Chapter 155: The Four Gates

This is the Domain of Absolute Darkness, a zone generated by the magic circle of a very ancient dark-magic system! This type of magic is said to hold a restraining effect against all light-type magic! Hmph... It is specially used to conceal and hide from the searches of light-type magic... Within this domain, all things related to light will be completely blocked out! Therefore... here, even if there is illumination, shadows will be directly swallowed up by the dark domain...

In the depths of his mind, Dora’s voice sounded extremely solemn, as if facing a formidable enemy. The sheer gravity in the mother dragon's attitude made even Shaya feel nervous.

I suppose the person who set up this magic circle intended to create a secluded place to prevent any external searches... This is inherently a profound spell, used to establish a domain similar to an 'subspace' existence... Therefore, this place must be peculiar, and it must hide something that someone doesn't want to be found through searching!

Dora's low voice echoed in Shaya's mind as the mother dragon slowly continued, Hey, kid, take a close look around this room; you might just discover something. Someone capable of creating such a magic circle must have hidden something very special here. Otherwise, going to the lengths of producing such an advanced magic circle cannot be without reason—hmph, the Domain of Absolute Darkness... Such magical prowess is something I couldn't even achieve when I was alive!

Shaya took a few deep breaths to steady his racing heartbeat, pushed the poor wretch who was cowering in his arms, and bent down to grope around the floor for the candle to relight it. With a snap, a flame sprang up, casting its light upon the poor wretch's face, making her complexion look terrifyingly pale, her eyes filled with an inherent, pitiful dread.

Shaya pulled the poor wretch behind him and whispered, Don't move around. I'll take a close look.

Following the prompts of Dora's voice in his mind, Shaya quickly walked a full circle around the room, keeping close to the walls. From time to time, he bent down to grope everywhere—the corners, the cracks in the walls, and the floor were all thoroughly felt by him, accompanied by occasional gentle taps with his fingers.

After busywork that yielded no results, Shaya pondered for a moment before suddenly raising his head, his sharp gaze fixed upon the ceiling.

The ceiling of this room held nothing out of the ordinary; it consisted of ordinary cyan flagstones, merely covered with a thick layer of dust. Shaya inhaled, leaped up lightly, and patted the ceiling with his hand.

With this slap, a thick layer of dust was shaken off the ceiling, instantly filling the room with airborne dirt. Shaya covered his nose with one hand and coughed twice. When the dust finally settled, he looked up again and froze.

Not only Shaya, but the poor wretch beside him was also dumbfounded!

That originally grayish ceiling, having shed its layer of dust, finally revealed its true appearance!

This was a single, intact slab of stone! The dust that had originally blanketed it was gone, and looking closely now, beneath that dust, the stone slab was carved with a dense array of strange patterns!

Those lines were not frescoes; rather, they were formed in circles and clusters, seemingly chaotic and devoid of rules, yet resembling a combination of some bizarre script and special symbols. They were carved very shallowly, every stroke appearing as though etched by a sharp weapon with meticulous and piercing precision! Having endured goodness knows how much time, it looked somewhat weathered, with the patterns in some areas becoming ruined and blurred, but overall, it still seemed to form a complete design.

At first glance, Shaya was stunned. Then, glancing at the poor wretch beside him, he heard her let out a low gasp: Ah! This is Magic language!

Mm, it's Magic language, the script of you human mages. Dora's voice in his mind also offered a cold comment: This is the pattern of a magic circle... My guess was correct; it really is this.

Shaya frowned: Are you sure it's truly Magic language?

Adeline walked to Shaya's side and whispered, How... how did you discover these?

Guessed it. Unwilling to elaborate, Shaya simply looked at the strange characters on the ceiling and suddenly began to read aloud slowly.

His pronunciation was awkward and bizarre as he read, clearly showing extreme unfamiliarity with these characters as he reluctantly forced himself to recite them mechanically—yet on the poor wretch's face, the look of shock grew steadily denser!

When did this bumpkin learn the mages' Magic language?

Naturally, the poor wretch had no way of knowing that Shaya didn't understand these languages at all; he was merely reading aloud according to Dora's pronunciation echoing in his mind.

