My Talent's Name Is Generator

Chapter 1315: The Palace Beyond Time

We continued deeper into the dead zone, moving through the endless darkness until the ruins that had haunted my vision finally began to emerge from the void. At first, they appeared little more than faint silhouettes against the darkness, but with every step forward their immense scale became clearer, until even I found myself slowing down.

The palace was enormous.

Its outer walls stretched so far into the darkness that I couldn’t see where they ended, disappearing beyond the limits of my perception as though an entire world had been built behind them. Towering structures rose above the walls at irregular intervals, their ancient surfaces blackened and weathered by an age I couldn’t begin to estimate.

Massive stone towers crowned the outer perimeter, each one decorated with intricate carvings that had been worn almost completely smooth, while enormous stairways and elevated terraces connected different sections of the sprawling structure.

At the centre of the outer wall stood the gate.

Even from several hundred metres away, it was large enough to make us look insignificant. Two enormous slabs of ancient material formed the entrance, their surfaces covered in countless interlocking patterns and faded inscriptions. Yet none of those details caught my attention.

It was the emblem carved into the centre.

Several enormous gears were arranged together in a pattern that was almost identical to the tattoo engraved across my chest, the same design I had seen countless times whenever I activated my Generator.

My footsteps stopped. Something had happened inside my body.

The moment my eyes settled on that emblem, the Generator Core deep within me trembled.

It wasn’t a reaction of fear or resistance. It felt almost like recognition. I felt something within it respond to something outside my body, as though the ancient gears carved into the gate belonged to a place it had somehow known long before I ever existed.

I slowly raised my hand. Lyrate watched silently as I walked toward the gate and placed my palm against its cold surface.

For a moment, nothing happened.

Then I pushed.

A deep groan rolled through the palace.

The sound was so enormous that it seemed to shake the entire dead zone, echoing through the darkness long after the first movement of the gate. The two massive doors began separating with agonizing slowness, mechanisms grinding somewhere deep within the structure as centuries of accumulated dust and debris cascaded from the upper sections.

Neither of us spoke.

We simply waited.

Eventually, the opening became large enough for us to pass through, revealing what lay beyond.

The interior was even more magnificent than the outer structure.

A vast avenue stretched ahead beneath large stone structures, leading toward an enormous central building that rose above the rest of the palace like the heart of an ancient civilization.

Massive terraces surrounded it, layered one above another, while wide staircases climbed toward elevated platforms and enormous towers. Long corridors and covered walkways connected the various structures, their roofs rising in multiple tiers toward the darkness overhead.

Everywhere we looked, there were signs of extraordinary craftsmanship.

Stone pillars stood in endless rows, their surfaces covered with elaborate carvings of creatures, strange symbols, celestial bodies, and enormous gears. Bridges crossed deep courtyards, while statues stood along the roads, many of them missing heads, arms, or entire sections of their bodies.

Time had damaged almost everything, but even in its ruined state, the palace retained a grandeur that made it difficult to imagine how magnificent it must once have been.

Then I took another step. My body immediately became heavier.

I frowned.

Lyrate stopped beside me as well.

"What is this pressure?"

I looked around before attempting to rise into the air.

Nothing happened.

My body remained firmly on the ground.

I tried again, pushing Soul Force through my legs and attempting to lift myself, but the moment I left the surface by even a fraction, an invisible force pressed down against me with overwhelming strength.

I landed again.

"We can’t fly."

Lyrate’s expression became serious. "Not even you?"

I shook my head.

"Not even me."

The oppressive aura surrounding the palace was unlike anything I had experienced before. It wasn’t merely an attack or a restriction imposed on our bodies; it seemed to permeate the entire space, suppressing everything that attempted to violate whatever rules governed this place. Even moving through the air appeared to be forbidden.

Lyrate looked toward the enormous avenue ahead.

"Then we’ll have to walk."

"Looks like it."

We began moving.

The ancient road beneath our feet was wide enough for several enormous creatures to travel side by side, its surface cracked and uneven but still surprisingly intact. On either side stood the remains of buildings that must once have served some purpose, though nothing remained inside them now.

We entered the first structure we passed. It was empty.

There were no tables, no chairs, no weapons, no vessels, no ornaments, and not even broken fragments of ordinary belongings. Only the walls and foundations remained, as though someone had stripped the entire palace clean before abandoning it.

The same thing happened with the next building.

And the one after that.

Every structure was completely hollow.

"The strange thing is that nothing was destroyed inside," Lyrate said as we continued along the avenue. "There aren’t even remnants of ordinary objects."

I glanced toward another enormous building whose open entrance revealed nothing but darkness.

"You’re right."

It was almost as though the inhabitants had simply vanished one day, leaving the architecture behind but taking everything that had once made the place feel lived in.

We continued toward the central structure.

With every step, the oppressive aura seemed to grow heavier, pressing against our bodies and making the simple act of walking feel strangely significant. The palace remained completely silent around us, with only the echo of our footsteps travelling across the enormous avenue.

The oppressive force that had accompanied us since entering the palace had only grown stronger as we approached, pressing against our bodies with a constant weight that made every movement feel deliberate.

When we finally crossed the threshold into the main hall, the darkness inside seemed to swallow the faint light surrounding us, and for several moments I could see nothing except the immense silhouettes of pillars disappearing into the distance.

Then my eyes adjusted, and I realized that the walls were covered from floor to ceiling with enormous inscriptions.

They weren’t ordinary murals. The images had been carved directly into the ancient stone, with countless symbols woven together so intricately that they almost appeared to be moving whenever I shifted my gaze. The carvings stretched across the walls for hundreds of metres, forming one continuous story that disappeared into the darkness of the hall.

Lyrate stopped beside me.

"Billion, look at the centre."