Stellar Echo: Heart of the Myst

[lordanl]

"The Scouting Spheres have infiltrated 70% of the corridors down to the penultimate floor, but the moment they enter the bottom floor, we lose all contact with them. So, we know nothing beyond the map Erik showed us earlier. On the other hand, our food supplies are depleting at a rate 13% faster than expected, while the efficiency of potion creation is 9% higher."

Several days later, sitting around a table in the middle of the first floor of the portable shelter, Ethan, Chen, Christine, Elara, Tomás, and Erik were looking at Zoe, who was reading a report with a serious expression. At that moment, Elara let out a small sigh and commented in a grave tone.

"Everyone has been working really hard, so they need much more food than usual."

The others could only nod in agreement with Elara's comment, at which point Christine spoke up with a serious voice.

"But there's something that worries me about all this. At the beginning, we saw two people from other factions, so it's possible that outsiders were teleported inside. But even though we've searched almost every corner of this place, we've found nothing but Golems. Could it be that we're the last survivors? Is there no one else left alive in this ruin?"

"I wouldn't be surprised. This place is a damn hellhole. If it weren't for Erik, we'd all be dead by now." Tomás replied with a solemn voice, to which everyone nodded seriously. But at that moment, Erik finished eating a cookie and took a sip of his tea, then commented in a calm tone.

"I highly doubt we're the only survivors. If there are no more people in this strange labyrinth, it's probably because we're weak. An Illuminated-level with some effort should have been able to carve a path through the Golems and reach the exit. We're certain there's at least one of them in the 'garden,' with strong suspicions of a second. Besides, we don't know if there are other places like this, which is quite likely since several pillars of light rose when the basilisk awakened."

"That's true. Plus, we still don't know what the hunters were looking for. Even though we've searched every nook and cranny, we haven't found anything, which is a bit concerning. We have very little information." Zoe commented in a serious tone, to which Ethan replied while pouring himself a cup of tea.

"I'm willing to bet that whatever they were looking for is on the last floor."

"It sure looks that way. So, we need to be prepared. Anything can happen on that floor." Erik commented in a calm voice. Elara nodded, before commenting seriously.

"But we can't wait any longer. The ruin deteriorates every day, the activation periods are getting shorter and more spaced out, and the Golems are becoming clumsier. If this place collapses, it might take our only way out with it. We have to move."

"Yes, we have to take the risk. Start getting ready; let's take advantage of this 'period of activity' and head out as soon as it ends; that will give us a few hours to move freely." Erik announced in a serious tone as he swept his gaze across everyone present, who were filled with resolve and nodded.

"Then let's get moving." Tomás said as he stood from his chair with a serious tone, to which Erik nodded calmly. Chen also got up from his chair while asking.

"By the way, are we leaving the formations as they are here?"

"Yes. They'll serve as a Plan B in case we need to retreat, though I'll be carrying the shelter with me." Erik replied calmly, to which everyone nodded before saying their goodbyes, leaving behind Erik, who was eating a cookie with the wolves on his lap, and Zoe, who poured him a cup of tea.

"No need to bother with that anymore, Zoe. Get ready with the others. We can't afford to let our guard down from now on." Erik commented, looking at Zoe while picking up his teacup. The beautiful knight nodded calmly, then looked at Erik and commented with a small smile.

"You're right, though it's been a pleasure to assist you these past few days. If the opportunity arises, I'd love to do it again."

"Hahaha, I'll consider it." Erik said amusedly before bringing the cup to his lips. Zoe smiled calmly, then gave a slight bow and walked outside while commenting playfully.

"Fufu, how prim…"

Once Zoe left, Erik sat in silence, watching the young people leave his workshop one by one. They had been helping him with potion production and some artifacts over the last few days. As the last young person exited the workshop, Erik bit into a cookie, then looked up at the ceiling with a deep, reflective gaze, completely lost in thought.

"It's time to risk my life again… I hope I'm not making a mistake…"

After a while, just as the 'activation period' was about to end based on what he had learned over the past few days, Erik let out a heavy sigh. Then he finished his tea and stood up from his seat, at which point the wolves jumped onto his shoulders.

With calm and almost deliberate steps, Erik walked to his workshop, where he gave everything a final check, then went up and headed toward the exit as the orbs of light illuminating the place went out one by one. Upon reaching the door, Erik looked at the shelter one last time, almost as if to engrave it in his poor memory, since, whether things went well or badly, this might be the last time he'd use it.

After stepping outside, Erik stood on the Myst platform with stairs that served as the entrance, then conjured a set of runes and placed his hand next to the doorway. Soon, the outer runes of the shelter began to glow, at which point Erik pulled his hand away and destroyed the Myst staircase, then directed the platform downward.

Upon reaching the 'ground,' which was actually a metal and wood platform hanging from the ceiling with something called 'Silme rock' and thick cables, Erik looked up, where he could see the shelter slowly rotating and shrinking. Soon, the shelter turned into a small sphere that fell into his hands, which he quickly tied to a chain and slipped into his pocket, no longer willing to trust spatial artifacts to store it.

Soon after, Erik turned to look at the entire group gathered, now wearing perfectly functional armor and weapons along with storage pouches on their belts, and commented seriously.

"We're heading into what might be our final adventure in this damn place. Give it everything you've got. Survival is within our grasp."

"Yes!!" the group announced in unison, which made Erik nod in satisfaction. He then took Kaiser from his shoulder and commented with a small smile.

"Well, Kaiser, it's time to gear up."

The little wolf grumbled reluctantly as he jumped to the ground and grew in size. Something Erik calmly ignored as he pulled out several pieces of armor specially made for the wolf from a storage pouch tied to his right leg. Soon, Kaiser had a thick metal helmet on his head, along with a sort of bracers on all four legs and the base of his tail.

"You're ready. This should help you avoid detection by the Golems in their inactive state. Even so, stay alert and be ready to enter elementalization mode at any time." Erik said in a serious tone, to which the silver wolf howled in agreement. At that moment, Erik turned to the group and spoke while conjuring two magic circles that created Myst constructs.

"As we discussed, you'll split into two teams: one for close combat assault and the other for ranged attacks. So, board the corresponding Myst constructs."

After nodding, the young people divided into two groups, one consisting of the mages along with two knights, before boarding the Myst constructs, which turned out to be near-perfect imitations of doorless flying cars. Once inside the Myst vehicles, everyone took out a potion specially made by Erik, then waited with their gazes fixed on the walls, still glowing from the 'activation period.'

After a few minutes, the music began to fade as Erik checked a crystal tablet in his hands, displaying a detailed 3D map of the entire labyrinth, the result of the Scouting Spheres' exploration. Having decided on the route to advance, Erik stored the tablet in his storage pouch, then announced loudly as the others downed their potions in one gulp.

"Let's move out!"

After giving one last look at the place, Erik drank his own potion, then ordered Kaiser to advance. Instantly, Kaiser was surrounded by electric arcs and shot forward, riding on Myst platforms created by Erik.

Meanwhile, at the back, everyone held onto whatever they could to avoid being thrown backward by the inertia, while Hiyori, sitting next to Zoe, looked at Erik's back with deep eyes. But the fox spirit wasn't the only one; practically everyone was doing the same. Soon, however, their eyes sharpened, and they gripped their weapons while focusing their gaze on the Golems.

To everyone's relief, the measures they had taken over the past few days proved effective. After days of studying the Golems, Erik managed to develop a new potion that could hide them more effectively from them, though it only worked well when they were 'inactive.' When the strange geometric labyrinth activated, even though they could confuse the Golems a bit, they were still able to determine their relative position.

…

…

…

"Bring in more Master-levels, battleships, and anything that can blow this damn place to pieces!!! My Erik can't stay in there for a single damn second longer!!!!"

In the middle of a meeting room aboard a massive spaceship, Sigrún slammed her fist, surrounded by blue fire, onto the table, her eyes practically bloodshot and her murderous intent fully unleashed. The director looked at Sigrún, then at the silent Eleonora and the shadowy assassin in a discreet corner, before commenting in a heavy tone.

"That would end up killing everyone inside, and you know it, Sigrún. We have to think calmly about what to do."

"How do you expect me to stay calm, old man?! The soul tracer on my Erik cracked—do you not get it?! He's in danger! I have to get him out of there now!!!"

Sigrún shouted back, full of panic and rage, which caused the dangerous glint in Eleonora's eyes to visibly worsen, while a thick, murderous intent from the shadow in the corner filled the room.

"I know, which is why I called her. She's on her way."

The director replied with an incredibly serious tone, causing Sigrún and Eleonora's eyes to widen as they looked at him with a hint of surprise. But in less than an instant, Eleonora narrowed her eyes and asked in a voice devoid of any emotion.

"How confident is 'she' in being able to get my Erik out of there?"

"Without her personally studying the ruin, it's hard to say, but if even she can't do it, there's really not much we can do." The director commented with a deep, meaningful look, causing Sigrún and Eleonora to bite their lips hard, blood trickling down their chins, while the shadow in the corner trembled visibly.

"The Order's secret weapon is going to show up?"

Jessica, who had a pale expression though slightly calmer than the trio, asked in a serious tone. Thalia, sitting not far away, looked at her grandfather with disbelief as he nodded heavily.

"This situation is too delicate. Too many of our talented young people have died inside, so we have to do everything possible to prevent a greater disaster."

As a deafening silence took over the room, a spark of fire materialized next to Sigrún, then began to take the shape of a beautiful phoenix. This caused everyone present to turn and look at the fire, while Sigrún, Eleonora, and Seraphina clenched their fists tightly, a terrible premonition looming over them.

***

You can support me on patreon.com/lordanl and get up to 25 advanced chapters.

 

[lordanl]

"Get ready to deploy the formations!"

Sitting atop Kaiser, Erik, calculating the time since the last 'active phase,' ordered with a serious voice as Kaiser quickened its pace to cover as much ground as possible. In Myst's vehicle, Chen and Ethan quickly retrieved a crystal tablet each from their storage pouches, along with several metal spheres densely engraved with runes.

"Now!"

Soon, just as the staircase leading to the final floor came into view in the distance, Kaiser halted abruptly, and Erik created a large Myst platform in the air, onto which he jumped while announcing loudly. With visible familiarity, Chen and Ethan leaped from the Myst vehicle toward Erik while activating the crystal tablets, which projected holographic screens filled with control interfaces and data.

As the metal spheres Chen and Ethan had taken from their pouches rose into the air and positioned themselves in various spots, the rest of the group jumped from the vehicles to form a defensive formation around Erik. Soon, the group was arranged with Erik, Chen, and Ethan at the center, surrounded by a first ring of mages, a second of knights, and a final one composed of the wolves, Hiyori, Tomás, and Zoe. They mobilized their mana to the fullest, ready to strike.

With focused expressions, Chen and Ethan reviewed the data flashing across the holographic screens at high speed, simultaneously making adjustments on the control interfaces. This caused shifts in the positions and in the active runes on the spheres. Once everything was ready, the pair of formation specialists stored away the crystal tablets, then hurriedly mobilized their mana while pulling a metallic disk from their pouches.

Without wasting time, the two young men quickly threw the rune-covered metal disks to the ground. Chen rapidly performed hand signs, while Ethan conjured various sets of runes that organized into multiple geometric patterns in front of him. Soon, Ethan's rune sets gathered around his metal disk, at which point he focused his hand on his right fist and crouched to strike it. At the same time, Chen finished his hand signs and prepared to do the same.

In perfect synchronization, Ethan and Chen struck the metal disks on the ground, which lit up brightly alongside the metal spheres. Simultaneously, the Myst began reorganizing into hexagonal threads, and large amounts of mana started flowing between the spheres. This caused Ethan's spheres to conjure enormous runes above them, which began emitting mist that formed what looked like an illusory castle. Meanwhile, shadow-made doors appeared above Chen's spheres, which soon slammed shut and vanished along with the castle.

"Formations deployed successfully!"

At that moment, Ethan announced in a serious tone as the others looked down at the golems below with grave expressions, weapons in hand. Quickly, Chen and Ethan also grabbed their weapons and eyed the golems, ready to fight. But after nearly a minute of complete silence, during which the golems seemed to notice nothing, Erik announced in a calm voice.

"Stand down, we're safe."

Hearing Erik, the group let out a sigh of relief as they loosened their grip on their weapons. After all, though they had done this over and over while descending through this strange geometric labyrinth, it never ceased to be stressful, as a single mistake could cost them their lives. At that moment, Tomás sheathed his sword at his waist, then looked at the distant staircase and commented in a serious voice.

"We've finally made it… The last floor."

"It was long, but quieter than I expected… We barely had to fight." Zoe remarked in a calm voice while looking at Erik, at which point Christine stepped toward the starry-haired young man and commented with a seductive smile.

"Well, we owe that to Erik. Thanks to the potions, formation flags, and pseudo-formation plates, we managed to slip by unnoticed and survive the 'active phases' easily~"

"Am I invisible or something?" Ethan couldn't help but grumble at Christine's words, who let out a melodic giggle and flashed a sweet smile at Ethan while replying.

"Of course, Fellow Disciple Williams and Daoist Ming were also a very important part of our success."

"Heh, it was nothing."

Ethan slightly raised his chin and commented in a 'casual' tone, while Chen took a step away from him, not wanting to get involved. For his part, Erik began petting the wolves that approached him and commented seriously.

"But the 'easy' journey ends here. From now on, we're blind, so we need to be extremely careful and prepare for anything." Erik turned to look at Zoe and added with seriousness.

"Zoe, I need you to deploy Scouting Spheres to the last floor before the 'active phase' begins." Zoe quickly nodded and reached into her storage pouch, at which point Erik looked at Chen and Ethan and instructed seriously.

"At the same time, I need you both to set up fixed formations here to serve as a Plan B in case we have to retreat."

"I was thinking the same. We can try to recreate the entire array of attack, defense, and concealment formations we set up earlier around the shelter. They'll be crucial for holding the fort against a powerful enemy." Chen quickly added seriously, to which Ethan chimed in, even more serious.

"It's definitely necessary. We could even use what's left from making the flags we're using to reinforce the array."

"Sounds good. Christine will work with you on that." Erik nodded and commented calmly, then looked at Christine and asked.

"Is that alright with you, Christine?"

"Of course, I'm at your complete disposal, Erik. You can ask me for anything~"

Christine replied in a slightly suggestive and flirty tone, which caused Elara and Zoe to click their tongues in annoyance. For his part, Erik casually ignored Christine's tone and responded in a calm voice while pulling a bag of cookies from his storage pouch.

"Then I'm counting on you." After taking a bite of his cookie, Erik turned to look at the rest of the group and calmly ordered.

"For now, everyone else focus on recovering and getting back to full strength. We might enter combat the moment we cross those stairs."

Once Erik saw everyone nod before sitting in lotus position or beginning various martial arts stances, he looked at Elara and Tomás and commented seriously.

"Let's have a small strategy meeting to figure out how we're going to move."

After Elara and Tomás nodded, Erik walked a few steps with them and created a table and chairs out of solidified Myst, where they all sat. In his chair, Erik placed the bag of cookies on the table, and as the wolves lay by his side, each about a meter long, he commented in a serious tone.

