Land of the Dead (Part 2)
Darth Malthael merely swept his gaze over the stele and saw wisps of pale blue smoke rising from the countless faces carved upon it. They gathered in the air without dispersing, drifting about like fish swimming through the sky.
He passed the stele and arrived at the stairs ahead, ascending one step at a time. With every step he took, a dull thud seemed to echo through the surrounding space, and with each thud, the air grew colder...
Countless skeletons gathered in the entrance hall, yet none dared set foot on the stairs. They simply stood there in silence, staring at Darth Malthael with their hollow eye sockets.
Countless spirits floated in midair. They too did not dare approach the stairs, as though an invisible wall stood there.
Because they did not dare.
Because only by stepping onto those stairs could one truly enter the pyramid's domain. Below the stairs, they stood at the same level as the two slaves kneeling at the entrance, bearing the pyramid upon their shoulders!
Only by ascending the stairs could one be considered a true Sith. Beneath the Sith, all were slaves!
Ever since the Sith Academy was founded four thousand years ago, countless people had come in pursuit of power and knowledge. Like the statues of slaves at the entrance, they were merely part of the vast multitude.
They exhausted every effort trying to climb upward, trying to earn admission to the Sith Academy.
But how could it be so easy?
True Sith never even spared these people a glance. They merely took pleasure in them. They indulged the apprentices as they slaughtered one another, watched them scheme against each other, watched countless people fight until their heads were bloodied for a single certificate of admission...
And