838: Chapter 103: Hourglass Divine Throne 838: Chapter 103: Hourglass Divine Throne Pitch darkness, no light, within a space of absolute blackness, footsteps, faint yet distinct, echoed emptily from afar.
Although weak, in the deadly silence, anyone could hear them clearly.
The steady footfalls, slow but incessant, seed to tap right next to one’s ear with each step, yet also appeared as if from the end of the world.
“Tap, tap, tap,” one step after another, every footfall on the ground echoed like a toll on the heart, invoking indescribable fear and trembling in those who heard it.
“Creak,” as if the never-ending footsteps would cease, the sound of a door hinge rotating filled the dark space, replacing the steps.
The corrosion on the pivot wasn’t severe, the noise not too loud, but compared to the dead silence and faint footsteps, it was as shocking as a clap of thunder.
With the rotation of the pivot, a sliver of light seeped through the opening, piercing the pervasive stillness and casting into this space.
The place seed to be a vast area, the dim light, even when stretching to its limits, failed to illuminate the entire surroundings, only revealing the person under the light and the ground beneath his feet.
It was a mage cloaked in a black robe, with a flickering light hovering above his head, unanchored, circling him in sync with his steps.
In front of his chest, a silver base held a golden hourglass, reflecting a cold light under the pale green glow.
Under his feet, blue stone slabs stretched forward into the darkness, their smooth surfaces mirrored like glass, unadorned with any pattern.
Wandering in this vast, dark space, even with the faint light, one could not make out any reference points, as if cast into the endless void, no direction could be found, nor could one sense the movent of space.
Fortunately, there was the ground underfoot, the blue surface retreating with each tapping step, the only proof of movent in the darkness.
One step after another, in the darkness, ti seed to lose all aning, each step might have taken just a second, or seed to be an eternity.
With each stealthy step, the surrounding darkness seed to rustle with countless whispers, as if nurous unseen creatures hid in the shadows, watching the firelight and whispering secrets.
Yet, the walker in the dark remained indifferent, his steps slow and steady, moving forward without pause.
“Whoosh,” suddenly, in the dark, the sound of flas bursting forth.
Dozens of fires appeared aloft, just like the light above the black-robed mage, casting a pale green chill light that painted the entire space with an eerie hue.
The flickering firelight illuminated the imnse, dark world.
Only then could one see that this was a temple prayer room of thousands of square ters, in the style of a prayer room but many tis larger than an ordinary one.
The doors of the temple were ten ters wide, but relative to the temple’s volu, they were as narrow as the door of a common house.
Beyond the entrance, on each side, stood rows of columns stretching from floor to ceiling, supporting a do over thirty ters high.
The columns were carved with nurous strange reliefs, confusing to comprehend.
Dozens of reliefs ford one set, each set depicting a group of identical people doing different things in the sa place, not different activities amongst the individuals, but every person in each relief acted differently than their counterpart in another relief, apart from that, everything else remained unchanged, even the positions of the sun above their heads, as if to show that at the sa mont, each person could perform dozens of distinct actions, giving a bizarre sense.
At the end of the corridor created by the columns was a tall stone platform, upon which stood an imnse Divine Throne, constructed from a distorted hourglass.
The hourglass twisted into a continuous loop, and despite its form, fine sand within continued to flow, seemingly endlessly, driven by a mysterious force.
At the bottom of the stone steps, more than twenty individuals, dressed in black robes just like the others, stood silently on either side of the Divine Throne.
Each person, garbed the sa with thick hoods covering their heads, obscured their faces, making them indistinguishable from one another.
None of the others reacted to the newcor; only the figure who stood closest to the Divine Throne slowly lowered a raised hand, quite obviously controlling the abrupt blaze of the dozens of fires.
The new arrival in black robes silently made his way past the mute, standing followers, and stopped behind the sole figure standing beneath the Divine Throne, gazing at his back.
There was an uncannily eerie air about the man under the Divine Throne; his movents were agile and brisk, like a young man’s, devoid of any old man’s sluggishness, yet from his bearing resonated a sense of profound age, as if he had lived through endless years.
“High Priest,” the new arrival first knelt to the empty Divine Throne, then stood and bowed deeply to the man called the High Priest, speaking in a low voice, “Elder brother, I am sorry I have returned late.”
“The timing is immaterial, so long as you have returned,” the black-robed High Priest slowly turned around, his hood revealing a young, unfamiliar face, with old eyes.
He took a serious look at the latecor, nodded, and said, “Now that everyone who could return has done so, we can begin.
Since you insisted on gathering everyone, it must an you bring bad news, right?”
“Yes, elder brother,” the latecor replied, his head bowed in dejection, “the worst news.”
“Have they discovered it?” The High Priest’s voice remained flat, devoid of fluctuation, as though no turmoil could stir his soul: “No, their discovery is to be expected; after all, that one is the perfect Kyle.
It would be surprising if they hadn’t noticed.
It seems they’ve discovered it long ago and have already returned, haven’t they?”
“Yes, they have returned, elder brother,” the latecor said uneasily, “Seven days ago, they suddenly left Falar and ca back to the plateau, and they visited Samoer in Jukayse territory at the first opportunity.
From Samoer, they got confirmation and fully uncovered our plans.” (To be continued.
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