Chapter 95: The Echoes of the Sunken Kingdom
The deeper they ventured into the Foggy Cave, the more the air began to vibrate with a low, oppressive frequency. It wasn't just silence; it was a void that swallowed sound itself. The crystalline walls of the cavern, which had initially been a dull grey, now pulsed with a rhythmic, ethereal blue luminescence that seemed to match Von's (Volt's) own heartbeat.
Aki, who was nervously tossing the stolen Golem crystal from hand to hand, suddenly stopped. His eyes darted toward the shadows dancing on the uneven ceiling. "Von, I know I'm usually the one making jokes to keep us from losing our minds, but I think the walls are actually breathing. And if the walls are breathing, that means we're inside something's stomach.".
Sai adjusted his grip on his heavy tower shield, the metal clinking against his gauntlets. "It's not a stomach, Aki. It's a tomb. Can't you feel the weight of the mana here? It's ancient, stagnant, and very, very angry.".
Von led the way, his black cloak billowing behind him despite the lack of a breeze. Every step he took left a faint, frost-like trail of dark energy on the stone floor. He could feel it—the resonance of a thousand years ago. This cave wasn't just a natural formation; it was a remnant of his old empire's treasury, a place where he once kept artifacts that could level mountains.
"Rena," Von said, his voice echoing with a depth that sent shivers down her spine. "Does the Academy still teach you about the 'War of the Fallen'? Or have they erased that from the history books too?".
Rena looked at him, her hands glowing with a soft ember light to ward off the chill. "They teach us that the Demon King was a bringer of chaos who sought to extinguish the Sun of the Heavens. They say he was defeated here, in these very mountains, by the Seven Celestial Judges.".
Von let out a low, bitter laugh. "The Sun of the Heavens... a beautiful name for a parasitic fire that fed on the souls of the weak. The Demon King didn't want to extinguish the sun; he wanted to stop it from burning the world to ash.".
Suddenly, the System interface flickered into existence before his eyes, its crimson text glowing fiercely in the gloom.
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION: Memory Fragment Synchronized. Power Restoration: 88%. New Passive Skill Unlocked: 'Sovereign's Presence'. Your enemies will now experience 'Fear' status effect within a 10-meter radius.
As the notification vanished, a spectral figure began to coalesce from the mist ahead of them. It was a projection of a knight in obsidian armor, kneeling before a throne of shadows. The image was so vivid that Aki drew his daggers, his knuckles white with tension.
Is that... you, Von? Rena whispered, staring at the spectral knight. "But the armor... it looks like it was forged from the darkness itself.
That was my general," Von replied, his eyes softening for a fleeting second before returning to their cold, obsidian state. He waited here for a thousand years for a king who never returned. Now, he is nothing but a lingering echo, a ghost guarding a treasure he can no longer feel.
The specter looked up, its empty helmet facing Von. For a moment, the temperature in the cave dropped to sub-zero. A wave of sorrow and loyalty washed over the group, so powerful that even Aki felt a lump in his throat. The specter stood, bowed deeply, and then dissolved into a thousand shards of blue light, which were instantly absorbed into the crystal Aki was holding.
Aki Von said, not looking back. Hold onto that stone. It's no longer just a jewel. It's a fragment of a memory that the gods tried to kill. If we lose it, we lose our only map to the capital
Aki gulped and stuffed the crystal deep into his inner pocket, patting it twice. "Got it. No selling this one to the black market. I promise.
As they continued, the narrow tunnel opened up into a massive underground cathedral, where a single shaft of moonlight pierced through a crack in the ceiling, illuminating a bridge that led to the heart of the mountain. But standing on the bridge was not a ghost it was something much more real, and much more dangerous.
ALERTHigh-Level Mana Signature Detected. The 'Academy Inquisitors' have arrived.