"Stingham, why don"t you enter first?" Ayrin and Chris said simultaneously as they quickly grabbed and detained the impetuous Belo.
"Why should I enter first? Look at the state I am currently in!" Stingham wailed as he continued to rub his face, which was still emitting steam.
"It"s because you have the strongest defense of all of us."
Ayrin"s face filled with fighting intent as he looked at Stingham and said very naturally, "If there is a trap waiting for us, you are least likely to be injured."
"What do you mean least likely to be injured?!" Stingham cried, "I"m currently very injured!"
"Stop talking to him, it"s just wasting time. Let me," Rinloran abruptly said from aside.
Stingham curled his lip upon hearing Rinloran. It seemed like Rinloran had decided to be the first one to enter.
"Bang!"
But before Stingham could gloat any further, he suddenly felt a force send him flying. Rinloran had viciously kicked his backside!
"I"m never talking to you again Rinloran!" Stingham screamed as he flew through the gate into the chamber.
"Whoos.h.!.+"
Upon Stingham"s entrance, the entire chamber seemed to come to life as faint grinding sounds began to emanate out from within the body of the golden metal puppet. It sounded like there were countless pages of a metal book being turned at the same time.
A faint and fluid ring of light abruptly surrounded the entire chamber.
"Ahhhhh!" Stingham screamed miserably as Lover"s Corpse appeared over his body and weeds and saplings began to sprout up on and around him.
"How is it?" Ayrin and Chris asked nervously.
"I don"t know. There seems to be no reaction," Stingham replied.
The five youths standing outside simultaneously collapsed as they shouted back, "If there is nothing wrong, then why are you screaming?!"
"Is there really nothing happening?"
"There doesn"t seem to be the slightest fluctuations of battle?"
Ayrin cautiously entered the chamber.
As he did, he felt a unique arcane energy continuously brush against his body in waves like a gentle breeze.
However, nothing else occurred.
And there was nothing abnormal occurring within his body as well.
"Let us go over and take a look," Ayrin said to Stingham as he began to walk forwards.
Ayrin walked through the chamber all the way to the exit, yet still nothing occurred.
The golden metal puppet in the center of the chamber continued to stand their motionlessly as it released a curious arcane energy fluctuation.
"Belo, don"t you dare touch it!" Chris warned as she and Belo entered the chamber side by side.
As they wanted to pa.s.s through here as quickly as possible to obtain the Heart of Fury at the end, there was no reason for them to deliberately activate any defenses just for the sake of experiencing them.
"There"s actually nothing?"
"Could it be that it has just been here for too long and has become damaged and non-functioning?"
Everyone carefully, but quickly, made their way through the chamber. And much to their surprise, still nothing happened.
It was just too smooth. Ayrin and the others were extremely perplexed as a sensation of uneasiness pervaded their hearts.
"I"m never talking to you again Rinloran!"
"We weren"t friends to begin with. If you are never talking to me again, then stop blabbering and go away idiot!"
"You, how can you care so little about friends.h.i.+ps?"
"I"m only afraid of being infected by your idiocy!"
As Stingham and Rinloran bickered, the group of six continued to traverse the labyrinth, pa.s.sing through and around several more of the tall bronze walls.
"It seems to be a little more powerful this time," Belo said as another bronze gate and large building appeared before them.
Looking around, it seemed like all the paths in the labyrinth led here, making it the only path to continue forward deeper into the district.
The building before them was much larger than any of the previous ones, and unlike the others, had no roof. It looked like an open-air arena.
And even though they had yet to touch the bronze gate, it was already releasing arcane energy fluctuations in a regular pattern.
Altogether, this caused them to feel as if there were powerful enemies waiting within.
"Let me!"
This time, it was Stingham who took the initiative as he moved forward, pushed open the bronze gate, and prepared to enter.
"Brave warrior Stingham, why are you so eager to volunteer yourself this time?" Ayrin, Chris, and the others all felt that something was off.
"My luck and character are just too much better than yours. So perhaps it will be just as smooth as last time if I enter first. Perhaps nothing will happen yet again," Stingham replied as he looked forward beyond the gate.
Gentle sunlight streamed down through the clear sky, illuminating every part of the chamber.
Similar to before, the floor was made of bronze. But whereas the previous chambers had contained metal puppets within, this chamber was completely empty.
"The sky is fake," Rinloran said abruptly. "This chamber should contain some kind of special arrangement."
"There is a barrier separating us from the real sky?"
"Indeed, it seems like all of the arcane energy fluctuations are coming down from above as well."
