(Author: Hello. The more I write, the harder it is to continue. So many ideas that seem to be good but turn out bad. Elgar and his small army( and one humiliated orc) have finally entered the temple. So far I am satisfied with the pace of this arc. It does not seem as rushed so far. Well, enjoy the chapter.)

----------Chapter 29: Legend of the Pantheon-------------

Elgar stared around as the torches of the temple suddenly burst to life with an ominous black flame that gave off white light. He had never seen black flames before and was curious. Immediately to his left was a large wall full of pictures. It looked like it was telling a story. Elgar looked over the wall and did not enter the stairs going downward yet. The pictures were obviously carved on the wall for a reason. Were they a warning of what was to come? Did it contain the origins of how the temple came to be?

His ghost fire minions stepped on every tile on the ground and no traps seemed to be triggered. Satisfied, he had the blade demons guard the stairs with the mice while he, Void, Ulgor, and the ifrits stared at the carvings on the wall. The wall was segmented by pillars twenty feet away from each other. The pictures seemed to tell a story from the top down from left to right. The pictures also extended around the door to the stairs to the wall on the left. The entire room was full of carvings.

"Why aren't we going down yet?" Ulgor asked, still upset about his actions outside. "I really need to kill something right now."

"Go and kill the mice minions then. I need to study these carvings," Elgar waved and turned to the ifrits. "DO any of you recognize these carvings?"

"Vaguely, master," one of them said. "These carvings depict the origins of the temple. It was once known as the Pantheon of the Divine, the birth place of sentient life on this planet. The Divines created this place long ago. It used to be a place of learning and worship to the Divine. However, the sentient life was not satisfied. Why did they have to pay homage to the gods? Why couldn't they be like the gods themselves? This wall says as much."

"The following wall talks of their rebellion," the other ifrit said as it examined the second segment of pictures. "The civilization had long expanded all over this planet. Being halfway across the globe, some of the smarter and stronger life forms began growing thoughts of rebellion. They challenged the gods and many cities and races became extinct as they slaughtered those loyal to the Divine beings. However, a single of the Divine defeated them and nearly wiped them all out with a flick of his finger. Entire continents were destroyed while new ones came to being. The Divine decided that living was a harsher punishment than death and sealed the most powerful and cunning inside this temple."

"The next wall depicts how other planets in the Mortal Realm became to undergo similar situations. The Divine began to call the stronger life forms: immortals. They were a higher being of existence and immune to death over the span of life. In other words, they had become immune to death by aging, as if time stopped in their bodies. They used their power to create a Divine Realm where they would live as well as several Immortal Realms.

They created something known as Heaven's Decree and disallowed immortals from living in the Mortal Realm past a certain level of strength. Wait....this....it is impossible," an ifrit said. "This wall says that the most powerful and first of the Divine killed himself and that his death was the start of all life on this planet. Spirit and soul energy, the very energy all beings cultivate, all began with him. His blood became spirit energy and his soul gave us the ability to think for ourselves and allowed us to attain a higher existence than the one we were born to!"

"His death allowed the first beings in existence to reach immortality," Elgar concluded as he studied the walls. "Most nations and churches would declare this fact: heresy. Could the death of one supreme being really create the possibility of immortality and godhood? I, I can't believe this. There's no way it is true."

"It is said that the immortals who have been sealed within will be released as they ascend to the Immortal Realms. However, a small portion of their power will always remain in the temple. To those brave enough to obtain these treasures, venture into the temple," the ifrit continued.

"Various prototype magical weapons and failure species reside inside the temple. They are also yours to obtain should you find them. This temple contains many runes of protection and control of this temple is yours if you reach the heart of the temple," the other ifrit said.

"At the bottom of the stairs, many dangers await you. You must endure if you want to live. You've already entered the temple. The dome will never disappear. Only the temple's owner gets to decide if you can enter or leave. You seek powers you do not understand nor meant to have. You will change inside the temple. Nothing will prevent that," the ifrits said as they kept deciphering wall segment after segment.

