Leir cleared his throat. "My apologies for my earlier frustration." He returned his attention to the gate. "She and I share the same interpretation." He nodded slightly toward Victoria.
"We are clearly being warned to abandon our pursuit and return home." His gaze darkened. "Yet these warnings also describe the consequences of continuing forward."
"So, the price for magic is greater than simple praise." Haltor folded his arms.
"Precisely," Leir replied. He looked once more at the ancient gate.
"But something about this structure still troubles me." His brow furrowed.
"It almost feels as though it is waiting for something."
"What do you mean?" Taro Maro asked.
Leir tapped his fingers lightly against the stone. "It is as though the gate wishes for our permission." His eyes narrowed. "As if it refuses to violate our free will."
The idea lingered in the air. But Haltor stepped forward with renewed determination.
"Whatever the meaning of these warnings…" His voice carried quiet strength. "I did not travel across half the continent to return home empty-handed."
He placed a hand firmly against the gate. "I will leave this cave as a mage."
Several others nodded in agreement. "Same here!"
Haltor's thoughts, however, whispered something deeper.
"I must grow stronger…Otherwise… I will lose her forever. Allegria, just wait for me!"
Taro Maro straightened up. "Well then," he said. "Since we have two brilliant minds among us…" He glanced between Leir and Victoria. "…how exactly do we open this thing?"
Leir sighed softly. "That… is an excellent question."
For a moment, the group fell silent once more. Each person stared at the sealed gate, their minds racing for an answer. Even Leir, whose thoughts rarely failed him, seemed lost within deep contemplation.
Among warriors across the lands of war, there existed an old saying:
"To defeat a brilliant strategist, one must sometimes employ a foolish strategy."
For the keenest mind often searches the highest peaks of logic… while the simplest answer waits quietly in the valleys below. At that moment, such wisdom proved true.
While the two sharpest minds in the cavern wrestled with the mystery, the final key came from the one no one expected.
"Um… excuse me…" The voice was timid. Almost too soft to hear.
"I… I think I may know the answer."
Everyone turned. Leir's eyes widened first. It was Eliakim.
Even his sister Eliane stared at him in confusion.
"Since when are you the clever one?" she teased.
"Stop making fun of me, sis." Eliakim scratched the back of his head shyly.
Levor folded his arms impatiently. "Out with it, brat! And pray you're right!"
"Y-yes, sir!" He swallowed nervously before continuing.
"Well… in most magical stories I've heard… ancient gates like this are opened with special words." He glanced toward the stone door. "Like a spell or a magic formula."
"A magic formula…" Leir's eyes suddenly lit with realisation. He snapped his fingers.
"Of course! Why didn't I think about this!" He turned toward Eliakim with genuine excitement.
"You've done it, young man. You've cracked the puzzle."
"I… did?" Eliakim blinked. Leir smiled warmly. "Yes."
Then he turned back to the others. "This gate likely requires a password like the boy pointed out."
Sigrid tilted her head slightly. "And what might that password be?"
Leir paced slowly before the statues. "Let us consider what we already know."
He raised a finger.
"First, the statues symbolise mankind's lack of contentment."
A second finger rose.
"Second, the warnings caution us against pursuing what lies beyond this gate."
Victoria nodded slightly.
"And third," she added, "the gate itself seems designed to halt our advance."
Haltor crossed his arms thoughtfully.
"So, if we combine those ideas...the password must express the very dissatisfaction this gate condemns," Leir finished.
"Would that not be contradictory?" Mathurin coughed lightly.
"Yes," Leir replied. "But that contradiction is the key." He placed his palm against the ancient gate. "This passage demands honesty." His eyes burned with determination.
"An honest declaration of our refusal to accept the lives we were given." He turned to the group. "All we must do… is proclaim that we reject our powerless existence."
The others watched closely. Leir closed his eyes briefly, gathering his resolve. Then he spoke.
"I am not content with my life." His voice echoed softly within the cavern. "And until I obtain magic… I shall never reach my true potential." He waited.
The gate remained still. Nothing happened. A silence colder than winter settled upon them.
Then—Clap. Slow, mocking applause echoed through the cave, coming from Levor.
"Congratulations," he said dryly. "Is that the limit of your brilliance?" A faint smirk curled across his face. "You'd better think of something else." His gaze shifted toward Victoria.
"Especially you!"
But no one reacted to him. Not intentionally. They simply ignored him. The puzzle demanded their attention more than his insults did. This unspoken dismissal only deepened the irritation gnawing at his pride. Meanwhile, Victoria's eyes remained fixed on the statues. Slowly… something began to fall into place.
"It all makes sense now."
