Extra's Re-awakening: System Errors Made Me Too OP-Chapter 36: The Soul-King’s Domain

"N-No way..." Elene muttered under her breath as her eyes wavered.

The myth, the legend of the Soul-King’s accomplishment, it rested before their eyes.

Fixed between two stone statues shaped like knights, as if a king were being guarded by his loyal guards.

As they stared at the bright orb that rested on the podium, they felt it. The raw, primal energy that radiated out of the crystal.

It was more ferocious than anything they had ever felt, yet calm and smooth. It felt like a wild storm that was calmed by a mysterious power.

"There’s no mistake." Livinus finally found his words as he accepted the truth, and a smile stretched across the side of his lips. The object of myths and folklores passed down from generations to generations in this world that helped saved humanity, it was here.

"The Soul Stone..."

Xander tried to understand what the big deal was, but he understood and felt just how powerful that object was.

"To think the Orange gate contained something like this..." He mumbled quietly, then Elene snapped out of her thoughts, and her eyes went wide open.

"Wait, contained something like this? You don’t mean..." It was all beginning to come together, the sudden discovery of an Orange gate, the strange beast that emerged from it.

None of it made sense. In the first place, only five types of gates were known, and this sixth gate was a mystery.

"It was said that the first Soul-King destroyed the soul stone to prevent mankind from destroying themselves. Could it be that... Rather than destroying it... The Soul-King hid it away in this temple?"

"Hid it away?" Livinus looked back at him.

"There are only five types of dungeons in this world. A blue gate, a red gate, a purple gate, a yellow gate and a black gate. If what I’m postulating is actually possible... Then the orange gate isn’t a dungeon?"

"It’s a portal to the Soul-King’s secrets..." Livinus caught on to her assumptions.

But there was a problem.

"But the Soul-King who sealed the Soul Stone to this place is dead. If that’s the case, how did the gate appear?"

"It can’t be..." Livinus stared at the Soul Stone, then he recalled everything Rai told him and Hiro about the strange Soul-Beast that emerged from the first orange Gate a week ago.

It’s characteristics and behaviors were far different from that of the regular Soul-Beast he was used to fighting.

And the biggest and most obvious difference was, it could talk.

If the orange gate was really a portal that led to the Soul-Kings hidden chamber, what was such a Soul-Beast doing there?

"Could it be that someone is trying to obtain the stone?"

Xander took a step forward, and climbed the stairs that led up to the podium where the stone rested.

"Where are you going?" Livinus called out to him, such a temple was expected to be booby trapped, most especially the room that stored the item the temple was built to protect.

"I’m retrieving the Soul Stone." Xander replied with a nonchalant voice as he climbed another stairs.

"What!? That’s dangerous! Are you trying to get us killed!? You already set off a trap!" Elene couldn’t hold herself back, one issue she had with commoners was that they never learned their lesson until it happened again.

"You said it yourself, vice captain." Xander stopped a few steps away from the podium, then glanced over his shoulders.

"Something’s after the Soul-Stone, something who knows of it’s existence and whereabouts. However, according to what Ren told me during his encounter with the Soul-Beast, it was different from the rest. It was smarter, understood human language, it showed no traits that could classify it as a Soul-Beast, which means..."

Both Livinus and Elene’s eyes wavered slightly, it was absurd to consider such possibilities.

"That wasn’t a Soul-Beast." Elene muttered under her breath.

But that wasn’t the major problem, according to the intelligence unit’s analysis, it would take more than two A-rank Soul-Hunters to beat such a beast. Despite being S-rank, with the possibility of several of those beasts being in the chamber, Hiro couldn’t handle it alone.

Livinus let out a sigh, then climbed the stairs as well.

"Vice Captain Livinus!" Elene couldn’t believe how reckless they were both being.

"If those beasts truly are after the Soul Stone, I can’t even imagine what will happen if they should get their hands on it."

Before they could get close to the Soul Stone resting on the podium, the ground trembled beneath their feet. The walls around them shook violently, dust falling from the cracks as the whole room seemed like it was about to collapse.

"What now!?" Elene shouted, it was exactly what she didn’t want, them setting off another booby trap.

Almost at once, the stone statues beside the podium broke apart, collapsing into pieces under a powerful force that sent up a thick cloud of dust.

As the cloud of dust settled, their eyes widened as they saw before them, two large figures cladded in a black armor. The armored figures possessed a bright red glowing eyes which they could see from the eye sockets in their helmet. They wielded two large blades which were sheathed at both sides of their waists.

"The knights... They’ve been brought to life?" Elene muttered in disbelief as one of the black knights drew the sword from its waist and charged at them. The force in its stride cracked the ground and kicked up a small cloud of dust as it rushed forward.

In a blur, the knight appeared at Takashi’s right side and brought its sword down toward him. Xander’s eyes went wide, the knight’s speed, despite its heavy armory, was terrifying.

CLAP!

Before the strike could land, Livinus appeared in front of Xander with an unimaginable speed, and caught the knight’s sword between his palms.

"Go! Get the stone, I’ll take care of this one." Livinus ordered.

With a quick nod, Xander and Elene sprinted past Livinus towards the stone, but the second knight instantly stepped in their way, towering over them at six feet nine inches.

"It’s been a while since I got the chance to fight." Despite the situation, Livinus smiled. The last Advent Of The Gates was years ago, so he never really got the chance to cut loose.