"One of the powers inside has to do with the essence of life: the soul. It is something you cannot have. Leave it be. Anything else, you are free to take. Do not attempt to control the soul. It will only destroy you. If you have come for it, you must already be hearing them: a Legion of your own making," the ifrits said, causing Elgar to step back in shock as they continued. "The Legion was created to stop individuals from harvesting the power of souls. Some can resist it, but none will ever obtain immortality as they will eventually stop as they learn their limit. Unless their soul was that of an immortal, it is impossible. Give it up."

"HAHAHA! So this is why Tristan took so long to become a mage of the eighth rank. He had trouble overcoming his own Legion. It's too bad. I defied Fate. My soul is the most powerful in the entire planet. Why should I listen to the warning of some carving? The times have changed. In the end, even the past is overcome and forgotten," Elgar laughed. "I already got this far, and now I learn that there is a hidden power that has to do with the essence of souls. HAHAHA! It's as if I am being rewarded for defying Fate. It practically has my name on it."

"Should I continue deciphering it master?" the ifrits asked.

"Yes. I'll take one of you with me below. One of the blade demons will remain with you and keep you updated. They share a collective mind. If you decipher anything important, let it know," Elgar ordered and headed down the stairs.

Elgar chuckled as he headed down the stairs. Two paths led to death while one other led to the heart of the temple. Why should he be afraid? Where there was death, there was treasure. Did he not have an army of minions? They would die, he would discover the danger, kill it, and then repeat the process. Trial and error with an unlimited amount of sacrifices.

Elgar and the others followed the stair case down and entered a large empty space with three tunnels in front of them. Each tunnel looked exactly like the other. Elgar began summoning ghost fire mice and ghost fire wolves. The mice were more agile and more likely to escape danger while the wolves were more powerful. The others waited as Elgar sat down and began meditating. First, Elgar decided to explore the tunnel on the left. The ghost fire minions were the first to run.

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Elgar alternated views as each of his minions scoured the tunnel. There were no doors or open places. The tunnel was just a tunnel. No traps either. Elgar thought nothing was out of the ordinary until one of his minions suddenly died. Frowning, Elgar had all his minions halt while he sent three mice ahead. He saw a flash of jade up ahead as all three of his minions suddenly died. However, he saw what killed them this time: an arrow with a spear head of jade. It seemed to be an arrow of pure mana, leaving no trace behind as it struck the target.

Elgar paused as he summoned skeletal warriors and sent them into the first tunnel. They each carried a shield as high as they were tall and walked like a moving shield wall as they walked in rows of five. Ulgor and the others watched as the warriors entered the tunnel. Ulgor wanted to go in, but he guessed that the tunnel might be one of those that led to Death. He didn't know if it meant the entity of death, personification of death, or the actual state of death. He just sat down in boredom as he didn't want to take the risk.

Elgar laughed as the shield wall of warriors pushed through the jade mana arrows. Eventually, they reached a glowing tile on the floor and the arrows disappeared. He didn't know where they came from and sighed. He let the mice and wolves explore ahead again. This was boring, even for him. The tunnel seemed to go on and on. His mice died once again by a jade flash. Puzzled, he had his skeletal warriors push through. Once the tile rune was deactivated, his mice explored again and were killed. After about ten more times of repeating the process, Elgar tried to have his minions turn back, but the walls on the left and right sprung out and crushed whatever lay between them after heading about twenty yards backwards. After a few more attempts going forward and backward in the tunnel, Elgar realized what the tunnel was.

"HAHAHA! So it was like that," Elgar laughed as he put a palm on his forehead and blew up his minions. "HAHAHA! Such an archaic trick for magicians. I suppose this was how it was all started. I don't need those minions anymore."

"What happened? What's wrong?" Ulgor asked.

"That tunnel there really does lead to death. It isn't meant to kill you. Rather, it's meant to keep you going inside. Once you are in the tunnel, about twenty yards, you can no longer leave. The pattern is the same. After going some distance, jade mana arrows will try to kill you. Once you endure and deactivate the rune on the glowing tile, the process repeats. This tunnel is an old trick used by magicians: an trap of illusion. The tunnel is really only a little more than twenty yards. You seem to be moving forward, but you're not. Not really. It seems unending, but you are already trapped in an illusion."

