Chapter 611: Not Yet

Duri frowned after hearing Vincent's question and shook his head.

"My Automaton can't determine his cultivation. It can only confirm that he isn't displaying any hostility toward us. However, I can't guarantee that he won't attack once he fully awakens."

Vincent nodded in understanding. He didn't lower his weapon, but he also had no intention of attacking someone who hadn't shown any hostility toward them.

"Let's wait a little longer. He might be able to tell us what happened here."

As soon as Vincent finished speaking, the silver-haired man's fingers suddenly twitched. His head slowly lifted as his eyelids began to tremble, and a few seconds later, he finally opened his eyes.

To everyone's surprise, his pupils were a peculiar shade of gold, with several faint silver patterns revolving around them.

The man stared blankly at the cavern for a moment before looking down at his own hands. He clenched his fists several times, seemingly trying to confirm something, before touching his chest with an expression of disbelief.

"After all this time... I'm still alive?"

His voice was hoarse, as though he hadn't spoken for thousands of years.

Agatha exchanged glances with Dianne, but neither of them knew what to say. They had initially assumed that the man was either dead or in some kind of suspended animation. However, judging from his reaction, he seemed just as surprised as they were.

Vincent decided to take the initiative.

"Sir, may I ask who you are? And why were you sealed inside that crystal?"

The silver-haired man slowly turned toward him.

For a moment, his expression remained indifferent. However, as soon as his golden eyes settled on Vincent, his entire body suddenly stiffened.

"...What?"

The man took an involuntary step forward before squinting his eyes. His gaze seemed to penetrate Vincent's body, focusing on something that no one else could see.

"What is that energy inside you?"

Vincent's expression immediately became cautious.

He had encountered people with unusual abilities before, but this was the first time someone had reacted so strongly to his Synthetic Celestial Core without even touching him.

"Are you talking about my energy core?" Vincent asked carefully.

"Your core?" The man repeated those words as if he had heard something absurd. "No, that can't be right. A human shouldn't possess such a thing, let alone use it to contain that kind of energy."

Faviona immediately stepped forward.

"What do you mean by that? What exactly did you sense from him?"

The silver-haired man turned toward her, and his expression changed once again when he noticed her appearance.

"Another one..."

He stared at Faviona's face for several seconds before looking at her chest…

"You're really special. Alchemist? Interesting… Hmm."

He abruptly stopped speaking, as though he had realized that he was revealing too much and looked at Agatha…

"Celestial?"

This person clearly knew something about the Celestials, and judging from his reaction, the information wasn't something Faviona would want to hear.

Unfortunately, before he could ask another question, the silver-haired man suddenly looked toward the surrounding crystal pillars.

His expression changed drastically.

"Wait... How long have I been asleep?"

"No one knows," Vincent answered. "We only discovered this place recently. We came here looking for two people who entered this dungeon several days ago."

"Several days?"

The silver-haired man stared at him in disbelief before suddenly raising his right hand.

A faint golden light appeared around his palm, and the surrounding space immediately trembled. The scattered crystal fragments on the ground began floating into the air, gathering around his hand before forming a small, transparent sphere.

Vincent's eyes widened slightly.

He hadn't sensed any mana fluctuations when the man activated his ability.

It wasn't Mana Art, nor did it resemble any Soul Art he knew.

'What kind of power is that?'

The silver-haired man closed his eyes for a moment before the golden light disappeared.

"...Impossible. Has the world really reached this state?"

He lowered his hand and looked at Vincent again.

"Listen carefully. I don't know how much you understand about this world, but you must leave this place immediately. This isn't an ordinary dungeon, and those crystals aren't meant to preserve the dead."

Everyone's expressions changed.

"What do you mean?" Duri asked.

The man looked around at the countless crystal pillars.

"They're prisons."

He paused briefly before continuing.

"A long time ago, this place was built to contain beings who could no longer be allowed to exist in the outside world. Some were criminals, some were the remnants of destroyed civilizations, and others were so dangerous that even their own races feared them."

Dianne swallowed nervously as she glanced at the nearest pillar.

"Then... are all those people still alive?"

"Some of them are. Others might have already died long ago." The man shook his head. "The problem is that the seals are weakening. If even one of the more dangerous prisoners awakens, this entire dungeon could become a disaster."

Vincent's expression grew serious.

He had already suspected that the dungeon was unusual, but he hadn't expected it to contain thousands of prisoners from different civilizations.

More importantly, if the seals were weakening, their arrival might have triggered something they couldn't control.

"Then why did your crystal break?" Vincent asked. "Was it because the seal had weakened?"

The man looked at the shattered pillar behind him before shaking his head.

"No. My seal was different from theirs. I was placed here to guard this prison."

Everyone immediately turned toward him.

"You're the guardian?" Agatha asked in surprise.

"I was."

The man looked down at his hands, and a bitter smile appeared on his face.

"Unfortunately, I failed in my duty. I should have awakened much earlier, but something interfered with the mechanism that maintained my consciousness."

He then looked directly at Vincent.

"And now, the prison has reacted to your presence."

Vincent's heart skipped a beat.

"Me?"

Before the man could explain further, a deep rumbling sound suddenly echoed throughout the cavern.

Rumble!

The ground trembled, causing several of them to lose balance…

Vincent swiftly turned toward the crystal pillars.

Thin cracks were appearing on their surfaces.

One after another, the seals began to deteriorate, and faint fluctuations of energy spread throughout the cavern.

Duri's face paled as he checked the readings from his Platinum Snake Automaton.

"This is bad! The spatial fluctuations are increasing rapidly. Something is affecting the entire dungeon!"

The silver-haired man gritted his teeth.

"No... This shouldn't be happening yet!"