arms lowered.

The clawed hand swung forwards and hurled another spear towards them as the Golems closed in.

"Threat level raised. Now approaching level: 5. Countermeasures deployed." Marcelle called out as they spread their arms wide, the golden shield around their body collapsed inwards and circled around them before breaking apart and forming arrow-like shapes around them "Evlogia deployment authorised. Current levels at 50% and rising. Unit's Simone and Tyro now authorised to use arrows of light."

"Unit Tyro acknowledges."

"Unit Simone acknowledges."

"Step backwards." Goetia called out as he started to step away, already weaving spells into a defensive pattern. The ground beneath the right most golem erupted into a swarm of roots and branches which raced up the creations and instantly worked their way into the inner systems, Goetia commanded them to tear the golem apart from the inside.

"Unit T-T-Tyro e-e-experiencing catastrophic damage-" The Golem grunted as its movements slowed to a halt, the frozen iron face turned towards to stare at its current predicament. "Evlogia deployment activated."

Goetia frowned at the statement, then he heard Sothis let out a shocked gasp behind him as he felt the very mana in the air abruptly shift. The branches that had been constricting the golem retracted back into the earth, Goetia losing his control over them entirely as they retreated from the inner mechanisms and disappeared, even the very ground righting itself.

"Localised time displacement?" Goetia muttered to himself before he snapped his attention back to Marcelle, the arrows of light shot forth from their body and towards the group. Clenching his hand into a fist, a purple barrier sprung into life before the arrows made contact and weathered their assault with frightful ease. Goetia himself was already working off estimates of the power of the golems.

Localised time displacement to revert the environment back to its origin without incantation wasn't something that was doable. For a Golem to do such a thing - even one the product of a Goddess - was absurd. Unless they belonged to Sothis in some way or it was a usurped authority. It was possible, he supposed but currently irrelevant. His eyes fell onto Marcelle as he watched the damage done to their metal body gradually become undone.

Cracks in the armour and bends in the metal reverted to their original forms, looking as though the Golem was once again untouched.

Goetia focused on the left most Golem - Simone - and waved his palm in their direction. The air around the golem became superheated as the magical energy converged on the construct, the grass at their feet burned as the energy was dragged upwards and flickered around in a crimson orb directly in front of the golem. The construct noticed the attack and instantly raised its arms again and formed the same protective golden barrier.

The crimson orb expanded outwards in a rush of blood red energy, shattering the golden barrier in an instant and washing over the golem like a tsunami, scorching away the armour and exposing the inner mechanism. Goetia spied a central core shaped like a sphere with the same crest shape as Seiros. The sphere flashed and then the crimson waved receded away, the armour mending itself and the burns vanishing from existence.

Simone once again became whole and fixed their entire attention upon Goetia.

"How curious." Goetia mused aloud as spells continued to thump against his barrier, the Golems hurling forth spears of light into his protective spells. The initial confusion died and was replaced by shock and a sense of tension as the students stared at the golems attacking the barrier.

"W-will this hold?" Claude asked, gulping for air as he tried to compose himself, looking at Goetia out of the corner of his eye "Because the last one-"

"Was only C rank." Goetia dismissed it easily "This is A rank. That being said, those attacks were at least B rank in power." he mused "And their ability to repair themselves."

"Some manner of self-healing?" Linhardt muttered to himself "But they aren't alive…"

"No. Not healing, as you said they are constructs." Goetia replied "They are simply undoing the damage that was done to them. Minor temporal alterations upon themselves without the need for an incantation. Instant usage of a high ranked magecraft within a construct." he pursed his lips "...Impressive." he admitted.

"So…how do we beat them if they…wait…temporal?" Lysithea paused at the wording, her eyes turning to Goetia and flying wide "T-they're altering time?"

"On a small scale. A localised effect." Goetia explained "And a costly one. That level of magical energy cannot be expended frivolously. The greater the damage done, the more they need to undo via temporal inversion."

"That…how could one…?" Dimitri whispered in shock "T-they are controlling time?"

"Again, a localised effect." Goetia nodded towards Simone and extended his single finger "And easily bypassable once the source of their power has been discovered." a small hole opened up in the purple barrier, barely the diameter of an apple before a beam of light shot forth from Goetia's finger.

Simone was unable to react before the beam sliced through their chest and burst out the back of their body, melting a hole clean through and obliterating the section of their torso where the core had been located. The golem chuntered away before it's arms went lax and its body leaned heavily to the side before losing balance, crashing into the earth with a ground shaking thud.

Marcelle paused in their offensive, golden head turning towards the wreckage of Simone before returning to Goetia and seemingly analysing him "Advanced spellwork confirmed. All restrictions have been lifted."

Goetia raised a lone eyebrow at the wording before Marcelle cocked their clawed hand back and then thrust it forwards. The fingers stabbed into the barrier and caused cracks to split out where they had impacted it.

