Looking at the embarrassed man and woman in front of him, the expressionless Scathach turned and walked towards the interior of the temple, saying, "Meredith, bring them in."
The Crowfeather woman known as Meredith stood up and looked at Rachel, "Come on, there's only the last stretch left."
Sweat soaked her clothes. Rachel looked back at Todd on her back and said anxiously, "The trial can be held at any time. Can you please help my companions first? We heard that there is a potion here called Tyrant."
"
Meredith blinked and said meaningfully, "That's such a coincidence. Whether it's the next trial of fate or the tyrant you're looking for, both are located in the same place."
"where"
"Dark Door"
Following Meredith's footsteps, Rachel entered the hall of the temple.
The place is in ruins, the stone pillars and sculptures have long since collapsed, the marble floor is full of cracks, and only half of the goddess statue in the main hall of the temple is left. From a distance, moss and creeping vines are the protagonists here, and they occupy the space without any suspense.
This once glorious church.
Rachel looked at the devastation in front of her and asked Meredith, "Where are we going?"
The other party did not answer, but stopped in front of the statue, looked up at the disintegrated sculpture, sighed inaudibly, and then continued to move forward.
The three of them followed the overgrown corridor and entered a sloping downward corridor.
Meredith pushed open the stone door at the end, and a spiral downward staircase appeared in the dark space.
Taking a torch from the wall, Meredith walked at the front, lighting the way for those behind her, and casually said, "There are many people like him."
"What"
"Those who seek to become demigods go to great lengths to pass the trials just to try to gain access to the relics of the ancient gods, but very few succeed."
Rachel was stunned for a moment, and suddenly remembered something, "What is the relationship between the trial of fate and the door of darkness you mentioned?"
Glancing back with some surprise, Meredith tilted her head and asked, "You come here, don't you know the legend of the Kingdom of Shadows?"
Finding that the other party really knew nothing, Meredith stepped on the stairs and explained, "The Kingdom of Shadows is synonymous with the land of the underworld in the northern territory. Mainlanders like to call it the Gate of the Dead, while people from the North Island like to call it the Gate of the Dead.
I like to call this place the Kingdom of Heim. It is said that this place used to be the residence of Hel, Queen of the Underworld in the Age of Gods. After the Twilight of the Gods, the original Hades was transformed by the World Tree.
The collapse of the God Realm and the disintegration of the God Realm were divided into two parts, the outer and the inner parts. One part was separated from the God Realm and connected with the real world, and is called the outer world, which is the land under our feet; while the other part is hidden
In an unreachable space, it is rumored that it is the refuge of the gods, which is called the other world. The door that connects the two worlds is called the Dark Door by the world."
"Legend has it that if a person selected by the descendants of the gods can pass the three tests of will, strength and destiny, he will be recognized by the gods and become a half-god and half-human being." Meredith walked to the bottom of the stairs.
On the platform, he pointed to the place deeper under his feet and said softly, "The final test of fate is to let the tester pass through the dark door and return safely."
Rachel placed Todd on the ground, rubbed her sore shoulders, and looked at Meredith with a hopeful look on her face, "Can I ask, how many people have come here over the years, and how many people have successfully passed through?"
"Trial"
Meredith pursed her lips, rolled her eyes, and thought for a while, "There are always hundreds of people coming here every year, but in the years I have followed Master, there are only two people who have actually passed the trial."
Rachel was stunned for a moment, with a complicated look on her face.
Meredith jumped down the last flight of stairs, walked to a corridor wooden door engraved with runes, and waved to Rachel, "Follow me, the Dark Door is just ahead."
Looking at the uncertain future, Rachel gritted her teeth, put Todd on her back again, and followed the pace of the woman in front of her.
Walking in this underground corridor, Rachel looked around. A large number of skeletons and fossils of strange creatures were built into walls and columns. This strange sight made her feel more and more uneasy.
Meredith extinguished the torch, because the light of the flame was no longer needed in the corridor. There were a large number of strange green light spots among the bone fossils. They exuded a gentle and soft light, illuminating the way forward.
.
After passing through this skeletal corridor, a group of three people walked into a wide hall.
Scathach had been waiting early on the sacrificial platform at the end of the hall. When he saw Rachel and Todd appear, he just nodded and motioned for them to come forward.
Rachel was a little hesitant, and her uneasiness about the dark door that could travel to the kingdom of the dead became more and more intense. However, in the current situation, she had no choice but to stumble forward.
Waiting for everyone to stand on the sacrificial platform, Scathach placed his hand on the huge stone totem in the center of the platform and began to chant a long and difficult chant.
Rachel raised her head and looked at the huge totem. The densely packed runes on it shocked her.
Words such as death, nothingness, falling into the abyss, soul imprisonment, and eternity made her widen her eyes in horror, and she unconsciously stepped back.
Meredith pulled her back and shook her head at her without leaving any trace.
A few minutes later, Scathach's prayer also came to the end.
There was a roaring sound throughout the hall. The sound became louder and louder from far to near, like thousands of war horses stepping onto the battlefield at the same time, and countless boulders rolling down from the top of the mountain.
The ground shook, and the dust above her head fell. Rachel stood unsteadily, and fell to the ground at the same time as Todd on her back. Looking at the cracks on the ground, she began to wonder whether this place would be destroyed in the next second.
Collapsed into a living tomb.
Just when Rachel was confused, something even more surprising happened. The cracks in the ground in front of the high platform were getting bigger and bigger. It seemed that there was some force dragging the floor, splitting and shrinking the entire hall.
The true appearance below the hall was revealed.
Rachel lay on the edge of the high platform and looked forward. What she saw in front of her made her forget to breathe.
A huge black hole with a diameter of thirty meters appeared in the center of the hall. The rushing water washed and flowed clockwise. The water level rose higher and higher in the black hole, gradually forming a huge vortex of ocean currents.
There was no blood on Rachel's lips. She grabbed the corner of Meredith's clothes and asked with a trembling voice, "Is this it?"
The latter nodded, "This is the Dark Gate of the Kingdom of Shadows, and it is also the final trial of fate among the three trials."
"You guys are crazy"
Rachel hugged Todd tightly, pressed her cheek against his forehead, stared at Scathach and Meredith with the eyes of a lost madman, and yelled, "This is not the underworld at all."
The entrance is a large whirlpool caused by sea currents. Anyone who enters here will only die."
Scathach looked at the man and woman at his feet expressionlessly, as if he was watching a common scene.
Meredith knelt down, came to Rachel's side, and said calmly, "I have indeed seen many people jump off here and never come back; but I swear by the name of the ancient god, I have also seen two people who are safe.
He returned to the human world and gained the power of the gods. And, to say the least, at this time, he doesn’t have much time left, right?"
Rachel shook her head vigorously and was about to say something else when Todd, the person in her arms, suddenly pulled the corner of her clothes.
The former leaned down and heard the latter whisper in her ear, "Rachel, thank you."
As soon as he finished speaking, Todd used his only intact arm to hold himself up on the ground. Amidst Rachel's heartbreaking cries, he rolled down the high platform and fell into the maelstrom of endless darkness.