NOVEL NEXT Chapter 41: Unkown Realm
Upon entering the red gate, I found myself in an unknown place that I had no recognition of.
In fact, in the story, no such gate had ever appeared, even to Kyle himself. I had no clue where it had taken me or what it represented.
The sky was dark, with clouds lazily drifting across a blood-red moon that dominated the heavens.
I couldn't help but get lost in its haunting beauty.
A perfect, crimson full-moon glowing against the dark sky. The sight was both mesmerizing and deeply unsettling.
I looked around frantically, afraid that powerful monsters lurking within this place or the possibility of the ant having followed me through the portal. But no such threats appeared in my immediate vicinity.
I stood before an ancient temple, with a long stone staircase leading up to the structure at the summit. Around me stretched a dense jungle filled with massive trees whose canopies disappeared into the darkness above.
I didn't venture into the jungle. That would have been foolish in my current injured state and to be honest, even if I had been at my top condition, I still wouldn't have done so.
Without knowing the dangers that lurked within that jungle, I wouldn't venture there.
After a moment of hesitation, I decided to climb the stairs and seek shelter within the old temple. Staying exposed in this alien landscape seemed far more dangerous than whatever might await me inside.
The climb demanded tremendous effort. Each step felt progressively harder, as if some invisible force was weighing down on my very soul.
But I continued upward, driven by necessity and the lack of alternatives.
I let out a heavy breath as I finally reached the summit. The temple entrance was massive and ominous, easily three times my height and carved from some dark stone that seemed to absorb light.
Four towering pillars supported the structure, each one covered in intricate carvings that hurt to look at directly. The symbols seemed to shift and writhe in my peripheral vision.
Arriving at the entrance, I decided to push against the enormous gate.
Creak!
The wooden doors groaned as they slowly opened inward, the sound echoing through the empty air like a death knell. Unlike what I had expected, there was no immediate chamber beyond the threshold.
Instead, a long hallway stretched into darkness, leading to another door barely visible in the distance. Torches lined the walls, their flames burning with the same unnatural red light as the moon above.
The corridor seemed to stretch far longer than the temple's exterior dimensions should have allowed.
I hesitated at the threshold, my survival instincts warring with my need for shelter. Whatever lay beyond that distant door, I was about to find out.
Taking a deep breath, I stepped into the hallway and began walking toward whatever awaited me in the heart of this mysterious temple.
Walking through the hallway, I arrived before the door at the end. It was the only thing in the entire corridor that I could possibly explore.
Glancing at my arms that were healing but still not in good shape, I decided to sit down for some rest.
I didn't know what awaited me behind that door, so I needed to at least have functional hands before entering. The pain was still significant, and attempting to fight anything with broken limbs would be foolish.
I wasn't too concerned about immediate danger because if there was something that would have killed me, it would have been at the entrance to this temple, not hidden behind that door. Greater threats usually guarded the perimeter, while the inner sanctums contained treasures or trials.
Besides, there was nowhere else I could go. The portal had vanished completely, the fog-shrouded jungle was clearly a death trap, and only this mysterious chamber seemed to offer any possibility of survival or advancement.
I hoped that I would encounter some powerful relic, ideally Superior rank or perhaps even Epic grade equipment.
The mysterious nature of this realm suggested I might encounter the remnants of some powerful being who had long since died and left their treasury behind. Such discoveries were rare but not unheard of in worlds where magic and powerful bloodlines shaped reality.
An hour passed, and my injuries were finally healed thanks to my vampiric regeneration enhanced by strategic use of my Blood Control trait.
I had sped up blood flow to my injured areas, ensuring they healed faster than normal. The technique worked wonders.
It was basically applied medical science, but sometimes you overlooked the obvious solutions when under stress.
During that hour of recovery, I had also taken the opportunity to assess my current condition more thoroughly. My mana reserves were recovering, though still not at full capacity. My enhanced armor was mostly damage but still intact, and most importantly, I was alive when by all rights I should have been dead.
I stood up and faced the ornate door, taking a deep breath to centre myself.
Whatever lay beyond this threshold would determine whether my desperate gamble had been worth the risk.
Time to see what secrets this ancient place held.
...
My hands touched the door, and before I could push it open, the massive portal began moving on its own accord, as if it possessed a will of its own.
Before me stood a peerless figure, wearing a pure white dress that was slightly revealing, barely covering her pale skin. The garment was just modest enough to maintain propriety by covering her
My hands touched the door, and before I could push it open, the massive portal began moving on its own accord, as if it possessed a will of its own.
Before me stood a peerless figure, wearing a pure white dress that was slightly revealing, barely covering her pale skin. The garment was just modest enough to maintain propriety by covering her private parts while accentuating her otherworldly beauty.
Furthermore, she possessed long, silky white hair that flowed down her back, glistening beautifully despite the countless chains that held her captive like some dangerous beast.
The figure was restrained by nearly a hundred ethereal chains that glowed with suppressive magic, and despite her clearly miserable imprisonment, she still appeared incredibly elegant and regal.
I had never seen a woman as beautiful as her in either of my lifetimes. She was undeniably what anyone would define as physical perfection, with proportions that made rational thought temporarily freeze in awe.
I stared at her in stunned silence, simply admiring her existence.
I snapped out of my daze as the chained beauty suddenly opened her eyelids, revealing the magnificent eyes that had been concealed within.
She possessed a pair of utterly charming eyes, enchanting violet jewels that enhanced her already impossible beauty even further.
She stared at me in contemplative silence before speaking in a clear voice. "You...How can you possess the untainted bloodline of the vampires? I don't sense a single speck of impurity within your blood."
I froze completely in place. The woman before me had somehow determined my exact bloodline simply by looking at me.
She was a figure that began to terrify me greatly!
Nobody, and I mean absolutely nobody possessed the ability to analyse other people's bloodlines through casual observation... unless...