Chapter 629: I'm certain there's another presence here
Kyle landed in front of a trial ground, next to a statue of a woman with majestic wings and horns on her head. His ears perked up, picking up bits of conversation in the air.
Asher landed next to him and exclaimed with a carefree expression.
"I can sense some people are inside the trial ground, and some..."
He glanced over his shoulder, and two figures, a demi-human male and a female, emerged from the rock formation behind them and stopped close by.
The two demi-humans' eyes widened as they recognized the silver-haired man. How could they not? After witnessing what Kyle did in the Gladiator Arena. But they were puzzled. Why was he here? Wasn't he eliminated from the Gladiator Arena?
Fortunately or not, they were among the people who entered the tomb first and didn't
witness, unlike many others, what unfolded in the Arena after they had gone inside the tomb. Nevertheless, they were cautious of Kyle and instinctively moved back. The woman glanced at her companion.
"It's the nature's favorite... What should we do? If the human decides to attack, I am sure we don't stand a chance."
The man nodded and motioned for her to come along, letting the nature's favorite enter the structure ahead of them. They would find another structure, as there were many more anyway. He wasn't sure how Kyle had gotten into the tomb, but it was safer for them to steer clear of him.
Asher was taken aback when the two demi-humans departed the area without a second glance, as if they had encountered a ghost. He intended to inquire about the matter from Kyle and Bia, but the pair had already disappeared into the dark entrance of the structure ahead of them. He clicked his tongue and followed suit.
"Wait for me!"
The moment he entered the entrance, darkness enveloped his vision, and in the next moment, he found himself inside a large chamber filled with human-sized marble statues. He noticed Kyle and hurriedly moved toward the man while scanning the surroundings.
"Oh... this trial ground. I know this place too; I have been here before. Regrettably, I couldn't pass the third stage back then, and afterward, it slipped my mind."
Kyle shot him a glance, feeling a tinge of regret for bringing the half-dragon along. The man wouldn't stop talking.
After parting ways with Yue and Jian, he had easily found another trial ground. Yet, Asher insisted it was useless, leading them to wander until stumbling upon a statue the half-dragon didn't recognize. And now, he claimed to have been here before as well?
'The constant talking is somewhat starting to get on my nerves...'
Bia ruffled her wings on his shoulder.
-'Mine too.'
Kyle glanced at the marble statues and advanced. There was a large round circle drawn on the ground beneath him, and oddly enough, the place was tidy and well-kept, unlike the chaotic trial ground where the platform was located.
Sensing his gaze on the statues, Asher spoke up before he could even inquire.
"It's because the restrictions and mechanical setup in this location are still functioning. Therefore, even if someone has completed the first stage of this trial ground, everything will return to normal once they move on to the next stage."
Kyle let out an 'Oh' and nodded. He could somewhat already guess.
"I need to fight the marble statues to clear the first stage of this place, right?"
Asher nodded at him.
They just need to wait for the statues to become active and then destroy them.
If he remembers correctly, all the marble statues would only possess the strength of divine- rank. And he was certain Kyle would easily defeat them, allowing them to progress to the next stage.
However, all his thoughts dissipated when Kyle bent down to touch the ground below. The human sniffed the air.
"There's something beneath us."
Asher blinked and bent down. He placed his hand on the ground as well and extended his senses, but detected nothing.
"I can't detect anything, though."
The eyes of the statues around them started to glow with a brilliant golden light, but before they could even move towards their targets, Kyle snapped his fingers, conjuring a portal in front of him.
He entered the portal with Bia and left the area without even looking at the statues, leaving the half-dragon bewildered. Asher quickly followed suit and leaped into the portal before it disappeared.
The moment Kyle stepped out from the other side of the portal, a sharp metallic nail impaled itself between his legs. His eyes chilled as he peered at the nail he narrowly dodged by a hair's breadth.
"Who was that?"
His cold voice resonated in the chamber, yet no response came. Asher emerged behind him but collided into his back as Kyle had not budged from his spot.
"What happened?"
The half-dragon stepped back as the portal behind him dissipated into particles.
