51 Chapter 51, An Old Castle

What appeared before us is a massive black castle that rises up from the scorched earth, its imposing walls stretching high into the sky. The fortress appears ancient as if it has stood here for millennia, its walls worn and weathered by the constant onslaught of demonic winds and searing heat.

As we approached the castle, we can feel the weight of its strange demonic energy pressing down upon us. The walls are thick and imposing, made of black obsidian stone that seems to absorb all light. They are so high that they block out the sky, leaving only a faint red glow that seeps through the cracks in the walls.

Strangely, the nearer we got to the castle, the huger it became, and I am not talking about the size-distance paradox, the castle is really getting bigger as if what we saw from afar was only an illusion of the castle or simply a barrier.

The entrance to the castle is a massive iron gate, rusted and pitted with age. As we looked at this rusted gate, we concluded that this massive castle is unused for a long time.

I turned my head to the silent Hayley and decided to ask.

"Should we go in? or should we just stay out and keep wandering?"

After I finished asking, and my eyes landed on Hayley, I was startled to see her eyes are literally shinning and she is smiling a very bright smile, that it nearly blinded my eyes even in this desolate place, it is as if she is seeing an idol, not an old castle.

"Hey, what's wrong with you?" I asked again, when I saw her still in a daze in her own world, I gently shook her from her shoulder.

"Eh, yes, yes, we should go inside," replied Hayley after Max brought her outside of her thoughts.

Currently, the thoughts that are inside Hayley are very simple.

The ancient castle in front of her looks majestic even if it was in the past, so that means it belonged to someone important, which means, they may find a lot of things to explore inside like books and knowledge.

So, as a person with a large amount of curiosity, Hayley just wanted to drag Max inside the castle, but with great difficulty, she managed to restrain herself and keep her image as a princess good, she just regained her calm expression and removed the silly smile on her face.

"Yes, let's go," said Hayley again with some eagerness apparent in her tone.

Max just nodded his head and didn't comment on her expression.

Max just pushed the gate of the castle in front of him, and the hinges creak in protest, sending an eerie echo throughout the silent halls beyond.

After passing the gates, we found ourselves in a vast courtyard, surrounded on all sides by towering walls. The ground is covered in black ash, and the air is thick with the stench of decay. In the center of the courtyard stands a massive black tower, stretching up towards the sky like a twisted finger.

We walked in the direction of the black tower, but found it completely locked, Hayley wanted to try and punch the doors, but I stopped her in time.

"Why?" said Hayley in an impatient tone.

"Because we don't know what is there in the rest of the castle, when we make sure that the castle is empty, we can come here and try to break the door"

Hearing my reasoning, Hayley just huffed in annoyance but didn't make any more problems, after all, she knows that it is better to be cautious in a place like this.

"Okay," said Hayley.

"Now, let's go inside the castle, and see if there is anything here worth noting."

After that, we made our way through the castle, and we find that it is completely abandoned. There are no signs of life, no sound except for the hollow echo of our footsteps. The walls are adorned with grotesque carvings and eerie tapestries, depicting scenes of strange-looking demons, demonic rituals, and unspeakable acts.

The corridors are dark and winding, leading deeper and deeper into the heart of the fortress. We passed through dusty chambers and abandoned halls until we finally reached large black obsidian gates, that seemed even with the decay of the castle, it seemed as if they have just been cleaned moments ago.

After finding nothing in the rooms in the castle we arrived here in front of these huge gates, we feel a very evil aura coming from behind the gates, the aura seemed to be observing us, waiting for us to push the gates and enter.

I turned to look at the slightly serious Hayley, as right now the face of the excited Hayley is gone, and what is there is a solemn one that is filled with seriousness that didn't match her pretty face.

"Why the long face?" I said with a smile to ease the atmosphere.

"Can't you feel it?" said Hayley after turning her face to me.

"Yes, I felt it from the moment we stepped foot inside the castle," I answered her with a carefree smile, after all being afraid or tense in this situation won't do us any good, it is better to relax a little to be able to meet whatever is coming next.

"Why aren't you tense?" Hayley asked with a puzzled expression on her face.

"Why would I? anyway, this aura has been locking on us since the beginning, so either it is locked inside or it simply doesn't care," I said with a shrug.

"So?"

"So, we still have a chance to get out of here safely," I concluded.

Hayley just sighed, and then nodded to herself.

"Alright, let's see, what is behind this door that can produce such an aura," said Hayley.

I just nodded and started pushing the large gates.

While pushing the gates, I thought to myself, if I haven't leveled up these past few days, I wouldn't have been able to push the gate from its place.

After pushing the two gates aside, what appeared before us is a massive room, with a high ceiling and a raised dais at one end. A large black throne is made of black iron, adorned with spikes and twisted metal at the end of the room.

The source of the strange demonic energy came from this place, as the moment Hayley and I stepped into this throne hall, we got blasted by a wave of malevolence, that wanted to bring out the evilest and ugliest sides of our characters.

After enduring this wave of malevolence after opening the throne room, we walked two steps into the room and, felt a powerful sense of malevolence emanating from the very walls themselves. It is as if the castle itself is alive, a dark and twisted entity that has been left to rot in the fiery depths of Hell for untold ages.

On the large black throne, someone is sitting while emitting a very powerful aura and at the same time releasing an aura of malevolence that exceeded the aura released by the walls of the Throne room.

We just stared at the undefined figure sitting on the throne, and the figure did the same, we stayed in silence for 15 minutes before a male voice came from the figure.

"Welcome to the Original Castle," said the figure.