IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE!: I messed up! Back when I should've released the actual chapter "053 - Secret of an Ancient God" I uploaded it into the doc manager but forgot to actually publish it. Then I got even more confused last Monday and published this one (the one I was supposed to) without realizing you guys never got the previous one.

This has now been fixed, the new chapter 053 is the one it should've always been and chapter 054 has been moved to its proper place.

On top of that, I'll also be releasing chapter 055 today, so it might be a bit tricky to keep track on what's going on, but it should be overall good new for everyone.

054 - Treasure of the Shaped Island

Elizabeth Bathory

Elizabeth has to -begrudgingly- admit that the Hero's Cavern that pretentious, foul woman led them to appears to be somewhat capable of living up to the hype. The entrance looking like a dragon's maw may be a bit overdone as a concept, but it's stayed a classic for a reason. And the maw itself doesn't look like any sort of sculpting Elizabeth is aware of, but rather… She's no nature expert, but she knows enough art to assume this is all a natural formation that's somehow taken that shape. That's a divine spirit for you, she supposes. So unfair…

Damn, she would love to have one of these for her own castle…

So entranced she is by the sights, that it almost slips her mind to remain wary of the Producer-stealing hussy. Fortunately the unpleasant enemy of all that's good and fair seems incapable of going on without hearing the sound of her own voice for longer than a minute, so the momentary lapse in judgment was soon fixed.

"It makes for a wonderful sight, doesn't it?" The insufferable woman asks with an insufferable smirk as she crosses her arms… insufferably. "I'm afraid my presence might foul the tests, so I'll have to remain behind. But don't let my absence hold you back, heroes! I'm sure great things await those who brave the depths of my Hero's Cave!"

And then she just stands there, watching from the sidelines while their group makes its way into the cavern, led by a cheerful Senpai who is way too good and forgiving sometimes. Thankfully, she has Elizabeth around to keep a close eye on things, tail ready for another session of concussive dispelling, in case it ever becomes necessary.

As her feet finally take her past the threshold and into the cavern proper, Elizabeth sends a last side-glance to the four feet of smug bitch they are leaving behind.

"And good riddance, you producer-stealing hussy."
"And good riddance, you senpai-stealing hussy."

Eyes widening in shock and incredulity, Elizabeth turns around towards the source of that voice, wondering whether her sharp dragon ears are failing her for once. Her eyes meet the clear amethyst of a girl she would've never thought capable of wishing harm to their worst enemy, who seems to have turned towards her at the same time.

Mashu's eyes are wide with the same short and incredulity Elizabeth is feeling and, in a single moment, the two of them understand. A feeling of support and kinship flows between two unlikely partners as they realize one of the hidden truths of the world. They may disagree on some things, they may even disagree on most things. But they agree on everything that truly matters. Deep down, they are the same, sisters born from different mothers.

That day, at that very moment, a covenant is born, stronger than iron and blood.

Olga Marie Animusphere

This cavern is, in layman terms, impossible.

Forget the unlikely shape of the cave's mouth. Forget the material composition of the walls not matching the environment and, in fact, sometimes not matching any known material at all. Forget the way the initial corridor opens into wide halls in a fashion natural erosion could never accomplish.

It all pales in comparison with the simple fact that this cavern doesn't fit inside an island this size. And they haven't moved anywhere near down enough for it to be located underwater either. Then again, Divine Spirit bullshit during the Classic Era. She really should stop taking offense and start taking notes. And samples. Many samples. This is—

"Oh, look at me, I'm the most unqualified Director in the history of Chaldea!" An unpleasantly shrill screech cuts off her thought process. "But you better address me with proper respect or I'll throw a tantrum!"

Looking up, she finds the source of the disturbance to be… herself?

There's what seems to be a very convincing copy of herself standing in front of the group, arms ajar and a challenging look on her eyes as she stares directly at Olga. Caught by surprise and she struggles to react to this strange development.

"I… what?" That is to say, she strips on her own tongue like a fool.

"And that sums it up really well, don't you think?" The copy waves a hand in her direction with a dismissive huff. "There I am, incapable of dealing with even the most basic unexpected development. "

"Tch. Some sort of doppelganger." Haku mutters to herself, just loud enough for her to hear. "I guess facing yourself is kind of a classic for a hero's trial."

"How am I supposed to achieve anything of note? The fate of Human History rests on my shoulders? What a joke!" Olga winces at the copy's derisive voice. "Every time I open my big damn mouth, the situation gets objectively worse! Just look at our last encounter! If it wasn't for the hypercompetent subordinates I've done nothing to deserve, I would've single-handedly doomed the entirety of reality with just a sentence! That has to be some sort of record!"

This time, her reaction is a full-body flinch. She opens her mouth to protest, but only a pained wheeze escapes her lips. The words of comfort and reassurance Haku and Mashu shared with her merely minutes ago seem to have vanished from her mind as she finds herself agreeing with the copy. Because Olga knows she's right, this is nothing but—

"Ouch. Okay, that's just a gratuitously low blow." Haku frowns before ribbing Olga's side with her elbow. "Don't listen to that thing, Lady Director. It's just voicing your own insecurities, acting as an outside validation for your own negative feelings. Echo chamber bullshit. Psychology 101."

