Chapter 98: Temple of the Fallen God (1)
“No!”
“Entry!”
The two dark elves guarding the Temple of the Fallen God shouted in succession like a comedy duo.
“We have a permit,” said Crockta.
The guards rolled their eyes and glanced over at the entry permit. The permit stated that Crockta and his friends were allowed to enter the Temple of the Fallen God under the authority of Nameragon’s mayor, Ladet. It was signed off with Ladet’s signature.
After checking the permit, one of the guards rolled his eyes again and shifted his gaze back to the front.
“Allowed!” he shouted and stepped to the side to make a way through to the entrance.
The guards seemed comical at times, but their movements were sharp like those of the guards at Orcrox.
“Well... it’s nice to look at,” muttered Crockta with a nod.
However, to a soldier gnome like Tiyo, the guards’ professionalism was beyond the level of visual appeal. Tiyo’s expression showed he felt deeply moved.
“Oh... Ohhh!” Tiyo uttered, clapping as he looked up at the guards. “You are true soldiers! What are your official ranks and names?”
The guards glanced down at Tiyo and then sharply responded.
“Nameragon defense force! Private First Class! Ah! Lu! Nan! No issues to report during duty!”
“Nameragon defense force! Private Second Class! Ta! Na! Du! No issues to report during duty!”
Tiyo opened his eyes wide upon hearing their spirited responses.
He aligned his heels, assumed an upright position, and saluted them cheerfully.
“I am a member of Quantes’ garrison, Captain Ti! Yo! I commend your professionalism! It’s possible to forgive a soldier who has failed in a mission, but it’s not possible to forgive a soldier who has failed in his guard duties!”
The guards were unmoved by Tiyo’s compliments. Nevertheless, Tiyo was impressed by their demeanor and clapped enthusiastically.
“The future of Nameragon is bright! Keep it up!” he exclaimed.
The soldiers continued to look ahead at a 45-degree angle.
Crockta’s crew went past the strictly guarded entrance and walked up the long flight of stairs leading up to the temple on a hill. Although the temple was inside Nameragon, it was obvious that no one had visited for a long time.
“Is this the place?” said Crockta.
He stood in front of the temple. It wasn’t that big, but its architectural style was different from the buildings he usually saw in Elder Lord. The temple had an Oriental feel to it.
Vines were creeping up the walls of the closed door. Crockta ripped them off. Dust that had been collecting over the years smeared his fingertips. He pulled on the doorknob, and the door slowly gave way before popping open. A cool breeze flew out.
“...!”
Crockta thought about what Ladet had said before he departed for the Temple of the Fallen God.
“I’m not sure why you are trying to go, but we are limiting entry because it’s a sacred place. It’s an abandoned place with nothing inside.”
Yet, Crockta could feel that something was different about this place. He had just opened the door, and a refreshing energy had flown out and enlivened their bodies. Tiyo and Anor felt the same way and took a deep breath, sniffing the temple’s refreshing air.
“It’s nice,” muttered Crockta.
The trio stepped inside. It was completely dark inside the temple, but it didn’t seem ominous or bleak to them.
Crockta went forward. After a few steps, he heard something clatter below him. It was his belt. The Demon’s Mouth was stirring. Then, the belt stopped moving. However, as its owner, Crockta could tell that the demon asleep inside the belt was starting to wake up and open its eyes.
He thought about the first time he met the demon. It had been frightened by the emptiness of the universe and had vented its anger at the world. As time passed, it ended up swallowing the corpse of something evil that had been blocking the path between the northern region and the continent. More recently, it had said something before he parted ways with Xantimur of the Black Forest. Now, it was raising its head.
Then the memory of Gordon talking with sad eyes resurfaced in Crockta’s mind as well.
‘Elder Lord, what secrets are you hiding? Am I just dreaming, or is there something more to this?’
“What are you doing?” asked Tiyo.
Crockta was startled by Tiyo interrupting his thoughts. He lowered his head and saw the gnome looking up at him.
Tiyo looked like a child, but he was completely different from the children he knew in real life. His actions and words were unpredictable, but his intelligence and wisdom were clear in his expression.
“Are you surprised?” asked Anor from the other side.
Crockta shifted his gaze to Anor. Anor’s ripped ears had healed, and now they were heavily scarred, but he didn’t go out of his way to hide them. He had been persecuted all of his life because he had been born between a human and a dark elf. However, he had left that life behind and ventured out into the world with his friends. Anor was no longer just a ‘halfie’ or a mixed-blood. He stood up on his own as a complete being.
Everything in the world that surrounded them was connected. Elder Lord’s air, land, and sky—Crockta couldn’t believe that all of it was just a well-made game. All the deaths he had caused or witnessed in Elder Lord were no different from the tragedies he had seen on the battlefield in real life.
He wanted to find the answer to his questions here, in this temple.
Crockta looked to the front again. The space was so clean that he couldn’t believe it had been abandoned for a long time. There was a darkness lurking beyond, and he walked toward it.
***
The trio heard someone’s humming ring out from the darkness. They stopped In their tracks. Tiyo held the General’s grip, and Anor hid behind Crockta.
The humming voice belonged to a man. He continued to hum. It sounded as if he was doing something enjoyable and soothing like cleaning the leaves of a potted plant or admiring beautiful pottery. The humming continued in the calm darkness. It seemed like it would end at any moment because of how faint it was, but it persisted.
“I thought no one was supposed to be in here?” whispered Tiyo.
Crockta nodded.