Vice captain level Soul-Hunters had no business with dungeons until it was a red gate the association was dealing with. Red gates are typically S-rank dungeons, and it was rare.

"Temporal Soul-Technique." The sword in his grasp shattered as he channeled his Soul-Energy into his palms, and he fired a vibrational burst powerful right into the knight’s face. The force of the burst hurled the knight through the walls, and Livinus charged after it without hesitation.

"Seriously." Xander glanced over his shoulders as Livinus chased after the knight. "Is everyone in that Soul-Squad all blood lusted monsters?"

"No, just the captain, vice captain and the second seat, now focus on the enemy in front of us." Elene drew his attention back to the other knight in front of them.

"I know." He brought his focus back on the knight. "What the hell is this thing?" He mumbled under his breath as the second knight took a step forward.

’Judging by it’s eyes and appearance it must it be one of the guardians of this temple.’ He said in his thoughts as he stared down at the knight.

"Who are you? Are you one of the guardians of the temple?" Elene asked, attempting to resolve things peacefully.

The knight approached them slowly unsheathing it’s sword. "You have trespassed on sacred grounds, you are not permitted to go any further." The knight responded in a deep and distorted voice, it did not sound human in any way which led them to wonder, was this knight a product of the previous Soul-King Soul-Energy? If so was it created by him to guard the Soul Stone?

"Sorry, but that stone is leaving with us." Xander said.

"You have trespassed on sacred grounds, you are not permitted to go any further." The knight repeated itself in its distorted voice again as he clutched the hilts of the two swords on it’s waist.

It lunged forward, swinging both swords down from its sides, aiming to cut them down in a single strike.

"Xander." Elene called out to him, alarmed.

"I guess there’s no helping it." Xander stretched out his right palm, and gathered his Soul-Energy in his palms, shaping it into a glowing blue ball of flame. He pressed it tighter and tighter until it shrank, burning brighter in his hands. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

"Flame Soul-Technique: Prominence Wave." With a soft voice, he thrust his arms forward and released it, sending a powerful wave of blue fire crashing into the knight.

"Did it get him?" Elene spoke as the wave of blue flames roared with fierce heat. But from within the blaze, the knight burst forth, wrapped in dense Soul-Energy, gripping its two swords tightly in its hands.

"What!?" Xander’s eyes widened in disbelief, the knight ran through his Soul-Technique like it was nothing.

The knight drove its sword into the ground, and at once, a powerful shockwave erupted, hurling the two Soul-Hunters off their feet and slamming them into the walls of the room.

Xander coughed softly and sat up, holding his chest tightly.

"It’s fast despite the weight of it’s armor, and it is extremely strong and durable. Not even my Prominence Wave could withstand the force of it’s blade, I’m not sure how long we’ll last if we keep fighting him."

Xander said, deducing their chances of victory. In that moment, he finally understood what Elene meant being an A-rank Soul-Hunter didn’t mean he was strong enough to clear an A-rank dungeon.

"If that’s the Soul-Energy of the Soul-King, we need to take him down, now." Elene got up to her feet slowly, then squeezed her fist a bit tightly. "Xander, I’ll distract it and provide an opening, once you find that opening, finish it."

"What?"

"I might not look like much, but there’s a reason I’m a B-rank Soul-Hunter!" She darted forward at the knight.

In response, the knight charged forward, swinging its sword sideways at her neck in a swift attempt to take her down.

Fortunately for Elene, her reflexes were sharp. She bent backward in a smooth backbend, narrowly avoiding the knight’s blade. But the knight moved in perfect sync with her, twisting its arm and swinging the sword back at her in a swift counter.

She kicked her legs over her head and pushed off with her arms, flipping over the knight to dodge its blade once more. Staying on the defensive, she made no move to strike back, after all the temple was only protecting what was its own, and she wanted to provide an opening for Takashi.

The knight pressed on with relentless attacks, adjusting to her speed and sharp reactions. With every slash of its blade, Elene managed to slip away, dodging each strike by the narrowest margins.

The knight thrust its sword toward her stomach with all its strength, and channelled the Soul-Energy surging around its body. The force created a powerful wind pressure that tore through everything in its path. Elene flipped backwards to avoid a fatal blow, but the move only left her more vulnerable to the crushing force of the wind.

"ARGH!" She let out a groan as the wind flung her into a wall before she crashed to the ground.

"Now! Xander!" The knight exhausted the Soul-Energy that cloaked it’s body, making it vulnerable till it replenished it.

"Soul-Technique: Prominence Wave!" Xander leapt at the knight, ready to end the fight with a final blow using his Prominence Wave.

Then.

CRACK!

Xander’s eyes widened, not from the knight preparing to counter, but from the sudden crack on the wall from an overwhelming force.

Acting on instinct, Xander shifted his path to the side just as the wall beside him burst apart.

The first knight came crashing through, slamming into the one they had been fighting, and the two knights were hurled backward, crashing into the ground in a heap as they struggled to control their momentum.

"What was that!?" Elene gasped, her eyes fixed on the shattered wall.

"Huh?" She whispered as her eyes caught the outline of a shadow emerging through the cloud of dust that rose up.

"Damn, I ended up breaking the walls." A familiar voice echoed out, and the shadow figure stepped fully through the broken wall.

"Captain Hiro!"