At this moment, in the middle of a volcanic landscape surrounded by rivers of lava, a few armored beings stood like immovable statues, waiting for someone.
"The tower has vanished?" A heavy voice rang from an armored being with a hint of ecstasy.
"Her Highness has indeed cleared the tower trial!" The other soldiers started exclaiming as they cheered.
But at this moment, the head guard suddenly saw a dark figure appearing at the place where the tower of Aries had vanished, and no matter how he looked at this hooded figure, it was not their princess at all.
A foreboding feeling rose in their minds as he roared, "Who are you?! Where is Her Highness!?" His voice was filled with mana and soul force, sending powerful shockwaves towards Jacob!
Jacob had long assumed this kind of scenario since he didn't think a person like Gracey would come alone in the Path of Legend. Furthermore, looking at those guards and this sudden sound attack, he knew they weren't easy to deal with.
But no matter what, they were still no match for him, and he had no intention of entertaining them because they were dark beings, probably Vampires as well. Since he had already collected a 'specimen' and obtained everything in the Tower of Aries, he didn't waste any time and vanished from his spot.
The head guard was instantly alarmed when he saw this mysterious person wasn't restrained by his sound attack at all. However, he didn't have time to reflect because the tower had vanished, Gracey was nowhere to be seen, and this mysterious person was the only one who knew the truth.
He knew if he couldn't bring this person back or if something happened to Gracey, their heads would roll. Furthermore, since this person fled instead of confronting them, it made it even clearer that he was the culprit behind whatever had happened to Gracey! He roared furiously, "Chase!"
Jacob was already far away by the time the head guard reacted, and he wasn't afraid of them; he just didn't want to be surrounded by them. At this moment, without wasting any time, he activated the Infinity Blood Sacrifice. ______
Wish: I wish to enter the final trial of the Tower of Libra!
Cost: 100% Infinity Blood or Only 1,500 Years of Lifespan!
______
Jacob wasn't surprised when he saw the exact cost of the wish to enter the tower of Aries and, without hesitation, "Carry through!"
_____
-Lifespan: 824,850 Years (All Youthful)
_____ The next moment, Jacob vanished, and Gracey's guards, who caught up, were shocked as they desperately tried to find Jacob's trace using all kinds of spells and treasures, but to no avail. It was as if he had vanished into thin air!
--- As Jacob felt the familiar pull, his vision blurred and distorted, like being pulled through a swirling vortex of shadows.
In the blink of an eye, he emerged inside the final trial chamber of the Tower of Libra. The air was unnervingly still, and an eerie silence enveloped him.
The chamber was vast, its architecture stark and cold, with walls that seemed to fade into an endless black void. It was as if the space itself existed on the edge of reality, caught between dimensions.
A soft, silvery glow emanated from the center of the chamber, where floating shards of obsidian-like material formed a large scales symbol, the emblem of Libra. This faint light illuminated the walls, revealing murals etched into the onyx surface.
Jacob's eyes traced the story told by the murals. The first depicted a towering figure, Libra, whose face was obscured by a blindfold, its eyes covered by the void itself—a black, swirling emptiness that seemed to stretch infinitely.
Libra's hands were outstretched, each holding one side of an enormous scale, and seemed to be balancing between darkness and light. On one side, a bright star burned intensely; on the other, an abyssal orb sucked all light into its depths.
The next mural showed Libra standing at the boundary of existence, overseeing a cosmic conflict between mystical beings. It held its scales aloft as if mediating the battle with absolute impartiality, its blindfold a symbol of its unwavering neutrality.
But the mural's details were deliberately vague, the figures mere shadows and silhouettes, as if to convey that Libra's judgment transcended the mortal understanding of good and evil.
The final mural depicted Libra as a solitary figure, standing alone in the midst of a vast emptiness. Its scales remained balanced, even as the cosmos itself crumbled around it.
It seemed to signify Libra's eternal role: an arbiter who maintained equilibrium, even in the face of total annihilation. For some reason, Jacob could feel the weight of its duty, the burden of maintaining balance against forces that sought chaos.
As Jacob moved closer to the glowing symbol in the center, the air began to hum with energy. The scales started to tremble, and the entire chamber darkened further, the void around him deepening until it felt like he was floating in an endless abyss. His senses heightened, and he knew what was coming.
Suddenly, a cold breeze swept through the chamber, and the scales dissolved into countless fragments that scattered into the air. From the darkness emerged the Wisp of Libra.
It manifested as a mystical entity, its form both humanoid and formless, as if carved from the very void itself. Its eyes were covered by a blindfold, but this was no ordinary cloth; it was an endless darkness, swirling and churning like an open gateway into nothingness.
Its arms extended outward, and where its hands should have been, there were instead ethereal scales, each side tilting and shifting as if constantly measuring the weight of invisible forces.
The scales glowed faintly with a ghostly light, casting long shadows across the chamber. The Wisp's movements were slow and deliberate, and with each step, the darkness around it seemed to ripple like disturbed water, bending the very fabric of the chamber.
Jacob stood ready, his eyes cold and calculating as he analyzed the entity before him. He could feel the oppressive presence of the Wisp's aura—a power that spoke of judgment and equilibrium. His senses warned him that this was not an opponent he could simply overpower; this feeling of danger was far more overbearing than any other Zodiac Wisp he had encountered to this point.
But what happened next thoroughly shocked Jacob because…
"The scales await," the Wisp's overlapping ethereal voice echoed through the chamber, like the sound of a distant chime carried through a void. It was the first time any Wisp had spoken or, more accurately, spoken in a language that he understood!
But the Wisp of Libra wasn't done as it voice echoed again, both powerful and mystical, "What is taken must be given. What is given must be taken. Do you seek the balance, or shall you be weighed and found wanting?"
The moment the Wisp's voice faded, the scales on its hands glowed brighter, and the air around Jacob grew heavy as if the very gravity of the chamber shifted on him.
Just as he was still recovering from this unexpected surprise and prepared to step forward and confront the Wisp of Libra, a sudden gust of wind swirled through the chamber, dispersing the darkness momentarily.
Out of the shadows, another figure emerged, their silhouette sharp and agile; Jacob knew the real trialist was here!