"From here on out, things will be on a whole different level, so I'm thinking of making a couple of changes to how we move."

"It's necessary. You can't be at the front anymore, Erik. It's too risky." Elara quickly replied in a serious tone, to which Tomás nodded gravely while watching the Scouting Spheres controlled by Zoe head toward the staircase.

"I agree. The wisest move is to advance in a defensive formation surrounded by barriers. The fact that the Scouting Spheres lose connection as soon as they enter doesn't sit right with me."

"Actually, what I'm thinking is a bit different. I'm considering sneaking in under Tiberius's shadow to do some reconnaissance before coming back. Going in completely blind isn't a good idea."

"You can't! What if you end up teleported to a dangerous place alone? Or something happens like before, and you have to pull another crazy stunt to move through the shadows? The risk is too high!" Elara replied with a solemn expression, staring intently at Erik, who wanted to respond, but at that moment, Tomás spoke seriously.

"Miss Belmonte is right. We have no idea what's down there, and we can't afford to lose our leader. But you're also right—we can't go in completely blind. So this time, I'll take the role of scout."

"The Scouting Spheres failed again. The moment they reach the last step of the staircase, they lose all contact." Just then, Zoe approached the table and commented in a serious tone before sitting down and adding while looking at Erik.

"And I agree with them. Anyone can take the risk except you, Erik. So we won't agree with you on this. Though I think there's a better candidate for scouting—me, or rather, Hiyori-sama. She's fast, strong, and even if something happens, she can relay some information through the contract before returning to the spirit realm."

"Is she willing?" Erik asked, a bit curious, while looking at Zoe, who couldn't help but blush subtly, a little embarrassed by how the fox spirit now ignored Erik, before responding.

"I spoke with her, and she's willing. After all, she doesn't really lose much. She can't die like we can, so she's not truly risking anything. And since my safety depends on it, there's no conflict with her promise to my grandparents."

"…If she's willing, she really is the best option. Any of us could die in there without relaying any information…" Erik couldn't help but comment quietly while reflecting.

"Though your power would be greatly reduced, Zoe. Are you sure about this?" Elara looked at Zoe and asked seriously, to which the beautiful knight replied in a calm voice while pulling a teapot from her storage pouch.

"Completely. Though my strength would indeed be affected, we need information, and every one of us who falls will greatly reduce our overall power. So it's inevitable."

Just at that moment, the music returned, and the walls began to glow brightly, causing everyone present to look down seriously. As some golems emerged from the walls and others increased the pace of their patrol, Erik commented in a calm voice.

"Then let's do it this way. Once the 'active phase' ends, Zoe will send her contracted spirit ahead to scout while we wait here on guard."

""Understood.""

The three young people replied in unison with serious expressions, to which Erik nodded before pulling a notebook from his storage pouch and beginning to write in silence.

…

…

…

After some time, the glow of the walls dimmed along with the music until it disappeared. At this point, Erik, now at the center of a two-ring defensive formation, looked at Zoe by his side and ordered in a serious tone.

"Go ahead."

"Hiyori-sama, please."

Zoe quickly looked at the fox spirit to her left and requested respectfully. The fox nodded casually, then glanced sideways at Erik before leaping off the Myst platform and shrinking in size.

As the formations created invisible energy shields around the group, the white fox, now measuring just over 20 cm, advanced at high speed toward the staircase, soon disappearing from everyone's sight. Not long after, Zoe announced in a serious voice while looking at Erik.

"She's reached the last step."

Erik nodded silently, locking eyes with Zoe while holding his machetes in hand. Zoe nodded back, and with a solemn expression on her face, gave the mental order to proceed. Clenching her fists, Zoe kept her gaze fixed on the staircase, but after a few seconds, the beautiful young woman let out a sigh of relief and turned to look at Erik with a smile.

"She got in. There's nothing in the area except Scouting Spheres lying on the ground. Not a single golem, and the walls are completely 'off.' It seems there's no danger."

Hearing Zoe, Erik's eyes widened in surprise, but they quickly narrowed as he instructed in a serious tone.

"Tell her to advance 100 meters without using mana, then come back and create a small explosion. But she needs to be ready to return at the slightest anomaly."

"Understood." Zoe nodded seriously, then relayed the mental instructions under the nervous and expectant gaze of everyone present.

Time passed slowly in complete silence, where even the slightest sound of swallowing resonated loudly, but no one cared, as everyone was equally on edge. This was especially true for Zoe, who couldn't help but wipe the cold sweat from her forehead while trying to keep her heart under control. But just at that moment, her beautiful blue eyes widened in shock, and she quickly announced with seriousness.

"She's been attacked!!"

***

You can support me on patreon.com/lordanl and get up to 25 advanced chapters.

 

[lordanl]

"What happened?!" Elara asked aloud as she mobilized her mana at full speed. At that moment, a beam of white fire shot out from the staircase directly toward them, prompting Erik to issue an urgent command.

"Open the formations!"

With urgency, Ethan conjured a set of runes while Chen performed a hand sign, causing the invisible energy shields to reappear briefly before opening two gaps to allow the beam of white fire to pass through. Not long after, the fox landed on the platform. Though she appeared mostly in good condition, she bore several scratches across different parts of her body, leaking a strange golden blood that dissipated into the air as specks of light.

"Hiyori-sama! Are you okay?!" Zoe stepped forward and asked as the formations closed again. The fox spirit nodded and explained in a calm voice.

"I'm fine, these wounds are nothing. More importantly, the situation on the lower floor is strange. The moment I created the explosion, tentacles emerged from nowhere and attacked me at high speed. I barely escaped."

"Tentacles…?" Upon hearing Hiyori, Elara brought her hand to her chin and whispered in a thoughtful tone, just as Erik asked calmly.

"Did they appear exactly at the moment of the explosion, or was it before?"

Hearing Erik, Hiyori turned to look at him silently, which brought a worried expression to Zoe's face. But before the beautiful girl could say anything, the spirit responded in a calm and neutral tone.

"…Right at the moment the first spark of light emerged. Though I walked around the area and used a bit of mana to study the surroundings, nothing happened. It's likely they attack any source of light."

"I see. Thank you very much, Spirit Hiyori, this information is incredibly helpful." Erik said with a calm smile as he looked at the spirit, who simply nodded and walked toward Zoe while the wounds on her body vanished slowly.

"Well, now we know how to proceed. Cover any light source or reflective surface. Knights, switch to shields, and let's move in tight formation." Erik looked at the others and ordered in a serious tone. Everyone quickly nodded, then reached into their storage bags to pull out various items.

Many knights in shining metallic armor, like Zoe, took out a small black sphere, which they slammed against their armor and shields. These small spheres spread across the metallic surfaces, soon turning the shields and armor completely black, as if they absorbed all light.

At the same time, some mages swapped their staves for ones without crystals, while others used cloth or black spheres to change their color. Meanwhile, on armors with fabric or leather, runes glowed on their surfaces, soon turning them entirely black as well.

Once everything was ready, the group reorganized into two rings around Erik. The mages, dressed entirely in black, formed the inner ring, while the knights, holding fully darkened metallic tower shields, formed the outer ring. At that moment, Erik patted Kaiser's head beside him and whispered in a low voice.

"Climb onto my shoulder and don't use your lightning unless I tell you to."

The silver wolf let out a cheerful howl and jumped onto Erik's shoulder while shrinking in size. Upon landing, the wolf was the size of a puppy, just under 30 cm. At that moment, Erik placed his hand on Tiberius' head, who stood about the height of a normal wolf at about 90 cm, and spoke in a calm voice.

"We're advancing on the Myst platform. Refrain from casting barriers or anything that might produce light unless I order it."

"Understood!"

The group replied in unison, then downed their concealment potions in one gulp. Erik nodded with satisfaction, then drank his own potion and made the platform move toward the staircase quickly. Soon, the group began descending the stairs, leaving the golems behind, which caused everyone to grip their weapons and shields tightly with serious expressions. Even Erik's face showed signs of nervousness.

After all, he couldn't sense the Myst of the staircase, as if there were some kind of barrier blocking his senses. Though he had used the strange technique taught to him by the Myst to control it a few times, he still couldn't feel anything, as if beyond the stairs there was only emptiness. An incredibly strange sensation he had never experienced before.

Upon passing the last step, Erik tightened his grip on his machetes and made the platform advance. At that moment, he felt as if he were passing through some kind of invisible membrane, similar to what he felt every time he passed through security checks at the university's space elevator station. But upon crossing it, Erik felt a monumental change in the Myst around him.

As if he had stepped into another world, the Myst outside the 'membrane' became unreachable to him, while the Myst in the place felt incredibly strange. Somehow, the Myst felt heavy and somewhat "sticky," reminding him in some way of rotting food. Yet, despite the odd sensation, his control over it grew significantly, reaching about 70% of his normal state outside this strange 'geometric anthill' he was in.

Moreover, luckily, the Myst closest to him began moving erratically, expelling the 'sticky' Myst from its vicinity, leaving only the "warm" and familiar Myst he was accustomed to in direct contact with him. At that moment, Erik focused on his contract with Tiberius to use his eyes to see in the complete darkness surrounding him and examine the area.

Upon connecting with Tiberius, Erik 'looked' around, realizing he was in a place identical to the previous floors—a rectangular corridor, incredibly tall and wide. But curiously, the walls, which outside appeared perfectly smooth as if meticulously polished, here were uneven and somehow 'gnawed,' as if they had suffered some kind of erosion over who knows how long.

At the same time, Erik could see Scouting Spheres scattered all over the floor, so he made the Myst platform stop. While preparing to retreat at full speed if anything happened, Erik sent the most subtle and stealthy sound transmission he could to all his companions.

"I'm going to collect some Scouting Spheres. Be ready to retreat if anything happens."

"Understood."

Tomás soon sent a sound transmission on behalf of everyone else. Erik nodded to himself, and after a deep breath, he took control of the "sticky" Myst and sent an incredibly subtle amount of mana through the "warm" Myst surrounding him, forcing the mixture to solidify. Once he created a hand of Myst, Erik waited a few seconds to see if anything would happen. Seeing nothing, he sent the hand to pick up one of the spheres on the ground.

Not wanting to come into direct contact with that strange Myst, Erik made the invisible hand toss the sphere to him, which he caught using a hand of Myst created solely from the "warm" Myst surrounding him. Quickly, Erik brought the sphere to Tiberius' eyes, through which he examined it, noticing a small hole running through its center from side to side.

Further inside, Erik could see the mana crystal within the sphere was also destroyed, allowing him to understand what had happened. Though very subtle, the runes on the Scouting Sphere were glowing, so most likely, the moment it entered this place, it was immediately attacked by the 'dark tentacles' Hiyori mentioned, destroying them so quickly they couldn't send information back to the control center.

Soon, Erik shared a brief summary of his findings with the direct disciples and Chen, while storing the destroyed Scouting Sphere in his storage bag and making the Myst platform move forward. Though the platform initially moved slowly, as they distanced themselves from the staircase, Erik gained confidence and began to accelerate little by little while using Tiberius' eyes to search for any trace of those tentacles.

But no matter how much he looked, he found not the slightest hint, to the point that, if it weren't for the destroyed Scouting Spheres, he would have doubted Hiyori's words. His Mystic Awareness detected nothing, nor did he through the Myst. Though cautious with the strange Myst and not extending his ethereal projection, he still used Tiberius' eyes to examine every detail of the place but found nothing.

In an almost torturous silence, the group advanced through the corridors at an increasingly faster pace, which only served to heighten everyone's tension and nervousness. Finally, far in the distance, Erik could see a flicker of light. Surprised, Erik used both his own eyes and Tiberius' to confirm what he was seeing, at which point a nearly imperceptible whisper from Tomás sounded in his ear.

"Erik, do you see the light?"

"Yes, I see it. Confirm with the knights, and I'll check with the mages." Erik quickly sent a sound transmission, then asked Elara, who in turn consulted with the mages.

Soon, Erik received the final response: everyone saw the light. With seriousness, he gripped his machetes and informed all his companions with a subtle sound transmission.

"Prepare for battle. We're heading toward the light."

At the same time, Erik made the Myst platform accelerate, and soon the group got close enough to see what the light was, which left them somewhat surprised. In the middle of the enormous corridor stood what seemed to be the frame of a door leading to a small room where an ancient-looking lantern could be seen, its flame on the verge of going out.

Thanks to the dim light, the group could see what appeared to be a control console made of the same strange rock as the walls. Meanwhile, just above the lantern, there was what looked like an enormous crystal sphere in which a large number of runes from the Zazen Discipline could be seen 'floating'—a sight that made Erik's eyes widen in surprise.

(A giant golem core?!)

"Erik, could that be the control center…?"

At the same time, Elara's stunned voice echoed in Erik's ear, seemingly sharing the same thoughts as him. Erik sent a sound transmission to Elara, his gaze fixed on the massive crystalline sphere, while his mind raced with countless thoughts.

"It's highly likely…"

"Erik, do you think that's what the hunters were after…?" Tomás sent a sound transmission while also looking at the core, which caused Erik's eyes to light up with realization.

(It makes sense that it would be this… In this entire damned place, we haven't found anything that could catch their interest… But if it's this, why didn't they take it sooner and waited until now? Clearly, they knew this place before and understood its rules very well… Could it be they hadn't found it, or did something change for this place to reveal itself?

(It's hard to say, we don't have a hint, much less a clue… Besides, the 'exit' is still a bit far, so anything we do now is a risk, and a significant one. If we go in, we might alert whatever is lurking in this place or trigger some defense system, which could end up costing us the chance to get out…

(But at the same time, the value of that thing is monumental. It not only gives us the ability to control the Golems, but it could also hold clues about the golden chains and even about the strange island and how such different plants could grow in the same place. If humanity could decipher that technology, its importance would even surpass that of artificial warp highways. It would literally create an unprecedented era of prosperity for the entire galaxy!

(Though now that I think about it, in that stone cabin, there were a large number of jade slips full of information… That's also incredibly valuable, so much so that it's truly worth risking our lives to obtain it… The rewards for doing so are too tempting. The merit and renown it would bring to my masters would be monumental, and it would grant them infinite wealth… It would truly be the best way to give them 'thanks' for everything they've done for me… Literaly a ticket to repay my almost infinite debt of gratitude to them.

(Besides, my instincts are also screaming at me about how important this is, especially that strange lantern. For some reason, all the Myst in contact with its light is normal, without that strange "sticky" feeling, so it must be very special too. Not to mention there's no trace of tentacles attacking it despite the light, so it's very likely that thing is crucial to avoiding dangers in this strange place…)

***

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[lordanl]

Hesitant, Erik gazed at the little he could see of the strange room while deep in thought, but no matter how much he pondered, he couldn't reach a decision. After all, if he made a mistake and something like the forced teleportation from earlier happened again, fleeing could end up costing him his life. He no longer had Ebonique, and though his body had recovered, it wasn't at 100%, so he could hardly bear the 'cost' of forcing a shadow portal.

In his current condition, he could probably only escape with the wolves. Anything beyond that might end up shattering his mana system and killing him before he could even get treatment, and he had no more smart potions left. Ultimately, his shelter had those potions because he'd been studying them in his free time during the vacations with his masters and on the trip to the asteroid, since he didn't have his workshop and used his shelter instead. All the 'spares' his masters had prepared were in his storage rings, now inaccessible.