He surveyed the space around him, equally large as the chamber they were in a while ago. However, unlike the previous one, there was nothing in this chamber except three golden boxes floating in the center.
"There are treasures in this place!"
His eyes gleamed, and he would have dashed to seize the golden boxes if only he hadn't noticed the metallic nail lodged between Kyle's legs. Asher instantly went on alert and
stopped moving.
"Traps?"
Kyle eyed the area around him suspiciously. He was positive he hadn't triggered a trap when he exited the portal. If a trap had been set off by his arrival, he would have sensed it. Plus, the nail was incredibly fast-he couldn't even react in time.
"No, not traps. I'm certain there's another presence here. A living entity-no, their scent differs from that of a living being. It's a blend of spiritual and divine energy... perhaps a fragment of a soul or consciousness?"
Asher was taken aback by his words. Wasn't he supposed to be the stronger one between them? Kyle was in the transcendent rank, yet he could perceive what Asher, as a supreme rank, couldn't? Wasn't this a tad unfair?
A playful yet melodious chuckle filled the air around Kyle and Asher as they braced themselves for battle, but suddenly, the laughter dissolved into sorrowful sobs.
Kyle grabbed Bia and leaped backward as his gaze locked onto another metallic nail hurtling toward him. But despite his quick and agile movements, the nail brushed his left cheek, igniting a searing sensation that rippled across his cold skin.
Asher froze in his position as he watched the nail aimed at Kyle melt the shimmering crystal ground it pierced. If Kyle hadn't dodged it in time, would he have suffered the same fate as
the liquefied crystal?
Bia flapped her wings and freed herself from Kyle's grasp to fly above him. She gave him a
serious and concerned look.
-"Are you alright!?"
Kyle straightened himself and slowly ran his finger over the cut on his face. A sharp, searing pain shot from the wound, yet he stood unfazed. With his spiritual energy, he healed the injury, and the pain vanished.
"I am good... but the one who attacked me won't be fine for long."
He leaned down, and blue flames burst from his body, engulfing everything around him. If he can't lure out the hidden attacker, he will obliterate everything so they have nowhere left to
hide.
Asher stepped back as the icy flames surged before him, filling the entire space. The flames gave him a familiar feeling of dread, similar to what he felt when he sensed the powerful thing within Kyle's body, causing panic to rise within him.
He scooted back as the coldness neared him, but his eyes widened as his back met a wall, and the flames drew ominously close. Instantly, he clung to the wall, prepared to break through it to flee. However, as his fist struck the wall, it didn't even budge. He shut his eyes and called
out to the human.
"Kyle, my friend! I'm here as well! Don't accidentally freeze me to death! I still have to see the
outside world!"
Despite his worry, the flames didn't touch him and instead seeped into the walls. The half- dragon peeked out from his eyes and noticed the blue flames engulfing the space around him, yet maintaining a safe distance from his body. Instantly, a sigh of relief escaped his lips.
Asher let out a forced smile when he noticed the icy flames freezing the wall behind him, turning it into ice that dissipated into mere particles.
"He seems to have a solid grip on these odd flames... but they're pretty dangerous. One wrong move, and those flames could freeze me just like this wall. They are too powerful..."
He murmured softly, recalling the three golden boxes floating in the room's center. "Well, looks like we won't be laying our hands on any treasures from this hidden chamber I have never visited before. Those treasures must have held great power... but alas, they would likely be frozen by the flames. Here's hoping they find peace in their icy slumber."
His words were interrupted by a woman's scream that reverberated through the air. Following the echo of the scream, the flames began to dissipate. Kyle emerged from the flames, pulling out a luminous figure alongside him.
Asher's eyes widened as he gazed at the woman; she was entirely made of light. The pair of wings behind her back and the horns atop her head bore a striking resemblance to the statue they had encountered outside the trial ground. And he immediately recognized she was just a fragment of consciousness.
"What in the world!? I thought the human was mistaken, but there are really fragments of consciousness scattered in this tomb! So why haven't I stumbled upon any of them before??"