Chapter 430 - 424 : Inside The Gate

*Step * *Step*

With each step that was taken, the dark tunnel was lit up by the light that came from the magic torch in Sato's hand.

'Luckily I have still have this in hand.' 

Magic torches were special torches that didn't produce light through the traditional method of setting a flammable on fire. Rather, it did so by absorbing mana from the environment and using it to produce light thanks to the help of a rune engraved on it.

'Still haven't seen the end. I wonder how deep this staircase goes.'

Sato had been descending down the staircase for over 15 minutes and had covered a distance of not more than 600 metres. Part of the reason for his slow speed was because Sato had to proceed with caution since the corridor seemed like a perfect spot for traps and ambushes.

'Hmm?' 

Glancing in front, Sato noticed that the stairs had come to an end. The spot ahead of him collapsed to form a flat ground, showing that the stairs had come to an end.

Once Sato's feet got off the stairs, he was greeted by an open space that looked empty. The range of the magic torch was only 10 metres so Sato could only see that far. Outside of that range was total darkness that encompassed the entire place, preventing Sato from scrutinizing his surroundings.

Since he couldn't see through the darkness, Sato was confused of which direction to take from here.

*Whoosh*

*Whoosh*

*Whoosh*

Just as Sato had decided on a random direction and taken his first step, whooshing sounds went off as dull red flames lit up by the side. By the time all the flames had lit up, Sato realised that he was inside a large hall.

There were 16 columns on each side of the hall; the left and right sides. With an area of about 16km metres square, the hall could be described as huge. There were markings along the tiles of the floor that seemed more like runes of some sort. The markings extended to cover the entire hall and even went up the ceiling by snaking through the columns.

On each side of the hall -apart from the front and the end-, there were 8 doors summing up to a total of 16 doors. Sato had arrived from one of the doors by the left but was situated close to the centre of the hall.

At one end of the hall was a large mural painted on a black wall. The mural was an image of a hideous 7-horned demon with 6 eyes; three on each side. Two fangs jutted out from the mouth of the demon with blood dripping from its jaw. At a glance, it was obvious that the blood wasn't the fiend's but that of another creature. 

Due to both the savage look and the weird realistic sensation the mural had, simply staring at it would make one feel goosebumps as well as anxiety and fear. It was almost as if it wasn't a mural one was staring at, but the actual head of a demonic existence.

As for the other end of the hall, there was a stone statue propped there. It was the statue of a hooded creature seated upon a throne. Compared to the mural that had a height of about 7 metres and a width of 3 metres, the statue reached a staggering height of 21 metres occupied an area of about 120 metres square. It radiated a lordly aura that made it seem as if an emperor was looking down on his citizens. Even from the distance of more than 60 metres Sato stood from, he could feel the regal aura of the statue. And at the same time, Sato would feel a creepy stare from behind whenever he faced the stone statue with his back turned towards the mural.

'This place is way too creepy. The realism is absurd.' Sato couldn't help but let a remark about the place.

[[System notification :

You have discovered [Temple of Vasiliás]

Rewarding player…

_________________

+2 silver coins.

+??? Experience points.

Location has been added to your map.

]]

"For the first time ever, I'm being rewarded for my endeavor." Sato chuckled.

'Temple of Vasiliás. Never heard of a god by that name nor a similar religion.' Sato thought.

"Now, where do I go from here."

Apart from the door he had appeared from, there were 15 other doors left for Sato to explore. 15 doors meant 15 different places with possibly different experiences to go through. There was also the chance that some of them would lead to a similar hall like the one here that would further lead to more areas. All these possibilities added together made selecting a door to enter a problem.

'Since the door I came from lead me here, chances are that the other doors are exits and only a few would actually lead deeper into the temple.' Sato began evaluating his options.

'This is a temple and the statue seems to be the centre of all this. It's most likely that the doors closer to the statue would lead deeper in than the others.' Sato stared in the direction of the gigantic black statue.

'So it's either left or right.' Sato then glanced at the two opposite doors closest to the stone statue on both sides.

'I just came from the left so I might as well check out the right.'

Having come to decision in such a weird way, Sato then walked towards the closest door to the stone statue by the right. Since there was lighting present, he turned off the magic torch and tossed it into his space ring. As for his sword, it had always been in his right hand and could be used at any second.

As Sato made his way towards his chosen door, the demon mural on the opposite side experienced a change. A red gleam flashed in all 6 pupils of the fiend as a creepy grin took shape on its lips. If Sato happened to be within a 10 metres range of the mural, he would have been able to hear a hair-raising chuckle that could scare a devil to death.