" you don't normally come home this late " elder Gevon questioned his daughter who was kneeling with her head down.
" father I apologize for returning home late, the stone siblings invited me out for lunch and i couldn't refuse. I'm really sorry " Kasia cupped her fist and bowed, still not looking up.
' the stone family hmm... indeed this family is cunning, trying to leach onto my daughter who has S grade talent, how despicable " Gevon sneered in his heart seeing through their little plot. They will slowly start trying to build a relationship with his daughter, then soon they will come with a marriage proposal.
Honestly that was a good thing but..... there were other men better than the stone sons in the imperial city, and as early as now they were a lot of powerful families already sending marriage proposals to him.
" alright, from now on, keep a safe distance from them " Gevon told her with an unquestionably tune
" yes father " she bowed again, ready to leave but Gevon stopped her and asked absent minded " did Zamiel attend class today ?"
Kasia was taken back for a moment before the image of him leaving the classroom in solitude invaded her mind. Her ears hidden behind her hair couldn't help but turn red. " yes father, but he didn't participate in any activity " Gevon nodded his head, slightly relieved.
One thing was very certain in his mind ' Zamiel wasn't like his father ' there was not a trace of any bloodline inheritance or anything, he was simply too foreign. When he first tried to recruit him to his side, there was a level of maturity and wisdom that even he, himself didn't have was shown by this youngster. But that wasn't what puzzled him.
Zamiel's eyes.....
Those empty eyes. Devoid of any emotion, looking down at everyone like ants. It was almost as if he had seeing the ins and outs of this world.....
Dangerous yet calm. Those eyes were the biggest impressions he had gotten from him, not even his aptitude could match it.
**********
" hmm this is really strange " Zamiel thought as he traced his had a long the extra smooth surface of the cave opening. It looked natural and yet man-made, confusing even him.
Earlier the deathly Aura that shrouded his vision led him to this huge cave entrance, then disappeared. nine kilometers away from the village, he had walked roughly two hours before finding the cave. He didn't immediately go in but instead studied the structure." should be a mining site.... Wait a minute mining? " he's eyes narrowed down as he walked into the cave.
Deep within the cavern's winding passages, darkness reigns supreme for the most part. After taking more that thirty steps,the darkness broke the faint glimmer of distant blue crystals scattered along the walls like elusive stars in a midnight sky. The air, cool and heavy, carrying with it the earthy scent of ancient stone and the promise of unseen wonders lurking in the shadows.
As he press forward, guided by the ethereal blue light, the passage gradually widens, revealing a vast chamber bathed in the soft glow of myriad colored crystals. Each hue dances and shimmers with its own mysterious energy, casting shifting patterns of light across the chamber's rough-hewn walls.
Eterna crystals!
He turned his head sideways, in the heart of this cavernous sanctuary, another entrance beckons—a smooth passage adorned with vibrant red and gold crystals, their radiant glow leading the way like beacons in the darkness.
He inspected the space and finally confirmed his suspicions. It was indeed a mining site, but an abandoned, at least a few centuries ago. He was puzzled earlier because spirit fall already had a mining site, deep within the village, that only the clan leader and a few elders knew about .
Decides these eterna crystals were more richer than the ones back in the village.
He finally faced the path with red and gold crystals, color's he hadn't seeing before. Feeling the familiar deathly Aura from before, he took a step into the path and immediately felt something different. The other side felt completely weightless, like he just took a step underwater, like a whole different world.
A smile made it's way to his lips. Any normal person in his situation would have turned around and ran away from this cave but....
This was Zamiel, whom was almost on per with a lunatic. ' is it dangerous? '
' yes, it's dangerous that's why it's fun '
He was a ricks taker. He had leaved for millennials and at times looked death in the face. He had leaved long enough to not fear death and so he was the definition of
' what doesn't kill you makes you stronger '
At this point in he's life the only thing that really threatened him was the ' gate of souls ' that was continuously feeding on his spiritual energy.
********
Zamiel ventured forth into the yawning maw of the cave, each step sinking him deeper into the abyss. The air grew heavy with the weight of unseen terrors, pressing down upon him like the crushing depths of the ocean's abyss. Yet, undeterred by the suffocating embrace of the darkness, he kept moving. Determined to see what's on the other side of the cave.
Within the confines of the cavern, reality seemed to warp and twist, as if it were a pocket dimension carved from the fabric of nightmares. Towering stalactites loomed overhead, casting eerie shadows that danced upon the walls of the colossal chamber.
At the heart of this otherworldly expanse stood an ancient altar, its surface etched with cryptic crimson runes that pulsed with an otherworldly glow. Behind the altar, a colossal statue towered over the chamber, its form, that of a strikingly handsome youth with six majestic wings unfurled in a display of celestial power.
Yet, despite its divine visage, the statue was ensnared by chains of wrought iron, each link bound in a complex web of interlocking patterns. These chains seemed to bind the very essence of the statue, trapping it in a state of eternal captivity within the dark embrace of the cavernous void.
Zamiel was a bit bewildered because the face did seem a little bit familiar to him " why does this seem familiar to me? "
He walked around the alter, deciphering the runes, little by little.
He had leaved for millennials. Studying different cultures and languages, so it didn't take long for him to understand what this was about.
Writing in celestial language
He's expression hardened as he read each text, at times he even read some over and over again just to confirm what he had gotten himself into.
' In the shadows of the abyss, where the whispers of sin echo through the halls of eternity, lies the realm of condemnation. Sixfold are the chains that bind the souls of the damned, each link forged from the weight of their transgressions '
' Within the depths of despair, they writhe and twist, their anguished cries echoing off the walls of their eternal prison. For here, there is no escape, no redemption, only the relentless torment of their own wickedness. '
'Each chain bears the weight of a different sin, each link a testament to the depths of their depravity. Pride, envy, wrath, greed, sloth, and lust—each sin a shackle that binds them to their fate, their souls condemned to suffer for all eternity '
' Yet, even in the darkness, there is a glimmer of hope—a flicker of repentance that burns within their hearts like a dying ember. But it is a futile gesture, a feeble attempt to atone for their sins in the face of an unforgiving god '
' For here, in the realm of condemnation, there is no mercy, no salvation, only the relentless march of time as it grinds their souls to dust. And so they languish, trapped in a never-ending cycle of pain and suffering, their cries unheard, their pleas for forgiveness falling on deaf ears '
' In the end, there is only darkness, and the chains that bind them to their fate—a fate they can never escape, no matter how hard they try. For in the realm of condemnation, there is no escape from the sins of the past, only the cold embrace of eternal damnation '
*******
Zamiel finally understood where he was and why he felt so familiar with the statue.
This was the Asura God prison.
Zamiel, by chance had crossed paths once with the Asura God and he could only use three words to describe him ' ruthless, merciless and powerful '.
************
At that time, Zamiel who had no name,was about two hundred years old, when he slaughtered an entire empire for sending an assassination attempt on his life. He sat on the pile of bodies, his long white hair was stained crimson red from his carnage.
The Asura God was seemingly passing by when this caught his attention.
He flew over, he's precense unknowingly causing issues to life all around him.
The hairs on Zamiel stood straight as his gut screamed danger, but it was too late as Asura was face to face with him.