The unexpected hit on Olga's ribs jolts her out of her depressive spiral, making her eyes narrow as she processes the words and figures out what's actually going on. Whatever this creature is, it's clearly designed to crush someone's spirit, targeting the weak points on its victim's psyche for maximum effect.

This is bad, because there's much worse in Olga's mind, far more destructive ammunition that can be used to hurt not just her, but everyone around her. There are ugly things lurking within her memory, things that affect the whole team and, worst case scenario, even the support team listening in from Chaldea.

She needs to stop this thing before it reveals something truly harmful!

"Listen here, you–"

"But wait, there's more!" The thing cuts her off with great delight, its smile sharpening into something ugly and bizarre, far too wide for its face. "Why don't I talk about my nonexistent friends and love life! Oh, wait! That's not true! I do have both! It would simply be better for everyone if that wasn't the case, because I am—"

It doesn't matter that she knows the copy is just saying things to hurt her, without regard for circumstances or even truthfulness. Because there's at least enough truth in them that Olga feels every word like a physical blow. She's gained much since the Grand Order began, made friends willing to risk their life for her and met admirable people whose smile makes her heart beat faster.

And yet… An ugly person like her can only foul everything she touches, her greed and envy ruining what should've been, in spite of the dire circumstances, the happiest times of her life. She shrinks into herself, closing her eyes in preparation for the finishing blow. Once the copy airs that particular insecurity of hers, it won't matter if the dark secrets from her past remain hidden forever. Her life will be over all the same.

Only… the words never come. Confused by the thing's sudden silence, Olga cautiously opens her eyes to find it frozen in place and watches in fascination as all color is drained from its form until it turns an ugly brown statue. The statue then melts down and collapses into a puddle of mud.

"I… What?"

"This crystal here was some sort of battery. I'm assuming these things are constructs relying on an external power source to function." Haku explains, throwing and catching a hefty crystal that glows a faint purple. "Everyone, keep an eye out for glowy crystals if we find one of these things again. We don't want to give them the time to speak."

"I… yes, of course." Olga nods dumbly, before clearing her throat and finally managing to find her voice. "You heard Fujimaru, everyone! Let's keep going!"

As she turns around to continue their exploration down the corridor, trepidation fills her heart. She almost lets out a terrified shriek when an elbow ribs her side again. Of course, it's just Haku again.

"Say, Olga…"

"Y–yes?"

"Stop kicking yourself about that incident already, okay?"

"Easy for you to say." She deflates with a sigh. "You're not the one who made the wrong call and almost ruined everything."

"Yeah…" Haku trails off, rubbing the back of her neck in a distinctively sheepish fashion. "I wouldn't be so sure about that."

Olga blinks in confusion. What did she miss that has shameless Haku acting like this? "What do you mean?"

"Back then… I kind of went into full emergency mode." Haku explains in an embarrassed voice. "I'm not really sure it was the right choice, I might've just made things worse."

"I don't see how anything could've made that worse, Fujimaru."

"It wasn't too late for diplomacy, I think. We might have been able to de-escalate. If we had tried." Haku's smile is nowhere as bright and cheerful as it usually is. "But there was a clear and imminent threat and I wasn't willing to bet on my ability to calm down a murderous Yamato Takeru, so…" She trails off again, casting an empty gaze at the cavern ceiling before letting out a dispirited sigh. "Look, the point I am trying to make is that our lives hung on a snap decision back then, so I had no time to freeze or second-guess myself."

"But it worked." Olga points out with a frown.

"But I might've not have." Haku immediately retorts. "Sometimes, life is like that. You act, and then you deal with the consequences. Just because things worked out in the end, it doesn't mean I made the right choice. Just because things didn't work out for you, it doesn't mean you didn't make the best choice you could have possibly made."

"Huh."

"It's always good to contemplate things for future reference, but there's no point in kicking yourself about it. As Nobunaga herself liked to say: 'Zehi mo nashi'. It can't be helped, what's done it's done."

Before Olga can say anything else, Haku picks up the pace to catch up with Mashu in the front line, leaving her alone with her thoughts.

Danger and ruin may very well still await them, but Olga felt her steps were considerably lighter as she continued walking down the cavern system. Whatever is awaiting for them, whatever challenge life will throw her way next… She'll keep on making her own calls the best she can, without freezing or second-guessing herself. And she'll make it work.

"Is that… A manticore?"

"Ah, I guess fighting monsters is a classic too?"

"Eeek, it's focusing on me, why do I get all the aggro!? Save me, P-san!"

"I'm a failure! My only duty was to look pretty and avoid a scandal too big to bury and I couldn't even manage that much! Nobody loved me! Nobody cared about me! Nobody taught me how to care about others! All my hopes and dreams amounted to nothing, drying up one after another until only a bitter, twisted thing remained, too bored of life to appreciate it! Envious of other people's happiness but incapable of finding my own! Too—! Mrrrrrghl."

