Nox turned his head quickly toward Leon.
"Wait… Grave!?"
Leon looked at Nox and gave a small nod.
"Yes."
His voice echoed lightly across the narrow ledge.
Felix, who was standing near the cave entrance, stopped moving.
Felix kept his sword at his side, but he did not draw it yet. He was carefully observing the cave, because something about the place felt strange to him.
Kylus stood a few steps away from them.
He was still catching his breath after the long climb up the mountain.
His shoulders moved up and down as he breathed heavily, and he wiped sweat from his forehead.
He stared quietly into the dark opening of the cave.
The wind moved across the ledge. Dust slid along the stone.
Nox frowned.
"But you said you came here for that lizard."
Felix glanced at Leon when he heard that.
He also remembered the same thing.
Earlier, while they were climbing the mountain, Leon had clearly said they came here for a dragon.
Leon remained calm.
He looked at the cave entrance again.
"It's true," Leon said.
"In one way."
Nox raised an eyebrow.
"What does that even mean?"
Leon did not answer immediately.
His eyes remained fixed on the cave.
Because inside his mind, he already knew the truth of this place.He knew what waited inside.And he knew exactly why he had come here.
In the novel, Valkor had died long before the main events. The world believed the dragon still slept here, but that was not the truth.
Leon knew the truth.
The dragon was already dead.
But something else remained in this place.
Something far more valuable.
Leon lifted his head and looked toward the cave again.
Leon spoke again, his voice calm.
"Valkor is dead."
He looked at the dark entrance.
"But what remains here… is what I truly came for."
Kylus stared at the dark cave entrance.
Cold air slowly came out from inside.
He took a small step back.
"…Wait," he said slowly.
Felix glanced at him.
Kylus pointed at the cave.
"Don't tell me we're going inside that."
Leon answered immediately.
"Of course we are."
Kylus froze.
His face stiffened.
"W–Wait!" he said quickly. "No way!"
He shook his head and took another step back from the entrance.
Felix looked confused.
Nox tilted his head slightly.
He looked at Kylus, then at Leon.
"What happened to him suddenly?" Nox asked.
Leon answered calmly.
"He's scared."
Nox blinked once.
"Scared?"
He looked back at Kylus, who was still staring at the dark cave like it might swallow him.
"Of what?"
Leon said it like it was the most normal thing in the world.
"Darkness."
Nox blinked again.
"…What?"
Felix slowly turned his head toward Kylus.
Kylus crossed his arms and looked away.
"I'm not scared," he muttered.
Nox floated closer and leaned toward him.
"You're scared of the dark?"
Kylus snapped back quickly.
"I said I'm not scared!"
Nox grinned.
"You just refused to enter a cave because it's dark."
Kylus pointed angrily at the entrance.
"It's not just dark! It's suspiciously dark!"
Leon sighed.
Felix tried not to laugh.
Nox crossed his arms in the air.
"A warrior… afraid of darkness."
Kylus glared at him.
"Say one more word and I'm shooting you."
Nox floated closer and looked at Kylus with a mocking smile.
"Of course you can't," he said lightly.
Kylus turned his head sharply and glared at him.
His eyes were full of anger.
Nox only looked more amused.
Leon sighed when he saw the two staring at each other.
"Alright," he said.
He raised a hand slightly.
"Both of you stop it."
Kylus clicked his tongue but stayed quiet.
Nox shrugged in the air.
Leon looked toward the cave entrance again.
"We are going inside the cave," he said firmly. "Now."
Kylus froze.
"But—"
Leon spoke again before Kylus could continue.
"And Kylus."
Kylus stopped and looked at him.
"You will stay outside and guard the entrance."
For a moment, Kylus did not react.
His mind took a second to understand what Leon had just said.
Guard the entrance.Which meant…
He did not have to enter the dark cave.
The thought reached him slowly.Then his eyes suddenly widened.His face brightened at once.
"Of course!" he said quickly.
He agreed without even thinking twice.
Because in his mind, guarding the entrance was a far better task than stepping into a dark cave.
Without wasting a second, he turned around.
He quickly walked away from the cave entrance.
Felix blinked when he saw how fast Kylus moved.
Nox floated nearby and watched Kylus leave.
"…That was fast," Nox muttered.
Kylus had already walked several steps away.
He stopped near the edge of the ledge and turned toward the mountain path below.
He placed one foot firmly on the ground and rested his hand on his bow.
He stood there seriously, looking down the mountain like a proper guard.
Anyone who saw him now would think he had been assigned this duty from the beginning.
Because from Kylus's point of view, Guarding a place instead of exploringa dark cave,was the safest and most comfortable job he could get at that moment.
Leon watched Kylus for a moment.
Kylus stood near the ledge with his back to them. One hand rested on his bow. His eyes looked down the mountain path.
He looked very serious.
Almost like a loyal guard protecting his lord.
Felix looked at him, then quietly leaned closer to Leon.
"…Master," he whispered.
Leon glanced at him.
Felix spoke softly.
"I think he is really scared of dark."
Leon sighed a little.
"Yes," he said calmly. "I know."
Nox floated beside them and crossed his arms.
"He didn't even try to hide it," Nox said.
Felix scratched his head.
"But… is it okay?"
Leon looked toward the cave entrance.
For a moment he thought about it.
In truth, Kylus staying outside was not a bad thing. If something dangerous happened inside the cave, someone outside could warn them or escape.
Also, Leon already knew what waited inside.
Kylus would probably panic if he saw it.
Leon nodded slightly.
"It's fine," he said.
Felix relaxed when he heard that.
Nox shrugged.
"Well," he said, turning toward the cave entrance.
"Are we going inside or not?"
