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Chapter 294: Temple [5]
Chapter 294: Temple [5]
Chapter 294: Temple [5]
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"The grave of Oracleus?"
I stopped dead in my tracks and carefully looked at the inscriptions on the wall. Tracing my
finger over the inscriptions it felt smooth to the touch. Rather than inscriptions, this felt more
like a projection.
A spell perhaps?
I wasn't quite sure.
I ended up reading the text repeatedly, burning the image right into my mind.
"Here lies the grave of Oracleus."
"--The seer."
My mouth grew dry unknowingly.
"...Isn't this the same god that crazy Archbishop was worshipping?"
I had faintly remembered hearing this name in the past.
It was something that the Archbishop had said.
The whole concept of gods and all was still foreign to me but from what I knew there were seven of them.
Mortum, Sithrus, and Oracleus... They were the gods I had heard most about. I didn't quite know about the other gods.
All I knew about them was that they had their own churches and they were quite well respected.
Tok!
I knocked the wall with my knuckle. It didn't feel hollow at all, telling me that there was no secret room behind the text.
"Whatever the case, I don't feel good about this god."
How could I feel good about a god that created a fanatic like that Archbishop?
Pursing my lips, I looked through the writing again to see if there was anything else before finally looking away and turning my attention toward the end of the entrance.
""
Faintly, I could make out the outline of a large room, and as I stepped out of the entrance my breath caught at my throat.
The air was thick with the acrid smell of rust, overwhelming my nostrils and making me momentarily scrunch up my face. Faint candles flickered throughout the area, casting a dim blue glow over the surroundings and the cracked black marble floors.
Just like the exterior, towering black pillars stood erect on each side of the room, supporting the ceiling which ascended into a massive dome. The surface of the dome was a canvas filled with intricate murals depicting various scenes.
It depicted some sort of historical scene that seemed to be closely related to the gods with six figures at its center and a massive eye looming throughout. Almost as if it was spectating everything that was happening from above.
I couldn't tear away my gaze from that lone eye that seemed to oversee everything, and it was then that my mouth opened.
"...The Seer."
I held my breath.
The longer I gazed at the mural, the more a certain, invisible pressure seemed to emanate from the Seer's eye. It felt as though its stare was reaching into my soul, making my heart beat unevenly.
Ba... Thump! Ba... Thump!
I could feel my own heartbeat drum loudly within my mind, slowly overtaking my thoughts.
Ba... Thump!
At a certain point, I found myself looking away.
"Haa.. Haa..."
Covering my mouth, I tried to even my breathing.
'What in the world was that...?'
I couldn't quite explain it, but it almost felt as though I was being crushed on the spot.
It felt suffocating.
But how could it be? It was merely a mural.
What sort of-!
"Kh!"
Clenching my teeth, my entire body started to spasm. My eyes widened in shock as I stumbled back several steps, reaching for the nearest pillar to support myself.
"Akh...!"
Unlike before, the convulsions didn't stop quickly. They lasted a staggering several minutes before calming down, and when it was all said and done, I was left leaning against the pillars with hardly any breath left in me.
"Haa... Haa...!"
My chest burned with each breath, a searing pain that grew more intense by the second. When I looked at my hands, my breath left me-they were riddled with long, black veins that
seemed to writhe and pulse just beneath the surface of my skin.
'Fuck.'
...I had no choice but to curse.
The effects of the poison were even worse than before. I couldn't quite make an estimate on how much time I had, but I knew that I didn't have very long.
At best ten minutes.
"I... haa... need to... haa... find the queen..."
With my teeth clenched, I firmly helped myself up with the support of the pillar and looked
around me.
A faint blue glow enveloped the entire space, casting an eerie light on the distant circular structure I noticed. Its stones, made of the same dark marble as the pillars, were shaped like jagged teeth, spiking up and down as my eyes settled on it.
'It should be there.'
I had a long-lost connection with the thread that I used before in order to get to the queen, but I knew that my last connection was there.
There was more to the area that I wanted to explore, but right now, my priorities were
different.
I needed to get to the queen.
I-
Tak!
My entire body tensed as I heard the faint sound of a step in the distance. Without hesitation,
I masked my entire body with the surroundings and held my breath tightly.
But it was too late.
As if it had already seen me, the step drew nearer to me.
||||
My entire body tensed, and my hands clamped up.
From the darkness, a figure slowly emerged, stepping into the dim, flickering blue light that
cast faint shadows across the temple.
As the figure drew closer, its outline became clearer, and just as I braced myself for a fight, the
features of the figure came into focus.