(Though my instincts tell me to take the risk, at the end of the day, it's a shared risk, and the rewards for them would also be immeasurable… Besides, if the exit we're heading to turns out to be something else or holds some danger, if we can somehow use that core to control the Golems, we'd gain overwhelming power, so everyone should have a say… I've already made my decision; let them make theirs.)

Reaching a conclusion, Erik sent a sound transmission to everyone and began explaining his ideas. Once he'd laid everything out, he sent another transmission with a serious tone.

"…With all that said, I've made my decision. I'm going to take the risk and go in, so I leave it to you to decide as well. You can follow me inside and take the risk with me, stay outside, or even go your own way. But keep this in mind: if something happens, I no longer have the means to save anyone. If I try to force another shadow portal, I'll die before I can pull it off. So, those who still want to come with me can send me a sound transmission. In 5 minutes, I'll leave this Myst platform here and head out with whoever wants to follow me."

"…"

Hearing Erik, the quiet youths fell into deep reflection—or so Erik thought—because almost immediately, several voices echoed in his ears in near unison.

"""I'm with you."""

Surprised, Erik used the Eyes of Tiberius to look at Tomas, Zoe, Elara, and Chen, who, even in the darkness, smiled with confidence. At that moment, Erik could hear Ethan's voice resonating in his ears.

"I'm coming with you. Going through all this hell and coming out empty-handed would leave a bad taste in my mouth, and I feel like you're a lucky guy. I'm betting on you."

Just like Ethan, one by one, the youths sent sound transmissions to tell Erik they'd join him, with only Christine remaining silent in thoughtful contemplation. Erik didn't pressure the flirtatious blue-haired girl to decide, and after a few minutes, a serious voice without a hint of playfulness echoed in his ear.

"You said before that you'd protect women and children… is that still true? Will you protect me?"

"As long as my name is Erik Verne, I can at least assure you I won't let an innocent woman or children die in front of me." Erik replied with a calm voice, yet one carrying a weight that spanned generations.

Hearing his response, Christine felt as if her heart had been struck by a hammer, and her mind clouded for a few seconds, experiencing an unfamiliar emotion for the first time. But quickly, she shook her head, and while thanking the surrounding darkness for hiding her flushed cheeks, she sent a sound transmission in a sing-song tone.

"Then I'm coming with you, Erik."

"Everyone, prepare for battle. Anything could happen once we enter."

Receiving her response, Erik sent a sound transmission to everyone present while mobilizing his mana. The others, unsurprised that everyone had chosen to follow Erik, gripped their weapons and mobilized their mana, their gazes fixed on the light of the gas lamp they slowly approached.

But just as the light touched Tomás, the first knight in the second ring, Erik suddenly felt the "sticky" Myst moving erratically as a terrible premonition enveloped him. Without a second thought, Erik took control of the "sticky" Myst to create a makeshift barrier while simultaneously forming magic circles. But before the magic circles could even take shape, the makeshift barrier shattered.

In that instant, Erik felt everything around him slow to an extreme degree as the "warm" Myst rushed toward him at full speed. At that moment, he subtly moved his right machete. With the movement, the Myst platform they stood on spun and flung the entire group into the strange room while multiple magic circles formed behind them, creating several layers of Myst barriers.

"Shields!!"

Feeling himself launched into the air, Tomás opened his eyes in disbelief and quickly ordered while activating his shield in a hurry. A step behind Tomas, Elara raised her voice in shock, not even realizing when they'd been sent flying—everything had happened too fast.

"Barriers!!!"

As the mages conjured runes, magic circles, or performed hand seals, the Myst barriers began shattering like thin glass at a terrifying speed, offering practically no resistance against whatever was attacking them. Soon, pained groans mingled with the sound of breaking metal, just as the mages' barriers formed.

But as if they were a joke, the moment the barriers formed, they were destroyed instantly. The group ended up crashing onto the floor of the strange room, and more Myst barriers formed to cover them. To Erik's surprise, as he prepared to activate a forced Myst control technique, the barriers didn't break, prompting him to focus his gaze beyond them.

Behind the barriers, Erik could see what looked like dozens of thin, translucent black tentacles emitting a strange, semi-invisible smoke that dissipated into nothingness, taking much of the tentacles' 'thickness' with it. Startled, Erik looked up, realizing he'd landed near the gas lamp. Then, he turned to look at the knights closest to the entrance, finding them on the ground, their shields shattered and pools of blood beneath them.

Without hesitating for a second, Erik leapt toward the knights, and as he landed, he saw Tomás touch down not far from him. Quickly, Erik nodded to Tomás while pulling several healing potions from his storage pouch, then crouched to examine the wounds of the three knights on the ground.

First, Erik reached Dalai Lin, Chen's original companion and one of the injured. With a swift motion, he removed the shield from the young man's right arm, which had holes of various sizes in different spots. Removing the shield revealed the young man's right hand as a mess, with holes piercing through it side to side and nearly split in two at the upper forearm.

Using Myst hands, Erik quickly repositioned the mangled arm into its correct alignment while opening several potions with his own hands. After pouring two potions over the young knight's arm, Erik made him drink another and swiftly conjured a set of runes that surrounded the arm, emitting a warm green light.

Seeing the arm begin to heal before his eyes, Erik turned to look behind him, where he saw Zoe tending to the third young man, one of the Bikereas. Using Myst hands, Erik quickly assisted Tomás and Zoe, and while creating new sets of runes to aid in healing, he looked at the rest of the group and asked in a serious tone.

"Any other injuries?"

"We're all in perfect condition, I've confirmed."

Elara, already standing, replied in a serious tone, her gaze fixed on the entrance where the strange tentacles had vanished. At that moment, Ethan couldn't help but ask solemnly.

"What were those things? I didn't even sense them coming…"

"I didn't even realize when we were sent flying. By the time I noticed, we were already in the air…" Chen commented in a heavy voice, to which Ethan nodded with a grave expression. At that moment, Tomás, who was making one of the injured drink a potion, looked at Erik and remarked seriously.

"You saved us again, Erik. You detected the danger and reacted even before I could… You're impressive."

"What's impressive is that lamp. If it weren't for it, we'd be dead. Those strange tentacles pierced through our defenses like they were paper… I truly thought I was done for a few seconds there…"

Erik shook his head and commented while gazing at the faint flame of the gas lamp on the stone control console. Everyone present turned to look at the lamp, at which point Christine's somewhat nervous voice echoed in the space.

"How did you know the light could repel them…?"

"It was more of a hunch." Erik replied seriously, turning to look at the entrance as he explained.

"Those tentacles appeared out of nowhere in multiple places at once, but none near the light. Even when they attacked Tomás, the closest to the light, they struck from behind where the light didn't reach. So, at that moment, I threw us toward here, hoping they wouldn't dare approach… Luckily, I was right."

"That lamp is truly special." Zoe commented heavily, noticing Hiyori, who had some scratches on her body, staring at the lamp with deep eyes. Curious, Zoe quickly asked her contracted spirit.

"Do you recognize that lamp, Hiyori-sama?"

"Not really. It's just that the light it emits is somewhat strange. Connecting with the Myst is much easier now."

"Much easier…?" Elara whispered passively, then sat in a lotus position and began breathing in a peculiar way. Almost immediately, the beautiful girl opened her eyes and remarked in surprise.

"It's true! I managed to adapt to the Myst and connect with it almost instantly!"

Hearing Elara, the others opened their eyes in surprise, and immediately some of the youths sat in lotus position while others began practicing some form of martial art. Not long after, they all confirmed it, at which point Tomás couldn't help but comment in a voice full of astonishment, his gaze locked on the lantern.

"What an impressive artifact… I've never heard of an artifact capable of doing something like this."

"If this works the same way everywhere, its value is astronomical… It can basically eliminate the weakness period for mana users…" Ethan nodded and commented in a voice filled with surprise and a hint of greed, at which point Erik asked thoughtfully.

"You couldn't connect with the Myst outside?"

"Not at all. In fact, since we entered this ruin, I haven't been able to connect with the Myst properly." Elara replied seriously, to which everyone present nodded one by one, leading Erik to whisper quietly.

"I see… So the 'lightness' translates to that… Therefore…"

"What's on your mind, Erik?" Christine asked, seeing Erik furrow his brow. The star-haired young man looked at everyone present and commented somewhat uncertainly.

"Not much, really. I was just thinking that if this lamp can facilitate control over Myst, couldn't it also affect formations? After all, I can make them malfunction a bit by forcibly manipulating Myst, so with this lamp, it should be quite feasible to achieve something better."

"What you're saying makes sense. You might be right."

Chen commented thoughtfully, already aware of Erik's ability to disrupt formations. Meanwhile, Ethan, who didn't know this, could only look at Erik with a complicated expression and whisper with a hint of bitterness.

"Damn monster…"

"Well, setting that aside, let's focus on what's important. It's a fact that we need this lamp and the core, but we still don't know if it's possible to take them. So, we'll wait for the injured to fully recover before taking action. We have to be ready for things to go wrong." Erik commented seriously while looking at the knights' wounds, to which everyone nodded with grave expressions.

***

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[lordanl]

After some time, as everyone prepared in their own way for what was to come, Dalai Lin stood up and announced in a serious tone, clenching his fully healed hand in front of him.

"We are ready."

"Perfect, then let's get to work."

Erik, who was sitting at a table made of solidified Myst, eating cookies and drinking a brew prepared by Zoe while taking notes in a notebook, raised his head and commented in a calm voice. With Erik's words, the young group quickly got up from their places and grabbed their weapons. At that moment, Erik took his machetes and ordered with seriousness.

"We're moving in a tight formation of two rings, but this time all mages will activate barriers, and the knights will activate their shields. If anything happens, I'll try to grab the lantern and get us out of here as fast as possible."

"""Understood."""

Once everyone was in position, Erik looked at the lantern and the giant core, swiftly using magic circles to conjure powerful hands of Myst. He sent them toward the two objects while the mages reinforced the barriers to their maximum strength and the knights powered up their mana to full capacity.

Under the focused gaze of everyone present, the Myst hands finally reached the two objects and, without hesitation, attempted to grab them. But to everyone's surprise, the moment the Myst hand brushed against the lantern, it rose into the air and began to spin, then shot toward them at high speed. Erik watched in slow motion as the lantern pierced through the barriers as if they were paper, yet for some reason, he felt no danger.

Soon, the lantern arrived right in front of Erik, stopping abruptly and beginning to rotate gently in the air. For some reason, the subtle movement of the lantern reminded Erik of the way Ebonique used to ask him for mana, and almost instinctively, he ended up touching it to send his mana into it before anyone could stop him.

"Erik!"

As several urgent shouts echoed in the area, Erik felt his mind shake for a moment, and shortly after, he could sense a strange connection with the lantern in front of him. A connection deeper than with a mere magical artifact, something more akin to a contract with a spirit or a magical beast, yet at the same time, it was different—something quite unique.

"What are you…?"

Erik asked as he almost involuntarily tightened his grip around the handle, at which point the lantern emitted a strange, heavy sound. To his surprise, Erik realized he could understand what the lantern was trying to convey—it wanted mana. Feeling no danger from it, he began to give it large amounts.

Meanwhile, the other young members watched in astonishment as the light from the lantern began to intensify, growing so bright that, after a short while, everyone was dazzled and had to cover their eyes. But at that very moment, Erik's voice echoed in everyone's ears, though it sounded somewhat strange, a mix of uncertainty and confusion.

"Guys… It looks like I've 'secured' an Exit… Or something like that…"

The light faded at the same time as Erik's voice, allowing everyone to see again the star-haired youth holding the lantern, which now had a calm and steady flame. At that moment, Elara and Zoe stepped toward Erik simultaneously and asked in unison with worried expressions.

""Are you okay, Erik? / Are you hurt?""

"I'm fine. Actually, this lantern is a magical artifact with an artifact spirit, but it's damaged, and its spirit is now very limited, barely moving on 'instinct.' It recognized me as its 'owner' because it needed my mana to avoid going out." Erik explained calmly while looking at the worried Elara and Zoe. At that moment, Tomás asked seriously.

"It's good that you're okay. But what did you mean by 'securing' an Exit?"

"It's because of this lantern's ability. From what I understand, it can act as a beacon pointing toward a desired target as long as it's something physical and concrete, and there's at least a chance of reaching it." Erik explained with a hint of disbelief as he carefully analyzed the strange lantern. At that moment, Chen couldn't help but comment with a voice full of doubt.

"It shows a path as long as it's possible to reach it…? Will it work…?"

"I don't know, but that's what the artifact spirit conveyed, so there must be some truth to it. Though we'll only have one chance to test it—apparently, it can only be done once a year." Erik remarked while directing his gaze toward the hallway on the other side of the 'door' of the strange room.

"Well, the lantern can keep those things outside at bay, so it might really be powerful. It could work…" Christine commented while looking at the lantern with curiosity, at which point Elara couldn't help but ask while glancing outside.

"It's worth a try, but will the lantern really be able to keep those things at bay if we take it out of here?"

"I think so, since I'm starting to get an idea of what those tentacles really are…" Erik said in a thoughtful tone while using the Myst within the lantern's light to take control of the strange Myst, solidifying it to create a hand and bringing it into the light.

At that moment, everyone could see a slightly dark crystal hand entering the light, releasing a strange, semi-invisible smoke before disappearing. The scene prompted Zoe to look at Erik and comment in a surprised voice.

"Those tentacles are Myst constructs…?"

"That seems to be the case…"

Erik remarked in an incredibly serious tone, as he had sensed it the moment the tentacles appeared—those things were made of "sticky" Myst. That's why he had tried to activate the forced Myst control technique to take over the Myst forming them by force.

Though he had felt it before, now seeing it with his own eyes, he couldn't help but feel shocked. After all, for the first time in the 30 years of his new life, he had encountered something or someone capable of doing the same thing he could.

"So as long as we have the lantern, we can move freely in this place?" Elara asked with visible excitement in her eyes, at which point Erik commented in a voice full of curiosity.

"Maybe more than that…"

As he spoke, Erik connected to the sticky Myst outside and forced it into the range of the light, causing a strange, semi-transparent smoke to fill the area. At the same time, with complete disbelief, each of the young members present felt the amount of Myst in their surroundings increase rapidly, soon becoming so saturated that they felt they could touch it. At that moment, Erik commented with a small, satisfied smile on his face.

"How well do you all know how to use Mystic Confluence and Elemental Synchronization?"

Hearing Erik, the eyes of everyone present lit up with a force even greater than the lantern in Erik's hands. They then began to mobilize the surrounding Myst with ease, feeling a connection deeper than they had ever experienced before. At that moment, Tomás couldn't help but comment in a voice full of surprise while mobilizing his mana at full power.

"I think we don't have to fear Illuminated-level beings anymore…"

"Don't get overconfident. Though we're not defenseless against one now, the power boost you're feeling has a limit. Facing an Illuminated-level being would still be a life-or-death battle."

