The Cyber Ascension Arc 5 — "The Founder of Pheonix"
Volume 5 | Chapter 40 : "The Sealed Room "
The faint metallic smell of old stone and time-worn metal lingered in the air long after Jin Yuan and Rionaz accepted the map from Queen Victoria Reona. The sun was already descending outside the balcony window, leaking dying golden rays through the palace floors—each beam a reminder that night in the Pheonix Kingdom was not a friend to travelers.
Jin Yuan held the map in both hands, examining it with his cold, razor-like eyes. The parchment was thin, aged, and yellowed—old enough that the edges curled inward like burnt leaves. Strange symbols, ancient lines, and an uneven outline of an island decorated its surface.
Queen Victoria Reona's soft voice broke the silence.
"You both must be very careful," she warned gently. "That place… it's full of dangers. The tree itself is enormous—massive enough to scrape the sky. And some claim… there is a staircase inside it."
Her tone held no exaggeration. It was simply truth.
Rionaz nodded politely. Jin Yuan nodded once—sharp and controlled, his expression unreadable.
The silence lingered until Rionaz finally asked:
"Queen Victoria, can we leave today? If we go early, we can reach before noon."
The Queen shook her head immediately.
"No. Tonight is already approaching. Traveling now would be foolish. The sea becomes violent after dark. Even our strongest ships avoid the waters past sunset."
Her voice dipped slightly, as if recalling something unpleasant.
"For today, rest here. I'll have a perfect boat prepared for you by sunrise."
Rionaz's posture visibly relaxed. Jin Yuan remained still, unreadable—thinking, calculating, breaking apart every detail in his mind.
Then he suddenly spoke.
"Queen Victoria Reona… why did Hell kill the Founder of Pheonix with fate? Couldn't they kill him directly?"
The question hung in the air like a blade.
She looked at him slowly, as if measuring his intent. Then she sighed, placing her cup of tea down with a soft click.
"The Founder of Pheonix's intelligence was beyond anything in this world. Even Hell feared him. They knew they couldn't defeat him directly… so they used fate as their weapon. They rewrote the script of his life and ended him in an instant."
Her voice softened.
"Hell won… but they also lost. Because they never defeated him face to face."
Rionaz swallowed the bitter reality. Jin Yuan's eyes darkened, his mind murmuring silently:
"This world never accepts its defeat… The Founder of Pheonix was too intelligent.
Hell feared one single man.
I wonder… just how powerful his Pheonix was…"
Rionaz cleared his throat and asked gently:
"Queen Victoria, is there any book or scroll about him? About the Phoenix power?"
She slowly shook her head.
"We have nothing written. Nothing survived. Only one room remains beneath this castle. A sealed room with a statue shaped by ancient humans… a very ancient depiction of his Phoenix form."
The Queen stood, and without another word, led them through the palace.
---
THE BASEMENT — THE SEALED ROOM
The descent was long. The air grew colder with every step. The palace's golden radiance faded behind them as they entered a more ancient portion of the structure—built long before the current kingdom even existed.
Old bricks—grey and chipped—lined the walls. Fire lamps hung on iron hooks, their flames flickering weakly as if gasping for air.
Jin Yuan noted the temperature drop, the stale scent, the weight of silence pressing like a hand around his throat.
At the end of the descending path, they reached a small wooden door—blocked by thick planks nailed across it, hammered down by rusted metal spikes that had melted into the wood over the centuries.
Queen Victoria Reona placed her hand on the door lightly.
"This was sealed by humans thousands of years ago… to protect what lies inside."
Rionaz whispered:
"Can we open it… Queen Victoria Reona?"
She nodded once.
Jin Yuan stepped forward without hesitation and rested his hand on the hilt of his massive katana. He drew it slowly—its metallic whisper echoing sharply through the basement. With one swing, clean and unrestrained, the entire door exploded outward. Splinters scattered. Dust rose.
The chamber inside awakened—cold, silent, ancient.
The room was shaped from stone, but perfectly smooth—like a crafted cave rather than a natural one. The air was heavy, heavy enough to push against their lungs. Rionaz coughed softly. Even Queen Victoria's breath slowed.
In the center, standing in frozen eternity, was the stone sculpture.
Five feet tall. Shaped in the form of a human.
But not an ordinary one.
Stone-hard muscle carved with brutal realism—thick veins pulsed across the sculpture's arms and shoulders. Ten sharp, defined abs. Visible ribs. A spine protruding slightly like a creature halfway between man and beast.
Long hair of stone fell in tangled strands down its back. The face was calm—too calm. Deep-set eye sockets. Slightly parted stone lips revealing one row of sharp teeth.
Primitive. Terrifying. Radiating silent might.
Jin Yuan's icy voice broke the silence.
"Is this what the Founder of Pheonix looked like?"
Queen Victoria walked around the room, reading ancient inscriptions carved into the walls.
Her voice was soft but clear:
"The Founder of Pheonix was a human… a man in his twenties, with long black hair and deep black eyes. Always calm. Always composed. The first human who said he wanted 'Freedom' from fate."
Jin Yuan listened with stillness.
Rionaz whispered:
"His Phoenix form… was how big?"
Queen Victoria closed her eyes, recalling every word etched on the walls.
"Nine hundred ninety meters."
Rionaz staggered backward.
"Nine… nine hundred ninety?! A giant… He could crush humans like insects—how could anyone stop him?"
"That's why fate killed him," she replied.
"That's why Hell feared him."
Her words echoed through the stone chamber.
Jin Yuan remained silent—but his eyes sharpened, his breathing slowed. His mind consumed every detail like a predator stalking prey.
He stepped closer to the stone walls, reading each line. Old carvings of battles, symbols of fate, lines describing an ancient rebellion against Hell.
His thoughts whispering:
"How foolish this world is…
Humans never accept death.
They crave everything…
even after they already have what they want.
Their wishes never die.
Humans are the most selfish creatures in this world."
The fire lamps flickered violently—as if reacting to something in Jin Yuan's aura.
Queen Victoria Reona watched him with unreadable eyes.
Rionaz stood beside him, trembling slightly—not in fear of the chamber, but of Jin Yuan's growing silence.
The room felt alive.
The stone statue felt like it was watching them.
And Jin Yuan felt… something ancient, something cold, something familiar.
Like a whisper from another timeline.
A memory not his.
A destiny trying to speak.
But Jin Yuan shut it out.
He turned—his expression colder than before.
"We leave at sunrise."
Queen Victoria nodded. Rionaz swallowed nervously.
The chapter ends with the three of them leaving the chamber, but Jin Yuan looks back once—just once—at the stone statue of the Founder.
And for a fraction of a second…
The stone eyes seem to look back.