As Shaya recited sentence by sentence, the two young people felt a blur before their eyes... Their ears caught a series of faint clicking sounds emanating from within the chamber's walls, and immediately they saw the bricks on the surrounding walls suddenly seem to come alive, automatically flipping over! In less than a moment, the bricks on the walls folded, turned, and retracted by themselves like building blocks, and soon, the entire surrounding dilapidated brick wall had completely receded! Once the brick walls vanished, in their place on the front, left, and right walls appeared three oval iron doors!

The iron doors were covered in rust, having endured who knows how many ages of corrosion. Shaya walked up to the central door, gently brushed his hand across the iron iron, and immediately a flake of rust fell away! A huge carved pattern was revealed on the door panel... This pattern... seems to be... Shaya opened his mouth.

Meanwhile, the poor wretch pressed tightly against him had already blurted out: Heavens! This is... this is a tulip!!! A flaming tulip!!! The family crest of the Tulip family!!

On that door panel was unmistakably a pattern of boiling flames, and amidst those raging fires, a tulip flower seemed to be blooming and unfurling!

The totem of Osgilia! The Flaming Tulip! Adeline lowered her voice in a startled cry. Hailing from the royal family, she was naturally more familiar with this most legendary family of the Empire than Shaya was! At the sight of this pattern, she instantly recognized it as the Tulips, the legendary founding family of the Empire whose bloodline had long since been extinguished!

The poor wretch's expression also turned solemn. Glancing at Shaya, she looked up at the Magic language on the ceiling. Hailing from the royal family after all, unlike Shaya, she could barely read a few sentences of Magic language. After studying it closely for a few moments, she also began to read softly.

Mm, the meaning of the first sentence is... the door on the left is the 'Gate of Glory'. To open this door, one must possess the 'Power of Glory'. The door on the right is the 'Gate of Annihilation'. To open this door, one must possess the 'Power of Annihilation'. The door directly ahead is the 'Gate of Redemption'... One must possess the 'Light of Redemption' to open it... Mm, redemption, what does that mean?

Adeline recited while slowly explaining it to Shaya, failing to notice the peculiar expression on Shaya's face.

Finally, Adeline let out an 'ah' of surprise, pointing to the very last sentence on the ceiling: This final sentence... the fourth door is the 'Gate of Depravity'... Huh? Strange, there are clearly only three doors here, so where did the fourth door come from? This fourth Gate of Depravity is nowhere to be seen.

Shaya frowned, the sense of unease in his heart growing increasingly intense, as if he vaguely sensed something was amiss.

With a face full of curiosity, Adeline couldn't help repeating the Magic language lines twice more.

Shaya stared closely at his surroundings, especially at the tulip pattern on the iron door—the tulip blooming amidst the raging fire vaguely gave one a tragic and fierce feeling... To open these doors requires things like the 'Power of Glory', the 'Power of Annihilation', and the 'Light of Redemption'... What are these things? Adeline looked at Shaya. Could this place have been left behind by the Tulip family?

Shaya shook his head: How would I know?

Adeline suddenly raised her voice: Ah! But, since this place was left behind by the Tulip family, how did it become the property of Duke Minas... And... those things we just heard! Ah!

At the end of her sentence, Adeline let out a startled gasp.

Both of them simultaneously recalled the conversation between Duke Minas and Kavisil just moments ago! This manor house was originally not the property of Duke Minas either; rather, it had belonged to an old acquaintance they both knew some twenty-odd years ago, and was later handed over to Duke Minas.

Could it be... that old acquaintance the two of them mentioned was... a descendant of the Tulip family?

Yet, as everyone in the Empire knew, the bloodline of this great and legendary family had long since been severed!

Shaya pondered for a moment, drew his longsword with a backhand motion, walked up to the central door, gripped the hilt with both hands, and suddenly flashed a blade of light as he stabbed fiercely downward!

Crack!

With a crisp sound, the blade in Shaya's hand struck the iron door. The tip pierced the door panel, yet failed to penetrate even the slightest bit. With the immense force behind Shaya's thrust, the blade instantly bent and finally snapped apart with a crisp sound!

Shaya looked at the broken sword in his hand, well aware of just how great the force of his thrust had been! Although he wasn't holding an endlessly sharp fire poker, given his strength, even if he were truly facing an iron plate, a sword strike like that should have at least carved a crack into it, if not pierced straight through.

