Zeke headed toward the location indicated by the compass.
However, the Temple of the Moon Goddess Theia lay in an unexpected place.
"This is...?"
The Imperial Mausoleum, burned to ashes by Abel's black flame.
The spot pointed to by the absolute compass was right there.
Zeke slipped into the shadows and entered the ruins of the mausoleum, where only traces of the fire remained.
"It's become a complete wasteland."
Once a sacred site of the Rom Empire, it was now nothing but charred remnants, utterly desolate.
Zeke clicked his tongue inwardly and followed the compass needle deeper into the mausoleum.
Then the needle pointed to one spot.
"Is this it?"
Zeke approached the indicated area, cleared away the burned debris, and examined the ground below.
A single worn stone slab was embedded in the floor.
He knelt and inspected it, but there was no passage leading underground.
"System, check if there's an accessible door nearby." At Zeke's command, the System began its search.
Soon a message appeared.
[Search complete. A sealed configuration has been detected. Would you like to use the
Curse-Lifting Treatment Skill to unseal it?]
Seeing the System message, Zeke immediately activated the Curse-Lifting Treatment Skill.
[Sealed configuration unsealed via Curse-Lifting Treatment Skill.]
[The seal is released. Analyzing the configuration.]
[The configuration has been identified as portal coordinates to an underground space.
Would you like to open the portal and move to the coordinates?]
It seemed the Temple of the Moon Goddess Theia existed beneath the Imperial Mausoleum.
Zeke decided to spend 100 points to open the coordinates.
[Executing portal to the configured coordinates.] Woooong!
As the System portal activated, Zeke's body vanished in a flash of light.
When Zeke opened his eyes again, he found himself in a dungeon made of stone.
"Is this the Temple of the Moon Goddess Theia?"
He scanned the surroundings with his Dragon Eye.
The Temple of the Moon Goddess Theia followed an ancient style similar to that of the Golden City Blanca.
"This place was built in the Age of the Constellations as well."
Zeke first tried accessing the temple's Administrator System through the System.
[Access to the Administrator System is not possible.]
"Can't access it at all?"
Zeke had access privileges to most ancient ruins' systems.
But the Temple of the Moon Goddess Theia denied access to its Administrator System. In the end, he had no choice but to explore the temple manually.
Zeke quickly accepted the situation and ventured deeper into the temple.
As he walked down the long corridor, he found himself thinking it was unusual.
"For a temple, it's surprisingly empty."
A typical temple would have been filled with symbols of the worshipped deity, along with various records and artifacts.
But the Temple of the Moon Goddess Theia had no statues of the Moon Goddess Theia or related symbols anywhere.
If he hadn't known better, he might have mistaken it for a mere ancient ruin rather than the temple of the Moon Goddess Theia.
In the Central Continent, the Rom Empire was the only nation that worshipped the Moon Goddess Theia.
Most other Central Kingdoms, including the Midland, believed in the God of Light or the Sun God.
When the Rom Empire split from the Holy Kingdom, the Sun Order divided as well. The biggest difference between the two orders was the worship of the Moon Goddess Theia and the Thirteen Palaces.
The Holy Kingdom regarded the Sun God as the sole deity and worshipped only him, while the Rom Empire followed a polytheistic form that venerated the Sun God along with various constellations.
Of course, the Sun God, as the supreme deity, held the greatest prominence, but there were still a fair number of followers of the Moon Goddess Theia.
In the Rom Empire, the Sun God was typically depicted as a strong male deity, while the Moon Goddess was portrayed as a benevolent female one.
As such, some regions even placed statues of saintesses modeled after the Moon Goddess Theia for worship.
"Even though it's the Temple of the Moon Goddess Theia, there's not a single statue of a saintess like that."
Zeke found the complete absence puzzling but didn't think much of it. The early temple of the Moon Goddess Theia might have been different from what he expected.
At the end of the long corridor, a vast chamber appeared.
Unlike the plain corridor he'd traversed so far, the chamber's walls were adorned with unique decorative motifs, and sculptures of various forms stood between the pillars.
At one end of the chamber loomed a massive stone door.
What stood out was the four stone coffins lined up neatly in front of it.
"What are those?"
Zeke approached the stone coffins slowly.
But just then, a message appeared before his eyes.
[The Administrator System of this Secure Zone issues a warning to the user.]
[Security settings activate due to unauthorized access.]
[The Secure Zone Guardian awakens from Dormant State.]
"Guardian?"
Zeke took a step back upon seeing the System's warning.
But it seemed too late.
Steam began billowing from the four stone coffins.
Ssssss—
The stone coffins split vertically amid the steam, and something rose from within.
Thud!
The sturdy stone slabs automatically rose and locked into place vertically.
The four fixed stone slabs held figures bound with masks over their faces and chains wrapped tightly around their bodies.
Drip!
As Zeke watched warily, the chains securing them to the slabs came loose.
Clatter!
With the chains released, the four figures stumbled out of the coffins.
Crack, crack—
The sound of bones aligning echoed from the four masked figures.
Though their faces were hidden, their builds suggested they were about the size of teenagers.
All four wore tattered gray garments resembling patient garb.
"These are the temple's Guardians?"
Crack, crack—
Once their bones had fully aligned, the four raised their heads in unison and turned toward Zeke.
"The intruder."
"Eliminate."
With eerie voices, the four Guardians advanced on Zeke.
He sensed no killing intent or threatening aura from them, but Zeke instinctively went on guard.
He drew Roland and aimed it at the approaching Guardians.
Then it happened.
In an instant, the Guardians' forms wavered and vanished without a trace.
"What...?"
Zeke panicked as he lost track of the four presences right before him and expanded his senses to the maximum.
But at that moment, a crushing pressure bore down on his entire body.
