Chapter 285: The City of the Giants

The colossal giant stepped down from the towering stairs and stopped squarely in the middle of the wide cobblestone street right behind Solomon.

Even from this slight distance, Solomon could not see the full body of the giant. The creature’s upper torso and head were completely obscured by the low-hanging desert clouds.

The giant slowly reached a shadow-casting hand down toward the street. Solomon’s fingers twitched. He was itching to grab the hilt of his greatsword and swing at the descending fingers. However, he forced himself to relax. If the giant truly wanted to kill him, it could easily just crush him by stepping on him without a second thought.

Since it wasn’t attacking, this was not a fight Solomon needed to initiate.

The colossal hand gently scooped Solomon up from the pavement. The giant stood upright and casually walked up the massive stairs, clearing the impossible height in a few simple strides, while the silent maid fluidly jumped and bounded up the steps to follow them.

Reaching the top of the plateau, the giant carefully placed Solomon back onto the ground in front of an equally massive architectural structure. The building featured towering stone domes and intricate, sky-piercing spires.

Although it possessed the grandeur and layout of a royal palace, the structure itself seemed relatively small when viewed through the perspective of the giants who built it.

It was a temple.

The maid immediately landed beside Solomon, standing quietly at his side as the giant continued walking forward.

Suddenly, the giant stopped and turned around. Thick, white smoke began to pour out from the giant’s skin. The smoke billowed rapidly, expanding until the dense cloud completely obscured the colossal figure from view.

When the smoke finally dissipated a few seconds later, someone entirely different was standing exactly where the giant had previously stood. It was a normal, human-sized man wearing simple, woven robes.

The man walked up to them, offered a respectful bow, and introduced himself.

"Χαίρετε. Είμαι ο Ερμής, ο δούλος του ναού," the man spoke, his voice calm and melodic.

Solomon furrowed his brow. Unlike the maid, who spoke perfectly fluent, modern English, this man was speaking an entirely different language. Solomon could somewhat understand a few fragments of the dialect from his extensive historical studies at the libraries. It sounded exactly like ancient Greek.

Solomon turned to the maid. "I might just be high after the drinks and stretching the logic here, but was this regular guy the giant a second ago?"

The girl nodded. "He transformed to this size so he can communicate with you more freely and comfortably."

Solomon pondered the situation for a few seconds. He glanced around the sprawling, empty city, the towering temple, and the desert horizon.

"Okay, let me get this straight," Solomon said, crossing his arms. "This entire city is located in the middle of a sandy desert, clearly matching a Middle Eastern geographical setting. The architectural structure of this temple belongs to ancient Mesopotamian design. And this guy is speaking ancient Greek. Make it make sense. What exactly is going on here?"

The temple slave turned to the maid and spoke rapidly in a completely different, guttural language that even Solomon could not identify. After a brief, hushed exchange, the temple slave turned back to Solomon.

"I sincerely apologize for speaking in the old tongue," the temple slave said, now speaking in flawless English. "The very last person who visited this temple centuries ago spoke that language, so I simply assumed it was still the primary spoken dialect in the outside world."

’I do not even want to know what era that is supposed to be,’ Solomon thought to himself. He turned to the maid. "Then how come you knew exactly what language I spoke when you first greeted me in the dining hall?"

"A man came to this city not too long ago," the girl responded emotionlessly. "He told me that the Silver One would visit this place very soon, and instructed me on how to greet you."

Solomon raised an eyebrow. "Then how come the temple slave did not know about this?"

"The man left immediately after stopping by the lower city," the girl answered. "He did not ascend the stairs to meet the temple slave."

"Who was this man?" Solomon asked, his curiosity peaking.

"I do not know his name, and I did not ask," the girl replied. "But he had bright golden hair and carried a armory of different weapons strapped across his back, very similar to how you are currently carrying your weapons on your back. He was also wearing a dark cape."

The vague description struck a very specific, familiar chord in Solomon’s memory.

’It was Vlad.’

There was no way to physically confirm it right now, but what the girl described matched the golden-haired royal from the ’Under the Dark Cloud’ guild perfectly.

Solomon frowned, gripping the strap of his greatsword. ’What was Vlad doing down here in a desert dungeon? And how did he know I would eventually come here?’ Solomon wondered. ’If my earlier speculation is true, does Vlad possess some kind of talent that allows him to see the future or something?’

Pushing the conspiracy aside for the moment, Solomon looked at the temple slave and formally introduced himself.

"I am Solomon," he stated. "What am I supposed to do here? And just to clarify upfront, I will not be bowing down to any statues or pledging my soul to any forgotten gods."

The temple slave offered a polite smile. "You do not need to bow, Solomon. You are simply invited to take part in the temple’s trial and claim a divine reward."

"What kind of trial?" Solomon asked cautiously. "Is this something I am forced to do to leave this city?"

"It is up to you if you wish to participate or not. There is no force involved," the temple slave answered. "The trial is simply to defeat the monster currently roaming outside the city walls."

Solomon blinked. ’Is he referring to the colossal sandworm? The supposed boss of this dungeon?’

Solomon’s mind raced as he connected the dots. ’Is this entire dungeon actually just a trial domain? The ancient scriptures in the archives mentioned that trial dungeons were specifically engineered by forgotten deities to test mortal champions, rewarding them with lost relics if they proved their worth. If that is true, the sandworm is not just a random monster, but rather a designated executioner of the trial.’

Since Solomon was already fully planning to fight the sandworm to clear the dungeon anyway, he figured he might as well officially accept the trial to score some extra loot.

"I will take the trial," Solomon agreed. "How does it work, is there another objective, and what is the reward?"

"Your objective is simple: kill the beast outside," the temple slave answered. "I cannot reveal the nature of the reward until the trial is complete. However, to assist you in this endeavor, you will be granted a weapon and the power necessary to defeat the monster."

Solomon suddenly grew incredibly curious. He already had multiple weapons strapped to his back, but none of them possessed the destructive power required to slay a beast that caused earthquakes simply by moving. If the temple was offering a weapon capable of killing such a massive monster, he definitely wanted to see it.

The temple slave gestured toward the towering archways. "Please follow me into the temple."

Solomon followed the man, with the silent maid trailing closely behind them.

A while later, they reached the main inner sanctum of the temple. Solomon could see a colossal structure resting at the far end of the hall. As they drew closer, he realized it was an impossibly huge stone throne.

’Why would there be a throne inside a religious temple?’ Solomon wondered, though he quickly dismissed the architectural inconsistency.

Suspended high above the throne was a massive, glowing chandelier. The intricate crystal fixture shined brightly, slowly dripping a thick, glowing liquid directly onto the footrest of the giant throne.

The temple slave suddenly shifted forms, rapidly expanding back into his towering, colossal giant state. The giant walked up to the throne and reached his massive hand high up toward the ceiling, grabbing the glowing chandelier directly in his palm.

Solomon stared at the object in stunned silence.

As the giant lowered his hand, Solomon finally realized his mistake. That was not a chandelier.

It was a gilded crown, bearing a massive, crystallized divine gemstone perfectly set in its center.