Yet on this iron door, let alone a crack, not even a single scratch had been left behind!

Holding the broken sword, Shaya frowned as he stared at the three doors.

Try using the Crimson Murderous Intent. Dora offered an idea from his mind.

Shaya took a deep breath, stood before the door, a flash of red light crossing his eyes as he instantly unleashed his Crimson Murderous Intent! The broken sword in his hand slashed fiercely at the iron door once more... Boom!

With a muffled dull sound, the moment the blade struck the iron door, Shaya distinctly felt a gentle force forcefully deflect his sword away! Simultaneously, the Crimson Murderous Intent on the blade instantly seemed to be thrown into chaotic disruption! Amidst this muffled impact, the already shortened blade shattered completely, bursting into countless fragments of flying iron!

Shaya took a step back, leaving him holding nothing more than a bare hilt in his hand!

It seems this door cannot be opened. Shaya sighed: It must require those things like the Power of Glory or the Light of Redemption... What are those things? Are they some kind of magic too?

Dora's voice in his mind sounded rather helpless: I've never heard of them either.

Where is the fourth door? That Gate of Depravity? The first three doors all stated how to open them, while the fourth Gate of Depravity doesn't even list the conditions for opening it. The poor wretch frowned in deep thought: Could this place be the treasury left behind by the Tulip family?

Just as the two young people were racking their brains in deep thought, Shaya's expression suddenly shifted drastically. He whipped his head around to look back toward the secret passage they had come from!

On the steps of the secret passage, a figure was slowly walking down step by step! With a calm expression and even a somewhat leisurely air, holding a candle in one hand with the candlelight flickering and casting its light upon his face, dressed in a plain robe as if unsullied by half a particle of mortal dust, his lean and chiseled visage seemed to carry an indescribable, eerie, and soft-toned aura.

Walking down slowly with a faint smile hanging on his face, his gaze landed upon Shaya.

What a coincidence. Shaya, to think I'd run into you here.

Kavisil's tone was very relaxed and calm. Judging by his demeanor, it sounded as if they were merely bumping into each other while strolling down a street rather than meeting in such a secluded place.

Shaya's expression shifted, and he took two steps to stand beside the poor wretch, puffing out his chest as he looked at Kavisil, wanting to force a smile, but failing entirely to conjure one up.

That... Mr. Kavisil... The poor wretch's face was chalk-white, her eyes filled with terror as she spoke tremblingly.

Kavisil descended the steps, gently blew out the candle with a single puff, and stood right before the two of them: I'm quite surprised, really. I never expected the two of you to be hiding here... Hm...

Kavisil cast a peculiar look at Adeline. At that moment, Adeline's heart leaped into her throat, yet Kavisil's smile seemed to carry an air of omniscience. After a faint smile, he stopped looking at Adeline and fixed his gaze entirely on Shaya: Care to explain? Why would you appear in a place like this?

I... Shaya hesitated for a moment, then simply hardened his heart: This place isn't your house. Since you can come here, why can't I?

Hearing this, Kavisil showed no sign of anger. Instead, he walked right past Shaya, examined the three doors, and sighed: To think the two of you could actually discover this magic circle—that in itself is quite remarkable. This is, after all, the greatest secret of Osgilia's 'Tulip family'!

Kavisil gently reached out to stroke the iron door on the right. His tone seemed somewhat uncanny, his voice carrying a three-part seductive allure: Little ones, do you want to know what is actually hidden behind this door?

For some reason, being stared at by this fellow's gaze made Shaya's entire body prickle with goosebumps. Kavisil clearly looked frail and weak, as if a single punch from Shaya could knock him down, yet truly standing before him, Shaya felt an unmistakable sense of danger in his heart! It was as if a voice deep within his soul was screaming nonstop: Run! Get away from this guy!!

Do you want to know? Kavisil asked with a smile once more.

...I do. Shaya nodded honestly. Beside him, the poor wretch bit her lip hard in terror and gave Shaya a forceful tug, yet the bumpkin acted as if he hadn't noticed at all, simply staring blankly at Kavisil.

Oh. Kavisil nodded, a trace of apologetic sentiment showing through his smile: Ah, but I'm truly sorry. Because... I can't tell you either—what on earth is behind this door, I don't know myself.

(To be continued)