Erik explained in a calm voice. Having a deep understanding of what could and couldn't be done with a profound connection to Myst, he considered it important for them to remain cautious. Yet, at the same time, internally, he was full of surprises and doubts—surprise that his idea of drawing in Myst worked even better than expected and doubts about the lantern.

After all, the lantern had an artifact spirit, something that depended on functional neural connections, which the golden chains were supposed to 'steal.' Beyond that, it was very strange how similar the lantern was to him. Its only two abilities—purifying the Myst under its light to the point that anyone could connect with it and pointing the way to an object—were almost enhanced versions of things he could do naturally.

He already had the ability to control Myst even better than the lantern allowed, and his senses somehow always subtly guided him toward things he wanted. Though he had felt this subtly since his first life, ever since he learned to use mana on that deserted island, it had been amplified several times, though it wasn't precise or infallible.

These strange coincidences inevitably led him to think that the mysterious lantern might have a connection to him, or perhaps to his strange mana. Unfortunately, the lantern's spirit was too damaged, to the point that its way of communicating with him was even clumsier than Myst. The only clear thing it had conveyed were its abilities; beyond that, it could only ask for mana and little else.

"Well, we can't keep wasting time. Let's get into formation. I'll try to grab the core so we can leave. I'm getting a bad feeling, so it's best to hurry."

Erik finally let out a small sigh after thinking about the matter for a few seconds and ordered seriously. This prompted everyone present to nod seriously and then reorganize into formation. At that moment, Erik created a Myst platform beneath them and lifted it into the air, then created several Myst hands to grab the core while preparing to flee at the slightest sign of trouble.

But to his surprise, the core fell into the Myst hands with ease, causing everyone to let out a small sigh of relief as they watched Erik bring the core toward him. At that moment, Erik made the lantern float just above his head, then announced seriously.

"Let's move! Stay alert!"

Immediately after speaking, Erik encased the core in a Myst barrier and controlled the platform to exit the room. At that moment, large quantities of tentacles formed from the mana, attempting to attack them. But thanks to the light of the gas lantern, all the tentacles vanished long before they could touch them. Erik then noticed that as they moved, the lantern's light was somewhat strange.

Unlike normal light that spreads in all directions, this light stopped abruptly about 20 meters from the lantern, forming a sort of sphere. Though the phenomenon was curious, Erik soon put it aside and accelerated the platform to its maximum while announcing loudly.

"Everyone, use the journey to get as accustomed as possible to using Myst in battle. For now, I don't dare activate the lantern's beacon function since I don't know what might happen to this protective light. So let's first reach the 'original exit.' If things don't work out, we can take a risk with the lantern."

"""Understood!!!"""

The group of young members spoke in unison, filled with newfound confidence in their survival, and then focused on adapting to the new power. Meanwhile, Erik kept one eye on the path and the other on the Myst tentacles forming endlessly outside the lantern's 'field of light,' genuinely amazed and full of curiosity about them.

Even feeling confident due to the lantern's protection, he attempted to take control of the tentacles, though with little success. While he did manage to control a couple, the Myst of the tentacles felt extremely heavy, similar yet different from what the formations do to the Myst. So, while he could control them, he couldn't handle more than five or six at a time, and not for long, which was less than a drop in the "sea" of tentacles.

Soon, Erik gave up on trying to control them and instead began to mimic them, wanting to create something similar. After all, their power was undeniable, managing to pierce through his barriers and shields as if they were nothing, so it was a good opportunity to learn how to improve his own Myst constructs.

…

After some time of a calm journey under the protection of the light, Erik, calculating the time they had traveled, concluded that they weren't far from their destination. He quickly stopped experimenting with Myst and announced loudly.

"We're close! Get ready!"

With Erik's order, solemn expressions appeared on the young members' faces, and they soon started taking potions to quickly reach their optimal condition, gripping their weapons tightly. Not long after, the group finally saw in the distance the entrance to a large hall from which subtle lights of different colors emanated, practically telling them they had arrived at their destination.

***

You can support me on patreon.com/lordanl and get up to 25 advanced chapters.

 

[Rafler]

Just binged really liked it. It is annoying how humble he is if your gonna make a genius character who is unironically just the best at everything and have women constantly falling for him he should show at least a little confidence in his demeanor it's less being humble and more being self deprecating.

 

[lordanl]

Soon, Erik arrived right at the entrance of the hall, from where he could see a huge number of Golems patrolling clumsily, illuminated by the light of the runes on the walls. Since he couldn't sense the Myst on the other side, Erik could intuit that the reason the tentacles weren't rushing toward the light was because there must be a 'membrane' covering the place, similar to the one he found on the stairs.

"So that's the exit…"

At that moment, Zoe commented with a serious voice while looking toward the center of the enormous hall. There, between the legs of the Golems, was a kind of pool that contained a strange purple flame, with a large number of runes on its edges alongside massive mana crystals.

"The core really was their control center… Though this place seems to be in an 'active phase,' the Golems are moving very slowly. Using the lantern, we should have enough power to break through and get in." Tomás commented with a serious tone while looking at Erik, who nodded and spoke calmly.

"It's better to play it safe. We still don't know how it works or if it even works at all, so the best thing is to deploy formations around it so we can study this 'exit' more closely."

"I agree with Erik. Since we have the means, it's best to prepare before doing anything." Elara soon added seriously, to which Tomás nodded in agreement. At that moment, Erik ordered with a grave tone.

"Then let's go in. Chen, Ethan, get ready to deploy defense, attack, and concealment formations. The rest of you, prepare for combat. Tomás, lead the assault knights; Elara, the mages; and Zoe, the defense knights. I'll start with a black fire explosion!"

"Understood!!"

The group of young people roared loudly in response, so Erik made the platform move at high speed while placing his hands on Tiberius' head. Soon, Erik felt himself crossing the membrane as the Myst from inside flooded his senses all at once. Without wasting a single second, Erik moved all the Myst in the area toward the lantern's light field, while two enormous runic circles appeared in front of everyone.

As the Golems turned to look at them in unison, two gigantic magical spheres appeared in front of the runic circles—one of fire and one of darkness. The spheres shot toward the Golems as layers of magical barriers formed around the group, and soon they collided, causing a brutal explosion that sent black fire in all directions.

"Vanguard, charge!!!"

At that instant, Tomás' energetic voice echoed through the area, and soon a group of four people shot out from the barriers, beginning to move at full speed throughout the hall. At the same time, Elara raised her staff into the air, and as a massive magical circle formed above her, she ordered in a serious tone.

"Mages, on my signal!!!"

Soon, a rain of magical projectiles shot out from the barriers while Zoe and the other two defense knights who stayed behind to protect the mages began repelling the nearest Golems. Meanwhile, Erik moved the Myst platform at high speed toward the exit in the center while supporting Elara's attacks with Myst arrows. Upon arriving, Erik immediately shouted in a firm voice.

"Chen, Ethan!!"

"Immediately!!" The pair of young men responded in unison and quickly activated their crystal tablets, then began positioning metallic spheres through them.

Amid brutal explosions and pieces of Golems flying everywhere, Ethan and Chen started deploying formations at full speed. After a while, as Erik studied the rhythm at which new Golems emerged from the walls, they announced in unison.

"It's done! / All set!"

"Vanguard, fall back!!"

At that moment, Erik raised his machete into the air and ordered in a serious tone. As two more runic circles formed in the air, four blurred figures returned at high speed. The moment the barriers closed after Tomás and the others entered, Erik created another black fire explosion that swept through the entire hall, and in that instant, he ordered gravely.

"Omnidirectional attack, level 3!"

"On it!!"

Ethan responded with a serious tone, and soon several runes appeared in front of him, forming an octagonal pattern before trembling violently. At the same time, in eight different positions surrounding the group, small sets of runes appeared, producing lasers that began to spin at high speed around them, causing brutal destruction.

After spinning several times, the lasers finally died down, and an eerie silence filled the smoke-filled area. At that moment, Erik called out with a calm voice, completely focused on his Mystic Awareness.

"Frank."

Upon being called, Frank quickly created sets of runes that generated powerful gusts of wind, sweeping away all the smoke and revealing the scene of complete destruction they had caused. All that could be seen were fragments of destroyed Golems, consumed by small black flames. Even on the walls, half-emerged Golems could be seen, cut by the final attack and trapped in place.

"Are we really this strong…?" Christine couldn't help but comment in astonishment, at which point Chen added with similar surprise.

"Even the power of the formations doubled… That lantern is a true treasure…"

"While it certainly helped, this result is because the Golems were weaker. It seems taking the core really affected them. But for now, let's put that aside and focus on what's important—the exit." Erik commented in a calm tone as he turned to look at the exit below them, still with the lantern floating above his head.

Hearing Erik, everyone set aside unnecessary thoughts and focused on the strange pool of fire, just in time to see Erik jump from the platform with his wolves on his shoulders. At that moment, Elara looked at the mages and ordered seriously.

"I need the mages to stay here on guard and take the chance to recover."

"Same with the knights. Form a defensive ring around the edge of the formation while you recover. Report anything strange you notice." Tomás soon added while watching Elara, Christine, and Zoe jump after Erik, before jumping himself.

Not long after, all the direct disciples and Chen surrounded the pool and began studying it with serious expressions as Erik ran his fingers over the runes. But just as Elara was about to ask how they would test it, she saw Erik take a piece of smoked meat from his storage pouch and toss it into the fire.

Under everyone's gaze, the meat reached the bottom of the well, but it didn't seem to be affected in the slightest. At that moment, Erik took one of his notebooks from his storage pouch. After writing several notes at high speed, Erik placed his pencil in the middle of the notebook and commented in a serious tone.

"Just as I thought, this thing isn't active. But I think I have an idea to make it work…" Erik soon turned to look at Chen and Ethan and continued.

"I'm going to need your help. This well is strange. It seems to be a combination of a magical artifact and a formation. It's a bit like a formation flag, but at the same time, it's different."

"Count on us." Chen and Ethan nodded calmly, then approached Erik. At that moment, Christine asked, somewhat curious.

"Aren't you going to use the lantern to find one already active?"

"No, I'd rather leave that as a last resort. It's a one-use item in our situation, and if by chance there's no way to find an active exit because we need to wait a couple of months, we'd lose it for nothing."

Erik commented calmly while taking more notes. At that point, Elara approached Erik and commented with a smug smile, glancing at Christine out of the corner of her eye.

"Only a fool would waste something so important without trying everything first… But anyway, Erik, let me help with whatever I can. I'm at your complete disposal."

"I'll need your help too, Elara, don't worry."

"Of course, I'll help too."

Christine puffed out her chest and commented with a slightly annoyed voice. At that moment, Zoe took out a teapot and started preparing tea for Erik, who had already created a table and chairs out of Myst.

"Let's work together. Even if you're not experts on the subject, you can contribute ideas. So, if you see anything that catches your attention, don't hesitate to say it." Erik commented as he sat on the chair and took out a bag of cookies. Everyone nodded and sat with him, beginning to work seriously.

…

Time passed as everyone contributed ideas and tested things before returning to the planning table. Although they didn't manage to activate the strange well, they did make small progress, like making the fire move slightly or subtly change color, which filled them with motivation and gave them confidence to try more things.

While writing his ideas in his notebook and discussing with Ethan, Erik bit into a cookie, then brought a freshly served cup of tea by Zoe to his lips. But just before he could take a sip, the star-haired young man suddenly felt a change in the Myst that made him raise his head with a solemn expression.

Soon, Erik could feel the Myst starting to flow toward the flame, which prompted him to stand up abruptly from his seat, knocking his teacup aside as he ordered in a voice full of urgency, alerting everyone present.

"Prepare for battle!! Chen, Ethan, switch the formations to trap and attack whatever comes out of the well!!! The rest of you, get into formation and be ready to retreat to the hallway!!!"

The eyes of everyone present widened in disbelief at the star-haired young man's outburst, but they quickly dropped everything they were doing and jumped to join Erik, who was rising on a Myst platform. Soon, the entire group was gathered on the Myst platform with Erik, Chen, and Ethan in the center, retreating at full speed toward the hallway entrance.

At the same time, everyone could see the strange purple fire beginning to grow, then expand and gradually form a kind of doorway. This led Chen and Ethan to move almost frantically, trying to follow Erik's orders. Meanwhile, Erik took out three metallic spheres full of runes from his storage pouch, handing one to Elara and one to Christine, keeping one for himself as he commented seriously.

"These are magical grenades. Activate them and throw them at the well the moment I give the order. I have a really bad feeling about this."

The pair of beautiful girls nodded with grave expressions, then gripped the grenades tightly and looked at the well, where the fire had finished forming a doorway and began revealing a dark, cavernous place on the other side. At that moment, Ethan arranged several sets of runes in geometric patterns between his hands, then struck hard and announced.

"Ready!!"

"Here too!!" Chen finished performing a complex hand sign with both hands and also announced seriously, his gaze locked on the fiery doorway.

Just then, a dark, blurry figure appeared on the other side of the fiery doorway, soon stepping out, allowing everyone to see a large leg covered in fine black armor adorned with a great number of strange gold lines. Erik ordered through a sound transmission while positioning the Myst platform right in front of the hallway entrance, needing only one step to exit.

"Stay alert! The moment I give the signal, Chen and Ethan activate the formations to restrain whatever came through and attack it with everything. At the same time, Elara, Christine, and I will throw the grenades, and finally, everyone else attacks with all they've got. Whatever is coming through is at the Illuminated level!!"

As Erik gave his instructions, the figure fully emerged from the doorway, allowing everyone to see it for the first time. At that moment, Tomás couldn't help but exclaim with equal parts disbelief and hatred, inadvertently letting out murderous intent.

"It's a Virelian."

The young people swallowed hard at Tomás' words as they looked at what had come through the fiery doorway. It seemed to be a human, though uglier, with two horns on its head, what looked like bat wings on its back, and a thick, long tail. At the same time, as the young people stared at the strange humanoid in surprise, it also looked at them with similar astonishment. At that moment, Erik's cold voice—so cold it sent shivers through everyone present—resounded in the area.

"Now!!!"

***

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[lordanl]

Along with Erik's voice, several chains of fire appeared out of nowhere and tightly bound the Virelian. In that moment, a whirlwind of fire, mana constructs of different elements, and more created a brutal tornado around it. Upon being attacked, the Virelian let out an enraged cry as the formations began to shake—the moment when Elara and Christine hastily activated their magic grenades.

With two gigantic magical spheres at the forefront—one of fire and one of darkness—different spells and flying slashes were unleashed in rapid succession, closely followed by the three activated grenades. At that instant, even before the spells could strike, Erik looked at the silver wolf beside him and gave a cold command.

"Get ready! Kaiser!"

Upon hearing his contractor, Kaiser immediately turned into a lightning bolt and shot into the completely dark hallway. At that moment, all the present youths hastily mobilized their mana to anchor themselves to the Myst platform. Just then, the spells finally reached their target, unleashing brutal explosions that released shockwaves so aggressive they turned the air into a thick fog.

Feeling the brutal inertia from the insane speed, all the youths present staggered violently, but at that moment, they could see magic circles and runic circles forming in front of them. From these, arrows of Myst, fire, and darkness appeared, along with multiple layers of Myst barriers. Instantly, Erik's voice resounded amidst the brutal explosions.

