The Great Plan

Amber raised her hands, channeling a tremendous wave of mana to conjure a giant, floating leaf. The construct was wide enough to work as a platform for the entire group.

This advanced flight magic was exclusive to the Grand Mage, as the minimum mana cost required to maintain its flight would instantly drain any ordinary mage.

They soared swiftly toward the direction of the Warground.

Below them, the dense greenery of the elven forest suddenly vanished. The ancient trees had successfully stopped the spread of the corruption, but right past the tree line lay an opposing sight. 

The blood-red barren wasteland stretching for miles, littered with ancient skeletons and choked by the metallic stench of oxidized iron. No vegetations or life signs in sight.

As they flew deeper into the dead zone, an unnatural mountain range appeared  in the distance.

"How come there is only this single mountain range in the middle of this wasteland?" Zale asked, peering over the edge of the leaf.

"Those are not mountains," Amber revealed, her tone darkening. "Those are the fossilized corpses of Stone Giants slain during the Great War."

The leaf descended, landing directly in front of a massive cavity resembling a cave entrance, carved right into the hollow eye socket of a giant's skull.

The ambient air was heavily poisoned. Amber quickly cast a continuous purification spell, enveloping the party in a protective blue aura.

Before they could go in, a heavily wrinkled old lady stepped out from the shadows of the stone eye. Amber immediately knelt upon the crimson dirt, bowing her head out of pure reverence for the First Mage of humanity : the Fallen Goddess, Seya.

"I was expecting your arrival," Seya murmured, her ancient voice echoing softly against the stone. She shifted her gaze, pointing a wrinkled finger toward the former prince. "And yours as well."

They followed the fallen deity into the caved corridors. Seya had carefully hollowed out the interior of the giant's corpse, converting the ancient bone and stone into a functional sanctuary.

They reached the deepest chamber, where cluster grids of glowing mana gems were embedded into the rocky walls, pulsing with an eerie radiance.

"They started doing this exactly one week ago," Seya stated, her eyes locked on the formations.

It was a circled formation of multiple rings, with various-sized glowing gems. In the very center was a giant hole, pulsing with a faint glow.

"What is this magic?" Stacy asked, leaning closer to examine the formation.

Amber remained silent, her expression grim. "This architecture is ancient, isn't it?"

"Yes," Goddess Seya confirmed. "It dates back to the dawn of the Great War."

Suzuki stepped forward, his eyes widening in pure shock as he looked at the walls.

"You recognize something, don't you?" Seya asked.

"Yes... this looks similar to the Gate Plan," Suzuki whispered, his voice trembling.

"How can this be here? The High King showed the Hero party these exact same patterns back at the palace capital. Twelve magic cores arranged in a perfect outer circle, with a single biggest core in the center."

Amber turned to him sharply. "What is this Gate Plan?"

"I don't know," Suzuki admitted, clutching his head.

"The hero council never revealed the true intentions to me. My only role was to monitor the Heroes. Tell me, Goddess Seya... what is the meaning of this?"

Goddess Seya stared at the glowing runes for a while.

"If, what you are saying is true, then it can mean only one thing. The Grace family is using the Heroes to open a crack to another realm, maybe one leading to their original home world."

"Japan?!" Suzuki spoke with mixed emotions.

"But that is impossible!" Amber countered, her fists clenching. "The laws of transmigration prove that you cannot return to an original world once the soul is bound here!"

"Actually," Suzuki interrupted, his mind racing as he tried to recall anything he could remember.

"For some reason, the High King was completely obsessed with summoning Heroes. Whenever the kingdom had enough mana, or had a sufficient justification to trigger the ritual, he would initiate a summoning. He once slipped up during a banquet that once all twelve Heroes are summoned, he would finally achieve peace."

Suzuki paused to gather his thoughts,

"What if... the Gate Ritual needed twelve Heroes to be summoned? Look at these stones, they are exactly twelve!"

Goddess Seya gently touched the vibrating gemstone cores.

"I don't understand any of this," Zale muttered, struggling to follow the conversation.

"But, does that mean Sir Toshio was the 12th Hero summoned to complete the circle thing?" Zale asked Suzuki, as he was the only one they could rely on for inside information.

Suzuki sank into deep thought, his closed his eyes as the past pieces locked into place.

"Huh?! Ah... that's the thing. Mister Tanaka is definitely registered as the 11th Hero. How can the Gate ritual already be activated if the 12th Hero hasn't been summoned?"

Amber’s eyes snapped wide as a terrifying realization struck her mind.

"There is something I didn't tell anyone because I found it too ridiculous to be true," Amber whispered, her voice shaking under the weight of the revelation.

"But what if... what if Toshio Tanaka did not cross over alone? What if the 11th Hero arrived in this world with the 12th Hero already hidden, deep inside his soul?!"