Cold air flowed out from the cave.The inside looked dark and silent.
Felix placed his hand on the handle of his sword.
Leon stepped forward.
"Let's go."
Felix nodded and followed him.Nox floated behind them.Leon, Felix, and Nox entered the cave together.
The inside of the cave was dark and quiet, and the cold air that moved slowly through the tunnel made the place feel old and abandoned.
But even though the darkness made it seem dangerous,they continued to walk forward because Leon did not stop and Felix trusted that his master knew what he was doing.
Felix walked at the front, moving carefully while touching the rough stone wall from time to time so he would not stumble in the darkness.
While Leon walked a few steps behind him with a calm expression on his face, and Nox floated beside them in the air, looking around the cave with quiet curiosity.
After walking for a short distance, the narrow tunnel suddenly ended and opened into a small chamber.
Felix stopped walking the moment he stepped inside.
He was nervous at first,but seeing his master's confidence he decided to move.
"I'm ready to face anything for my master..."
They entered the chamber.
It was very small.
It was barely the size of a hall.
Felix slowly turned his head and looked around the place, carefully observing the walls and the ground because he expected to see something important in a place that was supposed to be connected to the grave of a legendary dragon.
But there was nothing.
The walls were made of plain rock.
The floor was rough and empty.
There was no door, no passage, no treasure, and certainly no dragon.
Nox floated forward and looked around the chamber carefully, and the more he looked the more his expression changed from curiosity to disbelief, because the place looked completely ordinary and empty.
Then he suddenly raised his voice in frustration.
"What the hell!?"
His voice echoed loudly inside the cave because the chamber was small and quiet.
"There's nothing here!"
Felix blinked slightly because of the sudden shout, and the sound echoed several times against the stone walls before slowly fading away.
Leon immediately frowned.
"Shut up," Leon said, clearly annoyed by the noise.
"Why do you keep shouting?"
Nox turned toward him and spread his arms as if the answer was obvious.
"Because look at this place!"
Felix quietly looked around again because Nox's words made him doubt for a moment.
He carefully examined the walls again, then the floor, but the result was the same.
There really was nothing.
Leon, however, did not look surprised at all.
Instead, he calmly observed the chamber as if everything was happening exactly as he expected.
"Of course I knew it would be like this," Leon said.
Nox turned toward him immediately.
"What?"
Leon looked at the empty floor and spoke calmly.
"This is not the real Valkor's grave."
Felix looked surprised when he heard that.
"Then what is it?" Nox asked.
Leon slowly pointed at the rocky ground beneath their feet.
"This," he said calmly, "is only the entrance."
Felix frowned slightly, trying to understand what Leon meant.
Nox also looked confused because the chamber did not look like any kind of entrance.
But Leon knew the truth.
In the novel, Valkor's grave was hidden deep beneath Eruk Mountain, and the entrance to that place was carefully concealed so that ordinary people would never discover it.
For centuries, many people had tried to find the legendary dragon because the legends said that Valkor, the King of the Skies and one of the strongest primordial dragons that had ever existed returned to this mountain after the dragon slayer's death.
Adventurers, treasure hunters, kings, and even powerful warriors had climbed Eruk Mountain to search for the grave, hoping to find the power or treasures left behind by the great dragon.
They searched every cave, every cliff, and every hidden valley in the mountain.
But none of them ever found anything.
It was because the real entrance was hidden by a secret method.
And without knowing that method, it was impossible to open the path.
Leon, however, knew the secret method.
He had read it in the novel.
Leon slowly pulled out his sword.
Felix immediately looked at him with confusion.
Then Leon turned the blade slightly and dragged it lightly across his own palm.
A small cut appeared on his hand, and blood slowly came out from the wound.
Felix's eyes widened when he saw that.
"Master!" Felix said quickly as he stepped forward because he was worried about Leon hurting himself.
Leon calmly raised his hand to stop him.
"It's alright," Leon said in a calm voice.
Nox watched the scene with narrowed eyes.
"Is this your plan?" Nox asked.
Leon gave a small nod.
Inside his mind, Leon quietly thought that it was fortunate he had read the novel carefully, because without that knowledge he would never know how to open the entrance to Valkor's grave.
Leon slowly lowered his hand and allowed a few drops of blood to fall from his palm.
The drops of blood landed on the rocky floor.
For a brief moment, nothing happened.
Felix watched the ground carefully.
Nox also stared at the place where the blood had fallen.
Then suddenly— A faint red glow appeared under the drops of blood.
Felix noticed it immediately.
"Master… look."
Thin glowing lines began to spread across the rocky floor as if the blood had awakened something that had been sleeping for a very long time.
The lines slowly extended across the stone and formed strange ancient symbols that none of them had seen before.
The symbols continued to connect with each other until they formed a large and complex magic circle on the ground.
The entire cave began to tremble slightly.
Small pieces of dust and tiny stones fell from the ceiling.
Nox narrowed his eyes and carefully
observed the magic circle because he could feel a powerful ancient energy coming from it.
The glowing circle became brighter.
The symbols began to shine more strongly.
Then something started to rise from the center of the magic circle.
The stone cracked with a deep rumbling sound.
A large shadow slowly emerged from the glowing circle.
Felix instinctively stepped back because the figure was far larger than a normal human.
The shape continued to rise until it stood completely before them.
It was a massive statue made of stone.
It's body was made of heavy dark stone that looked ancient and incredibly durable, and its entire body was covered with carved runes and symbols that glowed faintly with a mysterious light.
It's eyes slowly opened and shone with a deep red glow as it looked down at the three small figures standing before it.
The guardian slowly moved its head.
Then it spoke in a deep and heavy voice that echoed throughout the chamber.
The one who has awakened me...state your purpose.