Chapter 454 The Mirror Lake and the Temple

The two of them had been walking underground for a long time.

Hulim Heyerar felt they must have gone at least ten thousand meters deep, yet there was still no end in sight.

"......Don’t ignore me~ I really am sincerely apologizing here."

On top of that, a certain elf had been chattering away nonstop the entire way.

"Hmph."

Hulim simply turned her head to the other side, refusing to look at her.

"Sniffle. My heart’s broken into pieces."

Hulim shot Irus a quick glance, but didn’t respond.

She wasn’t falling for that act again!

Just then—

The light up ahead suddenly shifted.

"Ah! We’re here!"

Now that their destination was in sight, Irus dropped the jokes and quickened her pace slightly.

Before long—

A vast underground Mirror Lake came into Hulim’s view.

The huge dome and surrounding walls were studded with ore crystals emitting blue light. The calm lake surface, smooth as glass without a single ripple, reflected the blue glow all around, like a massive flawless sapphire.

It was truly a dreamlike sight.

But—

At that moment, what had captured Hulim’s attention was not the ethereal lake.

It was a temple standing on a small island in the center of the lake.

She had seen this temple before......

"Well? Now that you see it, everything makes sense, doesn’t it?"

"......"

Hulim looked up at the grinning elf in front of her.

Finally, she couldn’t hold back the questions burning in her mind.

"Why is there a Temple of the Forbidden Monoliths here? And why would you—"

"Alright, alright~."

Irus quickly cut her off.

"I know you have a million questions. I’ll explain everything, promise."

"First off—Hulim, did you really think the Forbidden Power you obtained was the only one of its kind?"

"......"

"Then you’re sorely mistaken! There are far more than just one......"

"It all happened a very long time ago."

"Back then, Himril was still in its infancy, and everything was in chaos. A meteor suddenly fell from the heavens into this world. As it entered the atmosphere, it split into seven pieces, transforming into seven monoliths that scattered across the four corners of the land."

Stolen novel; please report.

"Lord Terra gathered them up and spent years researching their secrets—but in the end, he found nothing. Well, that’s only to be expected. This kind of power is impossible to comprehend through study. And it couldn’t have descended upon this world by coincidence—it must have come for a specific purpose."

"?"

"Anyway, after his research failed, Lord Terra feared that their power would destabilize the world. So he sealed each of them away separately."

"One was hidden in each of the continent’s four cardinal directions—east, south, west, and north. The other three were contained within special artifacts and stored in Tiramsuin."

"The one you acquired earlier was the monolith from the southern continent. And the one standing before you now is the one from the west."

"Alright, if you’ve got that all down, let’s head inside! In one fell swoop, we’ll claim that power for ourselves! Yay~!"

Irus pumped her fist in the air, cheering enthusiastically.

"This is not ‘yay’ worthy at all!"

Hulim retorted loudly, exasperated.

"If you knew all this from the start, Irus, why didn’t you tell me sooner?!"

"Uh...... Now that you mention it, why did I keep it a secret?"

A bead of cold sweat slid down Irus’s cheek.

She tapped her chin, then stuck out her tongue sheepishly.

"Sorry, I forgot~!"

"Don’t try to brush this off! I know you only did this because you thought it would be fun, didn’t you?!"

"Uh......"

More cold sweat dripped down her forehead.

This kid was getting harder and harder to fool......

"Fine, it’s not like it’s a big deal anyway. What I’m really curious about is—do you know the true origin of these Forbidden Monoliths, Irus?"

As she spoke, she fixed her gaze intently on Irus’s emerald-green eyes, as if to say don’t even think about dodging this question this time.

Irus’s eyes darted around nervously, then she shook her head helplessly.

"I wish I could tell you the truth, but unfortunately...... I don’t know the full story either."

"Huh? But earlier you said—"

"Everything I told you came from the World Tree. After all, it can’t very well hide something this dangerous buried right beneath it without filling me in, can it?"

"But back then, the World Tree only told me that these powers hail from the most ancient forces known as the Primordial Forbidden Ones."

"They are beings that even the World Tree itself fears deeply. No one can study or control them. And their appearance here cannot be meaningless—they must have a purpose."

"That purpose could be to seek out a certain object, a certain lifeform...... or perhaps something less tangible."

"To be honest, I was dying of curiosity back then. I wanted to ask exactly what they were."

"But the World Tree warned me not to pursue the truth. Not to try and dig into what lies behind them. Because merely knowing of their existence is dangerous enough. Even speaking their names could draw them here directly."

"That’s why it wouldn’t tell me more. It couldn’t tell me. There was no way it could."

"......"

Hulim fell silent, taking a long moment to process everything she’d just heard.

Then she murmured unconsciously.

"......Primordial Fury."

That was right—the true name of the power in her mind was the same: Primordial.

But if this was the power of some terrifying forbidden entity, why hadn’t she attracted its attention?

Or was it because this was just the name of the ability itself—not enough to catch the eye of the being who created it?

"Shh——!"

Irus quickly put a finger to her lips, her expression suddenly tense.

"Hulim, don’t say that out loud! It’s far too dangerous!"

"Ah, sorry."

Hulim apologized hastily.

"Don’t ever do that again, okay?"

Irus warned her, though she couldn’t help but dwell on Hulim’s words.

Primordial Fury...... Could that be the true name of—oh no, no, no! Don’t think about it!

"?"

Hulim tilted her head in confusion as she watched Irus shake her head vigorously for no apparent reason.

After a moment’s thought, she said,

"It should be fine, though, right, Irus? I’ve said it out loud plenty of times before."

"You—"

Irus sighed, completely at a loss.

"I don’t know what’s special about you, but if you’re the reason those Forbidden Powers appeared in the first place, then you must have some kind of unique trait. So it’s best that no one else gets the same idea as you did just now. I’m not just saying this for your sake—I’m saying it for everyone else’s."

Myself? Special?

Does she really think so......

Other than being a bit lucky, Hulim couldn’t think of anything that set her apart from anyone else.

"Alright, I get it. I won’t bring up this topic casually ever again."

"Good girl, good girl~!"

Irus smiled warmly and ruffled Hulim’s hair approvingly.

"......"

Slap!

Hulim silently swatted her hand away.

Irus didn’t mind in the least. Instead, she raised her hand and pointed toward the temple.

"Alright, you know everything you need to know now. So—"

"Go claim that power for yourself, young lady!"

"Huh? Wait a minute—isn’t this power supposed to be extremely dangerous?"

Hulim stared at Irus in shock.

"You just spent ages telling me how terrifying these powers are, and now you’re telling me to go take it for myself?!"

Is that even logical?