Rise Of The Infinite Sovereign-Chapter 455: Fourth Expedition

’Dammit! I should’ve asked for a higher price’ Ezra vents, but calms, remembering the set of trump cards in his arsenal. ’Whatever. Let’s just get this over with’

Ezra stood, steadying himself as the Ravenwing’s autopilot adjusted their trajectory.

Through the viewport, he couldn’t make out any activity in the marked surroundings but as he advanced, a huge white watchtower suddenly appears from within the empty space.

Apparently, it’s cloaking function had become disabled.

Standing stark against a chaotic golden backdrop which Ezra immediately notices, the tower is sleek and modern, a glaring contrast to the ancient and crumbling surroundings.

Its surface shimmered faintly, lined with intricate arrays of crystalline panels.

Looking beyond it though, a massive, shimmering rift came into view.

Though far away, Ezra could make out the secret realm entrance pulsing with golden energy in the distance, its edges jagged and unstable, like shards of broken glass floating in space.

This surprises him, because despite how elaborate and concrete everything seemed, Ezra actively considered the whole matter being a farce by the Rosveller foundation to kill or capture nascents for whatever reason.

’It seemed my imagination stretched a bit too far this time’ Ezra cautions, though he didn’t truly let down his guard.

If anything, this watchtower is suspicious.

Ezra paused, narrowing his eyes before looking at the personnel seated beside him.

Noticing, the pilot is quick to explain. "That is the sentry, it’s placed her to shield the secret realm from outsiders"

"I see"

Responding to his presence, the watchtower emits a high-pitched hum.

A sweeping beam of pale light shot out from its apex, scanning the immediate vicinity.

The light passed over Ezra without hesitation, bathing him momentarily in an uncomfortably warm glow before retracting back to the tower.

Within seconds, a disembodied, monotone voice spoke, reverberating through the air:

"Identified: Independent contractor. Clearance verified. Passage authorized."

The watchtower’s crystalline panels flickered briefly before returning to a dormant state, allowing Ezra to pass.

As Ezra approached, a small contingent of guards clad in silver armor stood at attention, their weapons glinting ominously in the golden light.

Merely three in number, these guards are huge, their towering forms exuding an unnatural stillness.

Standing at nearly nine feet tall, their armor seemed less like a crafted ensemble and more like an extension of their bodies.

Smooth and seamless, the plates shimmered with a silvery luster that caught the shifting golden hues of the chaotic sky.

Intricate runes lay etched into their surfaces, glowing faintly as if alive, pulsating in synchronization.

Their helmets bore angular visors, revealing faintly glowing eyes that burned with a cold, unfeeling light.

The lines of their faces are sharp and...geometric? Almost alien in design, with no hint of humanity in their expressionless features.

Their movements lay unnaturally precise, almost mechanical, as they shifted their massive weapons—a halberd, a greatsword, and a glaive—into a defensive posture.

Each weapon appeared to be forged of the same silver material as their armor, their edges humming with energy.

These fellows are Argent Golems, an anomalous race in the view of many others.

Once nothing more than lifeless golems, created to serve and protect, they had somehow transcended their original purpose.

Over centuries, they awakened to sentience, forging their own path as a race that straddled the boundaries between nd machinery, eventually resulting in the creation of their own civilization.

Integrating runic magic into their very forms, it augmented their combat prowess and adaptability, making them a formidable race.

’Three rank four Transcendents’ Ezra measures. ’Are stationed at this...base? Outpost? Hideout?’

’Whatever’ he throws out the thought, watching the guards with an intent gaze.

The leader of the contingent steps forward, its towering frame dwarfing the humans aboard the ship.

A halberd was strapped to its back, the blade’s edges faintly glowing.

The runes along its body burned brighter as it addressed them in a cold, mechanical tone.

"Halt. State your name and purpose."

Ezra leans back in his seat, raising an eyebrow at the sudden interrogation, moreover, by a Transcendent.

"What is this? Did your superiors not notify you of my arrival?"

The halberd-wielding golem stiffs at Ezra’s words, before stepping back. "Mr. Sylvester, disembark. We are here to debrief you"

"Better" Ezra remarks, nodding as he exits the ravenwing, following the guards into the watchtower.