"Oh? Reinforcement to strength." Goetia mused aloud with a mildly intrigued tone of voice "Curious…"

"Are…are you gonna get the rest of them?" Hapi asked with a slightly shaky voice as she watched the cracks seemingly spread further and further from the point of impact, Marcelle slowly constricting their hand into a fist and trying to rip open the barrier. "Because they're coming thro-"

Marcelle thrust their other hand into the barrier just underneath the first. Both hands twisted until they were pulling in opposite directions as if trying to rip a door open.

"I'm curious how far they can get." Goetia replied in a disinterested tone "Having not yet seen a construct of this calibre or Magecraft anywhere near this advanced I am merely exercising an investigation into the capabilities of the golems. Which evidently includes individual identification." he nodded towards the downed golem "That one identified themselves as Simone."

A heavy thud came from the right, the students' heads snapped towards it as they watched another golem thrust their hands into the glowing shield and try to pry it open. "And that one identified as Tyro."

"Okay, so they have names? Big deal!" Hapi scowled only for Goetia to interrupt her.

"It is." He replied in an equally sharp tone "Because it means there is some level of intelligence." he stared up at Marcelle "What is your directive in this place?"

"The Chalice must be protected from outside invaders on orders of the Servant of the Stars." The helm seemingly glared down at them "Any and all invaders must be destroyed. Those who carry the Evlogia of the Goddess are no exception."

"Those were…words." Claude replied with thinned lips, then looked around "Anyone got any-"

"Blessing." Byleth replied, staring at the golem with a monotone face "She said blessing."

Claude blinked, then looked at the professor "They did?"

"Yes." She stared at Claude, tilting her head slightly "Didn't you hear her?"

"Umm…Professor." Dimitri stared at her "She did not say-"

A loud cracking noise rang out as the other Golems started to force their way past the shield, Marcelle making the most progress in the advancement.

"You have forfeited your lives in journeying here. Your souls are the property of the Goddess and shall remain within this place." The Golem's attention fell on Goetia "You will be substituted."

"And what does that entail?"

"You will be substituted."

Goetia merely scowled and waved his hand, the spells forming in the air above the Golem and solidified into red spears of light before they slammed down into the top of Marcelle, the golem bulked under the weight of the sudden attack, the right arm being completely severed and falling to the ground within the first salvo.

"Evlo-"

Goetia merely flashed his eyes before they could speak, the lion headed chest piece folded like wet tissue and was ripped from the torso, tearing away the wires and circuits of the construct and spilling a thick silvery substance onto the ground like blood. Goetia stared at the substance in slight curiosity before he once again commanded the roots beneath the ground to accelerate upwards.

This time the golem was much too slow to stop them as they instantly worked their way into the inner mechanisms and coiled around the core before ripping it from the body. Marcelle's remaining arm reached towards the exposed core in a final desperate move before their body went limp and the limb flopped uselessly at its side.

His eyes moved past the golem towards the others which reacted to the sudden destruction of their leader with clear confusion. Their mechanical heads towards the body and froze for a few moments before they leaned back and stared at Goetia.

The leftmost golem leaned backwards and rolled away "Confirmed destruction of Unit Leader Marcelle. Unit Leader Tyro assuming command." Tyro glared down at Goetia before spreading their arms wide and seemingly flooding their body with magical energy, their hands glowed with brilliant golden light before they brought the flat of their palms around and pressed them into the barrier.

A single burst of light was released from the attack, creating a massive crack through the surface of the shield, while the others jumped Goetia remained unmoved by the display. Raising a lone eyebrow at the sudden increase of power and noting that the Golem was clearly overclocking its own safety limits. Especially if the rising temperature of the construct was any indication.

His eyes lazily swung around to the other golems which were all following the same strategy of their new leader. Each one of them pressing their hands against the shields and unleashing a single burst of magical energy at point blank range with the clear hope of breaching his barrier. Goetia muttered under his breath at incredible speeds and reinforced the spell, the cracks vanishing from existence.

Only to reappear when the constructs unleashed a single pulse as one.

"Hmmm." Goetia hummed in response, tilting his head slightly "An A rank attack? Curious." he muttered as he examined the golems once again "At the cost of destruction…unable to handle the level of magical energy, perhaps a flaw in the materials you were crafted from." he wondered, strengthening the mundane metals of the world could only take an entity so far.

"Um…Goetia?" The man blinked, looking over his shoulder to see Harold give him a slight wave in greeting before pointing towards the Golems "Are you…gonna…you know…take out those ones too?"

"Hm?" Goetia merely grunted in response and turned back around, giving out an annoyed sigh "Yes…pressed for time, are we not? I suppose I might gleam something of interest from the remains." he muttered, then raised his left hand and extended the flat of his palm towards the golems. "Massenzunahme."

