"Welco, third player—Chang Long—to the Heavenly Avian Temple."
After that, Aswa inscribed his na as well, followed by Siegfried, who—even though he did not co for the quest—was still able to record his na as proof of visiting.
"So, who got here before us? Must be soone really amazing."
Aswa wondered aloud and stepped closer to read the nas etched into the golden plaque, which was also golden in color.
"Well? Can you tell who it is?"
Chang Long asked when she saw Aswa staring at it for a long ti.
"Nadech and Yaya…"
Aswa answered, sounding amazed.
"Such ordinary nas, huh."
Chang Long remarked.
"Yeah. The top-tier players probably don't want to draw attention to themselves, so they use plain nas like these."
Siegfried agreed.
"But I feel like I've heard those two nas sowhere before."
Aswa still could not shake the feeling, as the nas seed oddly familiar to him.
"Never mind. If you can't rember, no need to give yourself a headache. Now that we're here, shall we go explore inside?"
Chang Long asked the two young n, her eyes sparkling with curiosity.
No one refused Chang Long's invitation, since they all wanted to explore the Heavenly Avian Temple too. After all the difficulty they had gone through to reach this point, there was no way they would turn back easily. Chang Long unsealed her pets, including Fluffy Head-chan, whom she had previously sealed. They split up to search for an entrance to go deeper into the temple.
A small passage behind the golden plaque led to a wide hall that seed to be a place for conducting so kind of ritual. Statues of bird gods, cast in gold, spread their wings to the very edges of the two walls. On the altar, trays of incense and offerings were neatly arranged—mostly colorful fruits. Though the ritual room was deserted, the scent of incense lingered heavily in the air. Everyone approached the altar cautiously. Just as Brownie was reaching out to grab a beautifully red fruit, a shrill and piercing voice rang out.
"Stop, filthy mouse. Don't you dare touch the sacred fruit of the gods!"
The voice ca from sothing shaped like a large egg, covered in feathers as vibrant as a parrot's. Its long tail resembled a fan. On its head were two long black feathers that looked like whiskers, along with many tiny fluffy feathers. If not for the eyes and beak, no one would have guessed it was a bird.
The grumpy bird was perched on a wooden rod not far from the altar. It seed quite old, as there were wrinkles on its forehead—an indication of soone who had lived a very long life.
"Whoa, this is…"
Chang Long spoke up in astonishnt.
"Fat bird,"
Siegfried said softly, looking just as stunned.
"Old bird,"
Aswa added—though in truth, it was both fat and old. But since Siegfried already said fat, he just added a little more.
"You rude little brats. I am the Bird Sage, knower of all things. Don't go calling fat bird or old bird, I'll have you know. If you want to navigate smoothly through the grand temple of the bird gods, you'll need my wisdom and expertise. Try fumbling around on your own, and if you don't die first, you'll get hopelessly lost in here with no way out!"
The Bird Sage introduced himself in a fury, sweeping his bulging owl-like eyes over Chang Long's group.
"What? Is this a temple or a maze? Why would we get lost?"
Chang Long asked. The Bird Sage turned to look at her—and was stunned by the faint aura he sensed from her body. A complex uniqueness, that of a wielder of life and death, with traces of a long-lost tribe interwoven into it.
"Who are you? Why do you carry such an aura?"
The sage asked in astonishnt.
"?"
Chang Long raised an eyebrow at the Bird Sage. The way he looked at her suggested he might know sothing. If he was willing to speak, maybe she could glean another important clue.
"Yes, you. The two forces fused within you, even calling it terrifying would be an understatent, oh you of the Lost Tribe."
The Bird Sage replied, his feathers bristling all over his body until he looked even more like a giant feathery ball than before.
"Lost Tribe?"
The two young n echoed the words in confusion, glancing back and forth between Chang Long and the Bird Sage before their eyes finally settled on Chang Long. Maybe it was because they already knew about the strange aura that always surrounded her that they had not noticed sothing had begun to change again.
"You an I'm part of the Lost Tribe, uncle?"
Chang Long asked, genuinely interested, as it seed like the Bird Sage really did know sothing. The two young n perked up their ears too. They did not know much about Chang Long themselves—but the sage, his brow twitching furiously, seed deeply annoyed at being called uncle.
"Uncle? Hmph. If you weren't that, I wouldn't be holding back, you know!" The Bird Sage said, trying to suppress his irritation.