"Keep going full force!!"

With Erik's reminder, all the youths present began conjuring barriers and launching spells with everything they had, making maximum use of the incredible amount of Myst available to them within the lantern's light field. In that instant, a brutal roar echoed throughout the area, so powerful it violently shook the air and even caused many spells to self-destruct mid-flight.

"The formations are giving way!"

Ethan announced with a serious expression as he took out a long staff and began conjuring fog halberds. Erik replied while his hair began to rise against gravity, and the patterns of stars and galaxies on it greatly increased in brightness.

"It doesn't matter, keep going!!"

Erik shouted back as what seemed like a sea of runes along with a large number of magic circles formed around him. From these, hundreds of arrows of fire and darkness formed, along with sturdy Myst barriers. Almost simultaneously, a colossal serpent made of air materialized in the center of the hall. It swept away all the spells and flying slashes along with the smoke with a single tail swipe before shooting toward them.

But just as panic began to form on the faces of those present, a mocking smile appeared on Erik's face—the instant three brutal explosions reverberated through the hall. At the same time, the colossal air serpent began to vanish at great speed, disappearing just before it could leave the hall.

"Full defense!!!" At that moment, Erik fired all his spells at once while creating several more layers of barriers, and Kaiser increased his speed even further.

Following the orders, the mages conjured barriers while hastily drinking mana potions, and the knights raised their shields high, reinforcing their defenses with everything they had. Just then, a pained howl echoed everywhere, and a blurred, dark figure shot toward them at a terrifying speed.

Soon, everyone could see in the distance the gravely injured Virelian surrounded by a barrier of light, its armor glowing faintly. The Virelian had a charred arm, half its face burned and missing an eye, and parts of its wings and tail were missing. At that moment, everyone felt a sudden jerk of the platform, accompanied by Erik's voice, who spoke calmly but with an incredibly cold and emotionless tone.

"Let's see how tough you are."

At the same time, Erik's hair fell, and its glow dimmed significantly. Instantly, hundreds of tentacles appeared out of nowhere and attacked the glowing Virelian, who could only look around in disbelief. But soon, the view disappeared for everyone present as the platform had just turned a corner—the moment the Myst platform slowed down a bit.

"Don't stop creating barriers!!"

Without wasting a single moment, Erik immediately instructed as he sat on the floor and took out a healing potion from his storage bag. Simultaneously, from outside, everyone could hear—along with brutal explosions—the screams of the Virelian. Though Erik didn't understand them, as the Virelian spoke an unknown language, they still brought a small smile to his face, as it was evident they were filled with rage and panic.

Following Erik's orders, the youths focused completely on defense, trying to make maximum use of their wonderful connection with Myst to empower themselves and create the strongest possible defense. Meanwhile, Elara, Christine—who were creating barriers while drinking mana potions along with the other mages—and Tomás and Zoe—who held huge metal shields to form the last defensive layer with the other knights—couldn't help but look at Erik with solemn expressions.

They truly struggled to process everything that had happened. From start to finish, they had only followed Erik's orders to the letter without thinking for themselves, as they had been overwhelmed upon discovering the Virelian and its colossal power. But the results went beyond what they imagined a confrontation with such a being would be like. They had truly gravely injured an Illuminated-level being without suffering a single injury, much less a casualty.

Moreover, from the intensity of the explosions and the Virelian's screams, it was easy to tell it was desperately struggling to escape back to the hall but without much success. So, even if it managed, it would basically be half-dead, and if they hurried, they could kill it without too much difficulty.

It was truly hard to conceive how Erik—who was sitting on the floor with a small smile and closed eyes, looking quite calm and casual as a cookie appeared in his hand after putting away the potion vial—had managed to plan such a trap in such a short time.

Only moments had passed since the Virelian appeared unexpectedly, and while everyone panicked, the star-haired youth had managed to lay a deadly and inescapable trap for it… Definitely a terrifying monster, and this time in a much more sinister sense. Luckily, he was on their side.

"That thing is really resilient. Looks like I'll have to lend a hand…"

While the direct disciples reflected deeply and adjusted the mental image they had of the star-haired youth, he murmured calmly after taking a bite of a cookie. Then, Erik took out several potion vials from his storage bag and began mixing them hastily while looking at Ethan and asking.

"Ethan, could your Illusions trick that Virelian for a few moments to make it overlook a couple of potion vials?"

"In the state it's in, it's quite possible."

"Perfect. What's the maximum distance you can do that from?" Erik nodded in satisfaction as he capped a couple of newly mixed potion vials, then began shaking them vigorously. Ethan quickly replied with a serious tone.

"We'd need to be at least 20 meters back."

"Perfect. Then coordinate with me. I'll send a couple of Myst hands with these potion vials. I need you to hide them as best you can." Erik said seriously as the platform stopped and a lightning bolt landed beside him, soon taking the form of Kaiser.

"I'll do my absolute best." Ethan replied solemnly, then approached Erik, who soon explained exactly what he was going to do as the platform moved backward.

Soon, while explosions could be heard in the distance, the platform began advancing at a moderate speed—the moment two long Myst arms shot out carrying two potion vials, only to disappear into nothingness.

…

Surrounded by several barriers, with its armor broken and dozens of bloody holes in its body—now missing a wing and an arm—the Virelian tried to rush back to the hall with an expression of absolute terror on its face. Never, even in its wildest dreams, had it imagined it would end up in such a situation at the hands of a few human insects.

But it still had hope. As long as it could return to the hall, it could go back to the cave and heal without too much trouble while preparing to tear those insects apart piece by piece. With that thought, the Virelian gritted its teeth and conjured several spells to destroy the nearest tentacles attacking it mercilessly. But just at that instant, the concentration of Myst around it greatly increased.

This event sharpened all its senses as a terrible premonition enveloped it, making it look upward. There, the Virelian could see two potion vials spinning slowly in the air. With all its instincts screaming danger, the Virelian narrowed its eyes and tried to destroy the potion vials, but before it could, they exploded on their own.

The explosion of the vials caused a strong flash of light to illuminate the entire area—enough to blind an Ascended-level being. But that flash was far from enough to do anything to it, leaving it confused for a few moments about the reason, which it instantly understood.

Out of nowhere, the tentacles attacking it multiplied several times and began attacking furiously, soon piercing its barrier and defenses. This left it with an expression full of shock, resentment, and despair as it tried to defend itself with everything it could.

…

"What a resilient thing. It almost didn't die…"

Sitting in the middle of the defensive rings created by the mages and knights, with Ethan beside him, Erik couldn't help but click his tongue with a hint of surprise. This caused everyone to turn and look at him with wide eyes—the moment Elara asked with a hint of disbelief.

"Is it really dead?"

"It seems so. Let's go find it before the tentacles tear it apart completely. But don't let your guard down. Keep the barriers at maximum and be ready to escape at the slightest sign of trouble." Erik ordered calmly as he stood up, to which everyone nodded with serious expressions, and Kaiser once again turned into a lightning bolt.

Soon, the group could see in the distance the Virelian's body split in half and full of holes on the ground, its eye wide open and filled with despair. In that instant, as the tentacles gradually disappeared, Tomás couldn't help but click his tongue and comment.

"It's more than dead… Let's try to take the collar it's wearing before the tentacles destroy it. It must be its storage artifact."

"They use collars instead of rings?"

Erik created a Myst hand with the sticky Myst from outside to grab the collar, not wanting to get too close, while asking and looking at Tomás. The young knight nodded and explained calmly.

"Yes. On the frontier, I fought some and know a bit about them. It's rare to see them with any kind of rings, and they use those collars, which are more or less comparable to our storage rings, so a specialist outside should be able to open it relatively easily."

"I see. Then we might have won a good prize because I recognize the landscape on the other side of the fire portal…"

Erik commented calmly as the collar and a finger with a black ring flew toward him, leading everyone to turn and look at him with questions written on their faces. At that moment, Erik looked at Frank, Zoe, and Elara and said with a serious tone.

"That rocky place on the other side is practically the same as what I saw in the basilisk's cave."

Upon hearing Erik, looks of disbelief formed on the faces of his original companions who knew about the cave—the moment Elara, connecting the dots, commented with clenched fists.

"The air serpents you saw on the island… That air serpent that tried to attack us… Activating the portals… This son of a bitch isn't just the mastermind behind all this. He was the one who awakened and let the basilisk escape!"

"I think the same, though he hardly acted alone. There are human hands here—at least we know of one Illuminated-level human in their group." Erik nodded calmly while carefully examining the collar and the ring now floating right in front of him.

"Certainly, we have traitors in our own species…" Tomás commented seriously, to which everyone nodded with heavy expressions. Ethan, who didn't seem very surprised, looked at Erik and asked curiously.

"But I don't understand why you say we got a good prize?"

"Because in that cave, I found a stone cabin that was like a research laboratory, full of perfectly preserved Jade Slips. Though I didn't take them at the time out of caution, I highly doubt this thing didn't take them." Erik replied calmly, causing everyone's eyes to light up brightly.

***

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[lordanl]

After recovering everything of value from the Virelian's corpse, Tomás took its head and stored it in his storage pouch. At that moment, Erik moved Myst's platform to return to the hall. There, everyone could see the fire door gradually fading before disappearing completely, leaving the strange fire crackling softly once again.

"Now, how do we activate this thing?" Ethan couldn't help but ask as they arrived before the pit. Erik replied in a calm tone while lowering Myst's platform.

"Hard to say, but for now we know there must be some conditions, or the Virelian would have arrived earlier."

"Speaking of which, there's something I don't understand. If the Virelian could use the 'portal' in the basilisk's cave without us noticing, why were the hunters trying to sneak into this place?" Zoe remarked in a thoughtful tone as she stepped off the platform. Elara commented with a similar tone.

"It's possible it couldn't use it before. Maybe the tests we were conducting caused a change in the pit, allowing the Virelian to use it."

"There's also another, more disheartening possibility…" Chen said in a solemn tone, to which Tomás nodded and then commented seriously.

"There might be three Illuminated-level beings. The one we already know, the possible leader of the demonic cultivators, and the Virelian. Each with their own goals and agendas."

"You're both most likely right." Erik commented while studying the collar in his hands, then explained in more detail upon noticing the others' curious looks.

"It's possible our tests caused some change, but it's even more likely there are three Illuminated-level beings with different goals. If we think about what we've seen of the 'hunters,' their obvious goal is to capture 'sacrifices' for some kind of ritual. Therefore, it wouldn't make sense to awaken the basilisk, as it would end up eating everything.

"After all, if the ultimate goal were simply to kill everyone, they wouldn't need so many people, nor would they bother camping at the entrances or things like that. Just awakening the basilisk would be more than enough, since everyone would enter the garden of their own accord. After all, once our storage rings were lost, the only option for survival was to search for food in the garden.

"Therefore, it's likely this Virelian was acting on its own. Because, if we think from the perspective of an enemy race, for them it would be much more profitable to wipe out an entire young generation of their enemy than to use us for some ritual. Furthermore, with Elara, Zoe, and Frank, we reached the conclusion that the hunters didn't know about the basilisk."

As the others watched the mentioned trio nod, Erik continued speaking while taking a sort of monocular from his storage bag, which was covered in large amounts of carved runes, to analyze the collar.

"Although the place where the basilisk was located was valuable enough to want to exploit it without reservation, we found no trace of human presence; the place was as 'pristine' as could be. But this raises another question: Why, if the Virelian knew about the basilisk and how to activate the portals, did it also not touch the 'treasure'? And a somewhat speculative hypothesis occurs to me to explain that incongruity…"

"The Virelian didn't know about this specific place, but it knew of a place similar to this, very likely within its own galaxy. That's why it knew about the basilisk and knew how to activate the portals but never had the opportunity to touch the 'treasure'…" Elara finished Erik's words with a surprised expression. Erik turned to look at her with a smile and commented with visible satisfaction.

"Exactly. My hypothesis is that, for some reason, the demonic cultivators and the 'hunters' needed special sacrifices, and for some reason we still don't know, they ended up allying with the Virelian. But it's very likely the Virelian intended to betray everyone and kill them with the basilisk.

"But setting that aside for now, given that the Virelian came here, it's probable it was also taking the opportunity to 'collect treasures' using its knowledge, like the core or the gas lamp. It might have even collected whatever made that island function and other things."

"That makes a lot of sense. I don't think the truth is far from that…" Christine commented in a soft, thoughtful voice. Tomás looked at Erik and asked seriously.

"So, potentially we still have two Illuminated-level beings lurking around?"

"If the Virelian or the basilisk hasn't killed them already, that's most likely."

Erik replied calmly while storing the collar, then took a strange black ring he had taken from the Virelian's corpse and began analyzing it with the elegant monocular on his right eye glowing softly. At that moment, Ethan asked again while crouching to re-examine the runes around the fire.

"But we're back to the same thing: How do we activate this thing to get out of here?"

"We can keep trying things at random, and if another Illuminated-level being arrives, we just use the same tactic." Zoe commented in a calm voice while glancing sideways at Erik. Christine replied in a slightly mocking tone, placing her hands on her hips.

"A typical idea from a brute who likes playing with swords. This time we were lucky it was only one, and we took it by surprise. If two appear, or even one well-prepared, we'll die before we can flee."

"Seems you want to test the edge of my katana again, bitch." Zoe retorted with a dangerous glint in her eyes, to which Christine snorted disdainfully. But before a fight could break out, Erik commented in a calm voice while inspecting the ring.

"Actually, I have a different idea… This ring is quite special."

Hearing Erik, Zoe snorted at Christine before turning to look at him curiously. At that moment, the black ring began to glow subtly. But beneath that glow, the sharp eyes of those present could see tiny golden runes, which inevitably led Chen to look at the walls and comment with surprise.

"It's the same as the walls… Are they related…?"

"Is that the key to the portals?!" Elara asked, full of surprise and excitement. Erik replied as the glow of his monocular changed subtly.

"I can't be sure, but from what I can see, the runes here share at least 30% similarity with the ones on the core we collected, and not so much with the walls—beyond the material and superficial appearance. So, while there's definitely a relationship, it's hard to say for certain."

"There's only one way to find out. Let's test it."

Tomás commented with initiative, to which everyone nodded enthusiastically. Erik turned his head to look at everyone present, then removed the monocular and stored it while commenting seriously.

"Let's do it. Although first, let's deploy defense and counterattack formations, along with some immobilization ones, in case someone activates the portal again."

"Leave it to us then." Chen said in a calm voice. Ethan nodded casually and added.

"That said, it will take a bit; the 'flags' were shattered before, and we only have a few spares."

"No matter. I'll use the time to study the ring more closely." Erik replied calmly. At that moment, Christine looked at the pair of specialists and commented with a subtle smile.

"Count on us for whatever you need."

"I was just about to ask for your help, Disciple Taylor, to prepare some materials." Ethan said with a bright smile, to which Christine nodded with a flirty smile.

"Count on it~"

While the mages and knights moved under the instructions of Christine, Chen, and Ethan to organize formations without flags, Erik created a Myst table, where he sat with Elara, who had paper and pencil ready to start working.