There was a brief silence before the air around the Golems seemingly rushed downwards, the grass by their base suddenly flattened themselves at incredible force, the Golems were able to remain upright for a few moments before their bodies started to scream. Metal groaned and cried out as their bodies gradually - inch by inch - started to bend lower to the ground, echoing rattles and cranking emanated out from the constructs as they were forced closer and closer to the ground.

Tyro raised their head up ever so slightly, the metal plates in their shoulders concaves inwards, crumbling and bending out of shape as their arm popped out of shape and hung by their side for a few seconds before it rushed towards the ground and slammed into the dirt with enough force to crater it. Tyro's head eventually collapsed inwards, the light in its eyes going out as its body snapped in two, unable to take the strain any more and wilting under the literal weight on its shoulders.

The other golems were quick to collapse under the pressure, their bodies breaking apart and falling to the ground as if they were under the force of a weight pushing down on them, crushing the metal further into the ground until the lights went out in their eyes and the silver liquid poured freely from their bodies and went inert.

Goetia maintained the force upon them before he gradually released the spell, dropping the barrier and leaving the bodies in front of them. "Hmph." He grunted as he walked forwards, approaching the body of Marcelle and staring up at it with a curious eye before lowering his sight towards the crumpled remains of the others "Simpler than I thought."

"W-what the heck?" Balthus blurted out as he stared at the destruction "You crushed them?"

"I did, yes." Goetia replied absent-mindedly as he stared at the silver liquid on the ground, the former Beast narrowed his eyes in curiosity and crouched down "...How strange."

"What the heck is it?" Claude asked as he approached, peering over the man's shoulder as he came up behind him and curling his lip at the odd liquid "What is that stuff anyway? Looks like blood…"

"Yes." Goetia remarked, looking from the liquid to the remains of the golems "It seems to hold latent magical energy but it appears to be inert." he remarked "Special circumstances require its activation." he looked up and nodded towards the core "Such as that."

"Is that a…crest stone?" Edelgard asked as she stepped closer to the impaled remains of Marcelle, staring up at the extracted core with a mix of shock and intrigue, her mind already working up a hundred different implications for how a Crest Stone was planted here and what else they could do.

"Of a sort." Goetia remarked as he stared at it "A magical core or battery to be more accurate. Specifically made for these golems and carrying a greater degree of potential I had imagined." he frowned "However, they are still disappointing."

"How so?"

"They were destroying themselves to get through the barrier." He replied "Their cores might be capable of generating massive amounts of magical energy but their bodies were simply unable to properly channel it. The work of an amateur craftsman."

"Amateur?" Linhardt raised an eyebrow at him in surprise "They seem rather advanced to me-"

"And a sword made of bronze seems advanced to a caveman who has only ever hunted with a sharpened stick." Goetia bluntly replied, still staring at the golem "To one who has held a steel sword in their hands, a bronze weapon is pathetic." he gestured at the golems "These are bronze weapons with twigs for handles. Even with whatever ichor was powering their bodies and enhancing their durability, the materials they were made from were second hand at best."

"So they were let down by materials then?" Linhardt understood with a frown, staring back at the golems "And if they had not been?"

"Then it would have taken considerably longer to deal with them." Goetia remarked, frowning to himself and turning to the Ashen wolves "We can discuss this later. The Chalice was said to lie in the Chasm of the Bound, with the constructs destroyed and the ghosts exorcised, we can continue on without interruptions."

"All the ghosts?" Dimitri asked with a sharp intensity behind his voice "Every single one you say?"

"...Those tied to this place, yes." Goetia replied in a flat tone "Why?"

"...Nothing." He replied, putting on a smile and gesturing forwards "Peace of mind perhaps, but I should not distract us further from our goal.

"Indeed. Then let us waste no more-do not touch the ichor Von Riegan." Goetia snapped at the young man in an irritated tone "It might well be inert for the moment but there is no method of knowing what would happen if it were to interact with a-" he paused, eyes darting over to Byleth and Sothis, the pair stared at him in puzzlement. "-touch it if you wish." he replied after a slight hesitation.

Claude paused "...I thought you said it might be dangerous?"

"And it might not be."

"...Suddenly I'm not feeling too confident."

"I am certain the effects are reversible."

"What effects?"

"Any effects."

"...I'm not going to touch it." Claude decided, stepping away from the liquid metal puddle and crossing his arms "Ha."

"Hmmm." Goetia merely hummed and turned away from him, walking towards the direction of the forest without concern. Byleth and Sothis stared at him before they followed after the man, the latter looking suspiciously at his back as they approached.

"You wanted to see what would happen, didn't you?" Sothis accused the moment they were within hearing distance of the man.

"I would have taken advantage of a coincidental discovery."

"And what if it killed him?"

"You can reverse time, can you not?"

Sothis sputtered and glared at him "My authority is not for you to use just to see if something bad is to occur! It is the power to rewind the fabric of this world and not to run experiments with!"

