Doomsday Pillars

The scenery presented in front of him was so amazing that Alex could only stare at it in awe. The lush and vibrant trees and grasses in the garden, the rushing rivers that exuded vitality, the warm light coming from above; Alex almost couldn't believe that he was kilometers deep into the ground.

Alex then threw his gaze to the horizon, trying to find the edge of the garden. To his surprise, the garden was so large that Alex couldn't see the end of it from the place he was currently standing. Ardeth who stood behind Alex also dumbfounded by the miraculous sight before him. Meanwhile, Heinrich smiled when he saw the expected reaction from these two people.

The warm light shining from the ceiling, the artificial sun on the ceiling, made Alex consider for a second that this place was a modern technology that was installed recently, but Alex quickly erased the thought as he could tell some parts in the garden like the platform he was standing on was a natural rocks that had been shaped with time.

"What is this place, Mr Heinrich?" Alex said without turning his head.

"And a river departed from it to water the garden, and from there it divided and became four tributaries. Genesis 2:10–14." The middle aged man quoted a verse from the Bible with such excitement in his tone

"Can't you see it, Mr Alex? This place is the Garden of Eden!"

Upon hearing the words spoken out from Heinrich's mouth, Alex wondered for a second if his hearing had a problem. He couldn't believe it. Garden of Eden was the story of creation. People had been looking for the place since centuries and no one could ever find it. Alex never imagined and found it hard to believe that this was the said place.

"It.. it is amazing, really." Alex replied, then his eyes turned sharp. "But please explain, what does it have to do with that creature that attacks us, and what exactly are you doing here?"

Heinrich still kept his smile when faced against Alex's sharp gaze. He then opened his mouth to answer Alex, but the words blurted out of it surprised him.

"Why don't you start by asking about your daughter..?"

"!!!"

Looking at the shocked expression on Alex's face, Heinrich continued, "Well, I am sure that she is the reason you are here in the first place."

Alex suddenly felt something was definitely wrong. He then quickly drew his revolvers from his ring and aimed at Heinrich, lightning fast. "What did you do to her?!!"

When Alex drew his gun, all two dozens of fighters around him also drew their own weapons. However, Heinrich was still calm, he proceeded to raise his hand, signifying that he wasn't doing anything wrong, and said, "No, no, no, Mr Alex. You are truly mistaken. We didn't do anything to her.. In fact, it was the other way around. She was the one who harmed us."

Alex was in disbelief as he heard Heinrich's words. And then, he recalled the last words the dying man said. He was telling him that a girl was the one who killed them. "No way! There's no way she would do things like that. It's not possible."

As if he had expected Alex's reaction, Heinrich only chuckled and faintly smiled, "Well, if you don't believe what I said, why don't you ask her yourself?"

"!" Alex was dumbfounded at Heinrich's words.

"Come, Mr Alex. Follow me!" Heinrich said while turning to the path at the side. The path was going down towards the garden. At the moment, Alex was truly confused by the situation. A high-level monster he could not beat, a mysterious yet wondrous garden, and now the fact that his daughter was involved in all of this. 

As much as Alex was careful about Heinrich and his men, he also really hoped to see Tiffany. Therefore, he followed Heinrich.

The group quickly made their way down as they walked through the long winding path towards the garden. A few minutes later, they finally reached the end of the path. In front of them was one of the many small rivers in the garden. Alex could see the garden just across this small river. 

Meanwhile, Heinrich and his men just stood there at the edge of the river doing nothing. Seeing the strange attitude they showed, Alex proceeded to walk closer to the river. Alex noticed that the river wasn't that deep and wide, hence could be crossed easily. As a Sky realm fighter, it should be easy for them to cross this river. Therefore, he was truly confused on why they were waiting here. 

"What are we doing here?" Alex asked, confusion apparent on his face. "Why aren't we crossing the river? The water isn't that deep."

Seeing Alex almost crossed the river, Heinrich quickly took hold of him. "Just wait, Mr Alex." Heinrich said with a smile. "Be patient."

Puzzled by the strange behavior, Alex then decided to listen. After all, he didn't know much about this place. Thus, it was better to be safe than sorry. However, despite that, Alex was still wondering what they are doing here. Their attitude looked like they were waiting for something. The question was what or who. 

When Heinrich noticed Alex was looking at them with puzzled gaze, he could only sigh and point his finger upwards. "Mr Alex, look there. Look closely above the river."

Followed the direction where the finger pointed at, Alex was startled to see there was a bluish glow several meters above the river. "Is that a shield barrier?"

"Yes, and it's a very strong one at that. Trust me, you wouldn't want to crash into that. The one created by the Doomsday Pillar's monolith is child's play compared to this one." 

Alex's body shuddered as he previously thought to leap this river. Fortunately, Heinrich stopped him. And then, Alex became even more confused about what was going on right now. When he wanted to ask Heinrich more, he noticed there was a figure of a girl walking towards the river. Appearing from the treeline across the river, the girl slowly made her way towards their direction.

At first, Alex thought that the girl was his daughter. When there was only a few meters separated between them and Alex could clearly see the girl, he found that she wasn't Tiffany. However, Alex recognized this girl, whose feature looked like an Egyptian doll.

A black short hair and dressed in an ancient costume one could see in history books. This girl was Cerri, the beetle creature who became Tiffany's friend for a while until the incident in Bali which made her show her true form.

At first, Alex guessed that the girl was a powerful deity, but in the end, he never really knew what she was. But now, the mystery suddenly began to reveal itself in his head. Alex remembered that Cerri was said to be an Egyptian descent, and it was possible for Tiffany to come with her, by freewill or by her own power. After all, she was able to take over Tiffany's body last time.

"You are Cerri, aren't you? Is Tiffany with you?" Alex asked hurriedly, as he truly concerned about her daughter.

Upon hearing Alex's words, the little girl turned towards him and looked at Alex in respect, "Yes, she is. Do not worry, she is fine. I can allow you to enter and meet her, but those people cannot!" she said while pointing toward Heinrich and his men. The expression on her face suddenly turned into extreme hate and despise.

Heinrich, on the other hand, wasn't angry at Cerri's reaction and only politely bowed, " Please accept our apology. It truly wasn't our intent to disturb the God Temple."

"Huh?! You aren't only disturbing, you are also a thief!"

Suddenly, the rocks on the ceiling were crashing down. Alex was not sure how it was possible, but the high-level, no, legendary flying beast that was supposed to be outside appeared in the sky above their head.

"All of you thieves deserve to die for desecrating our master tomb!!"

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