Chapter 679: [Bonus - 6/9] The Sorrowbound.

Chapter 679: [Bonus Chapter 6/9] The Sorrowbound.

Staring at the gate, Thoren held his breath as he carefully examined the enormous structure standing before him.

The great iron gate had been set directly into the surrounding stone, its thick frame embedded so deeply that it was difficult to tell where the metal ended and the ancient rock began.

Rust covered much of its surface, spreading across the iron in uneven patches.

Strangely, despite its massive size, the gate stood partially open, leaving a narrow passage wide enough for a person to pass through.

Thoren could not tell whether someone had deliberately left it open or whether the passage of time had caused the ancient mechanism to deteriorate.

Beside the gate stood a massive lever as tall as a grown man. Its thick iron handle extended upward from a heavy mechanism embedded in the stone floor, and its surface was covered in the same rust that coated the gate.

The lever appeared to control the opening and closing of the enormous gate.

As Thoren continued examining the gate, a word suddenly appeared in his mind.

’The Sluice Gate.’

Having grown accustomed to these strange words appearing whenever he encountered something important, Thoren merely considered the name for a moment before shifting his attention beyond the gate.

A sluice gate was something used to control the flow of water, which made sense considering the black water that had followed him throughout the Ossuary.

However, he could not understand why such a massive gate had been constructed in a place buried deep beneath the earth.

He pushed those questions aside and looked beyond the partially opened gate.

Beyond the iron gate, the trough emptied into a vast cavern.

For a moment, Thoren simply stared at the enormous, empty space before him.

The cavern stretched far beyond the reach of his vision, its dark interior swallowing the faint light cast by his Soul Lantern of Eternal Crypt.

The sight left him feeling strangely uncomfortable. After everything he had encountered inside the Weeping Ossuary, the emptiness ahead seemed almost unnatural.

His eyes slowly shifted from the vast cavern to the massive lever beside the gate. He studied its rusted surface, wondering about its importance.

Taking a deep breath, Thoren stepped through the iron gate.

The moment he crossed the threshold; the enormous scale of the cavern became even more apparent.

It was circular and considerably wider than the nave he had passed through earlier, with its ceiling disappearing into an impenetrable darkness far above him.

The walls curved around the vast chamber, their surfaces barely visible beneath the pale illumination of his lantern, while the sound of flowing water echoed through the immense space.

At the center of the cavern was a lake of black water, its dark surface stretching across the enormous chamber like a bottomless pool.

A narrow stone ledge surrounded the lake, following the curve of the cavern walls. A causeway made entirely of fused bones extended from the ledge toward a small island at the lake’s center.

The bones had been pressed together so tightly that they formed a solid path.

On the island stood a stone cairn, a mound of carefully arranged stones that rose above the surrounding ground.

Set into its surface was a plate of bone, its pale color standing out against the dark stone.

However, what disturbed him most was the sight of the bones scattered along the stone ledge.

They lay everywhere; some piled against the cavern walls while others rested dangerously close to the edge of the black lake.

Most had been picked clean, leaving nothing behind but pale, lifeless remains. Thoren could not determine how long they had been there.

There were no visible creatures, no movement on the surface of the lake, and no obvious threat that could explain the disturbing scene before him.

Yet, Thoren could not shake the feeling that something was terribly wrong.

"What in the world is this place?" Thoren murmured, his face solemn.

He took a deep breath to calm his racing heart as he approached the lake, keeping his attention fixed on the black water and the narrow causeway leading toward the island.

His Soul Lantern of Eternal Crypt floated above him, spreading its pale light across the stone ledge, but the illumination seemed unable to penetrate the depths of the lake.

The water remained dark and opaque, concealing whatever might lie beneath its surface.

Thoren slowed his steps, carefully examining the surroundings as he tried to determine whether he should proceed.

Just then, another word appeared in his mind.

’The Sorrowbound.’

Thoren chewed on the words for a moment, considering their implications.

The name alone was enough to make him uneasy, especially after everything he had experienced inside the Weeping Ossuary.

Now, he had encountered another place with a name that sounded like a warning.

’This place is no good...’ he thought as his mind raced.

His gaze moved from the lake to the scattered bones, then toward the small island at its center.

He could not understand why the place had been given such a name, but he had no desire to discover its meaning through personal experience.

’I need to retreat...’

For once, retreat seemed like the most sensible choice.

However, just as Thoren began considering his retreat, his eyes locked onto the bone plate embedded in the stone cairn at the center of the island.

He stared at it for several moments, his expression gradually changing as an unfamiliar feeling stirred within him.

"What is that?" he muttered, furrowing his brows.

He could not explain why the bone plate had suddenly captured his attention, nor could he identify anything particularly unusual about it from such a distance.

Nevertheless, the moment he looked at it, his instincts began warning him that the object was important to him.

It was not an ordinary feeling of curiosity.

Something deep within him seemed to recognize the significance of the bone plate, urging him to approach it even though his reason warned him against doing so.

Thoren hesitated, his eyes moving between the object and the black lake surrounding the island.

He knew better than to trust every strange feeling he experienced inside the Weeping Ossuary.

Yet, the feeling refused to disappear.

Without further hesitation, Thoren stepped onto the stone ledge.

And in that moment, something moved.