"What do you mean?" Leir turned.
"If the three statues correspond to the three warnings…" She gestured toward them.
"…then the number itself matters."
"You mean…" Leir's eyes sharpened. "Three people must open the gate."
She nodded.
"And not just any three." Her gaze moved across the group. "They must represent the children of the statues."
Leir considered the idea carefully. Then he smiled.
"That reasoning is perfectly sound. In that case, you represent the healthy child." He pointed toward Haltor.
Haltor blinked. "Me?"
"You are the strongest among us," Leir explained. "In terms of physical vitality, no one here surpasses you."
"Well… it's worth trying." Haltor shrugged slightly.
Leir then turned toward Mathurin. "You have been coughing constantly. What is the cause of your suffering?"
"I was born frail, cursed with an illness." Mathurin nodded.
"Then sorry, but you must represent the deformed child," Leir spoke gently.
Mathurin smiled faintly.
"I have been burdened by this body all my life." He placed a hand against his chest.
"Perhaps tonight your cleverness will finally free me from it."
Leir inclined his head respectfully. "Thank you for your understanding."
He then looked around the group. "That leaves the final statue."
His gaze drifted toward the empty-armed woman.
"The prodigious child created by the barren mother." He scratched his head thoughtfully.
"I wonder who might represent—" He stopped.
Everyone was staring at him. Even Victoria. Leir blinked.
"Why are you all looking at me like that?"
Levor groaned loudly.
"Stop pretending and get over there, damn genius!"
The others nodded. Even Haltor gave him a knowing smile. Leir sighed.
"I see."
He stepped forward beside the others. "Very well."
He placed his hand upon the final statue.
"Place your palms upon the statues you represent."
Haltor and Mathurin obeyed.
"When I give the signal," Leir said, "we shall declare together: We are not content."
"Understood. Ready…" He drew a breath. "Now!" "We are not content!"
Their voices echoed through the cavern. The gate did not move. Eliane groaned loudly.
"This is getting ridiculous!"
"I was truly hoping that would work…" Taro Maro rubbed his forehead and lay on the ground, exhausted, even though he had done nothing.
"I must admit… I am confused." Leir frowned.
"I think there is still one piece missing." Victoria stepped forward slowly.
Everyone looked at her.
"The warnings and the ancient tale as a whole were both written in Greek and Roman tongues." She touched the gate lightly. "It is only natural that the gate responds to those languages."
"That actually makes sense!" Sigrid's face brightened.
"I know Greek." Victoria nodded slightly.
"Remarkable…" Leir watched her with quiet admiration.
She spoke the words clearly. "Δεν είμαστε περιφρονητικά."
She then translated. "It means: We are not content." Leir nodded.
"Let us try again." The three men placed their hands upon the statues.
"Together." They spoke in unison. "Δεν είμαστε περιφρονητικά!"
For a moment—Nothing happened. Then the gate trembled. Ancient stones groaned as the massive doors slowly began to part.
"It's opening!"
Eliane jumped excitedly, grabbing Eliakim's hands. Cheers spread through the group.
At last. They had succeeded. But then— Something changed. The statues began to move.
Their carved faces twisted in agony. Tears began flowing from their eyes. Not mere tears, but blood.
The cavern filled with a horrible wailing. The three statues screamed as though alive.
Their voices echoed together in a single word. "Αχάριστος!"
Again and again they cried it. "Αχάριστος!"
Victoria's face darkened. She understood the word. "Ungrateful."
The statues screamed it until the gate opened fully. Then the stone walls shifted, swallowing the statues back into the cavern itself. Silence returned. But fear lingered like a cold mist.
"What… was that?" June wiped sweat from her brow.
"Not the time for foolish questions," Levor snapped.
"We passed the trial; that's the only thing that matters." Haltor stepped forward His voice carried steady determination.
"Let us move forward."
One by one, they crossed the threshold. A long tunnel stretched before them. At its far end, a faint light glowed. When they finally emerged from the passage… Everyone froze.
Before them lay a chamber vast enough to swallow an entire village. The floor was covered with enormous magical circles and intricate formulas. But none of those things captured their attention.
For at the centre of the chamber stood something far more terrifying. A colossal tower. It rose so high that its peak vanished into darkness above. Hundreds of horrific faces were carved across its surface, each twisted in eternal screams.
Massive chains stretched from every direction, piercing through the open mouths of the screaming stone faces. And at the base of the tower… multiple doorways stood in a circle.
Each doorway was empty. And beside every doorway… A silent statue waited. This monument was known by those intrinsically rooted in sorcery as the Tower of Affliction.
Leir's breath caught in his throat.
"What… in the world…?"