Meanwhile, Zoe prepared a full teapot for Erik before returning to join Tomás and start reviewing the condition of the shields and weapons, as well as discussing the problems they had seen in the previous defense.

…

After a while, Elara let out a small, tired sigh as she set her pencil aside and showed the newly completed mathematical model to Erik, who began reviewing it attentively. Shortly after, Elara saw Erik smile with satisfaction, take out the huge core from a storage bag that contained little else—and barely fit it, put on the ring, and touch the core with it.

Instantly, the core and the ring began to glow together, and the runes on the core increased greatly, making the core look like a sphere of light with thousands of tiny golden runes drifting inside. But after a few moments, a sort of holographic screen appeared above the core, displaying what seemed to be runes or an unknown writing system, which soon changed to Galactic language.

"You managed to activate it?!"

Seeing the scene, Elara couldn't help but spit out her tea and ask, full of shock. Erik nodded calmly and explained.

"It seems so. This thing is really complex, though unlike the lamp, it doesn't have an artifact spirit and is more similar to high-grade wisdom rune arrays. Just as or even more intelligent than a human, but without self-awareness, feelings, or its own thoughts. It's really interesting…"

"How the hell did you manage to activate it with just the mana flow and resistance model you asked me to make?" Elara asked, full of astonishment. Erik replied while watching everyone run toward him with surprise written on their faces.

"Simple. This thing has no security systems of any kind; it's practically an open book anyone can use. So the mathematical model I asked you for is commonly used for reverse-engineering magical artifacts. It helps determine functions and other parameters, and with that, I could easily infer the activation method."

"Did you activate it, Erik? What does it do?!" At that moment, Zoe came running and asked with shining eyes. Erik replied in a reflective tone while checking the holographic screen.

"This core is more or less a database and controller for different systems, while the ring is an interface to manipulate it, though they seem quite damaged… Could that be why it has no security systems…?"

"Well, actually, Virelians have security systems that work by binding to the user's soul, so while the owner lives, no one else can use an artifact, no matter what means they use. A simple but impenetrable security. But that same simplicity is a problem, because without a bound soul, anyone can use it without restrictions." Tomás commented thoughtfully, to which Erik could only murmur pensively.

"Could that be it…?"

At that moment, Erik touched what seemed to be a button on the holographic screen, and it soon changed to show a distorted and corrupted map, on which several points of light could be seen. Seeing the map, Frank couldn't help but look at the fire pit and comment pensively.

"Are those the portals?"

"Possibly…" Erik commented somewhat uncertainly while continuing to try to manipulate the holographic screen, as the others surrounded him and began giving their opinions.

After a while of testing with the holographic screen, the group ended up discovering several functions, among them the ability to control the Golems, which they tested with the few Golems that had begun emerging from the walls. At that moment, watching the Golems move slightly more nimbly under the core's control, Elara couldn't help but comment pensively.

"Now that I think about it, the hunters also had a way to control Golems… Could it be they also have a core and a ring?"

"I doubt it." Erik shook his head while forming Golems into an outer defensive ring and explained.

"Although I haven't had the chance to study the golem cores here in depth and compare them to the cores we took outside, I did notice several differences, especially with the cores the hunters controlled. Those cores had some modifications, and I even found traces of magical circles on one of them. So it's more likely they were golems like the one Frank found outside that they modified to be able to control."

"I see, that makes sense." Zoe nodded thoughtfully along with the others. At that moment, Tomás looked at everyone, now ready and in formation, and commented seriously.

"Seems we're ready. Shall we begin?"

"Let's begin."

Erik nodded. At that moment, the Golems took a defensive position, so the knights raised their shields and the mages conjured barriers. Without pause, Erik manipulated the holographic screen, activating one of the functions they had discovered earlier. Instantly, the flame began to grow, forming a door that showed an unknown landscape, at which point Zoe couldn't help but comment, full of disbelief.

"What the hell is that…?"

***

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[lordanl]

Beyond the fire door, a rocky environment was visible, featuring a sort of enormous pit dug into the earth, filled with blood and a large number of corpses hanging by their necks, dripping blood. The corpses were completely naked, allowing a view of twisted runes carved into their bodies with knives—a torture forever etched in the expressions of terror and absolute despair on their faces.

Meanwhile, around the pit lay a great heap of corpses, some naked and marked with runes, others in shattered armor, all dripping blood that was channeled into the pit through grooves carved into the ground. But the strangest thing of all was a sort of statue floating right in the center of the lake, surrounded by hanging corpses.

The statue appeared to be a Virelian, deformed to the point of resembling a demon. In addition to the typical wings and tail, it had enormous, twisted goat horns on its head, twisted hands that looked like claws, and strange carved runes that emitted a reddish glow. The strange statue held in its claws an odd bottle made of what seemed to be red jade.

The bottle was positioned so that its mouth was just below the point where the statue's twisted horns met, leaving a small gap. In that small space, as the reddish runes carved into the horns pulsed at regular intervals, a small droplet of deep, dark red blood condensed and fell into the bottle.

Witnessing the devastating scene, the entire group, including Erik, was completely stunned, staring at the horror beyond the portal with expressions of disbelief. But at that moment, Tomás snapped out of it, gripped his sword tightly, mobilized his mana, and asked solemnly while looking at Erik.

"Leader! Do we advance or retreat?!"

Thanks to the shout, Erik regained his composure, his expression quickly turning sharp. In that instant, he looked at Zoe and ordered seriously.

"Everyone, on guard! Zoe, deploy the scouting spheres. I'll send in the golems!"

""Understood!""

The group replied in unison. Zoe quickly pulled out a crystal tablet and several True Copper spheres completely covered in runes, which followed the golems as they began marching toward the portal. Soon, six golems crossed the portal along with several scouting spheres, and images of the place along with a real-time map began to appear on Zoe's holographic screen.

Several minutes passed during which, beyond bodies, the scouting spheres found nothing unusual, so Zoe had them accelerate to map the entire area. At that point, Ethan and Chen exchanged glances and nodded. Then, Chen turned to look at Erik and commented in a serious tone.

"Erik, it's likely there's a formation on the other side. It would be good if we partially dismantled the formations here to send spare flags to better study the place and establish a defensive formation on the other side."

"Do it, but leave a capture formation active here." Erik nodded and ordered in a serious tone. Ethan and Chen nodded in response before getting to work.

"Are those hunters?"

While Chen and Ethan worked hurriedly, Christine asked while pointing at one of the images sent by the scouting spheres, drawing everyone's attention. In the image, what appeared to be two bodies dressed entirely in black could be seen on the ground, but unlike the others, these seemed more asleep than dead.

"I'll move a scouting sphere closer." Zoe soon commented seriously and manipulated the holographic screen. One of the images soon showed a more detailed view.

Indeed, two unconscious hunters could be seen on the ground, causing everyone to look at each other in confusion. It was then that Elara commented, full of bewilderment.

"They don't seem to be part of the sacrifice… Why are they like this?"

"They might be puppets." Tomás commented in a serious tone while staring fixedly at the pair of bodies, leading Erik to look and ask.

"Puppets?"

Tomás nodded at Erik's question, and as everyone looked at him curiously, he began to explain seriously.

"Yes, some Virelians are capable of breeding soul-linked insects that can take control of a living creature. Although they are normally much slower and weaker in a fight than a normal person, as long as they don't fight, it's very difficult to detect them without specialized artifacts or a Sage-level expert examining them closely. That's why they've caused significant casualties on the frontiers.

"Those insects are so incredible that infected people behave exactly the same, preventing even close acquaintances from suspecting anything. However, they have a grave flaw. Once the breeder dies, the insects die with him and take the lives of the infected with them. Therefore, those 'breeders' generally hide very well in the rear lines and are hard to see under normal circumstances."

"So we kill the breeder…" Erik commented seriously, to which Tomás nodded with a solemn expression.

"That's most likely."

"Is the formation ready?" Erik quickly turned to look at Ethan and Chen and asked seriously. In response, Ethan answered while operating his crystal tablet at full speed.

"One more minute. There's an active formation on the other side, and we need to bypass it to deploy ours."

"Prepare yourselves, we're going in." Erik nodded and ordered seriously. The other youths quickly tightened their grips on their weapons and mobilized their mana.

""Done!""

Soon, Ethan and Chen exclaimed simultaneously before taking their positions. At that moment, Zoe handed the complete map to Erik, who, after reviewing it quickly, ordered firmly.

"Let's go!"

With golems at the front, the group crossed the portal in an elongated formation. Soon it was Erik's turn; he entered after Tomás, who positioned himself right in front of him for protection. On the other side, the knights and golems had already formed a defensive semicircle with the golems on the front line. But upon crossing the portal, Erik could sense a strange Myst outside the lamp's light field.

Similar to the dark corridor, the Myst felt strange and 'sticky,' but in a different, more repulsive way. If the Myst in the corridor reminded Erik of rotten food, the Myst in the cave directly reminded him of a corpse in its final stages of decomposition. So disgusting that even though he felt his control over that Myst was total—as in his normal state outside the ruin—he didn't bother trying to control it.

But, though he didn't bother, the Myst around him moved on its own, vibrating at high speed, then began to swirl around him rapidly. Soon, all the Myst within the gas lamp's field of light followed suit, turning into a sort of vortex that somehow 'sucked' the cave's Myst into the field of light.

Sensing the movement of the Myst, everyone turned to look at Erik in surprise. But before they could ask, in the corner of their vision, they saw a change in the statue floating above the blood pool. The glow of the statue's runes began to fluctuate violently as the statue trembled. After a few seconds, the statue cracked all over, releasing an unpleasant cracking sound.

Due to the cracks, the statue's claws crumbled, causing the strange red jade bottle to begin falling toward the blood pool. But before it could fall, a hand made of crystalline Myst appeared just in time to catch it. At that moment, Elara couldn't help but ask with a confused and curious expression.

"What did you do, Erik?"

"Would you believe me if I said I have no idea?"

Erik couldn't help but reply with a somewhat helpless smile as he looked at the red jade bottle. Elara looked at Erik's expression for a few moments before nodding and replying with a somewhat similar expression.

"I believe you."

"It seems you somehow interrupted the ritual. I've seen similar things before, but it's the first time I've seen the statue." Tomás commented seriously, to which Erik asked curiously.

"Do you know what all this is for?"

"Not really, but a scene like this isn't rare in heretic cult bases. They use rituals like this to cast curses, enhance their powers, or I've even heard rumors they can improve their talent with rituals like this." Tomás responded seriously, leaving Erik deep in thought. At that moment, Zoe asked, somewhat confused.

"But why is this place so unprotected? Could it be they only had those 'puppets' guarding it?"

"It's possible this was a place only the Virelian could be. I've never seen a statue like that, so it's likely the hunters weren't capable of achieving their goals with a typical ritual and needed it, forcing them to ally with the Virelian, who must have made demands like this." Tomás commented with a hand on his chin. Erik, emerging from his thoughts, commented while looking around.

"That's most likely. If the Virelian's goal was to move in secret to take the treasures and awaken the basilisk to kill us all, then this place is perfect. From what we can see on the map, this cave only has one entrance sealed with a stone and has a portal ready for use. So, I imagine that thing must have made up excuses to be alone and move without drawing attention."

"That makes sense… But given the number of corpses here, they must have some kind of schedule for deliveries. The question is, when will that be?" Elara asked while looking toward the distant entrance.

"Huh?" At that moment, Erik let out a small exclamation as he turned to look at a corner. This powerfully caught Christine's attention, who quickly asked.

"What is it, Erik?"

"A presence suddenly appeared in my Mystical Awareness. There's someone alive here."

Erik responded seriously, his gaze fixed on the same corner. Hearing Erik, the direct disciples quickly extended their Ethereal Projections to examine the area, soon opening their eyes in surprise.

"There really is someone…" Tomás commented with surprise. Zoe added with a somewhat ironic smile while looking at Erik.

"And quite an unexpected someone at that…"

"Hm? Who is it?" Erik asked curiously, seeing Elara, Chen, and Zoe with strange expressions, as he simultaneously extended his mana.

Quickly, Erik could sense who was still alive beneath several corpses. It was a young man at the Revealed level with typical Lotus Union features. His robe was half-destroyed, he was covered in wounds, his face was smeared with blood, and his hair was completely singed. The young man was clutching a small jade tag tightly in his hands with his eyes closed, apparently unconscious.

"Who is that…?" Upon 'seeing' the young man, Erik couldn't help but look at Zoe and ask, genuinely confused. At that moment, Chen couldn't help but comment somewhat helplessly.

"It's Xiao Tianji."

"Who's that?" Erik couldn't help but look at Chen and ask, even more confused. This caused Chen to palm his forehead in exasperation and reply.

"The person you faced off against before entering the ruin…" Chen wanted to finish his words, but seeing Erik seemed to be remembering without being very sure, he quickly added to make it clear.

"The one who mocked you for not having a surname."

"Oh!"

Hearing Chen, Erik let out a small exclamation of realization, prompting a small sigh from Chen. Elara and Zoe suppressed their smiles, as the situation wasn't appropriate, but this allowed them to release some of the tension the strange place had caused them. At that moment, Erik commented while studying the young man again.

"No wonder I didn't recognize him. He lost all his 'scholarly' aura…"

"Yeah… Life takes many turns. Despite the threats he made against you, look how he ended up…"

Christine commented in a heavy voice while examining the unconscious youth, who looked more like a war refugee than a proud young master of the prestigious Xiao family. She was perfectly aware that had it not been for her luck in meeting Tomás's group and later Erik, her situation would have been worse—so much so that even imagining it terrified her and made her unable to look at the hanging corpses.

"Well, putting that aside, the guy is just pretending to be asleep. Let's bring him here; he must have important information." Erik commented in a calm tone while looking in Xiao Tianji's direction.

In that instant, the unconscious youth's eyes snapped open, and he forcefully mobilized his mana in an attempt to escape. But before he could fully rise, a gleaming sword appeared at his neck, causing him to stop dead in his tracks and look up to meet Tomás's calm expression. Looking directly into Xiao Tianji's eyes, Tomás commented in a firm tone.

"You'd better stay still. Our leader has questions for you."

***

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[lordanl]

Before he could even think of a solution, Xiao Tianji found himself on his knees on the floor in front of the star-haired youth, who was looking at him curiously. But, even though the situation was critical, Xiao Tianji couldn't help but stare at the group of 16 youths, two wolves, and one spirit around him in complete stupefaction.

He truly couldn't understand how, in the middle of all that hell, that group could appear unscathed, without visible wounds, fresh as daisies, and with complete, elegant, and functional gear.

"Well, you are Xiao Tianji, aren't you?"

As he was lost in bitter thoughts, Xiao Tianji suddenly heard the calm voice of the starry-haired youth, which made him look him in the eyes with a conflicted expression. He could still remember how, before entering the ruins, he had argued with that youth and threatened him without revealing his name.

But as a twist of fate, he, the proud Revealed-level, was now kneeling before him as nothing more than a prisoner, while the humble Ascended-level looked down at him with a calm smile.

"Answer."

At that moment, Xiao Tianji felt an icy edge against his throat, which made him lift his gaze. There he found a beautiful young woman with blue eyes and black hair dressed in elegant, feminine full plate armor, holding a katana and looking at him with cold eyes as she ordered in a dry voice.

