"What?! Imprints left by legendary ancient powers? Are you certain?" Zorath the Silent gaped at them, eyes wide.
A spark of excitement flashed in Mia's gaze as she smiled. "See for yourself." She passed him the parchment.
After scanning it, Zorath's face lit up with exhilaration. "Hah! It's true! This palace really does hold the imprints of legendary figures! If we can comprehend even a fraction of their insights, the rewards would be unimaginable!"
The scroll's contents were clear: its author had been a near-legendary mage and one of the earliest explorers of this palace.
Named the "Sanctuary of the Saint-Kings," the structure was built to honor the legendary figures of the primordial era—and within its halls lay their legacy imprints. These imprints were fragments of the ancients' wisdom and will, akin to inherited teachings. Grasping even one could catapult their strength to new heights!
The scroll's owner had been among the first to explore the Sanctuary. Tragically, their party clashed with Darkwing Mages, resulting in heavy casualties on both sides—hence the skeletal remains Kael's group had encountered. After slaying several Darkwing Mages, the author, mortally wounded, left this record for future explorers.
On the parchment's reverse was a map of the Thousand Moon Lake and the Sanctuary, marked with a red dot: the likely location of a legendary imprint!
"Zorath," Mia said with a faint smile, "your luck is uncanny. Stumbling upon this place led us to an incredible opportunity."
Zorath grinned smugly, studying the map. "Then let's move fast! We can't let others beat us to it!" Other factions—especially rivals like Einar—were also exploring the palace. Losing the imprints to them would be a devastating blow.
Kael and Mia nodded. Armed with the map, the trio set off toward the marked location.
Fortunately, the Sanctuary wasn't vast—just labyrinthine in design, forcing them to navigate its maze-like corridors for what felt like ages.
Finally, Kael compared their progress to the map and grinned. "We're close—almost there!"
Mia and Zorath the Silent were galvanized by Kael's words. The trio quickened their pace, while the little cat, perched on Kael's shoulder, suddenly straightened. "Such intense pressure!" Even the feline sensed the mounting oppressive force—proof they were nearing the legendary imprints.
Passing through a corridor, they emerged into a vast open space. Before them stood a massive stone gate, tightly shut, yet exuding a faint but undeniable aura of overwhelming power. Kael's brow furrowed instinctively.
"This is it. The legendary imprints must lie beyond this gate," Kael declared with certainty.
"Let's open it together!"
The gate loomed before them, towering over ten meters tall and constructed from Blackiron Primestone—a material renowned for nothing but its crushing weight. A door of this size was as heavy as a small mountain. Even Zorath the Silent, with his immense strength, would struggle to move it alone.
Zorath channeled his battle aura, muscles straining as he heaved against the colossal gate. Kael and Mia lent their magic to the effort. Slowly, inch by inch, the door began to yield, revealing a narrow gap.
"It's working! Push harder!"
Kael's shout spurred them on. With a final, concerted effort, the gate groaned open wider—unleashing a torrent of psychic pressure.
The force crashed over them like a tidal wave, its intensity staggering. Now Kael understood why the little cat had warned of the oppressive aura earlier.
"Damn it! This mental pressure is insane!" Zorath cursed, his face pale and strained. The sheer weight of the psychic assault left him gasping for breath.
Kael, however, fared better. His mental fortitude was extraordinary—not only in raw power but also in resilience. While another tenth-tier expert might have coughed up blood under such pressure, he remained steady.
The trio steadied themselves, circulating their mana to withstand the crushing force. With every step deeper into the gate's threshold, the pressure multiplied exponentially. By the end, even Kael felt his blood churn violently—a testament to the imprint's might. Only his current strength allowed him to suppress the turmoil.
BOOM!
The massive gate swung open completely, unleashing the full force of the psychic pressure within. Yet, as the pressure spilled outward, it also dispersed, granting Kael and his companions some much-needed relief.
They had finally pushed through!
The trio exhaled in unison, their strained minds finally easing. The relentless mental assault had left them tense as drawn bowstrings—now, at last, they could breathe.
"This psychic pressure is terrifying…" Kael mused silently. "Are the legendary figures of antiquity truly so formidable that even their residual imprints exude such overwhelming might?" It defied belief. Zorath the Silent was at the peak of the eleventh tier, just a step away from the legendary realm. As for Councilor Mia, Kael couldn't quite gauge her strength, but she was certainly no weaker than Zorath. Yet even their combined prowess paled against the mental dominance of these ancient beings.
The thought lingered, but Kael quickly shifted his focus to surveying the chamber beyond the gate.
The interior was vast, spanning thousands of meters. Though dimly lit, it wasn't pitch-black—Kael's sharp eyes could discern every detail.
Statues.
Rows upon rows of them.
Kael's gaze swept across the hall: five rows, each holding two statues, for a total of ten.
These statues stood with majestic solemnity, so lifelike they seemed ready to step out of history. Some were clad in armor, gripping swords; others wore flowing robes, staves in hand. There were fierce, wrathful visages and ethereal, smiling maidens—each of the ten bore unique expressions, their individuality carved into eternity.
For a fleeting moment, the statues appeared to quiver with life, as if the ancients themselves had awakened, their presence vivid before Kael's eyes.
Aura of Suppression.
The statues radiated an innate, crushing pressure. Now Kael understood the source of the earlier mental assault—it had emanated from all ten statues combined. No wonder it had been so overwhelming!
"Are these statues… the imprints left by the legendary ancients?" Zorath the Silent asked, awestruck by the sight.
Mia's eyes gleamed as she nodded. "They must be."
Every statue here pulsed with immense power, their lifelike detail suggesting they were indeed vessels of the ancients' legacy.
"Ten statues in total—that means ten legacy imprints!" Kael thought to himself.
The little cat, perched on Kael's shoulder, shuddered under the oppressive aura radiating from the statues. "Just one statue exudes such terrifying pressure… Kael, every figure here must be at least on par with the Grand Speaker or the Pontifex—maybe even stronger. This is insane."
Zorath the Silent's gaze locked onto one of the statues, his eyes widening in recognition. "That's the 'Darkness Sovereign'—the legendary warrior, Lord Dark! A peerless fighter second only to Sky Bastion Bugui, and one step away from the Martial God realm!"
The Martial God—a title equivalent to the Arcane Divinity, the pinnacle of fifteenth-tier power!
Kael followed Zorath's line of sight. The statue depicted a silver-armored warrior gripping a massive two-handed sword, its blade raised defiantly toward the heavens. The figure's posture exuded unshakable dominance, as if it had once commanded the world with a mere glance.
"So this is the Darkness Sovereign?" Though Kael wasn't well-versed in warrior legends, even he had heard of Lord Dark—a colossus of the primordial era. To think his imprint had survived here!
Yet, the legacy of a warrior held little appeal for Kael. His attention quickly shifted to the adjacent statue—a robed figure, unmistakably a mage.