Goetia raised an eyebrow at the Goddess "It wasn't an experiment and had I chosen to remain silent, Von Riegan would have touched the substance and been affected either way."

Sothis paused, staring at him with an indiscernible expression "Yet you called out to him." she stated in an odd tone of voice.

"Because I do not tolerate flagrant stupidity within my presence unless the end result benefits myself." Goetia replied swiftly and uncaringly as he pushed aside a bush "The reality is that the stupidity of others often benefits me unless they are associated with me. In which case it becomes a liability. Von Riegan would either have been corrupted by the ichor or nothing would have occurred."

Sothis hummed in response but said nothing, opting to lean back and close her eyes.

"They spoke with your voice." Byleth remarked in her head, looking up at Sothis blankly "Why?"

"How should I know?" Sothis grunted, rubbing her brows "They said they were made by the Mother of Stars…" she pointed at herself "Does that make me the Mother of Stars?"

"Through the process of elimination." Goetia admitted easily "That is the most likely conclusion that can be reached. Which means that - before you ended up in this state - you were able to construct those golems."

"But why would I-" Sothis paused as Goetia's earlier words entered her mind and she sent him an annoyed look "You called them amateur!"

"Because they are."

"Oh please!" Sothis scoffed and pointed at him "If it wasn't for you, I bet they would have scared off those children."

"Obviously." Goetia huffed back "...Perhaps they would have encountered difficulty with Lysithea and your host." he admitted "But they and the ghosts would have proven a formidable challenge. However, that does not change my assessment of them. They are amateur."

"They did look simple." Byleth supported the argument with her own two coins "Made of iron?"

"Blessed iron but iron all the same." Goetia remarked "And those were not made by the hands of a Goddess."

Sothis opened her mouth to respond before she paused and closed it "They weren't?"

"No. Because golems constructed by a chief deity would have proven a hindrance even to me, or at least as I am now." He replied with a frown "However, the metal was still blessed with an essence of divinity which means they were constructed by an associate. Presumably Seiros."

"Seiros?" Sothis raised an eyebrow "My…prophet?"

"Indeed. They all carried the mark of her crest, both on their armour and on their cores. A brand of crafter perhaps." Goetia stated, although he himself was only working off of guesswork at the moment. "More than this, they were clearly commanded by Seiros to guard this location, presumably after she locked the Chalice away and bound it in seals."

Sothis frowned "Very well….then why did she not make more?"

"That…I do not know." Goetia replied slowly "There are any number of hypotheses I could construct to answer the question but they would all be without further evidence beyond what we have already seen."

"Any you are willing to share?"

"No."

"I really am not surprised." Sothis rolled her eyes in response to his blunt admission "I suppose you will reveal them when you are more certain." she paused, staring at Goetia again "And how many of these theories relate to me?"

"None."

"Hmmmm." Sothis merely hummed in response before she looked past Goetia and gave a smile of amusement, Goetia noticed the expression and furrowed his brows ever so slightly in confusion at her. Byleth then turned her attention to where Sothis was looking with a similarly blank expression, her eyes moving down to just past where Goetia's right arm would have been and blinking once.

Goetia then sensed a presence directly to his right, following the line of sight of the two next to him, he found himself looking down at the familiar white hair of Lysithea stood remarkably closed to him while her eyes were wide and alert as they scanned every inch of the forest around them.

"...What are you doing?" Goetia asked after a few moments, Lysithea jumped and released a quiet squeak as her head whipped around to face the man before she gave a sigh of relief.

Wetting her lips and looking left and right, Lysithea puffed herself up to look more confident "I-I am…taking point." she replied after a few moments, nodding her head as if to convince herself that was what she was doing "Being a vanguard against any further threats."

Goetia wordlessly looked down at the barely one foot of distance between the two of them, had she been any closer he suspected she would have stepped on his robe at least several times.

"I see…" Goetia's eyes rose back up and stared at her with suspicion "And why are you so close?"

"E-erm…Safety in numbers!" Lysithea explained with a strained expression "I-in case you get attacked and I need to…erm…fight? Or in case I need to warn you and can do so quickly!"

Goetia blinked once at her "The spirits have been completely excised."

"I didn't mention any spirits." Lysithea hurriedly shot back with an annoyed expression "I am not standing next to you because I am scared of any ghosts!" she huffed, crossing her arms and looking away from him with a grunt. "Th-that would be ridiculous Teacher!" she then paused for half a second "N-not that you're stupid or ridiculous!" she hurriedly replied "It's just that…erm…wait…uhhh…"

Goetia stared at her in silence, his expression betraying nothing of what he felt inside as he gazed down at her. Lysithea's mumbling eventually trailed off into nothing, all the while Goetia continued to stare at her for a few moments after she had completely stopped speaking before he eventually spoke up "There are no spirits nor do you need to continue this…display." his eyes scanned her up and down before they flicked away from her and back towards the forward facing direction.

