The creature emerged from the far end of the hall, towering over 2 meters tall with its dark, greyish body fusing into the shadows. It had the upper body of a man with a bare, faceless head and the clicks came from its 4 spear-like legs with 2 hind legs that of an animal, its skin melding into a metallic sheen further down their tips.
A mouth opens where its stomach should be, rows of jagged teeth ready to rip and chew its food apart. Eyes settled on the upper half of its forearm and legs, its red, bulging pupils ready to catch sight of its next prey.
A vulture.
Shen Yuan activated his spirit and filled Ji Zhixuan in. "It can't hear, but once you're in its sight, you're not getting away. To kill it, go for its head. You can injure its eyes, but everywhere else is impenetrable steel."
"Only steel?"
Just as the words fell, the eye on the vulture's right arm caught sight of them and shrunk, locking in on their figure. Its mouth opened wide with a shrill scream before it charged towards them. Its speed rivaled a horse despite its size and its force shattered the tiles underneath with each of its steps.
Ji Zhixuan stood unmoving and raised two fingers lined to his face. With a whip of his hand, a force slashed through the vulture's body and sliced it in a clean diagonal line. It chopped its front legs uneven and lunged its body forward, leaving behind its severed lower half.
It landed on the ground with a heavy thud, splattering its acidic black blood all over the floor, but not quite dead yet. It tried to prop itself back up only to slip on its own blood and tumble like a newborn fawn.
Ji Zhixuan clenched his fist and blasted off its head.
"Do you have to show off? We can't use this hall now," Shen Yuan groaned in disgust.
"I was just testing whether it's as impenetrable as you said." Ji Zhixuan feigned innocence.
Shen Yuan rolled his eyes. "Yeah, right."
"More importantly, what is this creature?" Ji Zhixuan cleared his throat. "Is it also from our past?"
"No, not this thing. They're from reality. We call them vultures. This one is the weakest type. They're creatures from outer space that have the sole goal of taking over Earth."
"For what?"
"They're like vermin and operate like a beehive though we've never met the queen. They jump from planet to planet to prey on its inhabitants and plunder its resources before going to the next." Shen Yuan eyed Ji Zhixuan. "It's believed that they're individually mindless creatures, but maybe we just haven't found the method to communicate with them yet."
"Even if you can communicate with them, I don't think it'll make any difference. Their existence sounds like a cycle of nature itself."
"Perhaps."
"Stay in position!"
"Aim for their head!"
"There's more behind!"
Hearing the cries of struggle, Shen Yuan and Ji Zhixuan glanced at each other and agreeably stayed in place. If those people couldn't fend for themselves, they would die sooner or later anyway.
Shen Yuan wondered if he could also sense the brainwave of these vultures and activated his radar. Another pulse indeed appeared but only one of it which came from the opposite direction of the ongoing fight.
This frequency…
"There's somewhere I need to check outside," he spoke up.
"Can these vultures fly?" Ji Zhixuan asked first.
"A particular type of them and the higher-level ones can, but not in this heavy storm."
"Alright."
Ji Zhixuan hauled Shen Yuan back into his arms and flew out of the palace. They stopped over the struggling guards and maids and ordered them to set up base in the palace while they were out before leaving the parameter.
Shen Yuan pointed the direction towards the pulse until another crumbling structure came into sight. It was bare of any roof and left the surviving marble tiles and pillars to bear the beating of the weather, but he wouldn't mistake it as any other than the temple.
Why would its pulse come from here?
A couple of vultures roamed about the outer yard and Ji Zhixuan finished them off before landing inside. Finding the broken wet floor, he decided to keep Shen Yuan in his arms and looked around, "This is?"
"The temple. I never really came here but it's a famous landmark. You could see it from almost everywhere across the city, more so from the palace." Shen Yuan lowered his line of sight.
It came from underground.
"Are the Aruthysts here?"
"That's what we're here to find out." Shen Yuan pointed down. "There should be a way underground. Maybe a hidden passage or something."
Ji Zhixuan swept their surroundings a look and locked onto a conspicuous block of marble up front, the only furniture left standing on the rubble-filled ground. "How about that altar?"