Inside, gathering around a wide desk projecting 3D holograms, the golem gets straight to the debriefing, with Ezra asking questions.

—-------

In summary, the gate had been discovered just a bit over eighty years ago and had been ventured into a total of fifteen times multiple personnel, all ending in failures.

But a few times, there are survivors, which is how they have information on the inner workings of the secret realm.

Beyond his questions, Ezra also learnt more about the nature of collapsing realms.

Collapsing realms were not like normal secret realms.

Their unraveling essence alters everything, from the behavior of their spatial boundaries to the internal environment.

Unlike stable realms, whose equilibrium is maintained and trials flow as they should, collapsing realms are unpredictable and far more lethal with all sorts of dangers. freeωebnovēl.c૦m

Gaining even more knowledge had Ezra regret not raising the payment higher than he already had.

Once done with the briefing after ten minutes, the golems hand him a pitch black suit of armour that supposedly hides his presence and has high resistance to light attacks.

Without another word, he approached the gate.

The closer he got, the more the air buzzed with unrestrained energy, prickling at his skin.

He could feel the vibrations in his chest, the chaotic hum of a realm progressively collapsing.

As he steps into the golden light of the portal, the world around him blurs and twists.

For a brief moment, it felt as though he was being torn apart and reassembled.

Then, just as suddenly, the sensation stops, and he finds himself standing in a completely different world.

Confirming Ezra’s entry, the leading golem simply sighed and shook his head in dismay

"Another one thrown into the jaws of death"

Contrary of what Ezra was told, the secret realm had been discovered more than two hundred and fifty years ago and had been ventured into by more than fifty expedition parties, the vast majority of them wiped out.

But the debilitating missing detail...is that the majority of those expeditions were by ascendants!

!!!!

These ascendants were talents personally groomed by the Rosveller foundation who had wanted to keep the secret realm away from the eyes of outsiders.

But after losing so many lives and precious talent, the foundation washed their hands off it, and instead opted to gather sacrificial lambs from amongst mercenaries or unaffiliated nascents.

At this point, they had already given up any outlandish thoughts and simply sought to recoup their losses even by a bit.

Even then, they had achieved little success, with these expeditions mostly ending in failures as well.

Those that were lucky enough to survive abhorred even the thought of re-entering.

The only reason someone like Ezra has been sourced is because the majority of those who survived were nascents.

Which led to the reasoning that perhaps the secret realm is perhaps less lethal to nascents than ascendants.

In fact, the golems estimate that the secret realm could complete collapse any time from now.

In anycase, there was no doubt in mind of the golems that they had just witnessed the last sighting of Ezra.

Next time, if there was one, he would be the remnants of a corpse.

—-----

The inside of the realm was a disorienting labyrinth of chaos.

From a glance, Ezra could tell that it was supposed to be beautiful, made up of structures bathed entirely in golden light.

Yet in the distance lay golden towering structures snapped in half like broken twigs, their bright golden sheen now dim.

Structures that had once been grand and meticulously designed now lay in ruin.

In hindsight lay a golden platform that stretches on into the distance and even beyond the broken towering structures, sporting cracks and fractures at multiple parts.

Right at the start of this platform two massive golden statues at least thirty feet tall depicting armored guardians wielding enormous swords on both ends of the platform.

The statues lay still, their surfaces gleaming, untouched by the degradation everything else seemed to suffer from.

But there was something unsettling about them.

Ezra could feel a faint hum of energy emanating from them, as though they were alive, but shakes off it off.

Landing on the platform, Ezra buckles, feeling massive strain.

The atmosphere instantly feels heavier with an oppressive energy, and the ground beneath Ezra’s feet shakes subtly—certainly a prelude to nothing good.

To assure his own safety, Ezra activates <Gatekeeper>, and answering to his faith, he finds himself in the sovereign universe the next instant.

This gives him a new layer of confidence, to which he returns to the oppressive realm.

Sighing in exasperation, Ezra takes off running, heading deeper to explore the realm.

Of course, he didn’t forget to leave a <Gatemark>

Thus his fourth expedition unofficially began.