Ayrin nodded.
The sunlight was just too gentle and stable.
By this point, Stingham had already entered the chamber.
"Ayrin, Rinloran, where did you guys go?!" Stingham"s cries abruptly rang out from within.
"What?" Ayrin exclaimed as he looked at Stingham. "Stingham, you can"t see any of us? We are right behind you. We haven"t moved at all."
"I can hear you guys, but I can"t see you!" Stingham said as he turned around, exposing the grim expression on his face to Ayrin and the others. "You guys can see me though?"
"Yes, we can see you." Ayrin and the others exchanged looks as he asked, "Can you see absolutely nothing in there?"
"No, I can see the exit and my surroundings perfectly fine, I just cannot see you guys," Stingham whimpered.
"Idiot!" Rinloran muttered as he couldn"t endure any longer and pa.s.sed through the gate.
"Eh?"
As he pa.s.sed through the metal gate, the scene before him abruptly changed. Everything around him seemed to become desolate as he found himself by himself.
Not only did he not see Ayrin and the others, who were still outside, he didn"t see Stingham either.
He was by himself within an empty arena.
"Ayrin, I can"t see you guys anymore, and I can"t see Stingham either," Rinloran said calmly.
"You can"t even see Stingham? But we still can out here…" Ayrin began to speak, but then suddenly paused as if some drastic change had occurred.
"What happened?!" Stingham shouted fearfully.
"The light is getting thicker! We cannot see you from out here anymore!" Ayrin exclaimed.
Before Ayrin, Chris, and the two others who were still standing outside, the light behind the gate slowly thickened, forming a curtain of light which obscured them from seeing within.
"There are no changes occurring in here," Rinloran said.
"So strange. Maybe it"s meant to separate us so we fight individual battles!" Ayrin reasoned after a moment of thought. "This should be one of those occurrences the referee mentioned before we entered. The arcane energy field surrounding the area makes it so we can only see our opponent and nothing else within!"
Neither Stingham nor Rinloran responded.
"Could it be that they have encountered powerful opponents?" Moss asked nervously.
"It"s possible that the arcane energy field has now blocked off sound as well, so they are no longer able to hear us," Chris said.
"Once we enter as well, we will no longer be able to support each other. We will each be fighting by ourselves," Ayrin said he swept his gaze across Chris, Belo and Moss.
"It should be like this. Everyone be careful," Chris said with a nod.
"Let"s go! Let"s go in and see just what is so strange!"
A cold light flickered through Belo"s eyes as his body transformed once more.
"Pssss.h.!.+"
Belo quickly tore through the curtain of light and entered.
"Let"s go!"
Ayrin and Chris simultaneously entered.
Only Moss was left standing outside. Both of his palms were clammy and covered with a cold sweat.
"I just have to do as I did earlier!"
Taking a deep breath, Moss steeled his mind.
Afterwards, his body erupted forwards and crashed into the curtain of light at a speed invisible to the naked eye.
Although Moss did not manage to completely master Explosive Strike before arriving, at the least, he was able to control it so that he shot forward, and not up towards the sky like before.
Just this already made it impossible for the skills of normal opponents to chase him down.
"What?!"
Moss felt nothing as he burst through the curtain of light and entered the chamber. The sunlight which fell down from above was still as gentle and clear as ever. But in the next moment, his pupils abruptly constricted as he saw a golden figure glaring at him from a corner of the otherwise empty and silent chamber!
At this moment, a sense of spatial disorientation washed over Moss.
Because the golden figure before him looked exactly the same as the golden metal puppet he had encountered in the earlier chamber!
It was as if the golden metal puppet had penetrated through s.p.a.ce and arrived here.
And unlike before, the golden eyes of this golden metal puppet now seemed to be alive and glowing with a faint golden brilliance as they stared at him.
A biting chill arose in his heart and pervaded every corner of his body.
"Boom!"
Wanting to pa.s.s through here as quickly as possible, Moss didn"t wish to waste another second thinking about the strangeness of this metal puppet"s appearance. He used Dual Transformation and returned to normal and then immediately erupted forwards once more. [1]
"What?!"
Moss" breath abruptly became caught in his throat.
In the periphery of his vision, he could see a golden light approaching him.
The golden metal puppet was no slower than him and had moved to block his way forward.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh"
A scream erupted from Moss" mouth as he shot uncontrollably towards the golden metal puppet.
The golden metal puppet"s emotionless eyes slowly turned.
"Clang!"
A sharp golden blade abruptly shot out from each of the golden metal puppet"s ten fingers.