272 THE CODEX RETURNED
Without a word, Rabama activated a hidden magic key within the wardrobe. The air seemed to ripple as a faint glow emerged, and a shimmering portal appeared inside the wardrobe.
"What is this? A magic portal? Why don't I know such a thing exist in my city?" Kabana gasped, stepping back in shock.
Rabama's expression remained stoic. "We discovered the portal after dealing with the brides from the Temple of Hera."
Kabana looked stunned. "What? Didn't they leave Eoloth? Are the brides hiding inside this wardrobe?"
"No, we killed them all… except for one," Rabama added, his voice cold as he stepped forward, crossing the threshold of the portal.
The others followed swiftly, entering the portal together.
On the other side, they found themselves in a sprawling garden of roses. The scent of flowers was thick in the air, but it was the sight before them that caught their attention.
Standing among the roses was Hanna—naked and vulnerable—surrounded by snarling, hulking hellhounds.
"Hanna!" Lord Kabana cried, rushing toward her. "Where have you been? I've been looking for you everywhere!"
"They put me here, help me my lord," Hanna's voice trembled, her eyes wide with fear.
Kabana turned to Rabama, fury in his eyes. "What is the meaning of this? Why did you keep my wife here … like this? I need an explanation."
"Hanna is the leader of the brides from the Temple of Hera," Rabama explained, his voice calm but firm. "They came here to steal the Giga Codex. It was all planned."
"What?" Kabana's voice broke with disbelief. "Impossible!"
"My Lord, it's not true! They're lying!" Hanna cried, but her words were cut short as the hellhounds inched closer, their growls growing louder.
Gubana, uninterested in Hanna's predicament, scoffed and pushed forward. "Where is the Giga Codex?"
Leo raised his hand, and with a simple gesture, a stone monument emerged from the ground before them.
"This is the Giga Codex?" Gubana exclaimed, his voice a mix of awe and suspicion. "But… there's something different about it."
Kabana scrutinized the monument too. "Why didn't we detect such magic on the stone before?"
As they reached for the monument, Leo spoke, "The Giga Codex you had before was inactivated. I activated the Giga Codex so you can access its knowledge, but you can only do so once, any further access would yield nothing."
"Are you serious? All this while we have been studying the stone wrong?" Kabana asked, his disbelief palpable.
"Try it," Leo suggested with a cool smile.
Kabana, Gubana, and Rabama quickly positioned themselves around the stone structure, their minds focusing on it. A few moments passed, and then the air around them shifted.
They could feel the power of the Codex as it surged through them. Their eyes glazed over, and suddenly, they were no longer in the rose garden. Their consciousness had entered the Codex itself.
After a long, silent pause, they returned to the garden, shaken but transformed.
Kabana was the first to speak, his voice heavy with shock. "What's happening? My magic just… increased by several tiers. I'm almost a peak tier Svad now."
"I'm feeling it too," Rabama said with a smile, watching the ripples of magic around him. "This is incredible."
"That's the mystery of the Giga Codex," Leo said, stepping forward. "Most people who access it experience an improvement in their magic."
Kabana, still processing what had just happened, looked at his brother. "Why is Gubana still in the Codex realm? He hasn't returned yet."
Leo paused, considering. "He may have found a deeper meaning within it. An enlightenment of sorts."
It took some time, but eventually, Gubana returned, his posture straighter, his eyes gleaming with a new understanding. He stood and waved his hand, and his magic shifted, more refined and potent than before.
"Did you improve your magic?" Kabana asked, eager for answers.
Gubana looked at them, noting their enhanced abilities.
His own tier had remained unchanged though, he was still at the peak of Svad tier but there was a new aura of comprehension around him. He was nearing a breakthrough to the next major tier of magic.
"Are you approaching Man tier, brother?" Kabana asked him with surprise and anticipation.
"It's not easy to break into the Man tier. I'm already at the peak of Svad," he explained, his voice calm but edged with frustration.
"But my understanding of magic… that's what's changed. I've unlocked something new," he added.
It was rare for someone like Gubana—or Yun-Yun, for that matter—to not only gain magical power but to also expand their understanding of magic after accessing the Giga Codex realm. That understanding could be much more useful than an upgrade in magic tiers.
"You still haven't explained," Gubana said, his tone sharpening. "How did the Giga Codex end up here?"
Leo looked at him, his expression thoughtful. "You've studied the Codex for so long, but you don't fully understand how to activate its magic. I activated it so you could access its knowledge," he said, his voice steady.
Kabana's eyes widened in disbelief. "Who are you people?"
"I've been looking for the Giga Codex too," Leo explained. "The Codex in Eoloth is the second one I've found."
"You mean this isn't my Codex?" Gubana asked, his voice tinged with disbelief.
"No," Leo replied, "your Codex has been combined with mine. That's why its knowledge is greater and more advanced."
Gubana's brow furrowed as he processed this. "So… if we can get the Giga Codex from the Temple of Hera, you could improve this one again?"
"Yes," Leo confirmed, before adding, "But to advance this Codex further, we'll need more stones—at least two more to raise it to the next tier of knowledge, and four more for the tier after that, and so on."
Gubana stared at the Codex, a look of realization dawning on him. "No wonder I couldn't discover its magic after all this time. There's a secret to it."
Kabana, still processing everything, turned to Leo. "So, are you returning the Giga Codex to us now?"