Chapter 61: Before the Ritual

  “It all began when Lady Lysandra rose to High Priestess,” the priestesses began their tale. “Until then, we lived peacefully. The outside world shunned us, but they were also afraid of us. None dared to threaten us, and the only outsiders who ever stepped foot in our villages were those we invited of our own accord.

  “She rose to power during a tense time for our people. The thing the outsiders called the System appeared in our world. Suddenly, the Axul weren’t the only ones able to wield magic. Many among us feared that the centuries-long disdain the outsiders had for us would turn into full-blown violence now that they could match us in strength. But Lady Lysandra calmed everyone, promising that a great change was coming – something so monumental the Destroyer himself would descend.

  “Lady Lysandra was different from the previous High Priestess. Their ideologies were the same - similar to those before them and our forefather's. But she was far more direct in her methods and teachings, far colder. Even when she smiled or spoke warmly, it always felt off. But she was the strongest among us, and by that right, the title of High Priestess was hers.

  “Working toward the great change she promised, her first real order of business was to build a new temple. She never explained why. The old temple – the one where we had worshipped all our deities for centuries – was to be demolished.”

  So, the tomb was never a tomb, but a temple. That seemed about right considering what I’d seen from it so far and the Vestiges.

  They continued. “The new temple’s design was unlike anything anyone had ever seen before: thirty-five levels deep, with dozens of chambers on each floor. There were also rumors of several hidden chambers, known only to Lady Lysandra and her inner circle. Even with our magic, it was a daunting task. But we were always resilient, and completed the temple in seven years.

  “Meanwhile, Lady Lysandra began speaking of a ritual that would soon take place, claiming it was the second step toward the change she had promised.”

  “The second step?” I interrupted, confused. “What was the first, then?”

  There was silence, and I feared my impatience had made the priestesses change their minds. Meanwhile, Goren disappeared along with his light orb, leaving the Void cloaked in pitch-black darkness once more.

  Well, he might still be here…

  When the priestess continued, I sighed in relief.

  “The first step was to move into the temple.”

  This time, I kept the questions to myself, even though one was at the tip of my tongue, and let them continue.

  “With no more than a week’s notice, Lady Lysandra ordered all of us to leave the villages and move into the temple. She said the outside world was preparing to attack. For our safety, she said, it would be better if they believed we were already dead. By abandoning the villages, they would assume we had simply vanished. And with the temple sealed by magic, they wouldn’t be able to enter without losing their lives. Additionally, illusion magic was placed to help keep the lie alive. We were always a mystery to them, so they wouldn’t bother searching for the truth. And so, in a single night, we all moved to the temple.

  “Levels that were once off-limits to even the First Circle priestesses were suddenly opened, revealing accommodations for everyone. It was as if Lady Lysandra had prepared for this all along, designing the temple to house the entire Axul.”

  The revelation aligned with what Marcus had mentioned in his Vestige of Time.

  “Why was it designed like a tomb?”

  “We’re not sure…Lady Lysandra said it was necessary, and none dared to question her.” They replied hesitantly. “We slept inside the loculi, but none of us were placed there at death.”

  A shiver ran down my spine. Lysandra had forced her own people to live inside this dark temple, and sleep inside sealed loculi. And for what? Why go so far?

  “How long did you live here?” I changed my line of questioning.

  “Two years.” They replied. “Two years of waiting silently for the promised ritual to proceed. Many of us died due to poor living conditions, and many others disappeared without trace. But according to Lady Lysandra, once the ritual was complete, we would finally be able to leave the temple and return to the outside world which would be ours alone. And so, we waited, cheaply mimicking our previous lives in the harsh conditions of this stone prison.

  “The only one allowed to leave the temple was Lady Lysandra herself. She said it was necessary for the ritual. The last piece missing for it to happen was the heir – Noctyra. He was coming, and she needed to prepare everything for him.”

  Hearing Kelltins’ Axul name sent a shiver down my spine. I still couldn’t grasp how it could have been him a thousand years ago. He shouldn’t have been alive back then.

  “Noctyra…who is he?” I asked.

  “Noctyra is the heir of the Axul.” They replied. “Promised to be the strongest of us all. The last direct offspring of Father Spurius – our forefather.”

