Chapter 29 The Prophecy Foretold.
Up close, the temple looked even more magnificent than before. The red-stoned walls were quite sturdy and looked as ancient as the moss of fungus over them. long extensive vines could be seen all over the place but that was it. There were no signs of decay and the temple looked well-preserved.
The many pillars surrounding the whole temple vicinity were giving off a strange vibration creating resonance deep within Ethan's soul—as if he had some kind of deep connection with the place.
The first layer of the temple which was also the outer wall as well as the entrance had a massive gate in the middle on which the depiction of two giants side by side holding gigantic spears was engraved in a very artistic and intricate manner with great detailing. It was as if the two giants had been imprisoned in the door itself and became stone with the aging of time.
Although, as absurd as that sounded, it looked exactly like that.
Ethan marveled inwardly as he observed the two engraved giants. It shouldn't come off as a surprise at this point knowing that Ethan was a great admirer of Arts' if nothing else.
The two giants looked gallant with their mighty physic and bulging muscles. They were bald and had a large, dense beard. The depiction was so accurate that one could even see every smallest spec of hair on their face very clearly.
All in all, the temple was a treasure trove of mystery and enigma with all of the things that Ethan had seen so far. He could smell a huge headache coming his way. You can call it an inkling if you may—just like the red ants know when's the storm coming; Ethan also felt like his days of 'doing nothing' were numbered far and few.
Despite all the things he had seen since waking up in the strange void, one thing captured Ethan's attention more than anything.
He walked forward toward the wall and the sight he saw could not be expressed in mere words.
The wall which expanded for several acres was a mural engraved with detailed artistic imagery depicting the scenes of distant past events that happened thousands of years ago.
When Ethan took his time and carefully looked over the entire thing, he understood that the memoir engraved on the wall told the story of The Battle of Millenia.
The same story which Ethan had read in a storybook made by the Church. But the scale was on a completely different level.
He was easily able to identify the vague figures of Gods, the Army of Angels, The Gods of Sins, Beasts Creatures, Demi-Human species such as Elves, Beastmen, Tree-Folk, and Dwarves as well as Mythical Creatures such as Unicorns, Phoenixes, Dragons and large armies of Humans, etc, engaged in an all-out war of attrition.
Elements were flying all over the place as the Gods fought the Sins and their minions. The army of Winged Angels faced off against the Beasts as well as the Army of Demons. Elves who were a peaceful bunch fought for their survival in a defensive stance as they hid themselves in the Elven Forests. Dwarves created superior tools of mass destruction for the sake of it while they created cities underground. The Dragons who could shapeshift into a human form were arrogant and uninterested in the entire thing as they moved to a faraway place beyond the mountains while some of them stayed behind to vent out their bloodlust.
The epicness of what he was seeing could not be described in any words. Even Ethan who was by nature non-ambitious and dull felt his blood boiling with excitement as he looked at the sheer scale of the powers depicted in the mural.
The events were portrayed telling the entire story of what had happened, how the Humans and other races became corrupt, and how the Era of Chaos came to be, followed by the War.
Ethan also saw the depiction of 'Time-Space Continuum' opening up and all the Gods getting sucked inside it and what followed next.
The realm fell out in utter chaos as various races fought for the supremacy of the entire world. Empires and Kingdoms came and fell, The Church was founded and the course of history continued on its neverending path.
Ethan was completely flabbergasted as he finally had some proof that what he saw in the storybook was most probably the truth.
He observed the mural further and saw that there was actually also the depiction of a distant future.
He saw spatial rifts becoming a common phenomenon and people losing their lives because of it, he saw entire cities getting destroyed by such turbulence as the destined battle between Allfather and the Disgraced One was slowly coming to an end—the baffling thing however was that the Creator seemed to be losing for some reason.
Then he saw a cryptic depiction of the dawn of the morning sun dispelling the darkness amidst a snowfall. Ethan did not know what to make of it.
Ethan got closer to the wall and extended his hand to touch it as he wanted to analyze what kind of material it was exactly made from. He also wanted to feel the engraved wall for himself.
Ethan gently touched the mural and suddenly he jolted as if an electric current had run through him.
"The----Prophecy------Foretold-----Apostle----Come----Time----Nigh" The muffled echoing whispers suddenly rang in his ears as he stepped back startled in a hurry while holding his head.
A roaring creaking sound of the massive gates opening echoed. When Ethan recovered from the shock and looked sideways he saw that the massive doors that were closed had opened on their own.
A vexing and puzzled expression appeared on Ethan's face and he thought,
"Ah, What the hell was that? I have a bad feeling about all this. Should I just turn back? I feel like if I go inside then it will not be good for my current peaceful life. What a pain! But I have to know what this thing 'The Prophecy Foretold' is all about. I can't just go on living knowing that some Time-Space Continuum will suddenly break someday all of a sudden inviting catastrophe." Ethan thought as he pondered whether to continue to explore or not while scratching his head.