A grand staircase rose into the air, cutting apart the valley side and connecting with the fifty-meter-wide doorless structure that was the very definition of humility.
There were neither sculptures at the entrance nor any emblems or religious imagery left to help identify which divine being it belonged to.
Two tall towers were carved into the rockface that stood guard on either side. It was as unassuming as a peasant's dwelling but staring up at it, Hao Xuan could feel an obscure pressure slowly falling on his shoulders. (Reference image (1) posted in the discord and authors notes)
It wasn't hostile or threatening in nature but he still felt somewhat intimidated by it.
"What is this place?" he inquired before Princess Helena could step on the staircase.
"It was a place of worship and knowledge in olden times. Generations of priestesses spent their lives in there until the calamity fell. Now it is nothing but a doorway."
'Doorway?!'
The last word felt like thunder in Hao Xuan's ears.
'Could this be the temple made for the War God that was in charge of the prison? The one who discovered the webway?'
It didn't make sense that such a powerful divine entity lived here and even after uncountable years the locals had no notion of its existence. And it would be highly unlikely that another divine being could exist in his presence so there was a very good chance that was the case.
Now more than a little awe-struck by the thrilling opportunity at his fingertips, Hao Xuan quickly ordered the Scorpion King.
'Come to me. Stay behind us.'
He had just given the order when the Scorpion King almost materialized out of the miasma 15 meters behind them, startling Hao Xuan.
'You...we will talk about this later.'
The Scorpion King had shown more than a few unexplainable abilities recently and Hao Xuan needed to know exactly what they were and how they could be used to have an overall better understanding of his capabilities.
'Yes,' the Scorpion King dutifully obliged.
Hao Xuan couldn't sense any hostility from Scorpion King's words which made him a little uncomfortable considering their relationship but in the end, he chose not to address it for the moment.
They slowly walked up towards the oval opening and stood in the doorway inspecting the insides. Unlike most of the other structures that were either corroded to extreme degrees or in shambles because of one reason or another, this place was in much better condition.
It still looked like an abandoned building that had gone through the cruel passage of time and come out on the other side with more than a few scars to show for it, but even then it held to this feeling of veiled splendor that could not be put into words.
Hao Xuan finally laid his eyes upon the rows of extremely detailed carvings and sculptures lining either side of the temple.
Some of them were humanoid while many others were completely alien in nature. Creatures Hao Xuan had never seen nor could even imagine meeting. Vicious saw-toothed monsters from every animal group were present.
Hao Xuan counted each one and found out there 112 of them in total, neatly divided in half on each side. Rather than a traditional temple or a shrine, this was akin to an eerie compendium of rare and ancient beasts, a bestiary more than anything else.
The sculptures looked so realistic that Hao Xuan could see every scale, every little pore on their skin, and every follicle of hair on their monstrous bodies. Rather a sculpture or carving, it felt like someone had turned actual beasts into stone, preserving their last position which was a forward lunging attack in most cases.
Every step they took echoed resoundingly in the empty hall as if announcing their arrival. And it didn't help that it was much bigger from the inside so the sound echoed for much longer and louder.
At the end of the hall was a four-meter-wide stone gateway in front of which there were more than a few dozen candles.
Hao Xuan's assumptions were given some much-needed weight by this simple discovery.
Princess Helena stopped in front of it before bending down to light the candles one by one. Princess Inara, the female guards, and even Uri all lowered their heads reverentially while she did so.
The density of the poison within the hall was much less for whatever reason so the Scorpion King could not follow them out in the open. He moved in the shadows and hid behind each sculpture, keeping a sensible amount of distance.
While waiting for them to finish whatever ritual they had started, Hao Xuan started looking around at some of the sculptures nearby. The one closest to him on the right almost made him jump out of his skin when he nonchalantly looked in its direction.
It was an eight-meter tall obsidian lion. it had one head but three different faces, each of which was wide open mid-roar. Its mane looked like long tentacles curling and pointing in various directions while its tail ended in a giant snakehead.
The four pairs of eyes on its body were still shinning with a barely discernable green light. Curious, Hao Xuan craned his neck in an attempt to look for the source of the light but his heartbeat unknowingly increased while his nails elongated by several inches.
Upon realizing that Hao Xuan forcefully looked away, finally breaking eye contact with the sculpture.
'Why does it feel like it's going to jump at me?!'
He could have sworn it was a living creature despite not detecting any actual signs of life.
***
Authors Notes:
All images are posted in the Official Discord.
Link: https://discord.gg/AHdSBFQ
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Reference Image Link: https://i.pinimg.com/564x/aa/df/94/aadf9485f0bd6d4f84f973d0bd281f84.jpg
Shortened Image Link (case sensitive) : https://urlzs.com/BGBqg