Monarch of Gluttony: System of Sin
chapter-45

Azekiel stopped abruptly as soon as he reached an old-looking door. He gazed at the door with a curious gaze, not knowing why he was feeling as if there was something special about this place.

"What's behind that place?"

The General stepped closer to the door, touching it. "That? It's just an old Temple that was created at the time of this Castle's creation by the First King. It has been sealed for a long time since no King ever brothers to pray to the Gods inside."

Azekiel observed the lock on the door. "Do you have the key?"

The General shook his head. "I don't have the key, but I know where it might be kept. Should I bring it?"

Azekiel shook his head. "No need. You focus on arranging the guards and doing as planned. Take the army, and you can begin. I'll join you later."

"What about when the King of Greed arrives with his army? We can't face him alone."

"You don't need to worry about him. He is bound by laws. He won't interfere in the battles until I get there. You can rest assured and do as I said. Half the army to the battlefield and the other half advancing toward the Empire of Greed from the east."

"I don't want him to have even a single inch of land to get back to if he decides to run."

"I will do that." The General took the commands from Azekiel and left.

Azekiel stood behind, all alone before the door. After the General left, Azekiel grabbed the lock and pulled it with his full strength. The lock didn't break despite him using all his strength.

"This lock is stronger than it should've been."

Before his evolved strength, an ordinary lock should've been broken easily, yet this lock didn't.

The revelation forced Azekiel to use different methods. He called forth his Weapon of Sin. A metallic gauntlet appeared in his right hand with sharp beast-like claws. He grabbed the lock once again and pulled.

This time, even the lock couldn't resist. The lock was broken. Azekiel tossed the lock aside before pushing the door open. He sent the Gauntlets back.

He entered the room that hadn't been opened for years. It also didn't look like the room had been cleaned as dust could be seen everywhere. However, more than dust, what attracted his attention was a statue before him.

The twenty feet tall statue depicted a human who was wearing a majestic Armor that had a sun carved on it.

The statue was holding onto a stone sword that was aiming at the sky as if he was challenging heaven to come face him.

With calm steps, Azekiel moved closer to the Statue. For some reason, the statue gave him a strange feeling. He didn't know what it was, but it was similar to the feeling he received when he was outside this room. The only difference was that this feeling was more intense now.

While the statue held a sword in his right hand, it was also holding a book in his left hand. Unlike the statue and the Sword, the book wasn't made of stones. The Book appeared to be a real book that looked really small in the hands of the statue.

Other than the statue and the book, there was also one more thing. The statue was standing in a pond that was filled with red liquid up to the statue's knees. The small pond appeared to be filled with blood, and for some reason, the blood still looked fresh despite this place not being opened for years.

"Raphael? Any idea who this guy might be?"

Raphael shook his head in response as he circled the statue. "First time I'm seeing him."

"This is considered to be a Temple, so I have a feeling that this guy might be one of the gods. But I still can't figure out why I'm getting this weird feeling from this statue. It's as if... As if... I don't know how to describe this feeling."

Azekiel just observed the statue. There was something really extraordinary about it.

"I recognize him." A calm yet collected voice came, surprising Azekiel. It was Lia who had spoken.

Azekiel looked back at Lia, who seemed slightly taken aback. "You know him?"

"Remember the King I talked about who killed me and the other Witches? This is him... King Osiris."

"Were you from this place too? If not, why would a statue of your King be here?" Raphael inquired.

Lia shook her head. "I have no idea. All I know is that his statue shouldn't be here unless something happened after my death which changed the entire past, present, and future of this guy."

"Can you get that book down?" She pointed at the book in the hands of the statue. "That might have some answers."

Even Azekiel knew that he needed to get that book, but the question was how. He couldn't reach the book without getting in the pond of blood and being covered in blood. He couldn't fly either.

Unfortunately, this was too important for him. He couldn't just leave the book behind, fearing the blood.

He took off his robe, shirt, and pants to protect his clothes before stepping inside the pond of blood.

Entering the pond, he moved close to the statue and raised his hand as soon as he ended up near the foot of the statue.

He reached out his hand toward the golden book in the hands of King Orisis and grabbed the book.

As soon as Azekiel touched the book, he felt something change. His surroundings had completely changed. He wasn't in the pond anymore; instead, he was in another place entirely.

He appeared to be standing over the clouds under the bright sky. There stood a man before him whose face Azekiel couldn't see since his back was facing him.

"Who are you?" Azekiel asked calmly.

The man curiously turned around, slightly confused as he gazed at Azekiel.

As soon as the man turned, Azekiel was stunned to see the face of the man who he recognized.