Two cold, gray eyes emerged from the shadows.
They were eerily familiar.
And as the face associated with those eyes came into view, one I couldn't shake from my
memory, a muffled, unsettling sound escaped my lips.
"Uh?"
"...."
Leon stood in silence while his head flicked in my direction.
He seemed wary, almost tense.
But his tension turned into surprise when I got rid of the illusion that surrounded me and
showed my true self to him.
"Uh?"
A familiar sound came out of his lips as he stared at me.
"What are you doing here?"
"What are you doing here?"
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The both of us paused for a brief moment.
I licked my lips and nudged him with my eyes.
'Let me do the talking first.'
'Oh, sure.'
Indeed he was Leon.
He was the only one I was capable of talking like this.
".... Why are you here?"
I only changed up the question a little bit.
I was most curious about how he had managed to find himself in here. Most importantly,
looking at him, he didn't appear to be injured at all as opposed to me who had no choice but to
come here to get to the queen.
|| ||
Leon didn't answer immediately.
As his eyes paused on my body, his expression faintly changed. Raising his head back up, he
looked at me in shock.
"It's complicated."
I frowned slightly before eventually showing him my hand.
"...I came here by accident. I was chasing after the Wraith Queen to get rid of the poison that's
currently consuming me."
"Oh."
Leon nodded in understanding.
"Hold on."
My brows tightened.
"I was the one that was asking the question. Why am I the one answering?"
"Right."
Leon blinked before suddenly smiling.
"What are you smiling at?"
"I'm not smiling."
||
This fucker...
"My skill."
"Hm?"
"I got here because of my skill. It told me to come here."
"That's..."
I frowned for a brief moment before letting it go.
"I understand."
I glanced around, my focus returning to the well from earlier. I nudged Leon, guiding him
toward it with a subtle, urgent gesture.
"Since you're here, how about you help me out?"
"....To fight the Wraith Queen?"
"Yeah."
Leon's face scrunched up as he made a face that didn't seem like he wanted to go. But I didn't
care.
I had no time to care.
"You're my knight, aren't you?"
Leon's face scrunched up further.
I continued,
"It would be bad if I died knowing that you could've helped me. What kind of terrible knight is
that? Tut."
I shook my head and climbed to the top of the well.
Turning to look at Leon, whose face was as black as it could be, I continued,
"You'd be branded as a salary thief. A leech who can't even do his own job."
I lowered my head and sighed in disappointment.
"....How many children could've been saved with the money that is being used to hire you?
Haa."
With a sigh, I turned away and prepared to enter the well.
But just before I did, a hand pressed against my shoulder. My lips twitched slightly as I turned
my head back to look at him.
"Yes?"
".....'
Leon didn't say a word, but his expression spoke volumes.
His forehead was etched with dark, furrowed lines, and he stared at me with bloodshot eyes
that seemed to burn with a mix of resentment and resignation.
I covered my mouth at the sight.
"You don't have to-"
"Stop, let's go."
He squeezed my shoulder with quite a bit of force.
I didn't flinch and merely moved back where I pointed at the well.
"Inside here."
||
Leon's eyes shook as his face twitched.
"Do you have a rope?"
"I wish."
I wouldn't have had so much trouble had I had one.
Biting his lips, Leon closed his eyes before returning to normal. Then, climbing the well, he
tossed a small rock in it.
|| ||
11
In silence, we both waited for the rock to hit the bottom.
We waited and waited and waited.
And we eventually did hear something, but...
Tak.
It was only after a good five seconds had passed.
||
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Leon's expression remained the same but I could feel the deep seethed resentment within
him as he looked at me.
I also felt bad, but...
"I don't have much time. You go first."
||
||
Leon's expression tightened, but he eventually did as I told him and entered the well, his legs
widening as he used both sides to hold himself upright.
I followed right after him. "Oh, right."
Right as I entered, I remembered something.
I looked down at Leon who looked back up at me.
"....There's a chance I might fall because of the poison. In case that happens, I need you to
help me."
"Help you?"
Leon blinked his eyes.
Flick.
His head flicked up to my face and down to my lower half.
Flick, flick.
The more his head flicked, the more bloodshot his eyes grew. A sudden realization seemed to
hit him as his expression hardened completely.
"You okay?"
"........"
Leon didn't answer.
No, he couldn't answer as I slipped down slightly and hit his face with my bottom half.
"Ah."
I hurriedly moved up and looked down.
I was just about to say something when I stopped.
For the first time since knowing him, I saw it.
Leon's look of despair.