Roooar!
The pure white flame coiled around the tentacles of the Outsider Species, incinerating them all.
Keeeeek—
The Outsider Species, engulfed in the white flame, could not regenerate and scattered as white ash.
Seeing this, Zeke realized that the elemental power of the Elemental Sword worked best against the Outsider Species.
"So the Elemental Sword is their weakness."
Roooar—
At that moment, the flickering white flame on Zeke's sword began to surge more fiercely, slipping from his control.
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa!
Zeke gripped Roland tightly and focused his mind, gradually closing the Chamber of Firepower.
"It's still not easy to control."
After barely containing the white flame, Zeke seized the gap where the tentacles were absent and escaped the grand hall.
Kraaaah—
Terrifying cries from the Outsider Species echoed from all directions.
Whoooosh!
Zeke leaped into the air using Dragonʼs Wings and looked down at the ground, unable to hide his surprise.
"What is that?"
The surface of the great square-pyramidal structure he had just fled was entirely wrapped in tentacles of the Outsider Species.
It was not just the structure.
The tentacles enveloped the entire city of Carcosa, devouring it as they continued to proliferate.
Kudududuk—
Zeke realized that tentacles were bursting from underground, swelling their numbers.
At that point, some of the tentacles with eyes spotted Zeke floating in the air.
Kaaaaak—
They let out shrieks, as if signaling Zeke's position to the other tentacles.
The writhing tentacles slowly rose, baring their teeth toward Zeke.
Then they shot toward Zeke in the sky with alarming speed.
Shwaaaak!
Zeke controlled the flickering white flame on his sword and swung at the incoming tentacles.
Roooar!
A massive wave of white flame surged toward the tentacles.
Keeeeek!
The lead tentacles disintegrated into white ash upon contact with the storm of white flame Zeke unleashed.
Kaaaaak—
But the tentacles did not retreat from that alone.
As Zeke tried to fly north, even more tentacles tangled together like a net, blocking his path.
He swung his white flame sword to clear a way, but there were too many; simple sword strikes had their limits.
"Annoying bastards."
That was when something caught Zeke's eye.
Bundles of thousands of tentacles were erupting from the ground.
Zeke focused on their origin point.
"Cutting the branches won't end it. I need to attack their roots."
Kaaaaak—
Zeke slashed at the charging tentacles and reversed course, heading back the way he had come.
He raised Roland and invoked the Elemental Sword's Chamber of Firepower once more.
Roooar!
A massive white flame shot up toward the sky.
Zeke gritted his teeth, determined to control this white flame with his will this time.
At first, the white flames moved erratically, but gradually they began to shift according to Zeke's intent.
Soon, a massive spear of white flame formed above Zeke's head, gleaming with dazzling light.
Zeke shouted as he hurled the white flame spear toward the hole in the ground from which the tentacles were emerging.
"Haaaaah!"
The white flame spear Zeke threw streaked forward, radiating brilliance.
Keeeeek—
The tentacles rushing to block it turned to ash before they could even approach, caught in the heat wave.
The white flame spear flashed as it collided with the ground.
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa—
At the same time, the white flame erupted into a storm, spreading outward and incinerating the tentacles' stems entirely.
Kugugugugu—
A massive heat wave exploded, rising into the sky before scattering in all directions.
And all the tentacles within the heat wave's range turned to ash and dispersed.
Zeke seized the moment while the tentacles vanished in the white flame's heat wave and quickly flew north.
Kwa-kwa-kwa—
In Zeke's wake as he sliced through the air, only drifting white ash remained.
*
Whoooosh!
After shaking off the pursuing tentacles and flying north, Zeke looked up at the sky and froze.
"What is that?"
There was a massive hole in the sky.
A black, deep darkness—an unfathomable abyss—lurked within that hole.
Just gazing into it made Zeke feel dizzy. From the depths of the hole came a long, heavy sound that did not resemble any living creature's cry.
Whoooooo—
Zeke clenched his teeth at the ineffable sound emanating from the hole.
"What the hell is inside there?"
Wary of the unknown entity, Zeke descended from the air and landed in the city district on the ground.
He first hid between buildings and looked up at the hole floating in the sky.
Whoooooo—
The eerie sound reverberated across all of Carcosa.
Zeke invoked Shadow Armor, enveloping his body in shadows and blending into the darkness.
He then moved toward the northern temple the Elder Dragon had mentioned, staying alert for the entity in the hole.
Sssslither—
He could see tentacles moving throughout the city district.
"Are they searching for me?"
Fortunately, blended into the shadows, the tentacles did not seem to detect Zeke.
He moved stealthily to avoid them and headed north.
As Zeke passed through the city district and reached the outskirts of Carcosa, he sensed a change in the scenery.
"What? Why is it ruins only here...?"
The rest of Carcosa looked intact, as if people had lived there until moments ago, but the north was completely different.
It was like a city that had fallen long ago and been abandoned for thousands of years— everything crumbled and weathered.
The only remnants were moss and weeds growing thickly over the traces.
Zeke, cloaked in shadows, entered the ruins.
It felt like stepping into the remnants of a once-glorious civilization.
Zeke recalled what the Elder Dragon had said.
"Carcosa exists yet does not exist, residing in fragments of spacetime."
Then these ruins, unlike the city district, seemed to be a fragment of Carcosa preserving the traces of its fall intact.
Zeke followed the remaining traces northward.
And there, he found the only building still standing.
Like the others, it was crumbling and worn, overgrown with weeds and moss, but it alone retained the form of a temple.
Zeke recognized the faint emblem carved into the temple.
"Emblem of the Sun."
