Lord of Caldera

Chapter 175

After descending what would be about seven or eight stories by Earth's standards, Sylas finally reached a flat floor and a long corridor. As he walked forward, the golden patterns on the walls glowed brighter, lighting his path. Five minutes in, a voice echoed around him.

"Seeker of the trial," the voice intoned as the entire chamber lit up as bright as day. In the center appeared a warrior, shrouded in animal skins, his image flickering like a mirage. Sylas blinked in surprise.

"...A hologram?"

Anyone else would have screamed, assuming it was a ghost. But Sylas, accustomed to modern technology, saw it as akin to a 3D projection from a movie.

"If you seek the dragon's heart, then show reverence," boomed the warrior.

"Reverence?" Sylas raised an eyebrow. The warrior, interpreting this as defiance, stood and shouted.

"Yes, reverence! You, who seek my legacy—do you even know who I am?"

Sylas gave an exaggerated "oh" of admiration. "Ohhh." It seemed this projection was interactive, not just a recorded message. Amused, he refrained from answering further, causing the warrior's expression to twist in annoyance.

"Why do you not answer? Speak my name!"

"...Godfrey, the demon slayer," Sylas replied half-heartedly.

"Yes! I am Godfrey!" the warrior declared, pride swelling in his voice.

"I have slain countless demons and struck terror into their hearts. I banished a demonic god from rising to the surface, and I alone killed an ancient dragon. My name is legend; my glory, eternal. Therefore, warrior, show me your reverence! I am Godfrey!"

Sylas stared at the blustering image, his face impassive. It appeared that the hologram had preserved Godfrey's sense of self-importance.

'What an insufferable personality,' he mused. The grandeur of the chamber had hinted at this, but he hadn't expected the extent of Godfrey's vanity. Still, he decided to humor the apparition a bit longer.

Just as Sylas began to bow, Godfrey cut him off with a shout.

"Stop! Do you intend to pay your respects from there?"

"Then...?"

"Ridiculous! How could you dare to stand on the same level as me? Unless, of course, you've accomplished feats surpassing mine!"

Godfrey lifted his chin arrogantly and pointed to a lower area off to the side. Clearly, it was meant for a person of lower status.

"What are you doing?!"

"Isn't it obvious? I'm taking the dragon's heart," Sylas replied. The mechanism beneath the floor was relatively simple, ancient in design. Sylas had encountered enough dungeon traps to understand complex mechanisms easily, and this one, made in an era predating modern dungeons, was no challenge for him.

The intricacies were crude by comparison, and it was just a matter of time before he cracked it.

"There's a lock here," Sylas muttered to himself, studying the mechanism.

Godfrey's holographic image flinched, clearly alarmed. The clanking sounds from earlier had undoubtedly come from this lock.

"With a little tinkering, I could reset it... or just remove it so it can't lock again," Sylas mused aloud.

"Stop! Do you have any idea what you're doing?" Godfrey demanded, a mixture of panic and indignation in his voice.

"Oh, I know exactly what I'm doing," Sylas replied with a smirk, casting a mocking glance at the hologram. "I'm unlocking a mechanism that could've been bypassed by simply bowing to you a hundred times."

"How... how did you know!?"

Godfrey's hologram stared in shock. These mechanisms had been designed specifically for reverence-based activation, but Sylas ignored his question, recalling memories from before his return to this timeline.

'Ragnar spread this information far and wide after the trial, making himself look heroic,' Sylas thought. In the past, Ragnar had concealed all discoveries about the dungeons and chambers he found, but afterward, he repackaged the information into a legendary tale to cement his status. Ironically, that propaganda had given Sylas the clues he needed now.

'Who knew it would help me here,' he mused. The Platinum Council had taken place, but a king had never been chosen in his previous life. However, Ragnar's records on the chamber's secrets had proved useful later. According to the records, Ragnar had bowed a hundred times to honor the "great hero Godfrey," which then opened the path to the dragon's heart.

"Exactly as it was written," Sylas muttered, examining the mechanism's connections.

"So, each bow shifts the gears until they align at a specific point after one hundred repetitions? And if not performed perfectly, the mechanism resets to the beginning."

Essentially, it required a full hundred reverent bows in precise form, without any laxness or mistakes, for the mechanism to trigger. Sylas couldn't help but scoff.

"A thousand years dead and you still want the living to worship you," he muttered.

"Silence!" Godfrey shouted. "I could recount my deeds until the sun sets and rises again! And yet you think me unworthy of a single act of reverence?"

"Your achievements are impressive, but you're just pathetic."

"Pa-pathetic?" Godfrey stammered, caught off guard.