Realm Lord
Chapter 77: Altar Underground

Chapter 77: Altar Underground

They were stumbling over each other desperately, their limbs tangling in their panic as they fled whatever horror pursued them through the darkened hallway. The creature’s presence pressed against their backs, the air growing colder with each passing second. Arthur could feel its malevolence through his dark sense, a writhing mass of shadows that defied comprehension.

Part of him yearned to look back, to finally see what manner of monstrosity hunted them. But it was as if his head refused to obey, his neck muscles locked in place by some primal instinct that warned looking would be fatal. So instead, he focused solely on escape, on putting as much distance as possible between them and the thing in the darkness.

Just up ahead, they saw a door on their right—a heavy wooden door with black iron bands that seemed to promise sanctuary.

’There!’

They were booking for it while the monster behind was closing in. Its footsteps echoed through the hallway, each impact sending vibrations through the stone floor beneath their feet. The sound was wrong somehow—too heavy, too wet—like something massive dragging itself forward with unnatural speed. It was getting closer and closer as they approached the door, the space between predator and prey shrinking with every heartbeat.

’Are we gonna make it?’ The question screamed through Arthur’s mind as he began to prematurely flinch, anticipating the creature’s touch, its claws or teeth or whatever appendages it might possess. He reached for the handle of the door with trembling fingers, grasping the cold metal and turning it with desperate strength. He forced himself and Aziel through the opening, expecting them to surely be caught and killed at any moment.

But thankfully his fears didn’t come true. They fell headlong into the new room, momentum carrying them forward in an ungraceful tumble. Aziel somehow managed to slam the door shut behind them as they collapsed to the floor, the heavy wood connecting with the frame with a reassuring thud that echoed through the chamber.

They both let their heads rest on the cold stone below them as they panted and gasped for breath, relief flooding their systems as the immediate danger passed. Their hearts hammered against their rib cages, and sweat coated their skin in a clammy film, their bodies still flooded with adrenaline that had nowhere to go.

"W-what the hell was that thing?" Aziel’s voice quavered, his usual bravado stripped away by their encounter with the unknown.

Arthur and Aziel lay next to each other, staring up at the high stone ceiling above them. Ancient beams crossed overhead, supporting the massive weight of whatever structure lay above them. In the dim light, Arthur could make out intricate carvings in the stone—symbols and patterns that seemed vaguely familiar yet utterly foreign.

"I don’t know... and I hope I never find out," Arthur replied, his voice equally unsteady. He swallowed hard, trying to calm his racing heart. "It was weird... I don’t think I’ve ever been that scared before, but it was like I had no say in it... like I was forced to be scared." Aziel shuddered at the memory of the overwhelming terror that had gripped him. "Scary."

A silence hung between them as Arthur contemplated their situation. The quiet was almost oppressive after the frantic chaos of their escape, broken only by their gradually slowing breaths.

"It must be some twisted ability it has," he finally said, piecing his thoughts together. "I couldn’t even get a reading on its rank, but it doesn’t really matter what rank it is if we’re too scared to even attack." The realization was sobering—all their power and abilities rendered useless by fear so intense it paralyzed them.

"This place sucks..." Aziel said, sounding like a pouting young boy despite the dire nature of their predicament.

"Yeah," Arthur agreed simply, the understatement almost making him laugh despite everything.

They laid there for a minute or two, gathering their strength and courage before finally dragging themselves back to their feet. Only then did they truly take in the room they had ended up in.

Immediately, Arthur caught a sense of déjà vu upon looking around. The familiar architecture and atmosphere sent a chill down his spine that had nothing to do with the creature they’d just escaped.

’It looks just like the first temple from the field of roses.’

Unlike the ornate chambers and corridors they’d been navigating through the castle, this place appeared to be deep underground. Very little light illuminated the space—just a few guttering torches in wall sconces that cast long, dancing shadows across the floor. Just like the first temple Arthur had found himself in, this place was a large square stone room, though much bigger than the previous temple.

All of the walls had mysterious carvings on them—symbols that resembled the language he’d seen in the field of roses, but more elaborate, more ancient. In the center of the room stood a large stone altar, its surface stained dark with what Arthur sincerely hoped wasn’t blood.

But unlike the first temple, there were no dead monks sprawled before it. Instead...

"What the fuck."

Aziel and Arthur flinched back immediately, summoning their weapons in a flash of energy. Standing in front of the stone altar like a sentinel guarding it was what looked like a knight in a full suit of head-to-toe black and red armor. Its design was unlike anything Arthur had ever seen—jagged plates overlapping like scales, with crimson inlays that seemed to pulse with a light of their own in the dim chamber. The knight’s helmet was fashioned in the likeness of some sort of beast, with curved horns sweeping back from the forehead and a faceplate resembling a snarling maw... it was the head of a sheep.

The figure stood perfectly still, a massive sword in front of it with its tip resting on the ground, the knight’s gauntleted hands wrapped around the handle in a pose of eternal vigilance.

Arthur and Aziel stayed back in defensive stances, readying themselves for an attack. Or at least Arthur did—Aziel was more or less just using his spear to stay standing, his injured foot clearly causing him immense pain now that the immediate danger had passed and adrenaline was no longer masking his wound.

But the attack they expected never came. The knight remained motionless, as still as if it were carved from the same stone as the altar it guarded.

Arthur slowly lowered his weapon and raised his eyebrow in curiosity before cautiously approaching the armored figure. Each step echoed in the cavernous chamber, the sound seeming to bounce back at him from all directions.

"What are you doing?" Aziel hissed, his voice half panicked and confused.

"I—I..." Arthur hesitated, eyes fixed on the unmoving knight. "I think it’s just an empty suit of armor... decoration or something." He took a couple more steps closer to the knight and the altar while Aziel slowly relaxed his guard.

"Like a scarecrow but for this room?" Aziel said, giggling nervously, the sound incongruously bright in the oppressive atmosphere of the temple chamber.

Arthur ignored him as he approached and took a closer look at the armor. It was immaculately clean and polished to a mirror shine—too clean for something that should have been here for as long as it would have been if it were truly part of the ancient temple. No dust had settled on its shoulders, no cobwebs stretched between its joints. In fact, in the flickering torchlight, Arthur could have sworn he saw his own distorted reflection in the breastplate.

His curiosity mounting, Arthur was slowly reaching out to touch the armor, his hand only inches away from the breastplate. His fingers trembled slightly, whether from residual fear or anticipation, he couldn’t say. The surface looked cold, metallic, yet those red inlays seemed almost warm, almost alive...

Suddenly his hand froze in midair as his entire body tensed. His fingers instinctively tightened around the handle of his blade and he tried to take a quick step back, his danger sense screaming warnings through every nerve.

The supposed empty suit of armor... just moved.

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