It was the last remaining gate to the demon realm, the sa thing that they had been destroying one by one during their travels.
Waves echoed through the inlet, sinking into the darkness of night.
A strange and eerie feeling crept up Dominic’s spine making him shiver.
He looked around again.
The cliff path they had just co down was very steep.
The thin trees grew stubbornly from the rough rocks.
"This place used to be the ocean floor," Shiao Yi said while staring up at the high ground above. "When this island connected to the land bridge, the ground lifted and this whole area rose up."
Dominic felt the sa.
The palace area was likely once at a much lower level.
He realized again how enormous the ancient upheaval had been, the sa event that had created the dead desert thousands of years ago.
It must have been a disaster on a world-changing scale.
Why was the Kingdom of Solmaria pouring so much magic into a gate like this?
What goal did they have?
And did they even know this was a gateway leading down to the underground demon realm?
No... they couldn’t know.
If they knew, they would never do sothing so dangerous.
Kingtof Solmaria had always been an isolated island nation that has been cut off from the main continent.
They probably knew nothing about what had happened on the mainland.
Queen Isolde must be making a terrible mistake.
Rumble...
A low sound like a deep growl rose from beneath their feet, making the ground shake.
Behind the altar, a mound of sand rose up further, growing a little higher than before.
"Hey... Dominic," Shiao Yi asked him nervously. "These gates are connected to the barrier that separates the demon realm from the surface. If they keep pouring huge amounts of magic power into it... isn’t this really bad?"
A powerful barrier that was so strong that even Shiao Yi’s teleportation could not pass through it was spread between the surface and the demon realm.
It had been created long ago by an ancient advanced civilization using the strength of all their people.
It was the barrier that had stopped the Aeon from invading the surface until now.
It must have been unbelievably strong and unimaginably thick.
But nothing is absolute.
Everything weakens, breaks, and fails soday.
And after thousands of years, this barrier was reaching its limit.
If soone kept pouring huge amounts of magic power into such a weakened barrier, the result was obvious.
The rising mound of sand in front of them was proof.
The pressure from the demon realm below was pushing up the failing barrier.
"There might be no ti left. If the Aeon appears on the surface... sothing terrible will happen. The world will end."
"Dominic, we have to go back to Rosaria right now. We must report this to Lord Quintus and Mr. Vundo. They need to plan a counterasure and prepare to fight as soon as possible!"
Shiao Yi grabbed Dominic’s arm with a panicked face.
It was rare to see Shiao Yi this frightened.
That alone showed how terrifying and abnormal the Aeon had been when they t it in the demon realm.
Dominic pushed Shiao Yi’s arm away and stepped back.
Shiao Yi’s eyes widened in shock.
"Shiao Yi. You go alone first. In this situation, your knowledge is more important than mine. Work with the elder and Aaron and find a way to stop this."
"What about you, Dominic?"
"I will convince Isolde to stop pouring magic power into the gate. We need to stop her as fast as possible."
Shiao Yi argued desperately, "Dominic, will you be okay? This is Isolde we’re talking about!"
Dominic gave him a sharp grin.
"What are you worrying about? The black agate stone is broken and there are no restraints left to seal my power. I’m not helpless anymore. Soone like her can’t defeat now. There’s nothing to worry about. I’ll teach that arrogant queen a lesson. I am a Rosarian Knight, after all. I will fulfill my diplomatic duty here. Ti is short. Shiao Yi, go quickly."
Shiao Yi’s expression shifted again and again as if he wanted to say many things, but finally his face tightened with resolve.
"Fine. I’ll co back as fast as I can. If anything happens, call for . I’ll co right away. And... be careful of the barrier."
With lingering worry in his eyes, Shiao Yi stared at Dominic’s face for a long mont, and then he vanished as if lting into the air.
A faint sound of compressed air rushing into the empty space reached Dominic’s ears as he stared at the place where Shiao Yi had been.
He let out a long breath and turned on his heel.
The magic flowing from the stone room had to be stopped imdiately.
Ti was running out.
Dominic hardened his expression and began walking up the steep path toward the high ground, ready to face Isolde.
As the night grew later, bonfires burned in many parts of the palace and the shapes of soldiers appeared for a mont before fading into the dark.
Many people were still moving around and sharp voices rose from every direction.
When Dominic focused his mind on sensing magic, he found one huge magical presence among the moving groups.
It was far greater than all the others.
It was easy for him to know where Isolde was.
Beside her, there was another presence, not as strong as Isolde’s, but still far larger than anyone else’s.
He wondered who it was, but he continued toward Isolde.
Isolde was still working even at night and it seed she was staying in the main palace.
The red painted pillars and corridors surrounded the place.
The golden decorations shimred as the bright bonfires flickered.
Unlike the stone built Rosaria Castle, this palace was made with many wooden pillars and had an open structure.
It was designed for a hot and humid climate, with good airflow.
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