"That?"
The two young n repeated again, still bewildered—wondering just how many bizarre things there were about Chang Long that they did not understand or even know.
"You grim reaper who inherited the Dark Tribe. Especially soone like you—the leader. All who fall under your dominion must follow suit. If the ancient prophecy of world cleansing turns out to be true, things could get very ssy indeed."
The Bird Sage muttered mostly to himself rather than speaking directly to Chang Long's group. But Chang Long still caught the aning, and her heart began to race when he ntioned her followers.
"By those under my dominion, do you an pets? Spirits I've bonded with, Uncle Bird?"
Chang Long asked with keen interest.
"No. What I an are the devout—those awaiting rebirth through the blessing of the Reaper King, and those in the Land of the Dead—the reapers awaiting commands from their kings. Those are the ones I an."
The Bird Sage replied. Siegfried and Chang Long nodded in understanding. Aswa, on the other hand, widened his eyes and gaped, staring at Chang Long in disbelief.
"What the—! Level 48, but she's a Reaper King and inherited a long-lost dark race? No wonder her attacks are so ridiculously powerful. Co to think of it, if I dated Chang Long and we got married, would I inherit that race too? Whoa, just thinking about it makes blush…"
Aswa mumbled to himself, lost in a fantasy so vivid he completely tuned out the rest of the conversation.
"wa... Aswa. What's with you? Zoning out with that goofy face—don't tell you're thinking dirty thoughts."
Siegfried ca over and gave him a shoulder slap, snapping him out of it. Aswa quickly adjusted his expression to normal, having just imagined himself in a wedding ceremony with Chang Long, slipping rings onto each other's fingers, about to kiss her soft, plump lips as they drew nearer—only for that dream to be shattered by the voice of a massive third-wheel, Siegfried.
"What? Who's thinking dirty? So what'd you co over here to tell ?"
Aswa quickly deflected and asked what Siegfried wanted—since the man had completely crushed his daydream.
"We're getting ready to move on. The Bird Sage said he's coming with us."
Siegfried replied with a frown, starting to wonder what had Aswa so distracted he would let his guard down like that—even though he was one of the ga's top-tier players.
"Oh—right. Let's go. I've been itching to explore this place anyway."
Aswa said, then walked off to join Chang Long and the pets, who were all visibly fascinated by the Bird Sage—so much so that he had to fly up and perch sowhere high, afraid they might try to gobble him up.
Once they stepped out from the divine ritual chamber, they ca upon a narrow path that stretched far ahead. It seed to go on endlessly—contrary to the external structure, which rose upward rather than extending out like what they now saw. As soon as they began walking, they heard the sound of so chanism activating. The noise was faint; if one was not listening carefully, they might not hear it at all.
"Be careful not to get separated."
The Bird Sage's warning surprised everyone. There was only one path, with nothing obstructing it—how could they possibly get separated?
But with every step forward, thin mist began to swirl and drift. The deeper they walked, the thicker it beca. The narrow path they once saw disappeared from view. Even though they felt like they were moving forward, the truth was they were unknowingly walking in different directions. Not even their bonded spirits—who usually alerted them to unusual occurrences—reacted. They did not even realize sothing was already wrong.
"This fog is really thick, isn't it?"
Chang Long called out. But no reply ca from her companions—only the sounds of her own pets.
"Huh? Where did those two go? Why aren't they answering?" Chang Long stopped walking. She looked around and only just noticed that she was surrounded by empty whiteness. It was calm like clouds and so thick that she could not see through it at all .
'Master, I can't sense anyone's presence at all.'
Kitsune poked his head through the mist—which looked like a fluffy cotton ball—and spoke to Chang Long.
"Really? So we really did get separated, just like the Bird Sage warned."
Chang Long stood frozen in shock, scanning her surroundings with increasing wariness.
"Everyone? Devi-chan, Hisa-chan, Flatear, Fluffy Head-chan, Brownie, are you all still with ?"
Chang Long called out to her companions, worried that if they got separated and wandered alone, they might run into danger.
"What is with this fog? Our senses don't work at all in it."
Devi-chan grumbled loudly, floating over toward Chang Long, with Hisa-chan drifting along right behind him.
"This fog makes walking really difficult."
Fluffy Head-chan popped his head out for Chang Long to see, just like Kitsune and Flatear had done.