"Let's take a look."
They approached the altar and inspected it for a short minute.
Raising his leg, Ji Zhixuan tried pushing it a little to find it wasn't attached to the ground and could be moved. He pulled his leg slightly before kicking it with more force. It hurled off the platform and crashed to pieces down the floor, joining the older rubbles.
Hidden underneath where it once stood was a stairway passage. Its walls were only wide enough for a single person to pass and its steps spiraled to an unknown depth.
Ji Zhixuan put Shen Yuan down and led the way inside. The light became increasingly scarce the deeper they went, and he prompted Shen Yuan to hold onto him and watch his steps.
After walking for what felt like forever, they finally reached the last step only to be greeted by a wall. A dead end.
Shen Yuan took a closer look and traced his fingers over the surface to find the runes carved on it. He clicked his tongue. "Magic."
He could feel the pulse coming from beyond the wall. So close yet so far.
"Can we destroy it?"
"Best not. A magic seal acts more than just a lock. It definitely has traps." Shen Yuan crossed his arms and frowned in thought.
Magic could only be activated by a person who could wield it. He didn't have the ability back in the previous world much less now.
Thinking of something, he tried transferring his energy to the rune but nothing happened. Of course, it wouldn't be that easy…
He sighed in disappointment and could only give up for now. "Let's go back. Maybe we'll find some clues in the palace."
"At least we have an objective now. We'll find a way." Ji Zhixuan petted Shen Yuan's head in consolation.
"Mn."
***
By the time they returned to the palace, the guards and maids had set up base in the throne hall. While some of the guards swept through the palace to clear the place of any monsters, the maids prepared food for lunch.
Although they were in tatters, as expected of the people Ji Zhixuan personally handpicked, all of them were in one piece.
"Where's Captain Pei?" Shen Yuan asked one of the guards who stayed behind.
"He said he wants to map out the sanctuary as much as he could to put it in his life record, so he's currently exploring the surrounding area. He promised to join us before sundown."
The word 'record' reminded Shen Yuan of something. He wondered if it was still here. Since Vesper died as a demon, it wouldn't be strange if the palace burned all his belongings afterward. That was, taking that the world continued to move forward after his leave and this place truly followed the remnant of it.
His existence or non-existence shouldn't affect it in any way. It wouldn't be strange if it did.
He grabbed Ji Zhixuan's hand and pulled him out. "Come on. I want to show you something."
Ji Zhixuan followed Shen Yuan's lead with hidden curiosity. He helped him cross the broken floors and damaged stairways until they reached the third floor.
Shen Yuan navigated his way with the map in his memory and stopped in front of a dilapidated wooden door. Unfortunately, it was locked and he had to let Ji Zhixuan bust it open.
The stagnant air rushed to escape and hit them with a puff of dust. They coughed and stepped back to avoid the rest of it and had to wait until the air was cleared out. Although caught off guard, Shen Yuan saw it as a good sign.
Seeing all the books inside, he knew luck was on his side. The papers and documents Vesper owned must be too important to discard, given he did half of the king's work.
He pushed the door all the way in and smiled at Ji Zhixuan. "Welcome to your study."
Ji Zhixuan raised his eyebrows and gave the room a once over. Unlike most of the palace, the room miraculously withstood the decay. The wallpapers were fully attached albeit covered in dust, the exquisite wooden furniture held out strong, and the books neatly remained on the shelves.
It was almost a resemblance to his own study with a more foreign touch. He couldn't understand the language written on the spine of the books but he could tell they were arranged according to size and character order.
Indeed, he could see himself owning this room.
Shen Yuan went to the desk and opened the topmost drawer. Finding the book inside, he couldn't help but smile as he picked it up and opened it. A small painting rested inside the hollowed pages, depicting him and the man in his memory standing side by side, untouched by time.
Ji Zhixuan couldn't be more familiar with the affection in Shen Yuan's eyes that never failed to pull him deeper into his vortex. But now that it was directed to something else other than him…
All he wanted was to destroy the object of his affection.