  “Why wasn’t he with you already? Noctyra?” I asked, curious.

  “We…We don’t know.” They replied, sounding confused. “We wish we could tell you more, but unfortunately, outside of Lady Lysandra only the First Circle priestesses knew the full truth about him. We were all Second or Third Circle.”

  So, the Second and Third Circle were the ones to get killed here by Lysandra and turned into this shapeshifting monster. What happened to the First Circle, though?

  Still, what bothered me more was Kelltins - Noctyra. The strongest Axul…why did he quit the quest, then?

  Sadly, they couldn’t provide any further information about him. So, I moved onto my next question.

  “What happened then? What was the ritual all about?”

  There was a long silence before they responded.

  “We can’t…we can’t remember.”

  I immediately facepalmed. Of course, Aidan. Considering everything I know, they were probably killed before the ritual ever happened. How would they know what happened?

  Then, suddenly, they spoke again. “The only thing we remember is that it was supposed to grant access for the Destroyer to our world. Noctyra was meant to be his vessel.”

  I nodded, but that wasn’t new information. I still couldn’t grasp the bigger picture or how it all connected to Kelltins - or worse - to Gaelith?

  “What about Gaelith? How is he connected to all of this?” I asked, hoping they would know. Chronos said that he was Erebus’ vessel of destruction, but his body was brought into the tomb long after the Axul were gone. If they were still alive and just living here by that time, then how would the king’s men enter the tomb if it was sealed from outsiders?

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  They replied after a short pause. “We don’t know this name…”

  I sighed, shaking my head in disappointment. This was far from fruitful…

  Well, assuming they died before the ritual, asking them about Lysandra’s fate would be useless as well. What else could I ask? The only viable direction seemed to be finding out where the First Circle priestesses resided in the temple and look for clues there.

  “Where are the First Circle priestesses’ chambers?” I asked, quickly adding. “And Lysandra’s too?”

  “The First Circle girls lived on the fourth level of the temple.” They replied.

  The fourth level? That was very close to the surface – a long way from where I currently was.

  “Lady Lysandra, however…we don’t know.”

  Figures. An enigmatic personality like hers would remain hidden even from her own people…

  Before I could sigh in resignation, they added. “She spent much of her time in her study room. It’s on the second level.”

  The second level?! That’s literally one level below the surface. There’s no way it hasn’t been ravaged by the other adventurers at this point.

  “This could be problematic…” I muttered to myself.

  “The study is sealed by Axul magic.” They added, calming my nerves lightly. “It is enchanted. Only an Axul can enter.”

  Great…one problem solved, and another one pops up.

  Kelltins was the only Axul I knew, and he wasn’t exactly an option. But what about them? Could they even be considered Axul anymore? Probably not…

  I assumed asking them about Lysandra’s motives for turning them into this thing would be pointless as well.

  Other than that, there was nothing more I could ask…

  I looked at the shadowy creature, wondering how many souls it was built from. How tragic was the fate of these young women and their loved ones? They never wanted this – I had seen it for myself in the Vestiges. And now, it seemed the first Axul might have set this entire tragedy into motion from the very beginning. I still couldn’t understand how or why, but there was nothing left for me to do here but release them from their torment.

  “Please, end this.” They begged, their voices heavy.

  I nodded, sighing deeply, my heart twisting in pain.

  “I’m sorry it happened to you.” I said, raising Silverfang and aiming the glaive at the creature’s head.

  Then, with one swift strike, I ended it.

  The creature erupted into shining light, before dissolving completely.

  [65 Priestesses of Axul - Defeated]

  [+65,910 XP]

  [Level Up! You have gained 1 Skill Point]

  ***

  The flood of XP that rushed into my System was unlike anything I had ever seen in my entire life.

  This creature…it was formed from the souls of 65 priestesses.

  I was grateful for the XP, but I wished I hadn’t had to acquire it this way.

  I glanced at the Déjà vu System screen.

  [Déjà vu System: Level 45]

  [Loop Count: 55]

  [Experience Points (XP): 49,718 / 74,000]

  [Skill Point Available: Choose a skill to level up]

  I placed the available skill point into Checkpoint, bringing it up to level 9 – just one point short of maxing it out.

