When Lynd stepped into the temple-like building, he immediately felt as if he had entered another world. It wasn't that the surrounding architecture and objects had changed, but rather that his senses were cut off from the outside, giving him the illusion of spatial transference.
Lynd had already anticipated this situation and had formulated a plan with Deltos before coming. He assumed Deltos should have already attacked Styria according to the plan.
Lynd had great confidence in Deltos and no longer thought about the outside situation, instead focusing his attention on the interior of the temple.
The entire interior of the temple was less like a place of worship for deities and more like a sacrificial ground. Stone pillars of varying thickness stood scattered throughout the temple, each adorned with chains or other binding tools. Beside the pillars were sacrificial knives and other items crafted from black stone.
Although the passage of time had long since erased the bloodstains on the pillars, the surface of the black stone still bore traces of corrosion from blood. The fact that it could leave marks on such hard black stone indicated that the number of people or other creatures who had died on the sacrificial pillars must have been astonishing.
The reason for mentioning 'other creatures' was that the shape of some sacrificial stone pillars and the thickness of the chains indicated that not only humans were bound and sacrificed there, but also possibly giants or other large creatures. For example, the things being sacrificed now, besides wights transformed from humans, also included pterodactyls, demons, and some mutated giant insects.
Not long ago, Euron had already performed a round of sacrifices in this temple. The offerings were the Ironborn of the Iron Fleet, whom Euron had transformed into wights, and demons, pterodactyls, and mutated monsters captured along the way.
Judging by the number of these offerings, Euron's current abilities were extraordinary; he could now capture so many powerful creatures without injury.
Evidently, he must have acquired this ability recently. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been chased by Asha, nor would he have chosen to travel via the Sothoryos continent on his way to Asshai, just to bypass the Miracle Fleet patrolling the Summer Sea.
Additionally, Euron had stayed in Qarth for a period, robbing some ships in the nearby waters. Information obtained from the surviving ships indicated that while Euron was strong at that time, he had not yet exceeded the limits of ordinary people.
However, the abilities Euron was now displaying were vastly different from before he came to Asshai. Even a powerful Blood Witch like Quellier felt a hint of fear towards Euron when he was looking for a guide in Asshai, which suggests that Euron's increase in strength occurred after arriving in Asshai.
What differentiates Asshai and Styria from other places is the presence of black stone. Similarly, Euron's ability to safely enter and exit Valyria was also due to black stone. Lynd speculated that black stone granted Euron immense power, or perhaps Lynd had obtained an item from the Others that could harness the magic of black stone.
Regardless of the situation, Lynd had to proceed with caution, because through Deltos, Lynd was well aware of how powerful Styria's black stone magic was. If Euron could freely use this magic, then the power he possessed would be terrifying, and facing such an Euron, Lynd would also find it somewhat tricky.
Lynd continued deeper into the temple and soon arrived at its central area.
Before him was a massive octagonal shaft, and looking down from its edge, he couldn't see the bottom.
Although the surroundings were pitch black, Lynd's eyes, infused with the power of the Nameless King Rune, were unaffected by the environment and could clearly see objects hundreds of meters away.
Yet, even with this, he couldn't see the bottom of the shaft, which meant only one possibility: either the shaft extended deep into the black stone core below, or some force was distorting Lynd's vision.
Just as Lynd was considering whether to descend, a sudden metallic clanging sound came from behind him. The sound was particularly jarring in the silent environment.
Lynd turned to look in the direction of the sound, only to see a demon, already sacrificed, twisting its body, trying to get off the sacrificial pillar.
The commotion created by this demon was like a triggered switch, setting off a chain reaction. The wights, pterodactyls, and various other monsters on the other sacrificial pillars also seemed to come alive, writhing their bodies, attempting to break free from the pillars' restraints.
Lynd naturally had no intention of waiting for these things to get off the sacrificial pillars. He raised the Banished Knight's Greatsword in his hand and swept it, instantly forming an extreme cold storm that filled the entire interior of the temple.
The wights on the sacrificial pillars were instantly frozen, followed by the pterodactyls and other mutated creatures, which were also successively frozen. Only the demons seemed immune to the extreme cold, still moving freely. Even the frozen wights and pterodactyls shattered into pieces from the cold, but the demons' skin showed no sign of frost.
Seeing that the extreme cold power could not harm these demons, Lynd immediately changed tactics, channeling the power of the Thunder Dragon Rune. His entire body entered a state of extreme speed, and in the blink of an eye, he passed in front of all the demons, while the Banished Knight's Greatsword in his hand simultaneously split each demon in half from head to toe.
After dealing with the trouble on the sacrificial pillars, Lynd didn't waste time studying why these sacrificed offerings could still move. He returned to the deep well, hesitated for a moment, then leaped down.
As he leaped into the deep well, he also activated the power of the Storm Dragon Rune and the Ice Dragon Rune, forming an extreme cold domain around his body. At the same time, he prepared the Thunder Dragon Rune, ready to prevent any sudden changes.
Approximately ten seconds later, Lynd passed through the octagonal shaft and landed in an artificial cavern large enough to accommodate the entire city of Styria above ground.
This cavern was spherical, with smooth, polished stone walls. The bottom was a pool of Ash River water emitting a green luminescence. The glow from the pool illuminated the entire cavern, but also made it appear even more eerie.
"Linde Terra!" As Lynd entered the cavern, suspended in the air by the power of the Storm Dragon Rune, a voice calling his name appeared in the cavern and echoed repeatedly.
Lynd looked towards the source of the sound, only to see Victarion, who had fled with the Iron Fleet that day, standing in the pool, looking at Lynd with surprise.
At this moment, Victarion was completely naked and soaking wet, as if he had just emerged from the water.
Lynd merely glanced at Victarion, having no intention of speaking to him. He directly manipulated the Thunder Dragon Rune to create a lightning bolt that struck Victarion.
Victarion was instantly charred by the lightning, not even having time to scream. Immediately after, the entire pool began to shake, and then the constantly trembling Victarion began to rise from the surface of the water.
Lynd discovered that Victarion's feet were completely integrated into a fleshy mass, and this fleshy mass continuously emerged from the pool, revealing other people one by one. Among them were sailors from the Summer Isles and warlocks from Qarth. Lynd also saw the Shadowbinder from Asshai who had served as a guide. Everyone's feet were connected to the fleshy mass below, looking extremely bizarre.
When the fleshy mass had completely risen halfway, Lynd finally recognized that it was actually an incredibly massive head, and this head belonged to Euron, because in the part that had emerged, he saw Euron's extremely unique eyes.
However, Lynd didn't know why Euron's head had become so enormous, large enough for a dozen ordinary-sized humans to easily stand on its top.
But, he could be certain of one thing: if Euron were to fully emerge from the water, then he would definitely not be able to easily deal with him anymore.
Thus, just as he had dealt with Victarion earlier, Lynd unhesitatingly launched an attack on Euron in the pool below.
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