Skybound Throne

Inside the first level of Battle Royal, Zack stood atop a towering mountain. His silver gaze was clouded with a dark intensity.

"Where did the Gate in this level go?"

He growled, his voice low and edgy.

Yet no response came.

Zack whirled around, his frustration boiling over. He lashed out at a nearby boulder, his boot connecting with a resounding crack.

The boulder shattered into tiny pieces, and lightning current flashed around his body.

"Ughh! Where is the Keeper of Time?"

He roared, his voice raw with frustration.

"That old bastard is always around when I don't need him, but now that I need him, he has vanished! Useless good-for-nothing!"

As Zack muttered curses under his breath, his gaze fell upon a familiar figure. A young man with gray hair and black eyes devoid of emotions. His clothes were blood-soaked.

"Charles?"

He whispered. What surprised him more was the gray-colored small box floating in front of Charles' running figure, guiding him to an unknown place. Zack concealed his aura and quickly followed behind him, his eyes fixed on the glowing square box.

"Is that what I think it is??"

His heart hammered in his chest.

No way, no freaking way!

"What in the world is a 'Compass of Divine Quests' doing here? That hidden piece was only found after the 20th level!"

Zack ducked behind a boulder just as Charles turned his head back, sighing.

'I must say his intuition is incredible. Tsk, that's why I liked his character so much. If only he hadn't fallen for the wrong woman, he could have accomplished so much.'

Across from him, Charles' eyes narrowed. He was wearing dark gauntlets bearing the symbol of wind, etched onto their surface. A powerful, unique, Epic-tier wind weapon, he discovered thanks to the map.

Finding no one, he turned and resumed following the floating square box again. It was something he had found accidentally, buried underneath some old, broken, dusty weapons that no one would even touch.

Yet, the instant he touched it, it began to float in the air, guiding him somewhere.

He had no idea where the box was taking him, but he had been following it for three hours, but it showed no sign of stopping.

Along the way, he had fought a group of humans who wanted to steal it from him. The blood on his clothes served as a stark reminder of the battles he had endured.

"I nearly died...!"

He muttered under his breath. But as he remembered the special mission, 'Find the Dragon Jewels,' he had received a few days ago, he was sure what he went through was nothing in comparison to his crazy friend who had stolen from a literal dragon!

Charles's eyes drifted toward the mission screen he had been ignoring. It floated at the edge of his gaze, a nagging reminder.

"That jerk actually did what he said."

He muttered with a shudder.

"I am just thankful he didn't find me like he said he would. Seeing that mission pop up so suddenly sent chills down my spine."

As a matter of fact, he even considered going into hiding. No way in hell was he getting involved with a freaking Dragon!

Skyler was his friend, but Charles didn't follow that crazy jerk's motto of, 'Friends should always suffer together!'

He scoffed with a rare smile.

"One should suffer the consequences of their own actions! Why involve others?"

A while later, Charles came to a halt, his breath catching in his throat as he reached the precipice of the mountain's peak. One more step and he would have fallen.

He frantically reached out to grab the box to prevent it from going further. But before he could reach it, the box stopped floating and plummeted down the mountain peak. Under Charles's eyes, it vanished into the thin air that distorted faintly, like water.

"The heck!"

He cursed under his breath, watching the space where the small box had vanished.

"Do I need to jump down? No. If I didn't vanish into the space like the box, I would die if I fell from such a height."

Charles looked around. His gaze stopped on a rock nearby. Picking it up, he tossed it at the very space where the box vanished.

His eyes brightened when he saw the rock vanish into the air, which rippled faintly.

"It worked. Is there a hidden portal before me? One that's invisible to the naked eye?"

Regardless, he was still reluctant to jump down, wondering what if the secret space only sucked in non-living objects?

He turned back, and after a short while, returned with a struggling weak monster in his grasp. He tossed it down the mountain. His hesitation finally faded as he saw the monster vanish into the space as well.

"It works on living things as well."

Taking a deep breath, Charles steeled his resolve and leaped. His heart hammered in his chest. As the air pressure pressed in, he squeezed his eyes shut, prepared to use his elemental power if he plummeted down.

But thankfully, the anticipated fall never came. Instead, his body vanished into air, and his feet landed solidly on the ground.

On the other hand, Zack, who had been watching him silently, panicked at the sight of Charles leaping from the mountain. He instantly burst from his hiding spot.

"Is he trying to kill himself? Charles isn't even a 10-star! So I know he can't fly!"

His eyes scanned the spot where Charles had vanished, and then he recalled what he had witnessed moments before the jump.

"Why was he throwing small rocks down? He even threw a struggling monster."

Zack's eyes narrowed.

He recalled the small box before Charles had vanished suddenly. But he had thought it left in a direction Charles could no longer follow. Now it seemed he was wrong.

He took out an old blade from his storage ring and tossed it down the mountain. And as he expected, it vanished into the space.

"Interesting. Let's jump down then."

Without a moment's hesitation, he stepped back and launched himself off the mountain.

As Zack plummeted downward, he felt his body pass through a thin layer of Evol. After that, he landed within a vast chamber, lit up by a faint glow emanating from the ceiling. He looked up and could see the precipice from which he had fallen, now so far away against the backdrop of the clear sky.

"Such a place was never mentioned in the story. Max never found a place like this."

He rushed forward at the sound of a gasp, only to pause upon taking in the chamber.

Multiple broken marble statues and torn murals were scattered around the floor. The air was thick with the scent of an eerie dark Evol and a faint hint of human blood.

Charles stood in the center of it all, his grim eyes conveying that whatever had occurred in the chamber had nothing to do with him.

Seeing the scene, Zack retreated into the shadows and inhaled a shuddering breath.

"Who destroyed those statues?"

He whispered, his voice barely audible. But he didn't have to look for an answer because he found 'who' when Charles began walking and reached the end of the chamber.

There, countless stone chairs were lined up in straight rows. All were empty, save for the one in the center. Above it, etched in gold, floated an eerily familiar name.

"Skyler Ironhart..."

Zack clamped his mouth shut as Charles whipped his head back, alerted by the faint noise. But even as he stifled his own sound, Zack couldn't believe what he had just seen. Skyler had found this place before them! Not only that, he had even left his name behind!

"Does that mean the many statues, which still radiated a hint of power even when they are broken, were defeated by Skyler?"

He shook his head, unable to accept the absurd possibility. Skyler wasn't that strong. How could he possess the power to destroy so many statues and survive?

"Where is he right now?"

Zack was pulled out of his thoughts as a familiar screen flashed before him.

#Keeper of Time: I left because there was a big emergency. I don't know who, but a fool stole the book I left in the academy library. I have confirmed it's gone. We need to find it! It has the previous timeline I compiled!

Zack's face lost all color.

"Which book? Don't tell me it's the same book I'm thinking about? Are you crazy?! Why did you leave it at the academy?"

Another screen flashed in front of him.

#Keeper of Time: It's because I can't touch that book. I can only move it with my power.

Zack laughed, but before he could unleash a torrent of ill curses upon the Keeper of Time, Charles' familiar voice echoed beside him

"How are you here?"

He whipped his head to the side and saw Charles' guarded dark eyes staring at him.