"...Yes, Teacher." Lysithea nodded her head, remaining silent for a second before she eventually spoke up "How did you crush the…golems?"

"I merely increased the gravitational weight surrounding them by a factor of thirty."

"Huh?"

"I made them heavier." He explained with a sigh, closing his eyes and realising that these people likely weren't at the point in time when they could even comprehend the concept of Gravity just yet. Although it was worth checking "What do you know about the sun?"

"The sun?" Lysithea blinked at the sudden change in topic, instinctively looking up through the treeline and towards the rays of light piercing through them "It's…the sun?"

"What else?"

"When the sun is out it is day?"

"...Nevermind." Goetia replied after a moment's silence "Do you have stargazers?"

"In the alliance? None that I know of." She replied after brief silence to think on the question "I believe there are some in the Empire who document certain constellations in the night sky and make note of them." her lips thinned "But its not used often."

"Presumably because of the lack of telescopes."

"Telewhat?"

This time Goetia did stop walking, he stared down at Lysithea with a hint of puzzlement "...How do you see great distances?"

"You…don't?"

"How primitive is this continent?" Goetia frowned, looking around towards Byleth "There is a child back at the Monastery with glasses and it never once occurred to anyone that they might further this advancement and craft a device to improve the range at which an individual could see?"

Byleth stared blankly at him before she shrugged, Sothis looking equally puzzled.

Goetia sighed to himself, shaking his head "The development of this continent is inconsistent as it is vexing." he frowned "Almost as if it has been dragging itself forwards…" he muttered, cupping his chin before he shook his head "Regardless, we are approaching the location." he announced as he pushed aside the foliage in front of him and stepped into a clearing.

The other two followed out with him, halting behind the man as they stared out across the relatively flat environment, the point of interest with three noticeable pillars divided into sections and standing around the same height as an average sized man. The pillars themselves looked to be made of a dark stone with faint glowing highlights in them with carved symbols.

"Hmmm." Goetia released a hum as he strode forwards without much in the way of fear to the central pillar, the other two on the left and right respectively at the far end of the canyon on either side.

He stared at the stone rectangular pillar with a raised eyebrow as he closed in on it, coming to a halt a foot from the stone and examining it. "This is the origin point for the bounded field." he announced, his eyes going to the left and right "These three work in tandem to establish the spellwork and keep the location secured."

"Then…what do we do with these?" Lysithea asked to his right, cupping her chin and staring at the statue with a curious eye "Is there a way to deactivate them?"

"Hmmm. There is magical energy worked into the stones themselves." Goetia replied to her as he scanned the pillar "Presumably a defensive mechanism in the event that an intruder got this far or the creator returned." he pointed towards the large indentation of a symbol in the centre of the stone "That would be where a key is placed to deactivate the binding spell across the canyon…however, whether that deactivates the spell sealing the Chalice is another matter entirely."

"Did we find something?" Claude's voice echoed out behind them, Lysithea turned around as the others emerged from the forest and took notice of their position "Well, that looks important." the boy pointed towards the pillar with a trademark smirk "So what are you and Sparkles talking about it?"

"Presumably something important, Claude." Edelgard replied to him in a flat tone of voice as she approached, looking equally intrigued as she stared left and right at the matching pillars "However, I cannot help but express my own curiosity as to the strange shapes that surround us…"

"The anchors for the bounded field." Goetia informed them, turning around and gesturing to the pillar with his arm "These are what was binding the souls to remain here." He looked back at the pillar "A series of spells worked into the stones and designed to cover this entire chasm. Ordinarily they would require some method of key to unlock and disable the barrier."

"So now we have to go key hunting?" Hapi asked in an irritable tone of voice, rubbing the bridge of her nose "I feel like I could sigh…"

"Hahaha…please don't." Balthus asked in a strained tone of voice as he gave the girl a pleading look "Please…"

"I wasn't being serious Baltie." Hapi replied in a flat tone, causing the man to chuckle awkwardly and rub the back of his neck.

"Hey, guys!" Hilda was the final one to stroll out of the forest "The metal thing had this shiny little sphere on it and I thought that-"

Goetia crushed the pillar in an instant before Hilda finished speaking, the stone crumbling into dust as the man released a blast of air directly into it. He paused and slowly turned towards the girl and stared down at the silver orb in her hands "...That is no longer necessary." he informed her before he turned towards the pillar on the left hand side and thrust his arm towards it, vaporizing the pillar before repeating the same on the opposing side.

The students felt as if a weight had been lifted off their shoulders, the sky seemingly flashed for a split second before fading away.

"The bounded field has been dismantled." Goetia informed them before he strode towards the cliff face just behind the stone pillar "However, the spells around this location remain. Access would be easy enough with enough-" he paused as the rock suddenly sprang to life, he took a single step backwards as four distinct symbols burned their way into the face of the rocks in the general shape of a square, a spot in the centre of the four symbols started to chip away.