"Yes, it's me." Knowing he had no chance to resist, Xiao Tianji let out a heavy sigh and spoke in a calm voice while analyzing the star-haired youth.

The youth was wearing an elegant black suit with a vest, along with two dark machetes on the left side of his hip. Meanwhile, above him floated what seemed to be an ancient gas lamp, stable in the air, and by his sides, a huge crystal core and a red jade bottle could be seen floating inside prismatic crystalline barriers.

"Perfect. Then I need you to tell us a bit of your story inside these ruins, but in particular, I need you to explain how you ended up here. Don't worry, if your information satisfies us, we might take you with us when we leave this place."

Erik asked while looking the youth from the Lotus Union up and down. Xiao Tianji looked at the ceiling as different emotions passed through his eyes, but after a moment, he clenched his teeth, filled with hatred and helplessness, and began to speak.

"… After passing through the entrance, I appeared a few meters from a garden entrance and was immediately attacked by at least 20 Revealed-level individuals dressed entirely in black. But thanks to the treasures I had, I was easily able to face them and managed to kill almost all of them before some strange golden chains appeared and rendered almost all my artifacts useless.

"Seizing the momentum, I managed to catch the ones still alive by surprise and kill them all, but since I didn't know if those men had reinforcements, I quickly took their weapons and storage bags and entered the garden. In the garden, I easily managed to finish off some beasts and gather food, and soon even ended up meeting other members of my Xiao family and the Lotus Union.

"From there, we began exploring the garden, searching for opportunities, soon gathering a group of almost 40 people, among whom were individuals from all factions. But no matter how much we searched, we only managed to find some mediocre herbs, no treasures, so we expanded the search while trying to locate and secure an exit."

As he spoke, Xiao Tianji furrowed his brow, and his words began to be tinged with pain, fear, and deep hatred. At that point, he looked directly into Erik's green eyes and continued with clenched teeth.

"But that was our first major mistake. At the first exit we discovered, we encountered an Illuminated-level who decimated a large part of our group, forcing us to flee in different directions. But it wasn't enough; that son of a bitch managed to capture most and killed the rest, and only I and six other people managed to escape in the chaos… Damned Stellar Empire, if I get out of here alive, I swear I will exterminate them all and bathe in their blood!"

Xiao Tianji added, filled with infinite hatred, releasing murderous intent full of madness, which led Erik to ask, surprised.

"The Illuminated-level was from the Stellar Empire? How do you know?"

"Because I managed to destroy the mask he wore during the fight and saw his damned eyes! Those damned eyes shone like your damn hair!"

Xiao Tianji shouted, filled with madness, while looking at Erik with hatred. But his words caused a stir among Erik and the others, who looked at each other in disbelief. Especially Erik, after all, he himself had dismissed the possibility of the Stellar Empire being involved, and now it turned out not only were they involved, they were the ones behind the hunters.

"How dare they do this…?" Erik couldn't help but murmur in disbelief. At that moment, Xiao Tianji screamed while looking at Erik with bloodshot eyes.

"You're with them, aren't you?! That's why you're all so fine! They set a trap for us! You son of a bitch!! You'll pay for this, I swear!! Even if I die here, you'll never have a day of pe--"

But suddenly, Xiao Tianji's words were cut short when the tip of Zoe's katana entered his mouth, almost touching his throat. Feeling the cold metal and Zoe's undisguised murderous intent, Xiao Tianji immediately fell silent, and a hint of rationality seemed to return to him. He then looked solemnly into Erik's calm green eyes, who seemed to have fallen into deep thought.

"Why do you think the Stellar Empire did all this?" Ignoring the madman, Ethan looked at his companions and asked in a serious tone. Christine brought her hand to her chin and commented while deep in thought.

"It's truly impossible to know. An empire in name only shouldn't have the capability nor the guts to ally with a Virelian, much less set a trap like this…"

"Maybe they're desperate…" At that moment, Tomás commented in a thoughtful tone, with a hand on his chin.

"What do you mean?"

Zoe turned to look at the young man and asked, somewhat curious, as she really didn't know much about what was happening outside the Order. Tomás looked back at Zoe and explained seriously.

"On my travels with the Bikereas, I heard comments that the Stellar Empire was in a difficult situation. Rumors spread that their greatest combat force, a Peak Arcane-level, was on the verge of death, and suddenly the prices of many of their exports went up, especially Eldora Wood. Also, they started searching for alchemists and doctors everywhere, which basically confirmed it.

"Furthermore, many long-time suppliers and clients of businesses parallel to Eldora Wood stopped working with them, and many others began pressuring them to reveal the secret of its production. I also heard that even our Arcane Order was rubbing salt in the wound; many private companies sent armored ships to pick up large numbers of migrants to open a new development zone.

"Basically, they are one bad day away from collapsing and being torn apart by their own allies seeking the secrets of Eldora Wood. Something they had managed to keep until now by relying on the formations left by their Master-level ancestor on the main planet and their Peak Arcane-level, a combination that barely allowed them to defend against a Master-level, and their generous offerings to House Solaris."

Hearing Tomás, everyone present began to reflect. At that moment, Elara shook her head and commented, confused.

"They might be desperate, but not enough to do something like this; they're literally committing suicide, and it's not like they're facing total extermination. In the worst-case scenario, if their Peak Arcane-level died, by handing over the secrets of Eldora Wood to House Solaris, they could still obtain protection for a good while, and the others would lose interest in them. They shouldn't get involved in something like this… There must be something more."

"A person accustomed to wealth can do crazy things to avoid losing it. Moreover, the level of power and influence the Peak Arcane-level has over the empire is unknown. Perhaps, being on the verge of death, he decided to risk it all and use heretical arts to survive." Chen commented, equally thoughtful, but Zoe shook her head and said.

"Although that's possible, they still wouldn't need to get involved in this madness. In the past, many rulers performed sacrifices of their own population and family to try to advance or extend their lives. Therefore, even if the Peak Arcane-level attempted heretical arts, he would first use his own people; it's less risky than provoking the Legendary-levels who could wipe them out with a mere breath."

"And what if he already tried and it wasn't enough? It's common for heretical cultists to seek geniuses for their sacrifices; maybe after trying and failing, he decided to get into this to obtain the blood of geniuses from across the galaxy." Christine commented seriously, which made the others reflect, not very convinced. But at that moment, Erik spoke seriously while looking at Xiao Tianji.

"It's pointless to try to infer their motivations in this moment; we haven't even seen that Illuminated-level for ourselves, and even if he really is from the Stellar Empire, that doesn't change anything right now. With or without starry eyes, he's still an Illuminated-level we must be careful of. Now it's more important to use our time and gather more information."

"That's true."

Elara nodded seriously. At that moment, Erik looked at Zoe and nodded to her, so the beautiful young woman pulled her katana out of the now calmer Xiao Tianji's mouth. As the disheveled young man stared at him, Erik asked seriously.

"Let's continue where we left off. You said you managed to escape. What happened after that? How did you get to this place?"

"…" Xiao Tianji stared at Erik with deep eyes, but seeing Tomás bring his hand to the sword at his waist, he began to speak.

"After that, we got as far away as possible from that exit and hid in a cave to try to recover. Then we started moving actively to avoid being found while hunting. But suddenly, a roar resonated, and the world turned upside down as pillars of light rose to the sky. Before we knew it, we ended up in a temple connecting to this cave, surrounded by demonic cultivators along with more youths from other factions.

"There, one of the demonic cultivators revealed Illuminated-level power and began a massacre, which I only survived because I hid in the chaos and used the only treasure the chains didn't manage to destroy. A treasure my father found in some ruins; it basically allows hiding any trace of one's presence, making it easy to play dead, and they brought me here with the other corpses."

"Are you saying there's an Illuminated-level demonic cultivator outside?" Tomás asked gravely, to which Xiao Tianji nodded solemnly.

"Yes, behind the stone covering the entrance, there's a long ascending tunnel that leads to a huge temple where there are at least 50 Revealed-level cultivators and one Illuminated-level. Furthermore, although I didn't dare look much, I could see a Virelian also of Illuminated level, who was the one who engraved the runes on the bodies and managed the whole ritual.

"But for some reason, the demonic cultivators don't dare enter here. Also, a while ago, the Virelian suddenly activated that portal and crossed through. But because of the two individuals dressed in black at the entrance, I didn't dare move until just recently when they suddenly fell unconscious.

"Then I tried to find an exit, taking advantage of the situation, but I found nothing. And when I saw the portal activate again, I hid, thinking he had returned. When I saw the Golems and then you all, I was so surprised I ended up losing control of my mana, and my artifact failed to hide me…"

"Could it be they haven't detected us because of the formation you mentioned?" Erik turned to look at Ethan and Chen and asked seriously. Chen quickly responded with seriousness.

"Almost certainly. If the Virelian's goal was to move without raising suspicion, he would definitely include means to hide what happens here from the Illuminated-level outside."

"I see…" Erik nodded, then looked at Xiao Tianji and asked seriously.

"Do you know of any means of communication they have, or does someone come to check, or anything like that?"

Xiao Tianji shook his head, then explained seriously while staring intently at Erik.

"There might be one, but I'm not sure. When delivering the corpses, the Revealed-levels left us at the entrance and performed some hand signals before leaving. Since then, I haven't seen them again. It was the two dressed in black who opened the cave, brought us in, and here the Virelian chose a few bodies to hang and replace the ones that were there before."

"I see…"

(How do we take advantage of this? Do we set a trap for the Illuminated-level or go back through the portal and keep trying to activate the exit…?)

Hearing Xiao Tianji, Erik couldn't help but murmur to himself while turning to look at the door with deep eyes. But at that instant, Erik couldn't help but open his eyes in disbelief and turn to look at the hanging corpses while murmuring.

"You've got to be kidding me… Are they zombies or what?"

"Zombies?" Hearing Erik, Tomás turned and asked, confused. To this, Erik nodded and commented in a serious voice while staring intently at the hanging corpses.

"They are 'reviving.'"

***

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[lordanl]

"Reviving?!"

Elara exclaimed in surprise upon hearing Erik, quickly turning to look at the hanging corpses, which showed no apparent change. They remained still, frozen with expressions of terror and pain. Erik nodded and explained in a serious tone while creating several Myst hands around the 'corpses.'

"Although it's subtle, their 'presence' appeared in my Mystic Awareness, and it's 'growing' little by little, as if they are somehow reviving…"

As he spoke, Erik drew a horizontal line in the air with his fingers, causing a swift, invisible flying slash to shoot towards the ropes holding the corpses, easily cutting them. Surprised, Tomás turned to look at Erik and commented with a hint of disbelief as the Myst hands caught the 'corpses.'

"Will Projection…?"

"Yes, Erik has mastered Blade Qi." Zoe commented with a somewhat strange smile, a mix of seriousness and a hint of pride. Tomás couldn't help but mutter, full of incredulity.

"What a monster…"

While the strongest youth of his generation seemed to be reconsidering life's injustices, Erik and Elara began to carefully analyze the rune-covered 'corpses' now floating before them, held by the Myst hands. As she took a cloth from her storage pouch to cover the three naked girls, Zoe stepped in front of the corpses and asked seriously.

"Are they really 'reviving'? I don't sense anything, not even with Ethereal Projection."

"Their hearts have stopped and they aren't breathing, but their 'presences' are getting stronger. It's strange." Erik commented thoughtfully, stepping forward and then starting to circle the corpses with a hand on his chin. Elara, doing something similar to Erik, commented while placing a finger under the nose of one 'corpse.'

"That's impossible. At our level, we are still mortal. We can't survive without a heart or oxygen. There must be some trick…"

"I once read about something similar. It's known as the Corporeal Prison Curse." At that moment, Chen stepped forward and commented in a serious tone, drawing the attention of everyone present, before continuing to explain.

"As I recall, the Corporeal Prison Curse induces a state of false death where a mortal's metabolism slows down so much that unless a very intensive check is done, they will appear dead. But, although the body enters this state of suspended animation, the mind does not, so they are still capable of feeling and hearing everything. It's one of the worst tortures."

"They're still conscious?!" Frank couldn't help but exclaim with disbelief and a touch of panic, holding Lirio tighter, a sentiment shared by all present. Chen nodded solemnly and explained.

"According to what I read, yes. Those who fall victim to that curse are conscious the entire time and can't even 'sleep' or anything like that. However, whether these people are actually victims of that curse or not, I have no way of knowing… I really only read about it in passing, and I don't even know if such a curse can be dispelled."

"Interesting…" Erik commented thoughtfully, looking at all the corpses in the place, before turning to see the expressions of his companions.

Although everyone looked uncomfortable and even a little scared, Erik could see that each and every one of them understood his intentions, to the point where they nodded seriously at him; even Hiyori glanced at him for a moment to nod. At that moment, Erik turned back to his companions and spoke seriously.

"Although we don't know if they are alive or dead, it's still not a good idea to let the enemy achieve their objectives. Therefore, we are going to recover all these bodies. Any objections?"

Erik made a small pause to look at his companions, who remained silent with no intention of refuting, so he soon looked at Chen and Ethan and began giving instructions.

"Chen, Ethan, after deploying a formation to contain Xiao Tianji, I need you to return through the portal first and deploy a healing formation similar to the one you used to stabilize me. Although we don't know if they're still alive, we don't lose much by trying, so it's best to do it."

""Understood!""

Ethan and Chen quickly announced in unison. Immediately, Erik turned to look at the rest and instructed seriously.

"Meanwhile, I need the other direct disciples to gather with me. And Frank, I'll put you in charge of coordinating the recovery and transport of the bodies. You can use the golems to help, but keep in mind for now we've only figured out how to give them basic instructions. Also, we don't know much about curses and such, so avoid direct contact."

"Understood, boss!" Frank quickly responded seriously. Erik nodded and then manipulated the core a little.

Shortly after, Frank directed the golems and the other youths to recover the bodies, while Erik sat at the head of a long table made of solidified Myst, accompanied by Elara, Zoe, Tomás, and Christine. Looking at everyone seriously, Erik announced calmly.

"This is too good an opportunity to waste. Although we don't know exactly how much time we have, we are in enemy territory undetected, so we need to leave some 'surprises' for them."

Upon hearing Erik, small smiles formed on the faces of all present, and they soon began sharing ideas, which Erik started jotting down in a notebook after discussing them a bit.

…
…
…

After a while, Erik was left alone at the table while the others worked, preparing traps for those who would come after them and moving the corpses, while he himself studied the giant core. Something had powerfully caught his attention, and he wanted to investigate it: the difference between the various 'portal pits.'

For some reason, the pit they found in the strange labyrinth had fire, just like the ones the initial exploration team had used to exit the ruins. But the one in the basilisk cave and the current one in this cave were different. They didn't have fire, just a strange dark liquid matter inside.

But, although they were different, they were equally functional, as they had used the one in the cave, and it was very likely the Virelian had used the one in the basilisk cave. This strange difference inevitably made Erik curious, wondering if it meant something. So, with determination, he entered what he believed was the 'portal' map and began analyzing it.

