Even though the soul domain was supposed to be boundless, the area they could travel around was relatively small—just about the size of a Tier-III dungeon. So Gale slowly led them to the centre of the plain, where he had hidden all the loot from the inheritance ground.
"This place seems habitable," June added.
"It is," he confird.
"Can other creatures be born here?" she asked with a frown.
"If you're asking if the bugs I migrated here could reproduce newborn bugs, then the answer is most likely yes," he said contemplatively. "However, I believe it is impossible for the soul domain to give birth to more life on its own. Perhaps it is possible for higher-ranked individuals, but I'm still missing sothing."
"A silver ranker isn't supposed to have sothing like this growing inside them," Agnes pointed out. "And I hardly ever imagined a transcendent rank would have a soul domain this lively within them."
Well, Gale had never been in the soul domain of a common transcendent, so he couldn't agree or disagree with her comnt. Still, he did feel like an outlier, with much of his uniqueness converging to create sothing of this calibre.
Perhaps only Ariha could give answers to all his questions, but she remained in his mind like a fever dream, of which he could only rember her by.
They finally faltered in their walk, coming before a huge tower. A couple of enormous stone guardian statues stood before the gate to the tower, their eyes glowing with power. However, what caught most of their attention was the banner on the wall that said:
"Trespassers will be executed, unless you have the recipe I'm looking for!"
Followed by a cross mark with kitchen knives.
"Is it the place?" Agnes asked, shooting him a judging look.
"That would depend," he grinned. "Do you have the recipe I'm looking for?"
Agnes snorted.
Gale turned to find a smile tucked on Dawn's lips. He shot her an inquiring gaze.
"I have seen sothing like this before," she said.
He raised an eyebrow and nodded. "Alright, I'll give you all an exemption because I invited you in," he said, waving his hand towards the stone guardians. They fell to their knees, resting their weapons. "Let's enter."
One by one, they entered through the gate to find themselves in a completely empty tower, with nothing to see other than a broken throne.
"Well, this is anticlimactic," Agnes said. She looked up to find the entirety of the tower was hollow, with no floors above them.
"Is the throne yours?" June asked, inspecting the broken stone structure, which was a sorry excuse for a throne.
Gale shrugged. His eyes found Dawn, muffling her nose and mouth. "Is there any discomfort?"
"The ambience of this place... I don't feel good."
"Now that you said it," June searched the surroundings. "There's a foulness in the air. Sothing disharmonious from everything else in this realm."
"It's dark essence," Agnes muttered, sniffing around with her senses to co forward towards the broken throne. "It's coming from here."
"Huh, I thought you wouldn't notice with your spirit suppressed," he muttered.
"It's not suppressed completely," Agnes pointed out. "And I'm particularly good at sensing this foulness."
"There's sothing written on the back of the throne," June called. "I don't know the language, but I think it's a puzzle..."
Agnes groaned as she ca to see. She couldn't read it either.
"I can follow a little," Dawn surprised everyone once again. "It's an old script, I have barely studied it..."
"Wow, you have so really unique talents," June smiled at her. "So what's written here?"
"As you said, it's really a puzzle," Dawn said. "It says, 'When the Sun blinks and—'"
Agnes grunted, glaring at him. "Are you going to make us solve a stupid puzzle right now?"
"You don't like puzzles?" he asked.
"I don't!"
"Must be because you suck at it," he chuckled.
Agnes shot him an irritated look.
"Fine, I'll relieve you all from the fun puzzle," he said and pushed against the broken throne. "It's not like I hoped any of you would be able to solve it."
He shoved the throne aside, as darkness surged throughout, covering the whole place in a dark blanket. Then they found a staircase downwards just where the throne had stood a mont ago. A thick air of foulness oozed out the mont the way was opened.
"Are you guys ready to glimpse upon a dead god then?" he asked, drawing his hand towards them. "Beware, it might be dangerous."
Agnes snorted and entered, shoving aside his hand. June smiled and took his hand, while Dawn stood near him. They crept downwards through the narrow staircase. The sounds of their footsteps echoed and resounded unnaturally.
Then ca a horrifying screech, causing Agnes to falter in her step. She turned her head towards him. "What was that?"
"What was what?" he raised an eyebrow, innocently. "We sensed nothing. Right, girls?"
Agnes clicked her tongue and stepped down until she ca across a dead end. "What now?"
"There's sothing written on the wall," June comnted. "I can read it this ti. It reads,
'There's no path forward unless you know the right magic words...'
"What are the magic words?"
"Guess?" Gale grinned.
"Open sesa!" Agnes barked, playing along.
The stone shook, causing her to take a step back, and then a weird negative sound ca. It stopped shaking.
"You have two more chances," Gale told her.
"I hate this gate," Agnes muttered.
"Anyone else would like to try?" Gale turned to the other two ladies.
"I know a lot of magic words," June intoned, "but knowing you, it's likely so trick."
She thought for a few seconds before shaking her head. June gave in. "I can't think up anything."
"What about you, Dawn?"
The girl with silvery hair looked between them before turning to the wall. "Open up, please?"
The wall shook and lights erged before a crack appeared on them. Soon, the two sides of the crack fell away and out ca an entry to the chamber where a dead god lay.
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