The stone cracked open, revealing a small opening leading to a hollowed out space.

"Those markings on the wall…" Constance spoke in a hushed tone as she rushed over to the location, her eyes fixed on the glowing patterns "Those are…They are crests!"

"They are?" Claude blinked in surprise before he similarly closed the distance and stared at them "Huh…I don't recognise any of them."

"Nor do I." Goetia admitted before he tilted his head curiously "However, that might be related to the obscurity of the legend of the Rite of Resurrection. Four Crests corresponding to the Four Apostles who first enacted the Rite, presumably they were not recorded in order to keep their identities secret and to disparage the very individuals who are currently seeking the Grail aside from us."

"So these are the Crests of the Four Apostles?" Hapi grunted as she placed her hands on her hips, her eyes widened ever so slightly as she noticed one of the symbols and recognised it before her lips thinned "Yeah…that sounds about right to me." she vaguely answered, looking at the other Ashen wolves out of the corner of her eye "What about you?"

"It makes sense." Yuri sniffed as he approached "Unless we've stumbled into another completely unknown location which is also holding a long lost treasure once belonging to the Church."

"Oh man, that would be embarrassing." Claude chuckled to himself, shaking his head "I suppose the only way to find out would be to have a look inside the little gap there." he pointed towards the chipped hole in the wall "...So who wants to stick their arm inside of it and take a look?"

"Why don't you do it Claude?" Edelgard asked with a hint of amusement "Considering you seem to pose the question rather than take action."

"What if there's traps in there?" Claude replied, holding up his hands in surrender and stepping away "You see how delicate my fingers are, right? What if there's like a mousetrap in there."

"A mouse trap?" Dimitri stared at him with furrowed brows "Why would there be such an implement?"

"I mean, it's what I would do." Claude shrugged "You spend all that time fighting these weird metal things and ghosts, unlock the gate to the chalice and then you're in such a rush to stick your hand in there and claim the prize that you let your guard down and snap!" he called his hands for emphasis "Mouse trap closing on your fingers."

"It would be more effective if it was spiked and lined with poison." Byleth commented, nodding her head ever so slightly "Would catch someone off-guard. Unexpected."

"See? Even Teach agrees with me." Claude pointed to the woman with a smile "So…who wants to stick their hand inside?"

The others now looked much less confident than they had done earlier, looking around with hesitant expressions as they exchanged glances before their eyes finally fell on the ominous black hole in the wall surrounded by the glowing crest symbols.

"...I'm not doing it." Linhardt spoke up before anyone else could say anything "I like my fingers attached to my hands. If I lost them then how would I be able to write anything down?"

Edelgard turned to him with a baffled look "You do not write much anyway."

"I write down everything I think is important enough to write down."

Lysithea stared at him with a raised eyebrow "But you never stopped writing in Teachers lesson?"

"Exactly." Linhardt pointed at her and nodded his head "Because it was interesting for the most part and has helped a great deal."

"So…" Ashe coughed into his hand and pointed towards the hole in the wall "Is someone going to try and put their hand in there?"

Everyone looked at him before they looked towards the hole and then shrugged.

"This is pathetic." Goetia grunted, marching towards the hole and instantly thrusting his arm into the void before he pulled it back out. Golden chalice in his hands "Now we are done and can leave." space ripped open just behind them, unveiling the familiar form of the library of Abyss to all those present "Now go." he ordered, already halfway towards the portal.

"...Sparkles can really put a downer on the mood sometimes." Claude sighed, shaking his head and rubbing his forehead "Finds an ancient holy relic surrounded by magical golems that may or may not have been made by a Goddess, sealed with four crests no one has seen in centuries and he just grabs it and walks off without so much as a second glance."

Placing his hands on his hips, he blew air through his nose "Whatever happened to having a sense of drama?"

Lysithea merely stared at him "Perhaps Teacher feels as though it is better to complete our task as efficiently as possible so that we can be done and move on." she explained as she walked after Goetia "And Teacher surely has no patience for unnecessary drama, unlike others I know of."

"Hmmmm." Claude merely hummed to himself "I'm sure that Sparkles has been over dramatic once or twice in his life."

"So this is the Chalice of Beginnings." Yuri remarked as Goetia placed the golden cup on the table, the others stepped through the portal and the doorway shut as the last of them emerged from it. "Looks decorative."

"I think the little red gem is a nice touch." Claude joined in, pointing towards the small ruby embedded in the side of the artefact with a half smile "Although the legends made it seem more impressive."

"What exactly were you expecting, Claude?" Dimitri asked with a raised eyebrow as he gestured at the cup "We went searching for the Chalice and this is the Chalice."

"I think it looks a little bit like a goblet." Harold commented as he stared at it closer, tilting his head slightly "Does anyone else?"