At the same time, Erik took out a small crystal tablet from his storage bag. Activating it, it displayed a rough, incomplete map of the ruin, which Zoe had drawn using data from the initial exploration group and what they themselves had discovered. With both maps active, Erik superimposed them and then made a couple of adjustments to align them, using as reference the points marked as the locations of the exits discovered by the pioneer group.

After several adjustments, Erik finally managed to match two portals with those marked on the map, and he began studying the positions of the others. Luckily, one of the portals matched fairly closely with the estimated position of the geometric labyrinth Zoe had drawn, which gave him more confidence in the alignment. But immediately, something jumped out at him.

The two portals he had positioned to match the 'exits' had a slightly different glow from the others, but they were quite similar to each other. This was difficult to perceive before due to how corrupted and unclear the map appeared. The only somewhat clear thing on that map of lights was precisely the light of the portal they had activated to reach the cave, which was a slightly different color, which is why they activated it first.

But while studying the map, paying special attention to the subtle differences he found with the two 'exit' portals, Erik immediately noticed that if he set aside the portal they had activated. The light points could be grouped into three groups. Although he still didn't understand the reason for the difference, it was there. The problem was they didn't know exactly where the basilisk island was, and the one they activated was different from all the others, so he didn't have many references.

(Wait! It's highly likely the Virelian didn't have a core and still managed to activate the portals, even figuring out how to find the basilisk. Was it pure luck, or did he know something I don't…? In any case, whatever it was, I should have some advantage because the core seems quite special, so I should be able to discover how he did it.)

While reflecting without getting anywhere, Erik suddenly looked at the ring on his finger and had a revelation. He quickly closed his eyes, immersing himself completely in the Myst, increasing his perception, while simultaneously sending his mana into the ring.

Although nothing strange happened at first, as Erik tried different things following the model Elara had calculated, a kind of network of interconnected points suddenly appeared in his mind, like a chaotic network graph. With this image in his head, Erik began mobilizing his mana and the Myst while trying to understand the convoluted graph, as it was quite confusing.

But within the confusing graph, there were points that seemed slightly larger than the others, and two that seemed special. One was significantly larger than the rest, and the other seemed to pulse slowly, albeit somewhat subtly and arrhythmically, like a damaged warning signal. But at that instant, Erik noticed the largest point of all moved abruptly, almost vibrating, and almost immediately, another did the same, as if they were connected.

At the same time, Erik felt the Myst move slightly, so he opened his eyes just in time to see a golem passing through the portal holding several bodies. Feeling a sudden revelation, Erik quickly placed his hand on the core and then performed exactly the same steps as before.

At that moment, instead of the graph image forming in his mind, it formed directly on the holographic map. Soon, the disorganized graph began to take shape and then matched almost exactly with the light points. Erik focused his gaze on the pulsing point, which matched perfectly with an opaque light point that, upon closer inspection, seemed slightly set apart, as if subtly isolated.

Without a word, Erik waited with contained excitement for another person to pass through the portal. Finally, another golem passed through the portal carrying bodies, at which moment the point on the bigger graph—the one matching the differently colored point—moved, followed by the one he believed was the portal of the strange square anthill.

"I think I figured out how to use this thing…"

Erik couldn't help but comment with a smile as he looked at the map. He then closed his eyes and concentrated completely, wanting to somehow mark the anthill portal. After trying things for a while, Erik finally felt a change, so he quickly opened his eyes and fixed his gaze on the map. There, indeed, the light point of the Anthill changed color, which put an even bigger smile on his face.

"Did you discover something?"

At that instant, Erik heard a voice nearby, which made him turn, finding Elara looking at him and the map with curiosity. Without losing a second, Erik gave her a summary of his discoveries, causing Elara's beautiful green eyes to shine brightly as she concluded with a huge smile on her face.

"You found the exit!"

"It's still not certain. For now, I'm only about 80% sure I can find portals identical to the ones the preliminary exploration group used to get out of here. Whether they are usable exits remains to be seen." Erik commented with a small smile. At that moment, Elara couldn't contain herself and leaped to hug Erik.

"Thank you, Erik, thank you. I owe you my life… If it weren't for you, I'd probably be another one of those bodies…"

With tears in her eyes, Elara clung to Erik and thanked him, which inevitably drew the attention of everyone present and led Zoe, Tomás, and Christine to approach.

"It's still early to thank me. You can do it after we get out of here…" Erik consoled the beautiful young woman in a calm voice. At that moment, Christine couldn't help but ask, full of hope and anticipation.

"Did you really figure out how to get us out of here?!"

Upon hearing the question, Erik again explained a summary of his discoveries while helping Elara sit in a Myst chair. This caused Christine's eyes to well up, and she jumped to hug Erik, pressing her sensual body against his without restraint.

Visibly uncomfortable, Erik looked at the weeping Christine, who seemed to have much to say but no words to express it. At that moment, Zoe grabbed her by the collar and pulled her away forcefully. While Christine tried to complain and cry at the same time, Zoe looked at Erik and asked with a smile full of pride, as if she weren't the least bit surprised, while giving a subtle smile to the proud fox spirit.

"So, is our next step to reach an exit? Or will we try to go to other places using the portals?"

***

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[lordanl]

"That's a great question, but there's something that troubles me about these exit portals..." Erik remarked in a thoughtful tone while looking at the map, which prompted Elara to ask seriously after also looking at the map.

"You're worried about their locations?"

"Yes, they seem to be organized in groups of 3 at different cardinal positions… Doesn't that seem a bit strange to you?" Erik commented in a reflective tone, to which Tomás nodded before replying in a similar tone.

"It certainly is strange… Do you think they might lead to different places?"

"That's a possibility." Erik nodded and began pointing to the known portals while explaining.

"Up to now, we don't have the slightest clue how these people managed to deceive the Master-levels guarding the entrance, and even more so, the Legend-levels. Because, even though the Virelians are powerful, if they had the capability to fool us like that, they would have defeated us a long time ago.

"Therefore, I've come up with a small hypothesis to explain why the Legend-levels discovered nothing: the entrance we used is not the only entrance. It's possible these 'hunters' knew of another entrance, and the one we used actually hadn't been touched by them, so there would be no traces of them to discover."

"You mean it's possible that if we use other exits, we might end up appearing right in the lion's den?" Tomás asked solemnly, to which Erik nodded gravely.

"Exactly. It seems like too much of a coincidence that precisely the two exits used by the pioneer group are clustered in the same sector… I feel there's something more to all this…"

"That makes a lot of sense…" Zoe commented seriously, at which point Christine asked in a worried voice.

"So do we have to use the same exits? They're most likely very well guarded…"

"It certainly is quite risky, but I think it's worth the risk to go for the third one." Erik said seriously, then pointed to the third exit on the map and explained gravely.

"Although those exits are grouped, they aren't precisely close to each other, so, since the third exit wasn't discovered by the preliminary exploration group, it would be logical to assume it has less security. And if we add to that the fact that with the basilisk awake, it's not feasible to send reinforcements, I think we have good chances of being able to fight our way through."

"I think it's the best course of action." Zoe nodded seriously, then added while looking at the others.

"In the situation we're in, we can't risk appearing somewhere different from where our masters and families expect us. Without our means of protection, even if we didn't appear in the lair of those 'hunters,' we'd still be in great danger. We have no way to communicate, and there are many who hold grudges against our elders, not to mention the ambitious ones who might try to capture us."

"Yes, here the most we have to worry about for now are Illuminated-levels, and we have ways to defend ourselves against them. Outside, a random Sage-level would leave us defenseless." Tomás nodded seriously, to which all the others nodded gravely. At that moment, Christine commented in a thoughtful tone.

"Since that's the case, why don't we try to earn more merit?"

"What do you mean?" Zoe asked with a slightly furrowed brow, to which Christine replied with a small smile.

"Very simple. Since we don't know if the exits are active or not, or if we could activate them prematurely, and thanks to Erik we have the ease of moving throughout the ruins, we could try to search for more survivors or ritual sites like this one. If we leave here with more survivors, or at least their bodies, it would be great merit not only with the Order, but the other factions would end up owing us a great favor."

"Doesn't sound like a bad idea…" Tomás whispered softly, then looked at Erik and explained seriously.

"Putting aside the merits and favors, reducing humanity's losses in this catastrophe is of vital importance. Creating such a large vacuum of talent could give ideas to the different races surrounding us, and things could get complicated on the borders…"

"Certainly, although humanity's real combat power wouldn't be reduced, something like this happening to us is a great show of weakness that others, especially the Virelians, will definitely take advantage of. It's necessary to reduce the losses as much as we can." Elara commented in an equally serious tone, to which Zoe nodded and added, looking at Erik.

"It's true. Although before we had no choice but to focus on saving ourselves, now that we have the means, we can't just stand by. We have to step forward and prevent this catastrophe from spreading beyond these ruins."

Hearing his companions, Erik brought a hand to his chin and began to reflect deeply. The possibility of a full-scale war breaking out due to what had happened was not small. After all, although the most hostile race against them were the Virelians, they were still surrounded by different ambitious races that wouldn't miss the chance to take a bite out of their resources.

Furthermore, although humanity was among the strong in their galactic neighborhood, the difference wasn't that great. If two or three races united to attack their borders, it could put them in a real bind. But even more important than that, if that were to happen, Erik was sure his masters would be deployed to the borders just like years ago. So, if he didn't do something, he would indirectly end up putting them in danger.

After a few moments, Erik reached a decision. He lifted his head to look at his companions and the golems, along with the others, and commented in a serious tone.

"You're right. We have to do our part. Let's finish up quickly here and return to the 'anthill.' We'll discuss our action plan in depth."

""Understood."" The group replied in unison and went to work with serious expressions and an accelerated pace.

…
…
…

Within the containment formation, Xiao Tianji watched with an expression full of doubt, suspicion, and bitterness as that group worked in an orderly and efficient manner under the orders of that star-haired youth. No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn't understand how they could be so well-off—uninjured and apparently full of resources and, above all, potions, many potions that they drank as if they were soft drinks.

While he had traveled through the garden with his large group, although they had managed to face some hunters and demonic cultivators and obtained equipment, some potions, and pills, they were never that well-off. In his group, only the leaders, the strongest, could have artifacts taken from enemies and some potions or pills. The weakest had to make do with their useless armor or improvised leather protection and the like. Potions weren't something they could enjoy.

Therefore, the suspicion that these people had something to do with those hunters or knew something from the beginning wouldn't leave his mind, because otherwise it made no sense. He was no ordinary person; he was the most outstanding genius of the Xiao family's younger generation, widely known as a future Master-level. Furthermore, he was convinced his performance had been worthy of his talents.

He had formed a strong and organized group that managed to survive in the garden with ease; he simply had bad luck and ended up encountering an Illuminated-level. But he couldn't be blamed for that. After all, no one over 300 years old was supposed to be able to enter the ruins, something confirmed by the Legend-levels, and he was one of the most powerful in the galaxy in that age range.

After all, at most, below three hundred years, an outstanding genius could barely ascend to the Illuminated level, and someone like that couldn't defeat them in such an overwhelming manner. That star-eyed bastard had to be at least an Illuminated-Expert level, and there were only two people in all of human history who achieved such power before 300 years of age: Eleonora Silverwood and Sigrún Eldurdóttir, the greatest geniuses in human history.

Currently, only he and Tomás Arismendi were on the verge of advancing to the Illuminated level before 300 years, but it would still take them a couple of decades to achieve it. Therefore, his confidence wasn't unfounded; he simply never imagined the Legend-levels could be deceived in that way, and he paid a grave price for it.

…

While Xiao Tianji was deep in thought, two enormous shadows suddenly covered him, making him lift his head. There, Xiao Tianji found a young man with long black hair and green tips, accompanied by four golems. Sensing that the young man was barely at the Ascended level, Xiao Tianji couldn't help but show a hint of disdain, at which moment Frank commented in a calm voice.

"We're going to leave here. You can be escorted peacefully by the golems to follow us, or you can stay here and wait for the hunters to come in."

"For a mere Ascended to speak to me that way." Xiao Tianji said in a cold voice, to which Frank shrugged and turned around while commenting indifferently.

"So you prefer to stay here. I understand."

Xiao Tianji couldn't help but open his eyes in surprise, watching Frank leave without looking back, soon followed by the golems, heading towards the portal through which almost everyone had already left. With his heart racing, Xiao Tianji clenched his teeth, knowing he was just playing tough and they really wouldn't dare leave him there. But seeing that Ascended bastard was about to go through the portal, he quickly commented in a voice full of frustration and rage.

"The formations won't let me move."

"Oh, you should have said so from the beginning."

Frank stopped a few meters from the portal and looked at Xiao Tianji while commenting with a calm smile, then took out a small, milky-white tablet. At the same time, the Golems turned towards Xiao Tianji and grabbed him by the shoulders, at which point the tablet in Frank's hand glowed softly.

With the tablet's glow, several layers of light domes became visible around Xiao Tianji, who soon found himself bound hand and foot by dark chains. At that moment, the Golems lifted him by the shoulders and carried him to go through the portal. Upon crossing the portal, Xiao Tianji couldn't help but open his eyes in disbelief upon seeing the gigantic, well-lit hall filled with formations everywhere and a long table of Myst where all the leaders were gathered.

(What is this place…?)

…

As Xiao Tianji was led to a newly deployed formation, Erik, seated at the head of the solidified Myst table, finished noting something on his notebook and took a cup of tea served by Zoe. After taking a bite of a cookie, Erik looked at his companions and commented in a serious tone.

"So our action plan in summary will be as follows. We'll avoid places near the location where the Illuminated-level that Ethan was following was, and we'll send golems and scouting spheres in rapid succession to different portals before closing them. Once they identify survivors or corpses, we'll make decisions on whether to act or not. Also, we'll start accumulating golems from other floors to use as a vanguard against the third exit portal. Any objections?"

"I have more of a question." Ethan asked in a serious tone, so Erik nodded with equal seriousness.

"Go ahead."

"Are we going to treat all survivors like that guy from the Lotus Union?" Ethan asked seriously, to which Erik replied after a sip of tea.

"Not necessarily. The guy was openly hostile and doesn't seem mentally stable; moreover, he's a bit suspicious. I studied the jade slip he had a bit, and it doesn't seem like anything special. Although it's true it allows one to hide from the Mystical Awareness, it's hard to believe something like that could deceive an Illuminated-level.

"Even without his 'presence,' he was still breathing and his heart was beating when we checked, so any mana user could tell he was alive by checking with Ethereal Projection or simply by touch. The guy is still hiding something from us, and it's better to be cautious. Right now, we can't afford mistakes."

"Erik is right. I also studied the jade slip, and it shouldn't have allowed him to deceive two Illuminated levels as he claims he did." Christine commented seriously, to which Chen nodded and added solemnly.

"I can vouch that what they say about the jade slip is true. Disciple Laverne and I also examined it since it was an artifact of the Zazen Discipline, and we share the same opinion."

Seeing Zoe nod at Chen's words, the others inevitably turned to look at Xiao Tianji within the formation with serious and pensive expressions. But at that moment, Erik placed his teacup on the table and commented in a serious tone.

"Well, let's move. Everyone already knows their role and what to do. We have to move quickly."

***

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