"What the fuck? Seriously? The oldest trick in the book?" Ulgor asked.

"Would you prefer a round boulder appearing form the wall, trying to maul you into paste?" Elgar asked.

"Actually, yeah. I do. At least I can hit it," Ulgor said.

"What if that repeated in an endless cycle. Would you like it then? Eventually, you grow tired and it will kill you. DO you think you can do the same thing for eternity?" Elgar asked.

"Good point. Guess that tunnel was no good. To be trapped in your own mind....fuck. Seriously, that's fucked up," Ulgor sighed. "To die at the hands of a mage's parlor tricks....I'd rather fuck that hydra. FUcking a multi-headed hydra with no idea where my little fellow goes is better than that."

"Listening to the orc makes me feel stupid for some reason. Master, can I squish it?" the ifrit asked.

"I agree with the fire giant," the white blade demon said with Void and the other blade demons nodding in agreement.

"Fucking a hydra....I'd at least wait for it to have a more humanoid form first," Elgar brooded.

"Is that you plan to do to the hydra when we make it out of this temple?" Ulgor asked.

"Why should I soil my body with that thing?" Elgar spat. "Who knows how many of its own sons, half grandson and half son, or whatever the hell it fucked to make more. Just let me recover my soul and spirit energy. I'll make more minions and explore the middle tunnel next. I refuse to believe only one tunnel could lead to powerful artifacts and rare treasures."

"Just trying to get rid of the boredom is all. You must be really pissed off after wasting so much time exploring the first tunnel. Whoever built that tunnel seriously kicked your ass," Ulgor laughed.

"Ifrit, I forgot to ask. What is your name?" Elgar asked as he began to absorb the spirit and soul energy around him.

"Pyrozane," the ifrit answered. "Does master have need of me?"

"You asked to squish the orc. While I need him alive, he is becoming a nuisance. How about you repeat what you did earlier. As I seem to recall, you were the one that threw him up the stairs before. This time it will be just a little narrower. Can you handle that?"

"Gladly master. I'll try to make sure not to throw him too hard. A few scratches won't matter," Pyrozane smiled as it picked up Ulgor.

"HEY! Let me down you stupid ifrit! Let me down!" Ulgor roared.

"You want me to tell Argolin what happened the first time?" Elgar asked.

"Ha! You don't scare me. We're locked in the temple," Ulgor laughed.

"I can control my skeletal archers you know. The connections still there. I can have them write on the ground a little story of how a little orc pissed himself as he was thrown  up a few flights of stairs like a rag doll. I can make some interesting details on how much he screamed like a little human girl. If you don't mind, I'll order Pyrozane to let you down," Elgar shrugged and was about to say something when Ulgor raised a hand.

"Fuck me," Ulgor said. "Throw me then. Just one question. If the connection is still there, can you summon Magmar and the Ice Brood inside the temple too? The connection as their master should still be there too if you can still order the skeletal archers outside."

"You do say some smart things once in a while," Elgar grinned. "I forgot about that. I only considered my necromantic summons. Magmar does count, but I didn't think about the Ice Brood. My thanks."

"So I won't be thrown?" Ulgor asked, hope appearing in his eyes.

"Nope. You're still getting thrown. Pyrozane, be a little gentler with your throw."

"AHHHHH! Stupid hybrids!!!" Ulgor cursed as the ifrit thrw him up the stairs.

"Now I can recover in peace. Tell Ulgor to be quiet when he comes back down," Elgar said as he closed his eyes and resumed his cultivation.

"Our new master is indeed scarier than our previous one," the white blade demon murmured while the others all nodded in agreement. "Be sure to make a nice impression. Once we number a large army in the future, the weak and the ones he remembers the least might be sacrificed like those minions in the first tunnel. After all, minions are expendable. We must do a good job so that he remembers our resourcefulness."