Groooan—
It felt as if his whole body had suddenly become ten times heavier.
Zeke recalled experiencing a similar attack before.
"Sion's psychokinesis."
Sion, a member of the Six, had wielded powerful psychokinesis as his bloodline ability.
A similar force pressed down on Zeke's body.
But that wasn't all.
Craaack—
Intense cold began rising, freezing his legs first.
Then black miasma wafted up, coiling around Zeke and binding him in place, preventing any movement.
Zeke assessed the bizarre forces restraining him.
Had they been granted bloodline abilities as the temple's Guardians?
Moreover, their abilities far surpassed those of ordinary bloodline users.
They exhibited power stronger than even the Six's members, whose abilities had been enhanced with drugs.
With three abilities holding his body captive, the final one began to activate.
Rumble, rumble— Zeke looked up.
"Huh?"
Black rain started falling from the ceiling.
Plop, plop—
What he thought was black rain poured heavily onto the floor.
As the black liquid hit the ground, white smoke rose.
Ssssss—
It was a potent acidic solution raining down like a storm.
Even Zeke's uniform, made of dragon hide, was drenched in the solution.
At first, only the surface sizzled and melted, but as more liquid poured, the corroded area spread.
"What a vicious ability."
If someone used this power on a battlefield, an entire knight order could be wiped out in moments.
To escape the horrific acid rain, Zeke judged he needed to break free from the three restraining abilities first.
Groooan—
Zeke gathered his energy to resist the psychokinesis, cold, and black mist.
But the more he resisted, the stronger the binding forces grew.
"Let's see about that."
In an instant, Zeke invoked the power of the Elemental Sword, simultaneously activating the Chamber of Metal Power and the Chamber of Wind Power.
Whoosh!
A powerful gust arose, blowing away the mist and frost coiling around Zeke's body, while the force of metal helped him shake off the psychokinesis.
Craaack—
As Zeke twisted to force his way out, the Guardians ramped up their power output.
Whoosh!
The forces tightened even more around his body. Zeke sheathed Roland, drew his hammer, and invoked the Full Power Technique.
With his body transformed into the Body of Strength, Zeke swung the hammer against the intangible forces.
Whoooosh—
The hammer Zeke swung tore through the invisible psychokinesis.
At the same time, he felt the oppressive force lifting from his body.
With the pressure gone, Zeke channeled metal power into his legs and rolled forcefully across the floor.
Boom!
The vibration from his roll spread through the entire chamber.
Zeke didn't stop there. He raised the hammer high and invoked the Lightning Strike skill.
Rumble— Crackle—
A massive thunderclap filled the chamber as lightning arced in all directions.
No matter how well they hid, completely evading the wide-ranging Lightning Strike was practically impossible.
As Zeke anticipated, the four Guardians hiding in the rippling space revealed themselves.
"To fully eliminate the intruder."
"Release the limit restrictions."
"Engage." Groooan!
Zeke could clearly sense waves of even stronger power emanating from the reappearing Guardians.
Releasing limit restrictions? They could use even greater power here?
As he tensed slightly, one of the Guardians extended a hand toward Zeke. Craaack—
Psychokinesis focused on Zeke's body, which felt like a giant ripping his limbs apart.
"Urk!"
Caught off guard by the unexpected force, Zeke maxed out his metal power to counter the Guardian's psychokinesis.
Then, black smoke began seeping once more from another Guardian's body.
Whoosh!
The rising black smoke took form, extending dozens of whips that coiled around Zeke's limbs.
Sizzle—
But something astonishing happened. The black mist enveloping Zeke absorbed his mana.
"Absorbing mana? What kind of ability is this?"
And it didn't end there.
The Guardian wielding cold raised a hand toward the air and soon formed a massive ice boulder above Zeke's head.
It seemed to have gathered moisture from the air and frozen it rapidly into the ice mass.
A pointed, conical ice boulder plummeted toward Zeke.
"Haaah!"
Zeke gritted his teeth, resisting the psychokinesis and black mist as he hurled his hammer at the falling ice.
Clatter!
Grasping the Chains of Solomon attached to the hammer's end, Zeke adjusted its trajectory.
Boom!
As intended, the hammer smashed into the ice boulder. Zeke immediately gripped the chains and invoked the Authority of Flame.
Roar!
The powerful Authority of Flame surged along the chains.
The ice boulder melted in an instant, shattering into pieces.
Seeing Zeke withstand their released-limit powers, the Guardians retreated for now.
The Guardian who had summoned the acid rain extended a hand toward Zeke.
"The intruder will be fully eliminated."
Zeke yanked the chains, retrieving the hammer to his hand.
"Your powers can't touch me. Step aside quietly and open the door to the temple."
Zeke spoke in a low voice, taking a step forward toward the Guardian.
But just then, something dripped from his nose.
"Huh?"
Black blood trickled from his nose.
Not just his nose—black blood flowed from his mouth and eyes as well.
Thud!
Without realizing it, Zeke dropped to one knee, his body trembling.
"This doesn't make sense..."
His body had Immunity to All Poisons, rendering him immune to all toxins.
The acid rain ability alone couldn't bring him down.
"Cough!"
This time, black blood surged up from his throat and spilled out.
Sizzle—
As the black blood poured, Zeke finally realized what had happened to his body.
"So your ability isn't summoning acid rain."
The final Guardian's power was turning liquids acidic.
By converting the blood inside Zeke's body into a strong acid, even Immunity to All Poisons couldn't hold, and he collapsed.
Thud!
Zeke crumpled to the floor, black blood pouring from his entire body.
Seeing this, the four Guardians' eyes gleamed.
"Mission accomplished."
"Intruder fully eliminated."
"Dispose without trace."
"Complete removal."
The four Guardians slowly approached the fallen Zeke.