I slumped back on the throne with a tall back and overlooked the scale of the damage done to the dark grandeur of the expansive chamber.
At the furthest edge across from where I was, there was a large dust cloud that was billowing outward, and massive cracks and grooves spread from it, reaching all over the place.
Some of the great and mighty pillars were shattered and crumbled, and even a portion of the black obsidian walls were in shambles. Heavy pieces of debris of the high ceiling fell against the ground, and signs of a devastating battle surrounded the entire place.
I stared at all of this from the throne with languid and droopy eyes.
Damn...that last attack took everything I had. And it wasn't like there was much to begin with...I thought self deprecatingly to myself and laughed dryly internally.
My body was sore and aching all over, and even the extent of my injuries were unclear to me. But I for sure couldn't feel an ounce of energy left inside of me or my empty core.
I'm also out of Monster Cores to use and replenish my lost Aura. The last ones I used was from my hunting before finding this dungeon. Phew... I'm glad I still had them with me all this while, I would most likely be dewd by now...I earnestly thought with a small sigh as I heaved softly, trying to catch my breath.
I closed my eyes gently, listening to the ghostly silence of the chamber and slowly opened them, with my gaze deeping.
Immediately, I shuddered.
No. I'm most likely definitely going to die now...
Something was wrong.
A sudden premonition came over me as my exhausted mind froze.
I hadn't heard the voice of the system notify me about my kill.
'Hey, Met—!!' just as I was about to check out the situation with Meta, the ruined chamber suddenly rumbled.
Rumble! Rumble!
The ground quaked with a low but heavy tremor, and I saw a ghostly blue glow spread from underneath the platform and the throne.
What is this?
I tried to become wary but couldn't. It was like I exhausted all of my apprehension and fear along with my stamina and Aura.
So instead, I just watched with a deep but hazy gaze as a strange illusionary circle appeared and expanded around the platform. The circle was brimming with an otherworldly azure light and was made up of quirky and strange looking characters that were equally glowing.
It reminded me of...the teleportation matrix I found in the Midnight Foxes' den!
As soon as I realized that, my eyes widened.
Maybe I really will make it out of here alive! I jubilated earnestly
But my excitement was immediately cut short as the rumbling became much more louder and powerful. Almost enough to knock my flimsy body off the throne and to the ground.
But persistently, I held on from only share will power!
I'm getting out of here — alive — no matter the cost! I shouted to myself.
The the intensity of the tremor only continued to rise. Was it supposed to quake like this? Just as I had that thought, I heard a powerful but grating sound roll through the trembling chamber from behind the throne.
The noise was so irritating and unpleasant, that made me almost want to cringe and clasp my ears short...that was if I didn't have to keep holding on to the throne to stop myself from falling off it.
So instead, I gritted my teeth and sat through the grating noise that was like the cacaphony of grating stones against stone.
"Ah?" I voiced a sound of realization.
Grating stone...
By this point, a bright and sparkling light began to seep into the dark and mysteriously alluring chamber from behind the throne. At the same time, the trembling and grating sounds soon subsided and stopped.
Sensing it was finally over, I raised my head and looked from the side of the tall back of the throne to what was behind. Where the bright light was seeping through from.
And immediately, I winced and hissed before jerking my head back and shielding my eyes.
Argh, yup. Too bright, too bright...
I shielded my eyes with my hands and looked again and my eyes widened at what I saw.
Wait. If I was transported in here, shouldn't I be transported back? Isn't that what Meta said?
But here...it looked like I would have to walk because what appeared before me was a door.
Not a teleport matrix.
A friggin large door.
A truely humongous one too.
"...That is huge..." I marveled faintly as craned my neck to see just how tall and gigantic it was but still failed.
It really was gigantic door, and I was saying this after seeing the colossal stone doors of the Boss lair.
I wasn't sure if this one was also made out of stone or obsidian like the one at the entrance, instead it seemed like a door made out of thick darkeness and shadow.
It suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Was there always a door like this at the other side of the chamber behind the throne, and I didn't notice all this while? I asked myself, understanding how improbable that sounded.
The only meaning was, it suddenly appeared after I sat on the throne and triggered some kind of mechanism. Either that, or the great door was more hidden.
Maybe I even mistook it as a distant wall. It fits the bill, after all.
The giant door was partially opened — considering the scale of its size — and that was where the bright light seeped into the dark chamber from.
As for what was in the other side of the door, I couldn't see it or tell.
I guess I'll have to find out then.
I was apprehensive against the sudden happening, but regardless I got up and slowly headed toward the door after descending from the platform and throne. As I walked, i painfully understood the extent of my broken body.
"Holy fuc— everything hurts like crap!" I hissed painfully as I slowly approached the door.
But at least it was all over finally. After four weeks( Four days) I could finally get out of this shit hole!
So much blood spent. So many guts spilled, and even more bones broken.
The completely unfair travails I faced in the last four weeks made me want to cry and sniffle, now that it was finally over.
"Sniff...sniff..."
But still.
I stopped just before the door. There was an illusionary cold mist seeping out from the entrance as well. It swept past my legs and surrounded my body in a chilling cold comfort that also made me want to shudder.
The entrance was right before me, just two steps away, with the bright white light reflecting on my face.
I turned to look back across the chamber and stared somberly.
The system message...still hasn't notified me of my kill.
I also didn't receive any experience, or level up or anything of the sort, which I was sure if I managed to actually kill a Hero Ranked entity, I would at the very least Rank up to Eta at once in a single fell swoop.
Which meant...
No, no, no. No point thinking about it now! I shook my head and turned forward at the entrance, then smiled.
None of that matters. I survived the Silver Sentinel, that's all, and I sat on the Throne. Regardless of how one looks at it, I beat the trial by getting to the throne, and now even this mysterious door is proof of it. The point is, I can finally be free... Simplifying my thoughts with that, I smiled more brightly despite how much my skin hurt and continued to work through the door.
I better make it quick before that diabolical beast changes it's mind and lounges at me again!
With that, I quickened my pace and rushed at the entrance.
One step. Two step. Three ste—
On the third step, I felt something cold and chilling slither round my ankle with a sinister chill. I froze, petrified, in place feeling my heart sink.
My expression fell, and before I could curse 'damnation' out loud, I gave a shriek like yelp as I was suddenly yanked backwards by whatever it was.
"Fuuckk!!! "