Chapter 120: The Archons

"Based on these texts, Pontifex Valerius built this labyrinth because he dreamed he was becoming someone else," Sylvia said. "He constructed the Sanctum of Somnus to bury the awakening within him. How fascinating."

Liana pursed her lips.

In her past life, she had also suffered from fragmented dreams of being someone she was not.

She had dismissed them as mere karmic interference, using the unease to fuel her unyielding pursuit of the Dao.

She had sworn an oath to her own soul: *If I do not ascend to the pinnacle, all I am will be but a fleeting illusion.*

Suddenly, a voice echoed in her mind, drifting from the empty void ahead.

"You have finally come..."

Liana froze.

Beside her, Theo felt a distinct chill run down his spine, though he had heard nothing.

The implications of the diary were staggering.

Theo realized why the Abyssal Manticore had recognized Liana.

It had assumed she was dead, implying the guardians of this tomb hunted the Aurora bloodline to prevent the tomb from opening.

Theo gripped his Abyssal Hammer, an intense monologue forming in his mind.

*One day, when my blade pierces the heavens, I will—*

"What are you muttering about?" Sylvia asked, breaking his concentration.

"Nothing," Theo coughed, shelving his chuunibyou thoughts.

He tightened his grip on Liana’s hand to steady himself.

He paused. Why was her hand so cold?

He turned. Liana’s face was as pale as winter snow. Her eyelashes trembled slightly, as if she were trapped in a waking nightmare.

[Target is experiencing extreme karmic and temporal interference. Vitals are obscured by a higher-dimensional anomaly.]

Theo squeezed her hand tighter. "Liana, what is wrong?"

"Did you not hear it?" Liana asked softly.

"Hear what?"

"Someone ahead..." Liana lowered her gaze. "Someone is speaking to me. Calling my name. The voice is growing louder."

Theo recoiled slightly, sweat instantly beading on his forehead.

He had heard nothing at all.

And they were the first group to breach the core of the labyrinth.

Who could possibly be ahead of them?

"Should we retreat?" Theo’s expression turned grave.

He could temporarily pull them into his Abyssal Forge, but exiting would drop them right back into this chamber.

His *Aether-Stride Sigil* was a flawless escape artifact, but it could only teleport a single person.

Sylvia shook her head, pointing back down the corridor. "The thunder is accelerating. It does not matter to me, but that is the lightning-aspected Exarch backing the Crown Prince. He will be here in less than a minute."

Duke Regulus was closing in...

"Then we press forward," Theo decided instantly.

He pulled Liana along, signaling Sylvia to follow.

The trio sprinted toward the end of the passage.

The tunnel suddenly expanded into a vast cavern.

The walls were embedded with thousands of fist-sized lumen-pearls, casting an ethereal glow over the true core of the tomb.

Four colossal pillars, thick enough to require a dozen men to encircle, rose from the cavern floor to support the ceiling.

Each pillar was engraved with intricate Aurora totems, far more majestic than the ones they had seen in the Primeval visions.

At the dead center of the cavern stood a palace crafted from crystal glass.

Its surface shimmered like a mirage, refracting light into dancing auroras across the cavern walls.

The true Sanctum of Somnus.

Around the crystal steps lay over a dozen desiccated corpses.

These were the high priests of the Devourer Cult who had sealed their Pontifex away.

Through the open crystal doors, a crystalline sarcophagus rested, serving as the source of the glowing light.

The celestial anomaly that had hovered over the Ashfall Peaks was merely a projection of this very palace.

"Let us go!" Sylvia charged ahead without hesitation.

"Liana..." Theo looked at the Reborn Empress’s face.

He did not like walking into a trap.

"I am fine," Liana forced a smile. "I am the Aurora Empress. A mere ghost cannot deter me."

"If that voice tries to cause you trouble," Theo flashed a thumbs-up, "the Sovereign will flatten it with this hammer."

Liana stared at him.

The warmth returned to her chest.

"Mmm," Liana nodded firmly.

The two of them caught up to Sylvia and stepped through the crystal doors.

*BOOM!*

A thunderous explosion echoed from the cavern entrance.

The passage they had just exited forcefully ruptured, revealing a colossal hole wreathed in crackling lightning.

The labyrinth’s walls writhed, attempting to mend the breach, but an unceasing storm of golden lightning tore the stone apart anew.

A figure emerged from the dust—

An elderly man with his hands clasped behind his back, strolling into the cavern with frightening grace.

"Your Highness, this is the main tomb," Duke Regulus said. "Its wards are no trifling matter. It required significant effort for this Duke to break them."

"You have my deepest gratitude, Royal Uncle," Crown Prince Aurelius stepped through the breach.

The secret to the celestial anomaly was his for the taking.

"We must secure the sarcophagus before—"

Aurelius’s gaze snapped forward, his pupils contracting into pinpricks.

In the distance, three figures were just stepping into the Crystal Palace.

"It is the Sovereign?!" Aurelius roared.

*BOOM—!*

Another deafening blast rocked the cavern. The opposite wall fractured, revealing Hierarch Malakor and his Cultists.

They looked battered, bloody, and exhausted.

Had the final Nightmare-Walker not ignored them, they might have been wiped out entirely.

"Why did the Abyssal Sage stop responding to my prayers?" Kael muttered, spitting blood.

He looked up and froze.

"Hierarch! The Sovereign is entering the sanctum!" Kael screamed.

"Treason! How dare he claim the vanguard in His Highness’s presence?!" the Praetorian Commander bellowed, drawing his blade and launching himself across the cavern.

The two Cult Exarchs surged forward.

Before the Exarchs or the Commander could reach the steps, the doors of the palace began to move.

With a finalized crash, the doors slammed shut, locking the Abyssal Sword Sovereign inside, and leaving the Archons stranded on the outside...

Through the glass, they could see the brilliant flashes of Duke Regulus’s lightning and the furious strikes of the Praetorian Commander, yet the doors did not so much as vibrate.