"Wow, it really didn't hold anything back. Luckily, it had a lot of ammunition, so we had time to look for the crystal while it was distracted roasting Eli-chan."

"Roasted like a newt on a stick… It's Game Over for this cute and frail Eli-chan…"

"Well, that one was easy. What kind of mythical beast is a giant silver gorilla anyway?"

"S–Senpai, it's still moving!"

"No way, I just cut off its head!"

"A centipede! There's a giant centipede inside the gorilla, it was puppeteering it or something!"

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me!"

"Oh, my! Look at me! How cute and beautiful I am~!"
"I know, right~? I'm quite confident in my looks!"
"You can say I'm gorgeous, you know? I won't take offense~!"
"Of course! As expected of me."
"This princess truly shines brighter than any star, no matter the shape it takes!"
"But especially when she takes my shape, of course!"
"Of course~!"

"This is bizarre."

"I might be taking more spiritual damage from watching this than I did from my own doppelganger."

"A– A dragon? How did a dragon even get in here! It doesn't fit through the entrance!"

"Less panicking, more fighting!"

"Finally, it's my turn! Look at me!"

"Oh, Fujimaru's copy? I'll admit, I'm a bit curious."

"I only have one thing in my head! And it's not even the thing everyone thinks it is!"

"Lies and slander, I may only have one thing in my head, but everyone here knows what it is."

"Actually, what truly fills my thoughts day and night is nothing other than—" *Stab* "Aughphtxh!"

*Stab**Stab**Stab**Stab**Stab**Stab**Stab**Stab**Stab**Stab**Stab**Stab**Stab**Stab**Stab**Stab**Stab**Stab**Stab**Stab**Stab**Stab**Stab**Stab**Stab**Stab**Stab**Stab**Stab**Stab**Stab**Stab**Stab**Stab**Stab**Stab**Stab**Stab**Stab**Stab**Stab**Stab**Stab**Stab**Stab*

"Welp, would you look at that? Turns out you can stab these things to death if you try hard enough! We might've been wasting our time looking for their batteries so far."

"... P-san is kind of scary when she gets going, huh."

Mashu Kyrielight

They finally arrived at what seemed to be the end of the trial, a cavern hall with no other exits. More importantly, there's a pedestal-like formation in the middle of the hall, illuminated by rays of sunlight coming from the ceiling, where a fist-sized artifact rests mid-air.

The artifact in question is a dull-silver cube whose surfaces are sectioned into squares, somewhat resembling a monochrome rubik cube.

"What…" Olga trails off, studying the thing from a distance, eyes full of suspicion. "Is that?"

"Oh, my! I sure wasn't expecting to find one of these here." Senpai hums thoughtfully, walking closer to the pedestal. "Then again, it makes sense to find a treasure chest at the end of a hero's trial, I guess."

"That's a treasure chest, Senpai?" Mashu can't help but find herself a bit disappointed. It's so small… and there's not a single gold coin in sight! "It doesn't look like much."

"It's a storage-type mystic code, which is close enough." Senpai shrugs before frowning. "Though I have never seen one quite like this one, it seems to have been tampered with."

"Be careful, Fujimaru." Olga warns. "It might be trapped."

"Good point! Why don't you check it out, Eli-chan?"

"Sure, I'll… No, wait! You just said it might be trapped!" Elizabeth-san points an accusing finger at Senpai. "I'm not going to facecheck for traps again!. That was mean, P-san!"

Mashu has to hold back a chuckle. She feels for Elisabeth-san, but even she has to admit the other girl's colorful reactions can be a little bit funny.

"I was just kidding, there's no need to—" Senpai's apology gets cut off when the cube starts glowing brightly. "Oh, maybe it was trapped? It looks like it reacted to our presence."

As the gentle spin of the cube slowly starts picking up speed, everyone falls back, brandishing their weapons and tensing up in preparation for what might happen next. The spin continues to accelerate until it goes so fast, not even Mashu's Servant sense can keep track of the motion and the object becomes an indistinct blur to her eyes.

And then, the light seems to escape the cube all at once, behaving more like a thick liquid than proper light as it flies on an arc to land in front of us. The blob of light twists and bulges on itself for a moment, until it finally resolves itself into a coherent shape. A monstrous figure that's humanoid from the waist up, and serpentine from the waist down.

Once the figure has taken shape, it seems to… shed the light, revealing the childish-looking entity that was lying underneath.

"Ahh! After 10,000 years, Ibuki-Douji is free! It's time to conquer Earth!"

…

…

…

…

…

"Oh, I see now." Haku finally breaks the silence, smacking a fist on her open palm.

"You see what?"

"Stheno said she wouldn't go through all this work for just one prank." She explains. "But that only means she wouldn't be happy with just one prank. She also said great things await us inside. Not necessarily good, just great."

"You don't mean…"

"This entire place is just a collection of 'great pranks'." Haku nods. "And we are the butt of the joke."

"I suddenly feel very tired."

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