CHAPTER 311: 311

"Fuckk..."

"Another dark corridor."He cursed stepping in.

Kael moved through the dark corridors of the ruins, his footsteps echoing against the ancient stone floor.

The walls around him were cracked and chipped, but they were still strong, holding stories etched in forgotten scripts and faded murals.

Torches mounted on old iron brackets flickered gently, casting long shadows across the faces of weathered statues and collapsed stone pillars. A cold air hung in the tunnel, thick and damp, filled with the faint scent of blood and decay.

He walked past rooms filled with broken coffins and shattered relics. Strange glyphs were carved into the walls—symbols that seemed to pulse faintly with residual mana. The air grew heavier with each step. Something in this place was watching, breathing, and waiting. Kael could feel it crawling at the back of his mind.

Ahead, he saw four robed figures standing guard, their faces hidden behind cracked wooden masks.

They looked at him silently and raised their weapons, thin rusted blades humming with faint energy. Kael’s lips curled. He didn’t say a word.

In a flash, he flung the chain in his hand. It struck one of them across the chest with a harsh, cracking sound. The man’s body twitched violently. His life force left him instantly, sucked through the chain and into Kael.

Another man charged forward, swinging wildly. Kael ducked low and swept the chain across his legs, breaking his bones with a crunch.

As he fell screaming, Kael raised his hand and slammed the chain down on his head. Silence followed.

A third attacker tried to stab him from behind, but Kael sidestepped, caught his arm, and wrapped the chain around his neck. The man’s body shook as the life force drained out of him in moments. He fell limp, the chain glowing slightly before dimming again.

Kael stood in the center, panting lightly. His injuries were slowly healing. The chain fed him, mending wounds, but he noticed something strange. Unlike his devour ability, this chain did not grow his strength. It simply restored his body. He unwrapped the bloodstained links from his hand and stared at them closely.

"This isn’t just a cursed relic," he muttered. "It’s certainly a demonic artifact. It must belong to the Sin of Gluttony."

His eyes narrowed. The hunger inside him stirred as if something ancient had heard its name. He wrapped the chain tightly around his arm and walked forward again.

The passage opened into a large hall. The ceiling stretched high above, held up by columns carved with strange demonic figures.

Piles of broken bones lay scattered in the corners, and blood stains coated parts of the stone floor. At the far end, there was a pedestal, and on it stood a statue.

"This might be end and centre..But there is no guardian..The four outside were just cannon fodders so what’s going on."

Kael slowed his steps as he approached. The statue was massive, twice his height. It was carved from black stone, shaped like a humanoid woman, but twisted. Her mouth was wide and open, her arms long and clawed. Demonic wings curled behind her, and from her back stretched tendrils shaped like snakes. Her eyes were hollow, but they seemed to glow faintly.

Kael froze. He stared at the statue, his fingers trembling slightly around the chain.

"It’s really her..." he said, his voice low. "This Bitch.."

His teeth clenched. The very presence of the statue stirred something deep in him, a terrible hunger that no food or power could satisfy. He had heard stories. Tales from long ago. This wasn’t just a place of burial. It was a shrine. A shrine for one of the most feared and twisted beings from the old world.

Kael took a step back and glanced around the hall. The silence was unnatural, not even the sound of dripping water. His body tensed. He could feel it. Something was close. Something waiting.

Kael stood at the entrance of the strange shrine, his footsteps echoing faintly across the dusty stone floor. The air inside was colder than outside, filled with a stillness that clung to his skin like a damp cloth. Ancient carvings ran across the walls, glowing faintly with long-lost runes. He narrowed his eyes, trying to feel any presence nearby.

After a few minutes of careful observation, Kael’s expression suddenly changed. His brows furrowed and his breath hitched.

"Why is this empty?" he muttered again as eyes scanning every corner. There wasn’t a single trace of life—not even a breath, not a sound. That didn’t make sense.

This place was the heart of the ruins, the central shrine. There should have been people here guarding it, priests or followers, maybe some sort of curse or resistance. "Did they escape?" he questioned aloud, his voice sounding too loud in the eerie silence.

He took a slow step forward, cautious but curious. His boots tapped against the smooth stone. As he walked toward the center of the shrine, his body tensed.

BOOM!

A deafening noise exploded around him. Bright light burst from the floor. A magic circle flared to life beneath his feet, glowing with ancient runes. The world twisted around him like melting glass. His body remained still, but his mind felt like it was being yanked out. His vision blurred, and his chest tightened.

Kael gritted his teeth. "My soul?" he gasped, feeling himself being pulled away—not separating, but sinking. He was being dragged into something strange and unfamiliar.

Colors swirled around him in a mad dance. Red, violet, deep gold, and black floated and twisted, forming shapes and patterns that didn’t stay still. He floated in this place without weight, his body just a presence surrounded by a realm of shimmering, shifting energy.

He blinked. "This..." he whispered, eyes wide, "Spirit World..."

Everything here felt heavier yet lighter at the same time. The silence wasn’t empty; it hummed with unseen forces, like spirits whispering behind a veil.

Then, a voice broke the calm.

"Hehehe.... Leonard we meet again, young guy."

Kael flinched, his body tensing like a spring. "FUCK!" he shouted, eyes darting toward the source.