Chapter 013: The Law

Amidst a beam of holy light, the solemn and majestic divine palace grew closer and closer. When they finally reached the milky-white doors of the palace, the holy light was so dazzling that it was almost impossible to keep one’s eyes open.
Nicholas slowly recited a few words in an unknown language. In an instant, the holy light dimmed slightly.
The massive milky-white doors slowly cracked open, forming a gap wide enough for several people to pass through. Seeing this gap, Nicholas’s expression visibly relaxed. He let out a slow sigh and murmured, “It works after all… Otherwise, I really wouldn’t have been able to open these doors of the divine palace.”
As he spoke, his expression changed again, and he slowly walked toward the gap. Moments later, he disappeared entirely inside the “door.”
This scene was beyond the comprehension of those behind him. But seeing Saint Nicholas enter without hesitation, they realized there should be no danger ahead.
Du Fan noticed their hesitation. Though he too had some doubts, he knew the opportunity was rare. If he didn’t follow now, not only would he miss out on any benefits, but whether he could even leave this place safely would be a serious issue.
He quickly focused, allowing a barrier of combat energy to form around him before slowly stepping through the “door.”
As he moved, Du Fan felt as though something was tearing at his body, but the sensation was extremely faint. With the combat energy shield protecting him, it wasn’t a major problem.
After passing through the “door,” the surroundings grew dark. The stark contrast between light and darkness left Du Fan unable to see anything for a moment. Fortunately, his vision gradually returned after a short while.
Glancing around, Du Fan saw an extremely ancient cave. In front of him lay a straight passage, completely dark inside, making it impossible to see anything. Nicholas stood beside him, looking grave.
The air carried a strange smell—a mix of dampness, decay, and blood—that caused nausea. Combined with the darkness, it formed a sharp contrast to the holiness outside the divine palace.
After staying stunned for a while, Du Fan said solemnly, “Lord Nicholas, is this… really the so-called divine palace?”

“Should be… that’s right…” Nicholas’s voice carried a hint of hesitation. “But… I can’t sense the slightest trace of holiness here…”
At that point, Nicholas fell silent. He walked to one side of the cave and gently touched the wall. As he did so, a faint white light rippled across the surface, only to dim after a moment.
After that, Nicholas shook his head in confusion again and said, “There is indeed holy light on the walls of this cave, but why is it so dark here? Compared to the Divine Palace, it feels more like a lair for undead creatures.”
As he spoke, the sage-like mage wore a wry smile on his face.
Seeing his expression, how could Du Fan not understand what he was thinking? Clearly, although Saint Nicholas already had some idea of the unknown dangers within the Divine Palace, he surely couldn’t have imagined that after passing through that seemingly sacred place, they would end up in such a lifeless place.
How could one believe that this place was the most sacred Divine Palace in legend? Even the most insensitive person would find it hard to accept.
Meanwhile, the people following behind them slowly “emerged” from the air. Although Du Fan knew he had appeared in a similar manner earlier, seeing this scene now still made his scalp tingle—what if this “transportation” failed suddenly? If half of his body remained in that place filled with holy light while the other half stayed in this dark and damp cave, would he even be considered alive or dead?
After a while, it seemed the others’ vision had returned to normal, and Du Fan heard sounds of gasping.
Alfred couldn’t help but speak up first, “Good heavens! What… what is this place? Is this the so-called Divine Palace?”
Seeing Alfred’s expression, Du Fan and Nicholas didn’t know how to respond at first. They could only exchange glances, their faces once again tinged with wry smiles.
Nicholas cleared his throat slightly, about to explain something, but just then, a cry of shock came from behind Du Fan and the others.
Ever since entering this place, Du Fan had been stunned by what he saw and hadn’t thought to check what was behind him. But hearing that cry, his heart instinctively skipped a beat.

He couldn’t care less about anything else and quickly turned to take a look, but at that sight, he was left in a daze. If what appeared behind Du Fan had been an abyss, a solemn and majestic temple, or even Emperor Gavin himself, Du Fan wouldn’t have been overly surprised. But what appeared behind him was merely a not-so-long staircase. With his sharp eyes, Du Fan immediately recognized that it was the very staircase he had just climbed up. Just a few minutes earlier, he had entered that place and entered a sacred realm, then arrived here. Yet he never expected that after passing through such a place, he would end up back at the starting point. Moreover, on that staircase, dozens of corpses lay on the ground. Though their expressions remained peaceful, pools of blood flowed from their orifices. Those Temple Knights who couldn’t withstand that oppressive pressure had died completely? In an instant, Du Fan felt a chill sweep through his body, and a deep sense of fear surged in his heart. Although he had long been aware of the dangers in the temple, who would have thought that so many people could die just like that in such a short time? Then what exactly was that passage filled with holy light he had just passed through? Was it just an illusion? Or was it the essence of divine light? For a moment, Du Fan’s mind was filled with various thoughts, as if he was on the verge of grasping something but couldn’t quite catch it. That dreamlike feeling made his head spin, and it took him a while to snap out of it. At that moment, a Temple Knight who had barely followed into the cave saw the scene outside but wasn’t shocked. Likely due to his close relationship with a few of the other Temple Knights, he couldn’t help but shout a few names before rushing over. Although Du Fan sensed something was wrong, he didn’t know much about such mysterious things, so he instinctively stepped aside. But Nicholas’ expression changed, and he said, “No…” Before he could finish speaking, his voice cut off abruptly. The Temple Knight who rushed out suddenly froze the moment he left the cave and stepped onto the staircase, as if time for him had slowed down countless times. His running posture froze mid-air, and moments later, thin lines of blood appeared on his body surface. Then, drops of blood slowly splattered out, followed by pieces of crimson flesh…

In a slow process, his body was torn apart into countless pieces, which eventually scattered atop the piles of corpses—hard to tell whether it was tragic or beautiful. The remaining four Temple Knights’ eyes turned red; Du Fan turned his head away, while Tasia covered her mouth. Only Nicholas and Alfred continued to stare blankly at the scene. After a while, Nicholas finally let out a long sigh and said, “Space laws? It’s actually space laws? So the magic deployed here is a spatial magic—no wonder… no wonder…” Although Du Fan had not been exposed to magic for long, he knew that spatial magic was by no means something ordinary mages could master. Such magic, which could control space and time, had long surpassed the limits of human power. Even those at the Saint level could only barely touch that realm, and whether they could truly enter it was beyond Du Fan’s understanding. After a long silence, Du Fan asked, “Lord Nicholas, what should we do next?” Nicholas gave a bitter smile and pointed behind him, saying, “With our strength, there’s no way we can leave this place safely. So we have no choice but to explore this cave. All I can do now is pray that this place truly is the so-called Divine Palace. Otherwise, we’ll just have to close our eyes and wait for death here.” Du Fan nodded without saying more. At that moment, two of the four surviving Temple Knights voluntarily stepped to the front of the group, while the other two stayed behind to cover their backs. Du Fan noticed that, whether intentionally or not, Ferre stood behind him. Of the remaining four Temple Knights, aside from Ferre, Du Fan was not very familiar with the others, so he said nothing further. He realized now that although he wanted to take advantage of this Divine Palace, he had actually oversimplified things. Perhaps this time, he might really lose his life here!