The four of them set out onto the road once more. Along the way, they decided to rest under a tree in the Japanese countryside.
The countryside felt more serene than usual. Dreko had made a cozy fire for them to rest by, and fireflies lit up the area around them, adding to the ambiance.
Dreko was already fast asleep in his tent, but Rowlo, Peter, and Jaylia lingered around the fire a bit longer.
Jaylia held out her hands, feeling the warmth of the flames. She had an appreciative look on her face, probably the only time she was even somewhat satisfied in Japan.
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it, guys? I mean… the fireflies, the stars… it’s amazing.”
Peter leaned back slightly to get a better look at the sky. Rowlo followed his gaze as well.
“Yeah… you can see just about everything. It’s so cool.”
He looked over at Rowlo and chuckled a bit.
“So you’re the protector of all that, huh?”
“Ha… yeah. Whatever that means.”
Rowlo paused for a moment, thinking, then sat up.
“I mean… if we’re gonna live longer than everyone, we oughta do something with that life, huh?”
“I wonder how long we can live,” Jaylia cut in.
“Who knows. Maybe we just go on forever… that’d be something, huh.”
Peter rubbed his head a bit awkwardly.
“We’d probably be killed by something like that guy at some point… um… Treason, right.”
An awkward silence set in among them, the weight of Peter’s words settling over the group.
Rowlo gritted his teeth, a stern look forming on his face.
“No… I refuse. I won’t die to someone like that.”
“Yeah…” Peter pumped his fists with determination. “I guess we just have to never die then.”
He looked up at the stars and pointed.
“Let’s go see what’s out there.”
Jaylia laughed, noticing the absurdity of the situation.
“Maybe let’s finish high school first, huh,” she said, wiping tears from her eyes.
“Ha… I wonder if that even matters anymore,” Rowlo said. “Like… we’ll probably outlive our parents. Damn.”
“Yeah… probably,” Jaylia said quietly.
Peter sighed.
“Damn… that’s crazy.”
He stretched his arms and yawned.
“Anyways, I’m beat. I’m gonna head to bed. Enough depressing stuff for one day.”
Peter got up and walked into the tent set up for him.
Jaylia leaned in toward the fire and looked over at Rowlo.
“…So what are we gonna do when we get back? I mean… all of this is so weird.”
“I don’t even know, to be honest with you,” Rowlo said. He thought for a moment. “I guess we’ll have to find a way to Kudos or something, huh.”
“Yeah… it’s a bit scary, though.”
She sighed. A soft, nearly teary expression formed on her face.
“At least I’ll have you… and Peter too.”
“Yeah. No matter what, we stick together,” Rowlo said. “You guys are my best friends. You and Peter will always be my top priority.”
Jaylia blushed slightly, then let out a small laugh.
“You sound so damn corny,” she said, pointing at him and teasing him.
“Chuh… shut up,” Rowlo muttered. “I’m going to bed.”
He got up and walked off toward his tent, slightly embarrassed by the whole situation.
The next day, bright and early, they got up and headed to the coordinates. As they approached, a sense of unease settled over them.
“Yep… this is it. I can feel it,” Dreko said as he walked forward, stopping in front of what looked like nothing.
It was just an empty field.
But as Dreko placed the device against what seemed like thin air…
The barrier dropped.
The space around them shimmered and peeled away, revealing a majestic temple hidden beneath it, built with strange, alien architecture that didn’t belong in this world.
At the entrance stood a statue.
A young child… a girl, frozen in laughter.
Dreko flinched.
Rowlo stepped forward, staring up at it.
“…It’s just like in your story, Dreko. The temple you guys found.”
Dreko swallowed.
“Yeah… this is another temple of Jyra.”
“Who even built these things?” Jaylia asked.
“Honestly… I don’t even know,” Dreko muttered.
They approached the temple, an eerie feeling settling over them as they passed the statues.
Peter glanced at them uneasily.
“Man… it’s like they’re following us with their eyes.”
Inside, the halls stretched endlessly in every direction. Markings in ancient text lined the walls.
Murals of great battles covered the stone, an ancient story unfolding piece by piece.
Rowlo stepped closer, scanning the carvings. Then he looked over at Dreko.
“Dreko… do you know what these are? What does it say?”
Dreko moved toward the wall, studying it intently. His hand brushed along the surface, tracing the markings as his eyes followed the murals.
“…An old alien legend,” he said quietly. “Nothing of note, I think. Just ancient religion.”
“But why build all this on Earth?” Jaylia cut in. “And why hide it behind a barrier?”
“Yeah, it’s super weird,” Peter added.
As they continued, they passed through rooms filled with treasure—gold, silver, artifacts stacked in silent abundance.
“…I thought there’d be more traps or something.”
Rowlo walked through more casually now, glancing around.
“You *want* there to be traps, Pete?”
Peter shrugged slightly.
“The real question is… how do we find the Goro in here? This place is huge.”
As they continued on, they saw more statues of Jyra in countless different poses. Some were laughing, others grinning, and a few were pointing and laughing.
As they walked, Rowlo noticed an interesting mural. It depicted a battle, with a central figure wearing what seemed to be a golden suit of armor. Around the fighter were others, another in a white suit of armor.