According to Ladet, there was usually no one here. With the exception of the guards protecting the entrance, no one came to the temple. So, what was that voice?
The humming grew closer. Then, a flash of light floated upward.
“...!”
There was a silhouette of a human standing in front of them. Crockta and his friends flinched back in surprise at the figure’s sudden appearance. Although the figure had the form of a human, he wasn’t human. His face was made up of darkness, so his facial features were indiscernible. He had the same appearance as the demon that Crockta had seen inside his steel belt.
The part of the darkness that Crockta suspected was the figure’s mouth wavered, and the humming from before continued.
Crockta gripped his hilt briefly and then released it. He didn’t sense any hostility from the figure.
The figure of darkness was just standing there with his hands clasped behind his back. Moreover, it seemed like he was smiling.
“Hello, everyone,” he greeted.
His voice was much like that of an ordinary man, but it had a strange way of softly tickling their ears.
“Welcome to the Temple of the Fallen God,” he said.
Then he placed a hand on his chest politely and bowed.
“What are you?” asked Tiyo.
He was still wondering whether he should hold up the General and prepare to shoot.
“Since I’m in a temple, I must be a priest. Don’t you think so?”
“Ladet said no one was here,” replied Tiyo.
“Ladet?”
“The mayor.”
“Ahh, I don’t know much about what goes on outside,” the figure said. Then he whispered playfully, “And of course, I’m not human.”
The figure slowly backed away. He seemed to slide across the ground rather than walk. It was rather strange.
“We should light up this place since we haven’t had visitors in a while,” the figure voiced.
He clapped multiple times, and the faint ball of light from before scattered throughout the temple and lit up the whole place. The inside of the temple was clean and white and much wider than they had expected. However, the dark figure in front of them still maintained his darkness.
“Follow me,” he said as they looked around.
Crockta and his friends were reluctant to follow him though.
“What’s your name?” asked Tiyo.
“Name...” the figure murmured. He stopped and twirled around. Then he caressed his chin and looked off into the distance as if he was sifting through old memories. “My name... I haven’t said it in a long while.”
He smiled again and said, “My name is Phymon, Tiyo.”
“...!”
After that, the figure called out Crockta’s and Anor’s names in succession. He seemed to know all about them already.
Phymon asked, “How about coming in to pray since you are at a temple? I want to guide you a bit further. There’s no need for you to be guarded against me.”
Crockta and his friends exchanged glances and then nodded. They didn’t know who Phymon was, but he seemed friendly. Crockta decided to go along with him to find out more about the Temple of the Fallen God.
They followed Phymon and went deeper into the temple. The temple felt a lot larger than it seemed from the outside. They weren’t sure if it truly was large or if it appeared that way because time and space were distorted here. Perhaps the temple contained something hidden that couldn’t be seen from outside.
As they walked, they saw sculptures and murals on the walls. The designs were delicate and beautiful, but it was difficult to understand the meaning they conveyed. Some of the pieces were too small to see clearly, and others were hard to decipher because they were a part of something much larger.
“The Fallen God hadn’t always been the Fallen God,” said Phymon. His tone sounded like the humming they had heard earlier. “Now, this is the last place that remembers him from before he fell.”
“...”
“Take your time looking around.”
While making their way through the temple, Tiyo and Anor continued to look around at their surroundings and the sculptures and murals that decorated the walls. The murals were difficult to understand, but they were certainly beautiful.
“Amazing,” remarked Tiyo.
“It’s my first time seeing something like this,” said Anor.
However, Crockta continued to watch Phymon’s back.
[The system cannot identify the entity.]
Crockta repeatedly tried to identify Phymon with his Heart and Soul Penetrating Eye, but all of his efforts were futile. It meant that the subject in question was either stronger than him or a very strange creature.
Soon after, they arrived at a circular room, which had an altar with something rock-like on top of it. The thing on the altar was a burnt and broken chunk of rock. Crockta thought it looked like a meteorite.
Tiyo raised the General as he watched Phymon place a hand on the rock.
“Hey, Phymon,” Tiyo called out.
“Yes?”
“That rock isn’t something suspicious, right?”
“Haha.” Phymon just laughed.
“Now explain who you are,” said Tiyo.
He still had suspicions about Phymon.
Meanwhile, Anor discreetly hid behind Crockta again.
“Ladet said there was no one at the Temple of the Fallen God,” stated Tiyo.
Phymon nodded. “That’s correct.”
“What do you mean?” asked Crockta.
“They can’t see anything in the Temple of the Fallen God,” explained Phymon while approaching them.
He seemed to slide across the floor without moving his legs.
“You guys wouldn’t have been able to meet me if it wasn’t for him,” he said.
Then Phymon extended his hand to point at Crockta.
“Are you talking about me?” asked Crockta.
“Yes,” replied Phymon.
“I don’t understand.”
“Why are you pretending to not understand?”
The black form grinned again. His pointing fingertip inched upward from Crockta’s chest toward his forehead. Crockta’s expression stiffened. Phymon was clearly pointing at the hidden sign on Crockta’s forehead. Phymon waved his finger, and the red bandana around Crockta’s forehead came undone, revealing the white star that symbolized players—the thing that was referred to as the curse of the stars.
Then Phymon said, “Apostle of the Fallen God.”
Crockta opened his eyes wide in surprise. Phymon called him an Apostle of the Fallen God, not someone who had the curse of the stars. That meant...
However, Crockta was quickly shaken out of his thoughts when he saw Phymon point at his own forehead. With a sparkle, a white star emerged from his forehead.
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