Shota's Isekai NTR Adventure Chapter 1997: Scattered essence (1)

Trailing behind King Lune, I ventured far into the heart of the castle.

Upon our departure, he waved away every single one of his guards.

Noticing this, I sent Klein and the rest of my followers away too.

They appeared reluctant, yet as visitors here, they had no real say in the matter.

After trailing King Lune a short while longer, we reached what appeared to be the castle's innermost chamber.

Surprisingly, this deepest section lacked the expected chill and moisture; instead, a cozy warmth permeated the atmosphere, making it feel almost inviting.

On the surface, nothing suggested this was a snare, though I had no intention of dropping my defenses so easily.

Reaching the corridor's end, we faced a set of massive doors standing before us.

These doors carried an air of uniqueness, not merely from their intricate design.

A closer inspection revealed a peculiar sheen on their surface, indicating they were crafted from an unusual substance that caught the light in an extraordinary way.

Examining them up close, I realized these doors weren't formed from any substance I recognized.

Despite exposure to countless materials through Haley's trade dealings, I couldn't identify this one's origin—it felt like something from beyond this realm.

As we stood before these doors, King Lune abruptly halted and spun around to face me.

I arched an eyebrow at him, puzzled by his actions, but his words truly threw me off balance.

"This is where my path ends. Kindly enter; the ancestor awaits you."

"Huh?"

This was their domain, yet he claimed he couldn't proceed further, as if whatever lay beyond rejected his presence.

For an instant, suspicion of another trap flickered in my thoughts.

Ultimately, I chose to go with the flow and discover the truth.

If all this effort was just for an ambush, so be it—I was committed to following this thread to its conclusion and uncovering their intentions.

With him refusing to join, I didn't pause before shoving the door ahead of me wide. It yielded without a hint of opposition, almost as if it had been eager for my touch in how smoothly it swung open.

Clearly, the presence inside had anticipated my arrival.

Whether that boded well or ill remained uncertain.

Stepping through the open door, I found the chamber unremarkable at first glance. The odd detail was how brightly it was illuminated, despite no visible light sources.

Gazing upward, the glow seemed to descend naturally from the ceiling itself.

Pinpointing the exact origin of this illumination proved elusive.

Taking a few strides inside, the door behind me crashed shut with a sudden force. A gust of air rushed past me from the motion, underscoring just how near it had been.

It was like the force closing it had timed perfectly for my position just beyond the threshold.

Shaking off the surprise, I turned my focus forward.

The room held little besides what looked like a pedestal, but it wasn't the pedestal that drew my gaze—it was the object perched upon it that seized my interest instantly.

This reaction stemmed from the subtle aura of divine energy emanating from it.

Undoubtedly, this blade was the heirloom treasured by the Lune Royal Family across generations.

The faint divine energy enveloping it proved it had once been in the possession of a divine entity. Yet, this energy felt far feebler than that of any relic I'd encountered previously.

It hung on the verge of fading away entirely.

This hardly resembled a artifact bestowed by a living deity.

Rather, it evoked the remnants left by a fallen god.

"Can gods even perish?" The question inevitably surfaced in my mind upon witnessing this.

"You've arrived at last." A voice echoed abruptly, pulling me from my reverie.

I skipped searching for its origin, knowing full well it could only issue from one source.

My eyes fixed directly on the sword atop the pedestal, anticipating what might unfold next.

Following the voice, the sword stirred with a response. A radiance bloomed around it, steadily brightening, though the surge proved brief.

The glow peaked at a faint visibility before detaching from the blade to coalesce into a shape.

Given the limited energy involved, nothing grand could emerge from it.

The energy condensed steadily until it shaped into a tiny orb.