Chapter Sixteen: The Carved War

  While we flew together across the sky, the wind howled around us, and the heavens stretched before us in a strange, unfamiliar way. Our goal was clear, but the path leading to it remained full of challenges.

  Mia flew beside me, and our movements were in harmony, as if we had been learning to fly together for years.

  Still, my mind wasn’t focused on battle or victory. What truly occupied me was something else: the inheritance.

  It was this inheritance that led me to choose this particular region for my flying practice—for within it lies a power we might need in the future.

  In this very place, the protagonist of the third novel in the series made his discovery, and it was titled The Ancient Legacy. Unfortunately, I died before finishing the tenth chapter of that new novel which was released by the author of the series. Nevertheless, the ten chapters I read have now become of great value to me.

  That protagonist had built a time machine and used it to travel to the past—to our present. He is someone from the future, and he will be one of my first targets… because my goal is to seize his opportunity.

  I knew the inheritance lay beneath the cliff, hidden inside a concealed cave. After a brief moment of thought, I turned toward the cliff, my mind made up.

  “Mia, follow me… I’ve found something really exciting!”

  This moment… was pivotal in our journey.

  ?We landed at the entrance of the cave, which looked exactly as it was described in the novel, specifically in the chapter that deals with the ancestors of the vampire lineage. If I’m not mistaken, this cave might be hiding something deeply rooted in this world — a place where we could gain power, or perhaps secrets capable of changing the course of events.

  ?I stepped toward the entrance and said in a low voice, “Mia, be careful. There’s something interesting here… Let’s check it out.”

  ?The cave’s entrance was dark, half-hidden between climbing roots and rocks eroded by time, as if nature had tried to bury it over the centuries, yet it remained standing, waiting for someone to rediscover it.

  ?As soon as we passed through the entrance, the temperature around us dropped, and the air turned into the scent of ancient soil and lingering moisture, mixed with the fragrance of forgotten ages. The inner walls were covered in primitive yet precise drawings, depicting strange scenes: rituals, battles, human faces with half-fangs, and creatures that didn’t quite resemble humans.

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  ?Carvings filled nearly every corner — faces etched into stone, eyes open as if watching the entrants, and hands extended toward the ground as if asking for something… or warning against it.

  ?Every step we took echoed faintly, as if the cave were breathing with us. A heavy feeling began to creep into my chest; not fear, but awe… as if the place held an ancient awareness.

  ?It wasn’t an ordinary cave. It was a witness to a long history… and perhaps, to the beginning of the end.

  This is the same cave where the hero obtained the inheritance in the third novel.

  ?It is a mysterious place, full of history and ancient shadows, and it may have a great impact on our future.

  ?In the story of “William,” the vampire king is mentioned, and he is an exceptional character.

  ?However, according to the plot, he was not a king from the beginning… but an ordinary man until one opportunity changed the course of his life.

  ?He was exiled twenty years before William’s birth, and one day he entered this cave by mistake…

  ?There, he found an inheritance that belonged to a true ancestor of the vampires.

  ?That inheritance granted him power that was not available to humans, so he emerged from the cave as the first vampire king and the founder of their lineage.

  According to the novel, the King of the Vampires was at the Ascension Realm stage, and in terms of power, his strength was equivalent to that of the Spiritual Tyrant Realm.

  Anyway, before I died, the author released the third novel of the series, titled “The Heir.”

  The protagonist of this novel is the Vampire King, who was mentioned in William’s story.

  The events of the novel take place in two different time periods, due to the protagonist possessing a time-traveling device.

  This cave might be the key to a deeper understanding of what is happening in this world.

  I turned to Mia, who was still a bit hesitant, her eyes filled with worry.

  “Mia, is everything alright?”

  Mia replied, “Yes, I’m fine. Just make sure you’re ready.”

  As we ventured deeper into the cave, the darkness was absolute, but with every step we took, a faint glow began to shimmer from the walls.

  There were strange drawings on the rocks, forming intricate patterns, and ancient symbols adorned the walls from every side.

  Everything in this place pulsed with mystery and unease, as if guarding a buried secret.

  The cave radiates a strange kind of power, as if every corner whispers an ancient tale of battles and wars fought in forgotten ages.

  After walking for nearly three minutes, we found ourselves before a massive chamber, at the center of which stood a colossal sculpture and mural images depicting the beginning of a cosmic battle.

  The sculpture told the story of five Ancestors, ancient beings born from the womb of chaos and nothingness, each possessing unique and unparalleled powers. The images showed them in the midst of a bloody struggle for complete control over the universe.

  These Ancestors are:

  ? The Ancestor of Humans

  ? The Ancestor of Beasts

  ? The Ancestors of Dragons

  ? The Ancestor of Demons

  ? And finally, the Ancestor of the Phoenix. Fire

  The Ancestor of the Phoenix. Ice

  These ancestors ruled the universe in an ancient time, but they were not united.

  The images showed the chaos that arose between them due to their struggle for power, which developed into a devastating battle that tore the balance of the universe apart and caused the disappearance of the energy of chaos, which had been the source of their absolute power.

  “This place… tells a history we’ve never heard of before,” I said in awe, my eyes wide open as I gazed at the details of the sculpture.

  But the story didn’t end there.

  The cave continued narrating even older and deeper events…

  After the disappearance of the energy of chaos, new energies appeared across the universe.

  Though they were not as powerful as chaos, they were enough to form a worthy alternative.

  Energies appeared such as:

  ? Qi Energy

  ? Spiritual Energy

  ? Mana

  Each of these energies brought new potentials, and the creatures born from the Ancestors—as well as other beings that appeared from them—adapted to their properties, thus beginning a new era of power and evolution in a world that never stops changing.

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  (Number of words in this chapter: 1,221 words)

  Best regards,

  [Ss1000101]

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