"What?" Constance blinked before she waved her hand "A foolish notion, you can clearly see how it…" she trailed off as she stared at it for a few moments longer "Actually, upon a closer examination this does indeed bare a striking resemblance to a goblet."

"Huh…you know, he's right." Balthus leaned forwards and frowned at the cup "It does look a bit like a goblet."

"Except it's a chalice." Edelgard sighed to herself, rubbing the bridge of her nose in exasperation "Claude, do not start needless discussion at this crucial moment in time. It is the Chalice of Beginnings not the goblet of starting."

"Heh, Goblet of Starting." Claude snickered before he turned to Goetia "Well, Sparkles? Is this what we are looking for?"

"Presumably, yes." Goetia nodded his head as his lips curled downwards "However, the Grail is empty."

"Empty?"

"Empty."

"What do you mean empty?" Hapi blinked repeatedly at him as she pointed to it "Is it supposed to be full? Do you drink from it or-"

"I refer to its capacity to hold Magical energy." Goetia remarked with a hint of annoyance "It is empty. Just the container with nothing to fill it."

"How can you tell?" Linhardt asked, looking between the Chalice and Goetia.

"Because if it was full to its maximum capacity, you would all be capable of feeling it." He remarked "Or sensing the sheer quantity of magical energy that it contained. Any source of magical energy strong enough to produce a true miracle would undoubtedly affect the senses of the average human. You most of all with the crests you bare in your blood." he paused as he noticed Harold and Ashe "With the exception of you two."

"So it needs to be filled with magical energy to work?" Constance remarked as she rubbed her chin "I see. How would one go about doing such a task?"

"Slowly." Goetia replied "However, it is a moot point as we come upon the precipice of what is to be done with the Chalice." he raised his left hand towards it as the tips of his fingers glowed "Namely, how it can be destroyed-"

"What!?" Constance practically shrieked in outrage as she cleared the distance between the two of them and pushed his arm up into the air "After all the trouble we went through in retrieving the Chalice you intend to simply destroy it? How can you comprehend such a waste?"

"Easily." Goetia replied without blinking "Aside from the simple fact that it is useless to you all without understanding the necessary rituals that go into creating such a spell that would all you to utilise it."

"Then simply allow us to hand it over to the Church-"

"You think I would trust Rhea with something of this calibre?" Goetia sneered "More to the point you think she would allow a single one of you to leave the Monastery alive after you throw this at her feet? Openly admitting to desecrating a long forgotten holy site for the express purpose of theft?"

Yuri pursed his lips and nodded solemnly "He's got a point Constance." he admitted "And while I am most certainly against destroying it, presenting this to the Church would be downright suicidal."

Harold frowned "You could always claim you were trying to protect it." he paused "Which is actually true." he added on "Considering if we hadn't gone to get the Chalice then the mercenaries would have."

"I doubt they would have been able to get past the spells." Hapi bluntly stated, leaning back and crossing her arms "But I suppose the Church might not know that."

"You suggest a lie?" Goetia raised an eyebrow at Harold "A rather…bold suggestion."

"I wouldn't say lie." Harold nervously chuckled "Just…don't tell them?" he looked around to see the eyes of everyone else on him, the man quietened down and stared at the ground "O-or you can just ignore me…that's fine too."

Goetia stared at him in silence, seemingly weighing up the option before he looked back around "It would make you appear far less dubious in the eyes of the Church, provided they are ignorant as to the true nature of the defences." he paused, then frowned "However, if they are then that excuse falls flat. Regardless, whether or not Rhea believes us is none of our concern. For the time being they are unaware that the Chalice has been removed from the location it has been residing in for the last thousand years and there is no reason to inform them as of now."

"You say that but we can hardly keep something like that a secret forever." Hilda pointed out as she stared at the cup, tilting her head "Weren't you going to show it to that Aelfric guy?"

"Yes." Yuri nodded his head, placing his hands on his hips "First things first, we show the Chalice to Aelfric and then see if we can't put a halt to the attacks on Abyss-"

"What the heck are you all doing standing around talking at a time like this!?" A shocked voice called out from behind them, the group turned around towards the door to see a man in ragged clothes staring at them with panicked eyes "Don't you have the slightest idea what is going on!?"

Yuri furrowed his brows "No, we just returned…what happened?"

"Strangers from the outside have kidnapped Aelfric!" The man exclaimed "They attacked him as soon as he returned from the Monastery!"

A shocked pause spread across the group, save for Goetia who merely curled his lip in annoyance. It would seem that the situation had escalated.

AN: Chalice retrieved, man stolen, middle fight ignored.

Easy peasy when you have a Demon King on your side.

Which means we're off to see Rhea again!

Omake: Staff Chat 2 Electric Boogaloo

Rhea: In light of what occurred several hours ago, I am informing the current staff that we are placing a ban on the number of hours one can spend in a sauna. Thank you.