  [Skill Upgraded: Checkpoint lvl.9]

  [Next Level: lvl.10: Receive an additional skill point in Afterimage.]

  An additional point, huh? That would be useful and speed things up.

  Now that Checkpoint was upgraded, I could set multiple anchor points and choose where to respawn. I needed to utilize this carefully.

  Since the Déjà vu System didn’t specify a limit for the number of anchors I could set, I created a new one right here.

  [Checkpoint #2 Set: Your progress has been saved at this point in time]

  So, it labeled them. That meant the previous anchor – the one before I jumped into the Void – was likely labeled Checkpoint #1.

  With that done, I turned to my Core System, slotting my extra point into Agility, bringing it up to 51.

  As I focused on the ground where the shadowy snake had been moments ago, I noticed two items it had dropped – two dark orbs. They were so black they blended with the ground, almost impossible to notice.

  I crouched and picked up the first one. It was called Sacred Soul. Its description read: ‘Holds the power and purity of the souls that were led astray’.

  Instinctively, I crushed the orb in my hand

  [Sacred Soul: You have gained 3 Skill Points]

  This was better than I had expected.

  Without hesitation, I allocated the first point into Checkpoint, finally maxing it out.

  [Skill Upgraded: Checkpoint lvl.10 - MAX]

  [Skill Upgraded: Afterimage lvl.9]

  [Next Level: lvl.10: Receive an additional skill point in Echo Sense.]

  My heart raced with excitement as I placed the second point into Afterimage, maxing it as well.

  [Skill Upgraded: Afterimage lvl.10 - MAX]

  [Skill Upgraded: Echo Sense lvl.9]

  [Next Level: lvl.10: Receive an additional skill point in Temporal Trace.]

  Finally, I used the last point on Echo Sense, bringing it to a maximum too.

  [Skill Upgraded: Echo Sense lvl.10 - MAX]

  [Skill Upgraded: Temporal Trace lvl.9]

  [Next Level: lvl.10: Receive an additional skill point in Déjà vu.]

  That was insane.

  Three maxed-out skills in one go. I was now three points away from maxing out the Déjà vu System itself.

  I also had an additional six points to allocate into the Core System now.

  Naturally, I dumped everything into Agility, bringing it up to 57 and hitting the 4th milestone.

  [Agility – 4th Milestone Reached]

  [Agility Damage Scaling Increased by 80%]

  I turned to the second orb on the floor…and my blood froze. The System recognized it as: The Essence of Darkness.

  I nearly dropped it on instinct. According to Chronos, this was what Erebus was made of.

  I gritted my teeth. The System flagged it as a Key Item – another one of those.

  After a moment of hesitation, I stashed it inside my second inventory, unsure what to do with it…but something told me I might need it later.

  Alright…what now?

  “Goren?” I called out, scanning my surroundings.

  Silence.

  I sighed. How do I even get out of here?

  Flight wouldn’t carry me high enough in just ten seconds.

  Do I just let a newly spawned monster here kill me and respawn up there?

  As I considered my options, Goren suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

  “Okay, Spellsword, you’re in huge trouble.” He said urgently.

  “What?” I asked, narrowing my eyes. “Where the hell did you disappear to?”

  “It doesn’t matter.” He said sharply. “We need to get you out of here. Now.”

  He grabbed my arm and started dragging me forward.

  I snapped my arm free from his grip. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”

  He exhaled heavily, turning to face me. Even in the pitch-black Void, the dark aura around him writhed so violently I could see it clearly.

  “Stop throwing tantrums.” He said, his tone rising with anger. “I’m trying to help you.”

  “I don’t need your help.” I retorted, recalling everything Chronos told me about accepting any help from him.

  Goren’s eyes flared and he snapped. “Listen carefully!”

  “I’m not going to listen to you – “

  “Not to me!” He cut me off, gesturing around us. “Listen!”

  I focused my senses. Then, I heard it. Faint whistles from above us.

  Whistles?

  Déjà vu suddenly rang in my mind, making my heart race.

  "I’m already marked, right?" Goren said, his expression dead-serious. "If you get marked, we're screwed."