"So everyone's here. In that case, let's keep moving. This fog has to end sowhere." Chang Long said, and began walking slowly and carefully, afraid her pets might get separated again.
Eventually, after walking through the thick mist for a while, Chang Long reached a place where the fog began to thin. The sound of birdsong made her feel curious. The sound of flowing water. The sound of wind. She began walking faster, intrigued by what might be waiting ahead. It had to be the heavenly garden of the birds—a place so beautiful it defied imagination.
"Why, oh why, did I have to get stuck with you!"
Aswa grumbled irritably, realizing he had gotten separated from his friends—and even worse, that the one who was with him was soone he did not get along with at all.
"Did you ask if I wanted to be stuck with you? I told you to be careful. What kind of top-tier player are you, wandering off for so long without noticing?"
The Bird Sage snapped back, arguing fiercely. Malicious energy radiated from their eyes as the two bickered, and then they started to notice that the fog around them was beginning to lift.
Creeeaaak.
"..."
"Did you hear that? It sounds like sothing's moving."
Aswa asked with interest, while the Bird Sage stayed silent, looking worried.
"Maybe we should slowly sneak away. Walk quietly and get out of here."
The Bird Sage whispered. But Aswa, still annoyed at the sage, felt like doing the opposite. Instead of backing off, he moved toward the source of the noise. The Bird Sage could only grip his shoulder in astonishnt, too shocked to shout or stop him.
Towering stone peaks stood before them like the tips of massive spears. Aswa could not understand how sothing like this could exist inside the Heavenly Avian Temple. It looked like an entirely different world—vast and endless. At the peak of one mountain stood a bird-shaped creature with a bizarre form. It had the head of a bird, the body of a dragon, four legs covered in feathers, and a tail like a plu of flowing ornant.
Aswa stood slack-jawed at the strange being, which the system identified as a Sakunnamakorn beast, a legendary creature from the Himmapan forest. It yawned as if it had just woken up, and stared intently at Aswa. The young man looked for the path he had co from—but it had vanished. He then heard a loud whoosh, and when he turned to look, the Sakunnamakorn had already disappeared.
BOOMMM
The Sakunnamakorn dove like a spear to attack him from hundreds of ters above. Aswa dodged just in ti, barely avoiding the strike. The Bird Sage was sent flying far away and frantically tried to hop and flap away to get out of the battle zone. The young man stood up and watched the Sakunnamakorn raise its head high as it too stood up within a large crater, caused by the sheer force of its own attack. Aswa leapt far back to give himself ti to prepare for the next assault. He drew out the Infinite Whip and held it in his hand, keeping his eyes locked on the Sakunnamakorn, not allowing it to slip from his sight again.
anwhile, Siegfried heard the bright laughter of a woman—or rather, a group of won. The further he walked ahead, the clearer and closer the cheerful laughter beca. As the mist cleared, the figures of slender won in long, flowing white cloaks appeared. They looked excited to see the young man and surrounded him in a crowd, though they kept a distance—never stepping closer than an arm's reach.
Being surrounded by won, Siegfried blushed hard from embarrassnt. He tried to keep walking, not paying them much attention, but then he was stunned when he realized he was standing in a beautiful garden, filled with rare flowers and trees. Their fragrance filled the air so completely that the young man felt deeply relaxed. At the center of the garden was a curved pavilion made of white wood—it looked like a giant birdcage.
"Where is this place?"
Siegfried exclaid in wonder. Not only had the narrow pathway and the temple walls disappeared, but he was not even sure if he was still in the Heavenly Avian Temple. It seed like everyone had gotten separated—leaving only him and Lycanth together.
"Young man, you are so handso. But with a face like that, why do you keep a beast like a werewolf at your side?"
One of the won asked him with a sweet, lodious voice. Lycanth glared at them fiercely, as if holding so ancient grudge.
"Lycanth is a good friend of mine."
Siegfried replied.
"Don't you want a new, better friend—soone like us? Angels can give you much more than a bloodthirsty beast like that."
As soon as the beautiful woman finished speaking, they all spread a pair of pristine white wings from their backs in unison.
"A... an angel."
Siegfried looked at them in disbelief. If they were truly angels, would they really lower themselves to beco companions to humans?
Awooooo
Lycanth raised his head and let out a loud howl. It seed he could no longer control himself. He charged at the angels, scattering them in all directions. Though Siegfried, his master, tried to stop him, he would not listen—and continued chasing after the angels.
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