They led him through hallways Victor recognized from previous diplomatic visits when relations had been less strained. But then they turned toward a deeper section of the castle he'd never seen before despite multiple visits. Stairs descending into depths that shouldn't exist beneath the castle's foundations. Guards posted at intervals who retreated when seeing Goldcrest nobles making signals that this was an authorized entry.

They descended further through a long dark tunnel that seemed to go on forever, carved from rock.

"Here," the noble said finally, stopping before a massive door of ancient stone carved with symbols Victor didn't completely recognize despite extensive education in historical scripts.

They opened the door with the sound of the enormous heavy blocks reinforced with mana being dragged across the stone floor. Revealing darkness that descended beyond what sight could reach even with mana-enhanced vision.

"You may explore it," the noble continued with a tone that suggested this permission cost him something personal. "But don't attempt to extract what's below. It's not possible anyway... And understand that any damage to the structure will be considered a hostile act."

A barely veiled threat that carried weight of genuine consequence.

Victor laughed once without humor and nodded acknowledgment. "Understood."

He descended with ten of his men while keeping a tight formation. The other ten remained above as security, ensuring the exit remained open and unobstructed in case rapid retreat became necessary.

♢♢♢♢

THE DESCENT

After the long tunnel…

He saw what he'd come expecting to see based on Selphira's descriptions.

The door.

Massive structure at the chamber's far end, easily fifteen meters tall and ten meters wide. Made from material that wasn't quite stone and wasn't quite metal but something in between that reflected light in ways that suggested it was still active despite its apparent age.

Three indentations were visible even from the distance. One circular depression and 2 that looked the same as the twin heart artifacts arranged in a triangle pattern, the central one exactly the right size to hold a Platinum-rank core.

They had very likely fought something like the Draconic Wolf too…

Just like the door beneath Starweaver territory.

Victor approached slowly while his men fanned out to secure the chamber's perimeter.

As he got closer, he could see the details that made this door different from any normal construction. The way the material seemed to pulse faintly with internal light. The runes carved into its surface that were more complex than anything they could make. The sense of power dormant but not dead.

But the door was long open and something was missing…

The crystallized hearts.

Like the ones Sirius and Orion had found.

Like the ones that had cost Lykea and Lyzea their lives.

They weren't there.

So if Victor wanted to find them… He could only descend.

The first chamber was large but not as large as Victor had expected based on descriptions Selphira had provided about the ruin beneath Starweaver territory.

But it was substantial enough to be an impressive, cathedral-like space carved from solid rock.

Empty now though. The Goldcrest faction had removed any prizes that had been here originally, claiming rewards for their efforts in clearing the ruin.

But the architecture remained as a permanent testament. The walls carved with runes that told obscure stories of an ancient civilization with capabilities modern tamers could only dream about. Symbols that repeated in patterns that almost seemed to have meaning if you stared at them long enough, like a language you should be able to read but couldn't quite decipher.

"Continue," Victor ordered while making mental notes about everything observed.

They descended through the connecting passage to deeper levels.

The second chamber was larger than the first, following the pattern Selphira had described from her true "Sirius's past" investigation. Scaling in size as you descended, as if each level was designed to be more impressive and more intimidating than the one above it.

Psychological architecture meant to awe and overwhelm intruders.

Third chamber showing more elaborate carvings.

Fourth with a ceiling that rose higher than the castle's main hall.

Fifth chamber where the scale became genuinely impressive…

All empty of prizes but preserved in a structure that was built intended to last millennia.

Victor took mental notes, comparing with what Selphira and her brother had reported about the Starweaver's similar ruin. The accounts matched almost perfectly in ways that couldn't be coincidence. Same progression of size. Same architectural style with those distinctive arches. Same symbols repeated across chambers.

These ruins had been constructed by the same civilization without question. Probably at the same time as part of a coordinated building project. Following the same master design that had been replicated across multiple locations.

The question was why?

What purpose had these underground complexes served?

The sixth chamber showed signs of battle that the Goldcrest's exploration had paid dearly. Marks on walls...

This is where the price for the Goldcrest started climbing… spilled blood and lost members to gain access to what waited below in deeper chambers.

Seventh chamber. Eighth chamber. Ninth chamber.

The chambers grew in ways that defied normal architectural principles. The ninth was already a vast underground space that shouldn't be structurally possible yet existed anyway.

And then they reached the tenth chamber.

It was enormous beyond anything Victor had anticipated. Underground cathedral carved from living rock too. An organic architecture that blurred the line between natural formation and deliberate construction.

Victor stopped at the entrance, allowing his eyes to adjust to the scale of what he was witnessing.

After crossing the vast chamber, he descended through the final tunnel that led to whatever secrets the Goldcrest had been hiding.

And then he saw what he'd expected to see.

The door.

Or rather, no… because it wasn't there at all.

There was no door with three indentations for cores like Selphira had described from the Starweaver ruin.

No door that required three cores to open…

The Starweaver door seemed to be the main one, and had consumed the core that likely was obtained here but without opening because one more was still needed.

Which meant they needed to get the third core from somewhere else.

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