novelraw Chapter 106: Hidden Within the Palace
Chapter 106: Hidden Within the Palace
This was the clearest image anyone could have of the Goddess of Light: a woman standing around four meters tall, covered in loose white robes that concealed her otherworldly beauty. Her face was barely visible, as she wore a golden hood that complemented the rest of her attire with the sun’s radiant color—just like her wings, which bore silver ornaments among some of the feathers.
Right behind her back floated a stone ring shaped like the sun, with triangular spikes forming a hollow figure adorned with silver details.
The white marble statue itself held the posture used when praying to the gods: hands together, back straight, and gaze lifted toward the sky in complete submission. Her lips, visible beneath the hood, revealed a "perfect" being beyond mortal comprehension.
"She’s the Goddess of Light," Mitsuki whispered.
A faint premonition stirred within him. Without realizing it, he extended his hand toward the statue. Sunlight struck the statue’s hood directly, reflecting softly onto Mitsuki’s face.
’How strange... It’s like I’ve seen her somewhere before...’
A brief, important memory from the past...
Marco approached the large double doors standing before them—the entrance to the Palace of Axorhibis.
"I know you’re dying to give us a history lesson right now, Monar, but we need to keep moving. We don’t know what we’ll run into, so we have to be as cautious as possible."
Azel followed him.
"Yeah. We’ll find a way to remove the curse without fighting."
Monar sighed.
"Seriously... you guys take all the fun out of life."
"Huh. You sound like Azel."
"Hey, I’m not that bad. I mean, yeah, but not like that."
Mitsuki watched them for a moment. Then he shook his head, pushing aside those earlier thoughts. If he kept standing around like an idiot, constantly thinking about this world’s past, then the best thing he could do was stop digging deeper—at least for now.
He followed after them, but gave the statue one last glance.
’I don’t know why it reminds me of Jeanne...’
At last, they entered the palace—the wolf’s maw, hell on earth. This was the last place any adventurer would dare step into after feeling such a catastrophic presence, yet they had no choice but to proceed, because beyond this lay nothing but death.
As they entered, they found a long gray corridor covered in ash. The marble walls were overtaken by gray dust, just like every object corroded by the passage of time.
Remnants of a bluish carpet still decorated the hallway, but it was torn and filthy, just like the entire Land of Ash.
Mitsuki felt conflicted as he walked through it. It felt like he had returned to his second day in this world. Each step he took echoed softly, carrying all the way down the corridor.
His companions remained silent, tense. No one could deny the fear of the unknown, the inevitable dangers, and the twisted fate that lay within this ancient kingdom ravaged by ash.
History seeped from the corroded walls; voices lost to time passed through Mitsuki’s mind as if something were forcing him to witness the past. He remembered people walking through these grand halls as though he were living that moment—an instant when the palace walls shone with the pale brilliance of marble.
The carpet was whole, paintings and pedestals adorned the space. Flowers in their vases brought color to the palace’s whiteness, and people moving to and fro filled the memory with life.
For a second, Mitsuki stopped as the scene shifted within his mind. Then he looked to the side.
There she was—Cinder—smiling at him as if telling him everything would be okay.
He clenched his fist tightly and kept walking. These weren’t his memories, after all. It was simply Arthur’s heart silently grieving the fate of his land.
’I wonder if I’ll still be able to see this place the same way once I’ve witnessed all of Prince Arthur’s memories... Maybe there’s something in those memories that can help us escape, but...’
Arthur’s memories came and went like a distorted river. It was hard to predict what he would see next. Besides, nearly two months had passed and he had only seen fragments of the prince’s life. The process would likely be even slower and more exhausting than he thought.
At the next corner, they turned, following Monar.
"The curse grows stronger in this direction, but I think we’ll have to descend—the ash is concentrated underground."
"Does that mean our escape routes are shrinking?" Marco asked.
He was genuinely worried about not being able to escape. How could he not be? This was life or death—there was no middle ground.
"Unfortunately, yes. We’ll have to start thinking about what we’ll do once we find the source of the disaster. If I can determine that one of my most powerful spells can disrupt the curse, even for a few minutes, then we’ll know we have a chance."
Meanwhile, Azel looked down, guilt weighing on him. Still, he steeled himself to continue. As a man, he had to face his mistakes head-on and resolve them himself.
That did little to ease Mitsuki’s mind.
He had been killing weak monsters over and over, but creatures on the level of the Master of Cinder were a completely different matter. This wasn’t something to take lightly.
He swallowed, looking at the system screen as his skills lined up before him.
’I need to figure out how to use all my abilities as efficiently as possible. If we have to fight, at least I’ll know what to do.’
"Don’t fall behind, Mitsuki," Monar said. "It’s dangerous to be alone. Let’s stay together."
He nodded and followed.
Deep below, within the castle’s depths, a shadowy creature of ash lay. It was bound to the walls by six chains that restrained its six limbs. Massive piles of ash surrounded it, like a great treasure vault—only there were no treasures left... never again.
Particles of active ash drifted through the air, as the sorrowful cries of a monster filled the space.