Chapter 31

Clomp. The sound of Ortes’s boots striking the temple floor echoed through the chamber.

Ortes marched forward without hesitation, breaking the heavy silence that had filled the temple.

At the end of his path stood a massive stone relief carved into the wall. It clearly depicted scenes from ancient myths, with every inch of the surface intricately detailed.

And in the center of this vast mural, there was a carved door – not an actual opening, but merely part of the sculpture. Ortes approached it slowly, running his fingers along the stone carving.

“What is this?” Carisia asked.

There were no prominent “door” myths in their world that she knew of, certainly none important enough to be featured so prominently here. Surely any Blasphemia agents who’d visited before would have investigated it already – and left empty-handed.

The temple showed no traces of divine energy, no altar, no symbols – exactly as Blasphemia’s report had stated: “No divine reaction detected. Original purpose unclear.”

After a moment’s thought, Ortes spoke. “Exactly what it looks like… a door.”

Carisia studied his face. Was he joking? But his expression seemed unusually serious.

If others had been able to read her thoughts, they might have wondered how she could tell, since he always had that same faint smile. But her analysis was correct – this wasn’t a joke.

Ortes continued seriously, “Let’s consider the beings from other dimensions. They cross the dimensional seas and cast their shadows over our world. They wield godlike powers…”

Beings with godlike power who ruled from above like deities.

“So what should we call them if not gods?”

“Do you mean the lost gods and these extradimensional beings are fundamentally the same?”

“I can’t claim to understand the true nature of divinity. But I do know that even gods once came from outside this world. This door represents their descent.”

A forgotten myth, either lost to time or deliberately omitted by the Ten Sages. Ortes’s explanation made him seem like a prophet from ancient texts.

“This space connected to the door is the true sanctuary. A place symbolizing the entire heavens where the gods reside. And surely Phobos’s relic lies within.”

***

When Carisia asked her question, I wracked my memory of the original story while struggling with this damn door.

The protagonist had just smirked and said something like “Ah, such an old-fashioned protection spell,” then opened it effortlessly.

But I couldn’t figure out how to open it at all.

“Should I just force it open?”

My eyes could see everything, but I wasn’t omniscient. If I opened my eyes, I could probably analyze the atomic structure of the door and the magical formations embedded within.

But ancient magic like this tended to be extraordinarily complex. Magic systems containing information far beyond normal comprehension often caused severe aftereffects when examined directly.

My brain simply didn’t have the processing power for this kind of thing. It was like trying to edit ultra-high resolution video with inadequate hardware – my mental “resolution limit” was more like 2K, while this phenomenon was more akin to 8K or even higher.

As I pondered by the door, Carisia suddenly approached.

She placed her hand on the door and channeled mana into it.

Mana?

This temple was sealed by the Wizard King!

“Chairman, it’s dangerous!”

But nothing happened.

Carisia smiled knowingly at me. “If touching it with mana had triggered a trap, it would have been documented in Blasphemia’s report. This won’t activate anything.”

She expanded her mana net across the entire mountain peak.

An average magician wouldn’t even attempt such a feat due to the sheer amount of mana required. Most would pass out within seconds.

Carisia maintained her mana output for a full minute with her eyes closed.

No wonder Blasphemia hadn’t found anything – few magicians in the Ten Towers could match Carisia’s abilities.

When she finally opened her eyes, her Gauntlet glowed with pure white light.

“Chairman, shall we…”

“Destroy it? That seems fastest.”

Considering her temperament, this confirmed it – she definitely wasn’t someone who valued subtlety.

“But won’t we be considered intruders if we do that?”

“We’ll destroy everything and leave. Isn’t that what we usually do?”

That wasn’t true at all – I spent most of my time desperately cleaning up after her destruction!

***

Even though Ortes looked slightly troubled, he nodded just as Carisia moved her right hand.

The light gathered in her black Gauntlet didn’t explode outward but instead enveloped the entire device, glowing brilliantly like five separate beams of light.

Following the patterns carved into the door, Carisia’s cutting motion was both precise and swift. The stone carving melted away like butter under her blade.

Watching her work, Ortes thought to himself, “This is better than the version where she melted people like in the original story.”

Though she had melted quite a few people already, it was more in self-defense rather than proactive attacks.

“What are you doing?”

Having finished her work, Carisia turned to Ortes.

Normally, destroying the door would trigger an automatic closure of the portal beyond, but Carisia forced mana into the fading portal to keep it open, maintaining its stability like adding water to replace what was draining away.

Understanding how she managed this, Ortes decided against commenting and simply said, “Let’s go.”

‘I wish I could waste mana like that.’

***

“Thought this ‘domain of the gods’ would be more magnificent?”

“It’s symbolic. This is probably just a hollowed-out space somewhere beneath this mountain.”

Phobos’s secret temple was lined with pristine white marble. Everything gleamed pure white, like being atop a cloud.

On the central marble altar rested a single gemstone with dozens of facets, exquisitely crafted.

“Originally, a priestess would have used this crystal ball to deliver prophecies. What we were in before was basically a waiting room, while this is the audience chamber.”

Ortes reached toward the gemstone.

The moment his fingertips touched it…

The white marble darkened.

“No, the marble isn’t darkening…”

The light disappeared. The mysterious light that had illuminated the marble room was being sucked into the gemstone where Ortes’s hand made contact.

Carisia watched with interest, feeling a sense of relief.

Anyone observing this scene would recognize some connection between Ortes and the ancient gods. Yet he hadn’t refused her company.

By sharing this secret with Carisia, she felt a deep sense of joy.

Ortes thought to himself, “What is this?”

***

Suddenly, the gemstone began emitting an odd glow, projecting images onto the marble walls like a movie theater projector.

The flickering shadows coalesced into humanoid silhouettes.

“Why…”

A resonating yet faint voice filled the chamber. Though powerful in volume, it lacked strength.

This detail hadn’t been in the novel. Was this residual consciousness left behind because we arrived earlier than the protagonist?

The voice wasn’t questioning our purpose in taking the artifact but rather my companion.

I spoke with a strange sense of discomfort. “Who I travel with is my choice, is it not? Now reveal who you are and why you cling to this relic of the old gods.”

“I am the high priest of Phobos. I’ve waited patiently for one worthy to inherit this relic. You may be qualified, but who is this one with you…”

I understood now.

The artifact’s safety mechanism from the original story – the lingering consciousness of the priests who served the old gods themselves were the safeguard.

Their rejection of Carisia was likely due to knowledge or mana granted by the White Light Tower and the Ten Sages.

If only I had magic capabilities similar to the Wizard King to prevent the artifact’s self-destruction, but I didn’t possess such abilities. Perhaps Carisia could manage something similar.

First, I needed to convince this late-awakening elder not to self-destruct just because he didn’t approve of me.

Since he acknowledged my qualifications, perhaps he’d be easy to persuade.

***

“What do you mean?”

“The fragments of the ones who brought about our era’s downfall…”

“She is my chosen one.”

Instantly, an oppressive silence fell over the chamber.