The temple-like building remained a complete mystery. None of the prisoners held captive there fully understood its nature.

?α?dαs ηθνε| "They say there are traps and monsters inside," whispered the prisoners.

With only that fragment of information, Damian found it difficult to devise the best approach. However, despite his doubts, he pressed on, ascending the stone staircase that led to the temple's entrance.

As Damian reached the top, his eyes caught sight of a portal right beneath his feet. This must be the entrance, he thought. Without hesitation, he leaped onto it. His surroundings blurred, and after a brief freefall, everything transformed.

Damian found himself in a narrow stone corridor, shrouded in darkness. Before he could react, a ghoul lunged at him, seeking to devour him alive.

"Get out of my way, you bastard!" he cursed, swiftly evading the ghoul's attack and delivering a powerful blow to its stomach.

The ghoul's abdomen felt oddly soft, as if its entire body lacked skeletal structure. Strange, but Damian had no time to dwell on it. The force of his punch proved lethal, defeating the ghoul.

Pressing onward in a straight line—the only viable path—Damian engaged in relentless combat against the onslaught of ghouls attempting to take his life.

The corridor offered little in terms of notable features. However, after a few minutes, Damian arrived in an expansive chamber with numerous branching pathways. It was in this room that he discovered a multitude of lifeless bodies strewn about.historical

Examining each one with trepidation, Damian hoped against hope that he wouldn't find the corpses of Vanessa or Hazel. Thankfully, his search yielded no sign of them.

"All these individuals must be prisoners... I suppose the pirates utilize them as expendable pawns in their exploration of this place," Damian pondered.

He knew that would be the case, but still, Damian looked at all the corpses with sorrow. That wasn't something people should have to go through. The pirates were going too far with that, and Damian did not know why!

Sure, pirates weren't the kindest of people, and it was common for them to capture prisoners, but that many? There must be a treasure inside that temple.

Anyway, after spending a minute grieving for the prisoners, Damian refocused on his task: finding a pathway leading to the heart of the temple.

In that room, there were multiple paths, nine in total. Choosing the right one seemed almost impossible.

"Should I choose the path with fewer bodies?" Damian pondered.

Among all the paths, one stood out—it had not a single corpse near it. This could mean that the pirates had not used prisoners to explore it. It was either the correct path or one that the pirates were already familiar with and no longer wished to venture into.

It was a guess, a risk Damian was willing to take. He made his way toward that path and proceeded down the narrow corridor, just as he had done before.

As Damian moved forward, he couldn't shake the feeling that he was being watched. The air grew heavy, and a sense of foreboding settled upon him. But he refused to let fear hinder his progress. He steeled his resolve and pressed on, determined to uncover the truth within the temple's depths.

The narrow corridor twisted and turned, leading him deeper into the labyrinthine structure. Shadows danced along the walls, playing tricks on his perception. Still, Damian persisted, following his instincts and keeping his senses alert for any signs of danger.

The corridor led to another empty room, and there Damian saw it—a demonic creature he was all too familiar with. It was Miller!

"This is impossible," Damian exclaimed, taking a few steps back.

Miller had already transformed, his demonic eyes fixed upon Damian, sending a shiver down his spine.

"Impossible? No, of course not. Did you really think we could be easily defeated?" Miller taunted.

Damian's mind was in turmoil. He distinctly remembered killing Miller, but his memories were hazy due to his own transformation. After their battle, Damian had lost consciousness. Could it be that Miller had somehow survived?

"No, this can't be happening... I saw his lifeless corpse," Damian thought, trying to make sense of the situation.

As he stared at Miller, something peculiar caught his attention. The nature of this illusion reminded him of someone.

"You're not real," Damian declared, steeling himself as he moved forward to confront Miller.

With a swift motion, Miller dashed toward Damian, aiming to strike him with his claw. Damian managed to block the attack, feeling the impact reverberate through his body. The illusion held some semblance of substance, but it was clear that Miller's power was significantly diminished.

It became evident that this was not the real Miller. The real one had perished, after all. Determined to end the illusion, Damian created a weapon made of slime and swiftly sliced through Miller, causing him to vanish into thin air.

Though the illusion had dissipated, Damian remained on guard, knowing that there were likely more challenges and illusions awaiting him in the depths of the temple. He couldn't let his guard down, for the temple held secrets that needed to be unraveled and a destiny that awaited his fulfillment.

With renewed resolve, Damian pressed forward, his mind focused on the next obstacle that lay ahead. The truth within the temple's heart awaited him, and he would stop at nothing to uncover it and fulfill his role in the grand tapestry of fate.

The illusions continued to manifest as Damian pushed forward. Some illusions replicated people and beasts he had encountered before, while others were entirely unfamiliar. He even came face to face with a startling illusion of a dragon!

Undeterred, Damian pressed onward, determined to unravel the mysteries within the temple. However, his progress abruptly halted as a peculiar sensation tingled on his chest.

"Hymot?" he pondered, his mind racing.

Hymot was the dragon he had encountered some time ago, the one who had merged with him within the city of dragons. She had been slumbering ever since, but something within the depths of the temple had stirred her from her dormant state.

Damian tried to shake off the feeling and keep moving, going forward, just like all the other times. The narrow stone corridor led to an empty room, but in this room, there were people Damian did not think he would see again!

It was Vanessa, all dirty and with a few scratches throughout her body. She had suffered to get where she was.

Vanessa was staring at a pillar with a mysterious cube above it, floating. Damian's gaze met the cube, and the first thing he thought was his anchor spell!

Anyway, Vanessa and the said cube were not the only ones inside the room. There was someone else, someone Damian hoped not to find again, yet he did.

"Theo? What the fuck are you doing here?"

Theo was the blond youth who, in fact, could control illusions. He had tried to kill Damian back in Garmony Upper School. That was a long time ago, but Damian still remembered!

"Damian? I already thought it was weird to see Vanessa here, and now you too?" Theo said.

Damian's expression hardened as he confronted Theo, memories of their bitter past resurfacing in his mind. The tension in the room grew palpable as their gazes locked, the air heavy with unspoken animosity.

"I could ask you the same question," Damian retorted, his voice laced with suspicion. "What is your role in all of this?"

Theo's features softened, his gaze holding a mix of remorse and determination. "I understand your skepticism, Damian. But circumstances have led me to this place, just as they have led all of us here."

Vanessa, ever the pragmatic voice of reason, interjected, her tone steady. "Let's set aside our differences for now. There's something about this cube that draws us together. It may hold the answers we seek."

"Vanessa, will you trust this man?" Damian asked.

Her mind had troublesome thoughts after hearing that, and she moved toward Damian, getting closer to him to feel safer.

"Come on, I tried to kill you once, once. This is not that many attempts, you know," Theo said with a laugh.

Damian reached out to Vanessa's ears. "Where's Hazel?"

"Hazel? She's not here... I was with her, but the pirates captured me, and I helped her get away. Why do you think she's here?" Vanessa said.

When Damian heard that, he remembered the prisoner who said he saw a woman matching Hazel's description. He also remembered the feeling of being watched while exploring the temple, and when he turned around, there it was—the prisoner!

"You finally realized it? I followed you all this time," the prisoner said.

He was a muscular man wearing only pants, showcasing his upper body which had many scars.

"How did you know about my friend?"

"Hazel? You were thinking too much about her and someone called Vanessa, so I saw her inside your mind and tricked you."

The situation was getting dire, and Damian had no idea who to trust anymore.