The ancient sun emblem, common in ancient ruins and his long-buried memories, was here too.
Zeke now knew exactly what this emblem signified.
"Primordial Light."
This was the temple of the Primordial Light.
Zeke opened the quest window.
—Main Quest Mission (Linked)—
[Take the sacred relics containing the Primordial Power to the Forgotten Primordial Temple. (No time limit / Temple coordinates activate automatically upon acquiring all three sacred relics.)]
[Find and restore the scattered Seal of the Kingdom of Chronos to its original form. (No time limit)]
[Activate the treasury coordinates of the Kingdom of Chronos using the restored kingdom seal.]
[Main Quest Mission Reward: ???]
[Linked Quest Mission Reward: Title: Heir of the Kingdom of Chronos] The main quest was to bring the sacred relics to this Primordial Temple.
He slowly entered the temple.
Thud!
As his foot touched the temple floor, the sound echoed.
Zeke scanned the dark interior with Dragon Eye.
A long corridor stretched inward.
"It's much larger inside than it looks from outside."
He recalled the Tower of Infinity in Nirvana, which appeared small from outside but held infinite space within.
The long corridor ended, opening into a grand hall in the center.
Zeke examined the worn bas-reliefs carved into the hall's walls. "This is...?"
Many were reduced to mere traces, but Zeke spoke to the system.
"System, can you restore this content?"
In response to Zeke's question, the system replied.
[Scanning the content. Cross-referencing with stored bas-relief murals from other ruins allows for 85% restoration.]
"Really? Then start the restoration."
The system scanned the worn bas-reliefs, analyzed the traces, and began filling in the missing parts by referencing the bas-reliefs from other ruins Zeke had stored.
Soon, a system message appeared.
[Restoration complete.]
When Zeke looked at the bas-relief mural again, the system's restored content overlaid it.
He carefully examined the restored bas-relief mural.
The mural showed an Emblem of the Sun floating at the highest point, with countless shooting stars spreading downward like meteors falling to earth.
Zeke thought about where he had seen this scene before.
"Ah, it's the one from the ruins where the ark was."
He remembered saving the bas-relief mural on the wall when he entered the ruins in Death Valley to find the sacred relic.
At the time, the abstract, symbolic image had been too vague to understand.
But now, Zeke nodded as he looked at it.
"It symbolizes the constellations separating from the Primordial Light."
According to the Elder Dragon, the constellations were avatars of the Primordial Light, tasked with aiding mortal creations using his power.
But over time, the constellations rebelled against their creator, the Primordial Light, and stole his power.
The bas-relief mural depicted this symbolically throughout.
As Zeke examined other parts, he spotted another familiar image.
The mural showed a massive bird with spread wings embracing the sun in its body, spewing fire in all directions.
"This was the emblem on the ark."
Zeke stared at it, suddenly thinking the bird resembled Raven, the phoenix.
"But a bird swallowing the sun. What does that mean?"
Unable to figure it out immediately, he moved to the next scene, scanning the restored bas-reliefs.
Most depicted what the Elder Dragon had told him about the Primordial Light.
Then, something particularly caught Zeke's eye.
"That is...?"
There was an incongruous image in one corner of the bas-relief mural.
The image showed a monstrous entity with sharp teeth, grotesque and bizarre features, and tentacles extending in all directions.
"Outsider Species?"
The Outsider Species emerged from a hole in the sky.
Zeke recalled the hole torn in Carcosa's sky earlier.
"Could someone have opened a Gate in Carcosa to summon the Outsider Species?" He wanted to see more details, but unfortunately, the latter part was not fully restored.
At that moment.
Rumble rumble—
As Zeke examined the bas-relief mural, he felt a sudden vibration throughout the temple.
"Another Outsider Species intrusion?"
Turning to check, a crack formed in the center of the grand hall's floor, revealing a spiral staircase descending below.
Thud!
Once the staircase fully emerged, a message appeared before Zeke's eyes. [The Primordial Temple has detected the title 'He Who Inherits the Radiant Light.'] Zeke realized the temple was guiding him.
"I guess I have no choice but to go down."
He slowly descended the newly formed spiral staircase in the floor.
After passing the long staircase and stepping onto solid ground, Zeke looked ahead with Dragon Eye.
A long, narrow corridor stretched out.
He walked forward along it.
After some time, a massive door appeared ahead.
With no visible handle, Zeke placed his hand on it. As if sensing him, the door opened on its own.
Kugugugugu—
Zeke could not hide his surprise at what lay beyond the open door.
"This isn't ruins."
The interior was adorned with colorful tiles similar to the central structure he had seen earlier, lit by bright lanterns on all sides.
Unlike mana lamps, the soft, gentle lights soothed the mind.
"Is this the true Primordial Temple?"
Zeke entered deeper into the temple, looking around.
Passing through a doorway framed by two pillars, he saw a massive Emblem of the Sun carved into one wall.
Beneath that wall, Zeke discovered an unexpected device.
"What is that?"
A yellow crystal floated gently within the device.
It was the Heroic Spirit Projection Device he had seen in Kaisir's resting place and the Sword Saint's ruins.
As Zeke approached, the device shimmered with light.
Whoooong—
Intense light enveloped the entire temple.
At the same time, the form of a robed figure materialized before Zeke.
He was a tall man over two meters, with long hair cascading down.
Holding a staff, he appeared to be a mage.
Zeke drew Roland and tensed, but the man lifted his head, looked at Zeke, and spoke.
"I pay my respects to your journey thus far, Zeke Draker."
Zeke's eyes gleamed warily as the heroic spirit knew his name.
The mage took another step forward and said,
"My name is Atrahasis. Others call me the Great Sage."