Fire Mage (Web Novel)

Chapter 692: Hall of Stars

The skies over the Baston Fortress were engulfed in an ominous mushroom cloud, casting a shadow over the once-thriving battlefield. The explosion's shockwave rippled through the air, carrying the echoes of destruction far and wide.

Evil Goddess Vespera stood within the dust and gazed at the gigantic pit with an evil smirk.

The earlier attack caused the whole Baston Fortress and even the pocket dimension to crumble into dust!

Everyone in the Fortress, including demons and other races, was killed in the explosion and disappeared!

After looking at the gigantic pit for a second, she took out a black marble-like crystal and tossed it upward.

The black marble floated more than five meters high in a blink, released strange divine power, and started extracting the dead souls!

Most souls desperately tried to escape by swimming in the astral realm but couldn't.

Slowly and steadily, all the legendary powerhouses' souls were sucked into the small black marble and completely vanished from the astral plane.

Once the process was done, the black marble slowly descended from the sky and quietly landed on Vespera's palm.

"Hmm, still not enough." As she spoke, her gaze swept past distance in a blink and looked at the nook and corner of the Fourth Dimension.

"Oh? Is that human with Shepherd's sword leaving already? Hmm, should I nip the bud before it blooms? No, I shouldn't mess with Sherperd's creations." She instantly shifted her attention to the other side and looked at the Guardian's room.

"Guardian of this Dungeon is trapped in the core room? It seems some humans entered the core room and messed up. Well, things work better for me then." A ruthless smirk appeared on her face.

"Let's me hunt every soul of this place and return them to the abyss!" Her form slowly turned into a shadow as she spoke and disappeared completely.

...

Far away in the south, a human in a black robe traveled through treacherous mountains and shadowy valleys while flapping his eerie flame wings and soon arrived before a gigantic mountain.

At the base of the gigantic mountain, he saw a familiar tall female standing before the mouth of a gigantic cavern.

Flapping the wings to slow the momentum, Charles made a circle in the air and descended towards the mountain's base.

Before long, he landed right behind Thera and felt a suffocative feeling in the air.

"Did you get what you want?" Thera asked while gazing at the gigantic clouds rising in the sky and taking out the black coffin from her spatial pendant.

"Yes. We should escape before she comes here to search for us." Charles said as he took the black coffin from her hand, stored it in his space ring, and stepped into the eerie dark cavern.

After entering, Charles and Thera navigated through the labyrinth corridors and noticed that the cave was filled with dense, chaotic energy.

"Thera, do you have any information about the next Layer? I heard that the boss of that Layer is a Demi-God, though." Charles asked as he observed the cavern's interior.

"Fifth Layer is a land of undead. But before you enter that Layer, you will be teleported to the 'Hall of Stars.'" She suddenly thought of something and asked.

"Do you have any Star Monarch's Key, right?"

"How did you know?" Charles asked in surprise.

"Well, I've one of them too. Whenever you enter this Dungeon, the guardians in the first Layer will pick a potential explorer and reward them with Star Monarch's Key. It means anyone who possesses this key is powerful enough to move across four layers and enter the fifth one. That's where the real start of the Dungeon is."

"What is the Hall of Stars? Also, what's the use of Star Monarch's Key? And who is this Star Monarch?"

"Hall of Stars is a reward place for this Dungeon. Only those who possesses a 'Star Monarch's Key' will be able to enter that place. Unlike other explorers, you can enter the Hall of Stars after clearing every five layers and will also be able to leave this dimension willingly. And as long as you have a Star Monarch's Key, you can use it to pick any one reward. It's more like a Beginner's reward. As for who this Star Monarch is, it's not a single person but multiple people. I also know nothing much about them. But what I know for sure is that many of their legacies are hidden in this Star Tombs in the form of rewards." Thera deliberated for a moment and then added.

"Also, you'll be given an option whether to leave the Dungeon or continue the journey. I advise you to leave the Dungeon after getting the reward and come back next time to face the Fifth Layer's boss."

"Oh? The boss of the Fifth Layer is that strong?" Charles asked.

"Its strength should be as strong as the Evil Goddess we've met before. Of course, I'm talking about the current weakened Evil Goddess, not her true strength."

While talking, they made multiple turns and soon arrived at the deepest part of the cavern.

A large chamber surrounded by rocky walls appeared before their eyes at the end of the pathway.

