Even though their instincts screamed at them to stay back, stepping through the doorway was their only option. Their eyes remained glued to the two stone giants flanking the entrance, waiting for the slightest twitch of a spear.
Luckily for them, the sentinels remained still. Ash and Max crossed the threshold safely, and the colossal inner door slammed shut behind them.
The sound wasn’t as deafening as Ash had expected, but it was absolute. A deep, resonant thud echoed once through the vast space before being completely swallowed, leaving behind a silence so complete that Ash wondered if he had gone deaf on top of losing his sight.
Because it was pitch-black. So dark that Ash couldn’t even see his own hand in front of his face.
Then, the voice of the soul space whispered to him:
[Ability: Nightstalker’s Sight]
’Huh?’
The blackness didn’t vanish... it transformed. It peeled back into a monochrome world of stark black and white, every detail suddenly clear. But the vision brought no relief. In fact, it became far worse the moment Ash realized what he was looking at.
’What the...’
Almost immediately, a sharp, icy pain began needling behind his eyes, settling into a grinding, throbbing headache. Ash rubbed his temple, blinking hard to make sure his mind wasn’t playing tricks on him.
’No... this can’t be real. What the hell is this place?’
The hall looked less like a ruin and more like a cathedral built for a god. Unlike the exterior ruins, which were already staggering in scale, the interior was vast beyond logic. Endless, slender pillars held up a ceiling swallowed by gloomy fog. Winding staircases coiled up and down into misty nothingness.
And even more unsettling, at the center of it all, sat... the thing.
Calling the guardians outside "giants" now felt like an insult. This monstrosity was their progenitor, abandoned down here because the world outside couldn’t stomach its existence. It slumped on the fog-covered stone floor like a broken doll discarded by a titanic child, its head lolling awkwardly to one side, its limbs splayed at impossible angles. Through every fissure in its cracked stone body, strange, glowing symbols pulsed with a slow, sickly heartbeat.
Its eyes were two pits of nothingness. They didn’t just ignore Ash’s enhanced sight.
They actively consumed it. Staring into them felt like looking straight into the static at the end of a dead broadcast, which only made the pain behind Ash’s eyes intensify.
Behind that colossal stone horror stood four towering thrones, draped in centuries of dust.
And one of them wasn’t empty.
On the second throne sat a massive, ancient man. His long, untidy grey hair fell like a mane over robes so dark they seemed to drink the gloom. His hands rested heavily on the armrests, his posture radiating weary, eternal dominance. When Ash finally met his gaze, the old man’s stare felt almost physical. He was staring directly at them.
Max’s strained whisper cut through the oppressive silence.
"Look, I know you hate using your abilities... but your fire ability would be really useful right about now."
Ash glanced back at Max, suddenly remembering that his brother was currently trapped in pitch-black darkness.
"Actually... I’m already using an ability."
Max narrowed his eyes into the gloom.
"A new one? What, does it grant night vision or something?"
"Yeah. Exactly that."
Max fell quiet for a moment.
"Hmm... I see. That black humanoid you fought earlier must’ve been a dark creature. That’s great... you have the requirements to advance to the next Stage now. Isn’t that a good thing?"
Ash glared at him through the monochrome darkness, choosing not to answer. He turned his attention back to the seated figure. The old man hadn’t shifted an inch; he just continued staring down at them.
’Argh... creeping me out.’
Max spoke up again.
"So, give me a status report. You haven’t shoved me behind you yet, so I’m assuming we’re not about to be eaten."
Ash didn’t break his stare.
"No. Not eaten. Probably. There’s a stone giant in here that makes the guys at the door look like action figures. It seems to be sleeping. But that’s not the weird part."
"Weird part?"
"Yes..."
Ash muttered.
"There’s an old man sitting on a throne behind it. And he’s staring right at—"
Ash froze mid-sentence, his eyes widening.
Max caught the shift instantly.
"What? Did the giant wake up?"
"Not the stone one..."
Ash breathed, his heart hammering against his ribs.
"...The flesh one. The old man just... adjusted his posture. He adjusted his posture, and now he’s looking at us like we’re the surprise."
Before Max could respond, a voice like rolling thunder vibrated through the cathedral floor.
"I was not mistaken. You can indeed see me."
Max flinched, his entire body going rigid.
"Okay... I definitely heard that. What is that?!"
Ash couldn’t look away. The old man’s gaze remained fixed on him, not with immediate malice, but with a cold, terrifyingly analytical curiosity.
The ancient voice resonated through the dark again.
"To think such an ability exists... one that cuts cleanly through the veil of shadow. How impressive. Tell me, humans, why have you come here? Did I not make it abundantly clear to your master that this sanctuary is forbidden? We do not tolerate uninvited guests. I would gladly return you to the dirt you crawled from, but the treaty with your master binds my hands. So instead... I will simply have you erased."
Ash’s brows furrowed.
’Master? What master? And... erased?!’
As if responding to an unseen command, the dormant stone colossus stirred.
A low, grinding groan rumbled through the hall. The bedrock trembled as the colossal head lifted on a neck of jointed stone.
Those void-like eyes, when they opened, weren’t dark anymore. They ignited into twin suns, burning with a cold, piercing light that cut directly into Ash’s dark-attuned vision.
The drawback of [Nightstalker’s Sight] struck instantly.
The faint ache behind Ash’s eyes violently mutated into an agonizing, blinding burn. The pain was so intense that Ash collapsed to his knees, clutching his face, wishing his eyes would melt out of his skull just to end the agony.
’Damn it... damn you, Dark Core!’
The burden was far worse than he had anticipated. Because the ability was a passive one, it triggered automatically in absolute darkness, which was not ideal if he wanted to avoid using the ability.
"Ash?! What’s wrong?!"
Max yelled, stumbling in the blackness toward the sound of Ash’s groans.
Then, high above them, those twin points of blinding light appeared in the darkness.
The moment the light washed over Max, his knees buckled. A strangled gasp escaped his throat as a suffocating weight slammed into his spine, demanding that he bow, that he prostrate himself before the waking god. Max fought it with everything he had, grinding his teeth so hard a sharp spike of pain shot up his jaw.
The colossus rose higher, its shoulders brushing the fog-draped ceiling.
The old man on the throne casually snapped his fingers.
Instantly, the entire cathedral blazed with a cold, sourceless light, banishing every shadow in a blinding flash.
Now Max could see everything: the impossible architecture, the ancient sovereign on his massive throne, and the mountain of sculpted stone looming directly over them. The giant tilted its massive head down, fixing them with a gaze that made Ash feel as though he could be erased at any moment.
And then it hit.
Ash’s eyes went wide. For the first time in years, a cold, razor-sharp claw seemed to close around his chest and squeeze tight. The air grew impossibly thick. His bones felt heavy, as if filled with lead. A deep, instinctual weight crushed down on his shoulders, demanding complete submission.
It was a feeling so foreign, so deeply reviled, that it took Ash a second to identify it.
’Dominion... Aura...?’
His own body was finally experiencing the pressure. His voice came out as a dry, hoarse rasp.
"Max... this isn’t good. I can feel it."
Max’s stomach dropped. All color drained from his face as he stared at his brother in sheer horror.
"No... Don’t tell me that thing is a..."
Ash gave a stiff nod, his gaze locked onto the colossal horror towering above them.
"Yeah. That thing... is a Tier 7."