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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