Build an ancient-level power in the nightmare world

At this moment, Chris had no other choice.

He held the key in his hand and slowly walked towards the tower in front of him.

The lake rippled outwards at my feet.

……

Standing in front of the wooden archway at the foot of the tower, Chris realized that he had misjudged the size of the tower.

The tower has a diameter of about 20 meters at its base, is cylindrical in shape, and is estimated to be several hundred meters high.

The archway in front of him was about three meters wide, and its highest point was estimated to be seven or eight meters high.

Chris's gaze fell on one side of the archway, about 1.5 meters above the ground.

There was a very inconspicuous keyhole there, which seemed to possess a mysterious magic that drew his gaze.

Chris didn't hesitate for long and went straight forward to insert the key he was holding.

The key and the keyhole are the perfect size.

After Chris fully inserted the key, he habitually twisted the key handle in his hand carefully in a clockwise direction.

Chris felt no resistance whatsoever as he turned the key.

After he turned the key in his hand about 180 degrees, a slight mechanical clanging sound came from inside the wooden archway in front of him.

Feeling that the key in his hand could no longer be turned, Chris slowly released his grip on the key. Then he tried to place his right hand on the side of the wooden door and began to slowly apply force.

Chris thought it would take a lot of strength to push open the seven or eight-meter-high wooden door in front of him, but to his surprise, he only had to push his palm lightly, and the wooden door opened a gap of more than thirty centimeters.

"Boom!"

At the same time, a huge roar, as if it were going to shatter his eardrums, suddenly exploded across the entire lake.

The lake water seemed to be boiling, with countless huge bubbles rising continuously from beneath the surface. Upon reaching the surface, the bubbles burst, splashing up layers of water.

Fog began to rise from the lake.

White smoke slowly formed above the lake, layer upon layer, obscuring part of the starry sky reflected in the lake.

Chris's right hand was still pressed against the wooden archway. The loud noise had startled him, but it didn't stop him from continuing to open the door of the tower in front of him.

The wooden door had already been partially opened, and from there, Chris clearly felt that he needed to use more force to push the door open further.

As Chris exerted his strength, a series of creaking sounds from the wood pressing against each other and clanging sounds from the metal began to come from all directions.

Some sounds seemed to come from a distant place, while others seemed to be right next to my ear.

These sounds haven't stopped since Chris started pushing the door open.

Listening to the sounds coming from all around, Chris frowned slightly. He felt as if he wasn't opening this one door, but rather thousands of long-sealed doors were opening simultaneously.

Chris ignored the sounds coming from all directions.

Soon, he pushed open the door of the tower, revealing the dark interior space.

As the door was pushed open, the surrounding sounds disappeared simultaneously.

The faint light emanating from the starry sky above the lake allowed Chris to see a spiral stone staircase extending upwards in the space behind the door.

There is nothing else besides that.

Chris's gaze lingered on the steps for only a moment before he hurriedly stepped forward and pulled the key out of the door.

Chris took the key back into his hand and felt its coolness before slowly exhaling.

He was terrified that the key in front of him would disappear without a trace once he opened the door.

Fortunately, all my worries were unnecessary.

Only then did Chris have the opportunity to properly examine the only structure inside the tower: the spiraling stone staircase.

But just as his gaze moved to the vicinity of the steps, and he was carefully examining the thin, dark brown metal railings beside the steps, a dazzling white light entered his field of vision.

Chris instinctively looked in the direction of the light, and the source of the light was his right hand, which was tightly gripping the key.

A hint of surprise flashed in Chris's eyes. He quickly opened his right hand and saw that the old-fashioned key in his hand had completely changed its appearance.

The dark blue key itself has transformed into a glassy texture, with colorful light flowing inside, carrying countless gold and silver specks that tumble and flow continuously.

To Chris's astonishment, the key, which looked like it was made of colored glass, began to melt rapidly.

The melted, colorful, transparent liquid left Chris's palm and floated in mid-air in front of him.

A dazzling light emanated from the ball of colored liquid. Chris instinctively tried to close his eyes, but before he could react, the dazzling light vanished.

Where the colorful liquid had originally been, now a simple, antique-style lantern was quietly floating in the air.

The oil lamp was somewhat similar in style to the portable gas lamp Chris had used, the only difference being the wick.

At this moment, in the center of the lantern, a white ball of light, no bigger than an infant's fist, wrapped in layers of intermittent, multicolored light curtains, was quietly emitting a reassuring white glow.

Chris looked at the lantern in front of him and a strange sense of familiarity welled up inside him.

"Pick it up... pick up the lamp..."

Suddenly, countless voices rang in Chris's ears.

"Pick it up... pick up the lamp..."

"Pick it up... pick up the lamp..."

These voices include those of men and women, young and old, and some are even distorted and mutated to the point that they don't sound like anything a human could make.

The sounds rose and fell, growing louder and louder, which made Chris extremely irritated.

His brows furrowed, and a surge of anger inexplicably rose within him.

"Shut up."

After that soft exclamation, all the noise vanished instantly.

Chris then felt much better.

He felt the whole process was so natural.

It was as if those sounds were supposed to disappear after he yelled "Shut up."

Or rather, on a subconscious level that Chris wasn't even aware of, he knew of the existence of those who were creating the noise and would absolutely not dare to disobey him.

"Phew~"

After taking a deep breath, Chris stepped forward and grabbed the handle above the lantern.

That strangely familiar and reassuring feeling returned.

This time, he not only felt this way about the lantern in his hand, but also felt that the entire tower, the vast lake outside, and the starry sky reflected in the lake should all belong to him.

Chris had never paid attention to the negative emotions such as unease and anxiety that were ingrained in his subconscious, and at this moment, they truly vanished.

It feels like a busy worker returning home after a long day, with no mortgage.

Everything felt so familiar, and everything here made me feel at ease.

At this moment, Chris had a vague feeling that he could leave this strange space at any time if he wanted to.

Chris closed his eyes slightly and tried again to visualize the image of the ancient key in his mind.

As the image of the key gradually took shape in his mind, Chris felt a strange sense of detachment welling up inside him.

He immediately stopped sketching the image of the key, and the sense of detachment vanished instantly.

Chris's intuition told him that if he could fully visualize the key in his mind, he would be able to leave this place and return to the place he knew best.

But he no longer wants to do that.

He has gone through so much to get here.

He wouldn't be satisfied until he had explored this last place.

Anyway, in his current state of mind, this place feels just like his own home, and he feels completely safe here.

Chris looked up at the spiraling staircase above.

There was no other light source inside the tower, and the staircase led into darkness.

But Chris didn't feel any fear or discomfort from the darkness.

Without the slightest hesitation, Chris, carrying the lantern, stepped onto the first step and began the final climb.