Pushing open the stone door revealed a massive warehouse.

It was filled with wooden crates of all sizes, and the air was thick with the stench of decay.

Many of the crates had rotted away, their contents spilling across the floor.

Raylo walked inside and casually picked up a fist-sized stone.

It must have once been a high-quality Magic Stone, but now its energy had completely dissipated. It was no different from an ordinary rock, crumbling to dust with a gentle squeeze.

The warehouse was littered with these useless Magic Stones and shattered Magic Cores.

Ed pried open a few well-preserved crates, finding complete sets of armor and weapons inside.

But a millennium was the ultimate corrosive. Most of the armor was covered in rust, and the weapons had lost their edge and durability.

"These two crates seem to hold Magic Equipment."

Ed announced, having made a new discovery.

Raylo walked over. The crate contained an assortment of rings, talismans, and magic staves.

He picked up a ring. The gemstone set in it was cracked, and the Magic Power that once flowed through it had long since vanished, leaving it a worthless, mundane item.

"What a shame."

Ed sighed.

So many treasures, all left to rot in the river of time.

"It’s no shame at all."

But Raylo didn’t see it that way.

"Coal Ball, pack it all up."

Coal Ball got to work once again.

"Even if the Magic Power in this equipment has faded, the materials themselves are high-grade Magic Metals. They’ll be valuable once melted down and reforged. As for that armor, it’ll yield nearly ten tons of Refined Iron after smelting—enough to supply Black Stone Territory for a year."

Coal Ball began a new round of consumption, and the entire warehouse emptied at a visible rate.

Raylo, meanwhile, turned his attention back to the main burial chamber.

The walls of the main burial chamber were covered in exquisite murals.

The battle just now had damaged many of the murals, but the remaining portions still told a magnificent and epic story.

The first mural depicted a towering figure wearing the crown of the Sun King, looking down upon his kingdom.

Under his protection, human city-states flourished. Waves of wheat rolled across the fields, and children ran and played in the sunlight.

The next few murals recorded the glorious military exploits of the Sun King, Amun Ra.

In one mural, he wielded a Golden Greatsword, battling a gigantic, mountain-sized scorpion covered in crystal spikes in the middle of a desert. In another, he led the Golden Legion at the seashore, facing off against a terrifying, many-tentacled sea monster that had crawled from the depths.

Raylo’s gaze finally settled on a relatively well-preserved mural.

The mural depicted a great flood that had submerged the earth. In the churning waters, a great serpent with nine hideous heads thrashed about, each head spewing a deadly breath of a different element.

Opposite the great serpent, Amun Ra, riding a Giant Dragon and wreathed in sun-like flames, battled the peerless beast.

The Nine-headed Demon Serpent!

Raylo’s heart skipped a beat.

He hadn’t expected such a terrifying creature to have ravaged this land a millennium ago.

’Is the one in the mural the same one from the Jade Swamp, or is it an ancestor?’

This discovery gave him a much graver understanding of the enemy he was about to face.

He moved to the final wall, which was covered by a single, massive mural depicting the construction of the tomb.

Tens of thousands of craftsmen were shown carving into the mountainside as countless precious materials were brought in.

At the center of the mural, beside Sun King Amun Ra, stood another equally important figure.

It was an old man in a simple Magic Robe, holding a Magic Staff.

Ancient script below the mural recorded his identity.

Magnus, a Catastrophe Level Magic Dominator and Grand Mage.

According to the mural’s inscription, this Grand Mage was a dear friend of Amun Ra.

As the Sun King’s life drew to a close, it was Magnus who personally designed and oversaw the tomb’s construction. He laid down a powerful Magic Barrier in an attempt to let Amun Ra and his elite legion slumber through the river of time, hoping they might one day "return from time" to protect the land once more.

Seeing this, Raylo felt a complex mix of emotions.

He had always regarded Amun Ra as a reawakened Undead tyrant, an enemy who had to be eliminated.

But now, through these fragmented murals, a more complete and vivid image of the man took shape in his mind.