Seteth: I second this notion.

Catherine: What happened?

Seteth: The incident is currently being contained to avoid unnecessary humiliation.

Hanneman: [Moderator Removed Message]

Seteth: What did I just say Hanneman?

Hanneman: I believe that confronting Manuela about her poor performance will inspire her to better her ways. The encouragement of her peers will do just that.

Seteth: You were not aiming for encouragement, you were aiming for ridicule.

Hanneman: Seteth, I am missing half my moustache, I feel entitled to some small level of retribution for this act of damage against me.

Seteth: Be that as it may, we are grown adults and there is no reason to behave in such a childish and rather hurtful manner.

Glowy Heretic is Online

Glowy Heretic: Then explain why Rhea felt it necessary to change my name?

Seteth: Goetia?

Glowy Heretic: Yes.

Seteth: Archbishop, why on Fodlan would you stoop so low?

Rhea: I am unsure as to what you refer.

Glowy Heretic: Your proclamation of ignorance is as feeble as your attempts to conceal your affections towards Byleth. If you intend to treat me in such a childish manner, then I will respond in kind.

Seteth: Goetia, do not escalate the situation further.

Glowy Heretic changed Rhea to Mommy Kink

Glowy Heretic: I am capable of being petty.

Mommy Kink: You heathen swine! How did you get access to the administrator rights!?

Glowy Heretic: You left the password to your account written on your desk. I merely procured them.

Mommy Kink: The bird that ran off with my notes!?

Glowy Heretic: Indeed.

Seteth changed Glowy Heretic to Goetia

Seteth changed Mommy Kink to Rhea

Seteth: There, now we can continue on without the need for further childish displays.

Catherine changed Seteth to Daddy Green

Daddy Green: What did I just say?

Catherine: It felt appropriate.

Catherine: You mad?

Daddy Green: I am not mad. Just disappointed.

Catherine: Heh.

WoB joined the Chat

WoB: Hahahaha! You believe such feeble technology can contain my essence? I yearn to consume the ruin this chat brings.

Goetia: Return from whence you came, Whore.

Goetia removed WoB from the Chat

Catherine: Harlot vanquished.

Rhea: Is the group chat really this accessible?

Trickster joined the Chat

Trickster: Hey Sparkles!

Goetia: Von Riegan, what do you want?

Trickster: Nothing. Just heard there was a staff chat and wanted to see what was discussed…nice pecs.

Goetia: Hmph.

Trickster: How do you even manage to grunt through a computer anyway? Nevermind! I'm just downloading this picture and going to show everyone! See ya!

Trickster has left the Chat

Daddy Green: I believe some better security is essential for all future conversations.

Daddy Green: And I will get onto the task of preventing Claude from distributing sensitive material of a staff member.

Shamir: Are you not going to change your name back?

Daddy Green: It has grown on me. I suspect it shall go very well.

Goetia invited Gatekeeper to the Chat

Gatekeeper: Good morning everyone! I hope we are having a fantastic day today? And Goetia? Why am I here, if you don't mind me asking?

Goetia: This is a chat for employees. You are an employee. Why is your name listed as your occupation?

Gatekeeper: The website didn't recognise my actual name so said I had to change it.

Shamir: By this logic, we should invite Cyril.

Shamir invited Cyril to the Chat

Cyril: rbifibenrfberv binj jjihrvueil

Goetia: What manner of ancient curse is this?

Daddy Green: Correct me if I am mistaken, but is Cyril not the Almyran boy who can neither read nor write?

Shamir: He is.

Daddy Green: I see. Why would you invite him to a method of communication which requires both skills?

Shamir: …

Shamir: Video Chat?

Goetia: I am not video chatting.

Daddy Green: Why not?

Goetia: I am in my workshop. It requires absolute privacy.

Rhea: Privacy to do what?

Goetia: Workshop tasks.

Catherine: Like?

Goetia: Studies.

Shamir: Studies on?

Goetia: Important research.

Cyril: briebvilrvuhrev fhurgfq fuehfqo?

Goetia: Someone get this illiterate child away from the keyboard or teach him how to read and write.

Goetia: He is your employee Rhea. Do you not offer staff training?

Rhea: He cleans. What purpose does he have for reading?

Goetia: And if he wanted to read or write stories?

Rhea: I am not going to debate this with you.

Cyril: GTRBRTGBvbhveuAFRF!?"!?

Catherine: So are we going to do something about this typing?

Shamir: Don't look at me. I'm just teaching him to kill people.

Daddy Green: Why?

Shamir: Because killing people and being a cleaner are two jobs that can go hand in hand. There is such a thing as covering your tracks.

Daddy Green: Please do not groom Cyril into an assassin.

Rhea: Would he be any good?

Shamir: He'd be decent.

Rhea: As you were then.

Goetia: This is not what I meant when I said give him staff training.