บท 154: Portentous Interest

A gentle pulse rang inside the False Domain, heralding the entry of the last group of participants.

Warden Sidonia surveyed their approach from the upper floor of a spacious hallway, mouthing, "He is here."

"Finally!" Syndic Lollia excitedly leaped to her side, gazing over the tower's interior.

Rows of bronze-sculpted candelabra stood across the walls, holding ghostly candles alight with ashen flames. A single chandelier dangled from the lowered ceiling, on which was depicted a fully-armored warrior with pitch-black plates slaying through a tide of misshapen monsters.

The walls bore uncanny paintings of an obscure assembly, its gathered members sporting featureless faces and blank, seemingly unfinished eyes that seemed to stare back at whoever dared to linger too long on them.