He had been a great king, a hero who protected his people, and a tragic figure who refused to accept his end, attempting to defy time itself.

In the end, however, all his preparations—his final trump card—had failed to overcome the merciless passage of a thousand years.

Raylo pulled himself from the story in the murals and glanced around the now-empty tomb.

The air in the chamber was heavy and oppressive.

Raylo didn’t linger. He turned and walked out.

Beyond the gloomy tomb passage lay the clear sky of the Black Stone Mountain Range.

Baofeng let out a clear cry, carrying Raylo as he soared into the sky.

Ed and the Personal Guards followed close behind on their Griffins.

The hundred-meter-long Golden Dragon Sun spread its wings to fly alongside them, its massive body casting a vast shadow across the clouds.

The wind at high altitude dispersed the tomb’s decaying stench and blew away the heavy feeling that the murals had left in Raylo’s heart.

Whether Amun Ra had been a hero or a tyrant, it was all in the past now.

’Living in the present is what’s most important.’

"That Amun Ra was certainly worthy of the name Sun King."

The Golden Dragon Sun’s booming voice echoed in the wind.

"His Domain was intense and domineering, possessing the powers of both protection and destruction."

"True. A thousand years ago, he must have been one of the world’s strongest."

Raylo shouted back into the wind.

"His power gave me an idea."

Sun’s golden eyes turned to Raylo.

"The innate Domain I awakened when I reached Tier Five is called ’Absolute Barrier,’ and it’s purely defensive. I’ve always felt it’s too passive, not... draconic enough."

As he spoke that last word, Sun’s tone was clearly tinged with dissatisfaction.

For the proud Dragon Race, a Domain that only allowed for passive defense was practically an insult.

Raylo’s interest was piqued.

"What do you have in mind?"

"I’ll use Absolute Barrier as a foundation and integrate a sun into it."

Sun’s voice was filled with excitement.

"Just like Amun Ra’s Solar Domain, it will have both Guardian Power and the ability to incinerate everything. Perhaps I can create a ’Solar Furnace’ Domain, balanced in both offense and defense. On defense, it would be impervious to all magic. On offense, it would melt gold and liquefy iron!"

Hearing this, Raylo couldn’t help but feel happy for his knightly companion’s ambition.

If Sun could truly succeed, his power would be transformed.

"That’s the spirit. Protection and destruction are two sides of the same coin. Sun, I support your idea."

By the time they returned to Black Stone Territory, the sky was filled with stars.

Baofeng folded its Iron Feathers and landed smoothly in the castle square, letting out a low roar.

Ed was exhausted and wanted nothing more than to collapse into bed. Enduring Amun Ra’s Spiritual Shock twice in a row had pushed the newly-promoted Sky Knight to the absolute limit of his mental endurance.

Raylo, however, showed no signs of fatigue. His eyes were startlingly bright.

"Ed, take your men and get some rest. We’ll catalogue tonight’s spoils tomorrow."

"Yes, my Lord."

As if granted a pardon, Ed hurried away with the Personal Guards.

Raylo dismounted, and with a wave of his hand, the massive Golden Puppet materialized in the center of the square, its form glinting with a cold metallic luster under the starlight.

"Go and bring Master Barnaby here."

Raylo ordered a Knight who had approached him.

A short while later, Master Barnaby came hurrying over. He was dressed in a gray Mage Robe, his hair a bird’s nest of tangles. His eyes landed on the behemoth in the center of the square and immediately went wide.

"My heavens! This is... this is a Tier Five Domain Level Alchemy Puppet! A creation from a millennium ago!"

Master Barnaby circled the Puppet as if admiring a peerless work of art, muttering to himself.

"Perfect structure, classical runic circuits... This is a living textbook on the Alchemy of Puppets! My Lord, where did you get it?"

"From the tomb of Sun King Amun Ra."

Raylo replied succinctly.

"I see, I see!"

Realization dawned on Master Barnaby, and he regretfully tapped the Puppet’s cold calf.