At the center of the chamber was a nest of bones and skulls of magical beasts and humanoid beings.

But what caught Charles's attention was a bluish magic circle pulsating beside the nest, gathering spatial energy continuously.

"This must be the portal to the Hall of Stars," Charles muttered solemnly, walking closer.

Although he wanted to explore this cavern and search for any loot, he didn't dare to delay any longer.

Just as he stepped into the magic circle, it sent out rippling spatial waves and enveloped the surroundings in bluish light.

"Then, I think it's time for us to part away." Thera also stepped on the magic circle, took out a jade token with a symbol of the Rising Sun engraved in it, and tossed it to him.

"If you ever go to Elder Plane, visit this place. We might be able to see each other in the future."

Charles barely managed to catch the token and soon felt that the whole surroundings started to spin.

Before he could blink, a powerful suction force pulled him towards somewhere.

Instead of resisting the force, Charles followed it and noticed him passing through a wormhole.

He soon found a crack in the spatial passage and jumped out.

A second later, Charles stood in the middle of a luxurious mansion hall filled with rows of weapons, artifacts, potions, and even strange organs sealed in jars arranged at multiple tables.

Each table was covered in strange force-field-like glass and appeared well protected.

"Welcome to the 'Hall of Stars,' Human from Edhen World. It seems you made quite a mess in the fourth Layer." A strange, childish voice came from above, causing him to look up.

'Rune Language?'

At that moment, a grey goblin dressed in a golden robe descended from above and landed before him.

"You are?" Even though the grey goblin looked only around 120 cm tall and appeared weak, Charles felt a completely different feeling.

'It's far stronger than me. I feel like I'm looking at a boundless void.'

Not bothered by his stare, the goblin revealed a creepy smile with its red teeth and spoke.

"I'm Clerd, an overseer of the Hall of Stars on the Fifth Floor. Do you like you use your 'Star Monarch's Key and get a suitable reward?"

Charles nodded as he took out the rainbow key from his space ring and showed it to Clerd.

"Hmm, it's a key to Star Monarch of Dream Tomb, huh?" Clerd suddenly waved its hand and added.

"You can take one reward from the Third table. I won't reveal any information about the item you select, so choose it wisely." Clerd said calmly and started walking towards the table.

Meanwhile, Charles followed the goblin and soon arrived before the gigantic table covered in a mysterious force field.

He saw seven types of weapons, multiple armor, gauntlets, boots, helms, and even rings and pendants within the forcefield glass. Even though he couldn't inspect them due to the presence of the forcefield glass, he vaguely felt that each was a priceless treasure.

What caught his attention most was a crown with a black gem embedded at the center.

'But I already have enough artifacts.' He slowly turned his attention toward the next section on the table.

More than 50 potion vials were placed in order and looked different from each other.

Unfortunately, he couldn't guess which potion they were and felt troubled.

'If I choose an useless potion, everything will go to waste.'

Slowly, he shifted his attention towards the next section.

It was a section filled with nothing but organs preserved in glass jars.

Among those jars, his attention was instantly drawn to an eerie crystalline eye with countless minute divisions.

'It looks almost similar to my eye but like an upgraded one!' Charles was quick for a second and spoke.

"I'll take this eye."

"Oh? It's the Monarch of Myriarch's Eye. Excellent decision." Clerd said with an impressed look and waved its hand.

A moment later, the large jar containing the crystalline eye disappeared from the table and reappeared in Clerd's hand.

"Take it," Clerd said as it passed the glass jar to Charles.

Meanwhile, Charles took the glass jar from Clerd and stored it in his spatial ring.

On the other hand, Clerd didn't even give him any time to think and asked the following question.

"So, where should you want to go next? Do you want to go to the fifth floor? Or do you want to return to your world?"

"I want to return to Edhen World." Charles didn't hesitate and responded calmly.

Just as he spoke, a strange spatial crack appeared behind him and formed into a bluish portal.

A second later, a powerful suction force appeared out of nowhere and pulled him into the void.

The portal remained open for two more seconds and slowly closed like it never existed.

"If he had learned a little bit about Alchemy, he could've taken the Bloodline of the Monarch of Myriarch. Well, he at least selected the Myriarch's eye as his reward." The goblin shook its head and slowly ascended in the air.

"I should go and greet the desendant of Sun Titan next."

...