Chapter 403 - 10: The Temple of the Water God and the Turn of an Era

The family’s secret treasury wasn’t magnificent and resplendent like in the legends. After all, ordinary wealth wasn’t worth protecting with a Great Array of this level.

In reality, most of what was stored in the underground chamber were the research notes of past Patriarchs, precious Forbidden Magic, and various extremely valuable Extraordinary Materials and Divine Objects... All in all, it was nothing more than a few bookshelves and storage cabinets. At a glance, it looked utterly ordinary.

Elias didn’t hesitate. After taking a deep breath, he walked forward to the nearest bookshelf—the one that showed signs of recent access. He whispered the secret phrase, "Please give me the ’Maze Exploration Log’."

As he spoke the secret phrase, water-like ripples spread across the seemingly ordinary bookshelf. Then, a small logbook materialized on a high shelf. Elias stood on his toes to retrieve it.

The bookshelf was enchanted with a special Preservation Magic. The books within could only be retrieved by using the correct secret phrase. Any attempt to take them by force would cause the entire bookshelf to self-destruct.

[Maze Exploration Log]

Staring at the large, neat words on the cover, Elias skipped the first half of the book, quickly flipping to the last few pages to start reading from the final log entries.

[September 19th - Underground Conditions: Damp - Temperature: 29 degrees

Exploration of the seventh floor is mostly complete. The three Elite Tier Magical Beasts that were roaming the area have all been exterminated. The exploration team is now searching for the entrance to the next floor, and everyone is in high spirits.

The deeper we go, the higher the temperature and the more normal the elemental conversion becomes. It seems the rumor circulating around the world—’that the Maze holds a truth related to the apocalypse’—is not just baseless talk after all. At the very least, even if the surface is truly engulfed by the Gray Mist, we can still retreat underground to eke out an existence for a while longer. Every extra day we live is a day gained.]

Elias was very familiar with this handwriting. It was the penmanship of the previous Duke Naisel. Having frequently exchanged Secret Magical Letters with the man, Elias was certain this was the Duke’s authentic work and not a forgery.

’They already explored down to the seventh floor and were even looking for the path to the eighth?’ Elias thought, a note of admiration in his voice. He continued reading. "And it looks like they were close to finding the passage to the eighth floor. Father truly was the most brilliant Caster the family has seen in the last several hundred years!"

’Even though he died unexpectedly while trying to break through to the Near-God Powerhouse level, it was a death most people would never even get a chance to attempt. It’s like being a Crown Prince for sixty years—while certainly tragic, most people never get the opportunity to be Crown Prince in the first place,’ the young man thought, trying to find some solace in his sorrow.

He continued to read.

[September 22nd - Underground Conditions: Damp - Temperature: 31 degrees

We’ve finally reached the eighth floor. The entrance to this level of the Maze turned out to be an underground hot spring. If I weren’t a Caster with a water specialization, it would have been incredibly difficult to find. Yarn and I worked together to set up a camp. From now on, the seventh floor can be opened to other adventurers.

Yabo, however, said he thought he heard a voice calling to him, but neither I nor anyone else heard a thing. All sorts of strange things happen in the Maze, so an Auditory Hallucination is hardly the most surprising of them. We advised him to rest in the camp for a while, and had someone else take his place on point for the time being.]

[September 23rd - Underground Conditions: Extremely Damp - Temperature: 30 degrees

Yabo has vanished without a sound. A thick fog suddenly rolled in on the eighth floor of the Maze, a mist that can actually block magical Perception. The dense moisture in the air makes it feel like I’m underwater.

We soon discovered Yabo’s tracks. After following them cautiously, we came across a vast, peculiar complex of man-made palatial ruins.

The ruins look like a Divine Hall, but not in the style of the Earth Father God. The carvings depict strange, wave-like patterns instead of majestic mountains. The inscriptions are in an ancient script we don’t recognize—a style we’ve never encountered in the first seven floors of the Maze.

We found an unconscious Yabo in the center of the main hall. His body was undergoing a strange transformation—layers of what looked like fish scales were appearing on his skin. Yarn said it’s a form of bloodline regression, but Yabo’s ancestors have lived alongside the Naisel family for dozens of generations. When could he have acquired such a peculiar bloodline?]

Elias knew of Yarn and Yabo; they were members of the Duke’s personal Maze exploration team.

But with the Duke’s death and the near-total annihilation of the Naisel family, his personal exploration team had been presumed wiped out as well. Even the team members’ families had been killed during the great purge by the Mysterious Organization.

’But looking at it now, something didn’t seem right?’

"Fish scales..." The word reminded the young man of the members of the Mysterious Organization who had invaded the sanctuary. There were indeed Fishmen among them. He frowned. ’What’s the connection?’

Elias continued to read.

[September 24th - Underground Conditions: Extremely Damp - Temperature: 32 degrees

Yabo has awakened. He’s in a daze, constantly muttering to himself, ’The time has come,’ and ’This is the call of a God.’ He’s completely unresponsive, no matter how we try to communicate with him. The fish scales on Yabo’s body are also growing more numerous. He looks more like a fish-headed Fishman than a human.