There was a woman fighting alongside them, and Jyra herself was there as well.
They all seemed to be fighting another god, one who had blue-skinned entities fighting alongside him.
Rowlo was drawn to the mural. Slowly, he began to notice something.
The central figure looked familiar… and had twists and black skin, just like him.
“Is this…” Rowlo muttered, placing his hand on the mural.
Immediately, the mural reacted. The wall began to glow, a low hum filling the air as it started to shift.
Slowly, the wall began to open.
“Woah… what the?!” Peter gasped.
Jaylia turned quickly toward the sound.
“Rowlo?! What did you do?!”
Dreko turned as well, his eyes landing on the mural for a brief moment.
He flinched.
Inside, the room was filled with gold. The walls were lined with illustrated battles, far more detailed than the ones outside.
In the center stood a pillar, lined with countless tubes of refined Goro.
Surrounding it were statues… figures that looked like champions from across time.
As they stepped forward, the ground trembled slightly.
The statues began to rumble.
Light flickered behind their eyes as they slowly activated.
Some held swords. Others stood with only their fists. A few carried strange weapons, staffs and blades unlike anything they had seen before.
About half of the statues’ eyes glowed a brilliant purple.
The others… a deep golden color.
“Tch… damn it!” Dreko exclaimed.
All of a sudden, the statues lunged at them.
Peter reacted immediately, drawing his blades and blocking one of the sword-wielding champions.
“Ah, come on!”
Rowlo leapt up, narrowly dodging the incoming attacks. Jaylia jumped to the side, barely avoiding a strike.
Dreko stepped in and kicked one of the statues, knocking it back.
“Damn statues… not again!” he exclaimed.
A few of them began to target Rowlo, striking him and sending him flying into the ground.
“Rowlo!” Jaylia shouted, jumping after him.
Instantly, one with a staff knocked her back, slamming her into the wall. Peter tried to go after them, but he was kicked upward into the roof.
“Ah… man…” Rowlo groaned, slowly getting up. “Alright then… so we just need to destroy these, right?”
Dreko formed a fireball and launched it, turning one of the statues to dust.
“Come on, guys, you’re better than this!” Dreko shouted.
Rowlo got up and leapt forward, kicking one in the head and sending the staff-wielding statue crashing into the ground.
Jaylia pushed off the wall, striking one without a weapon in the chest and sending it flying into a nearby wall.
Peter dropped from the roof, cutting one of the statues clean in two.
The room grew quiet.
Then suddenly
A steady rumble filled the chamber.
The statues began to reform, pulling themselves back together from dust and shattered pieces.
Rowlo scoffed, gritting his teeth.
“There’s no way… we’re never getting out of here.”
But this time, it was different.
As they reformed, they turned on each other, attacking aggressively. The ones with purple eyes clashed against those with glowing gold.
One by one, they destroyed each other—until nothing remained.
Just dust and stone.
No trace they had ever existed.
“What. The. Hell just happened…?” Peter exclaimed.
Jaylia dusted herself off slightly.
“Well, I don’t know what just happened… but that must be the Goro, right?” She let out a relieved sigh. “We can finally leave.”
Jaylia began to walk toward the Goro.
Dreko stretched out his hand, blocking her path.
“Wait… it could still be a trap.”
Rowlo pushed his arm down and walked forward confidently.
“At this point, what else can we do?” Rowlo said, reaching out and grabbing the Goro.
Instantly, the temple began to shake violently.
The roof cracked. Stone shifted. The entire structure began to give way.
“Aww man, what now?!” Peter exclaimed.
Dreko looked up at the collapsing temple, his expression unreadable. For a brief moment, a small, subtle smile crossed his face.
“Guardian detected. Self-destruct activated.”
The voice echoed from nowhere… and everywhere.
The building buckled harder, the walls fracturing as the structure began to completely fail.
“Everyone get down!” Rowlo yelled.
The temple collapsed around them, crashing down in a deafening roar.
Slowly, movement stirred beneath the rubble.
Pieces of debris shifted as Rowlo pushed his way up first, gasping slightly as he emerged.
“Peter! Jaylia! Dreko!” he shouted, looking around frantically.
More rubble shifted.
Peter and Jaylia slowly surfaced, pulling themselves free.
Peter rubbed his head as his injuries began to regenerate.
“Damn… that was crazy, huh?” He looked around, confused. “Where’s Dreko? He should be up by now, right?”
Rowlo scanned the area.
“Yeah… that’s strange.”
“Well, at least it seems the Goro survived,” Jaylia said, looking over at a few containers of refined Goro scattered among the rubble.
Rowlo’s eyes caught something.
A small device.
It hadn’t been there before.
It looked futuristic… alien… completely out of place.
“What’s this…?” Rowlo muttered, pressing a button on the device.
Immediately, a hologram of Dreko flickered to life.
Jaylia and Peter stepped closer, watching intently.
The hologram began to speak.
“…If you’re watching this… Rowlo, Peter, Jaylia…” He paused, a somber look on his face. “I had to leave you guys… I’m sorry.”
Rowlo’s expression tightened, frustration clearly showing.
“Wait… what? Dreko left? Why… I don’t understand,” he stammered.
The hologram continued.
“Rowlo, please listen to what I have to say next. It’s very important…”