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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