Chapter 365: Stone guardians.

The system finished translating the words on the clue, pulling Zyra out of her thoughts.

[ESH’RA VEL.

The pale shall sleep.

The blood shall burn.

The sky shall turn.

When pale closes its eye,

When blood shows its heart,

When the sky faces the door,

The way shall breathe.]

Zyra read it out loud.

"Okay, what does it mean?" Tess asked, looking around with an expectant gaze, as though someone in their group was a professor of alien languages and coded messages.

Nobody had a clue, just yet. Some shrugged, while others tried reading the word in its original language.

After looking at the screen before her eyes and getting an explanation from the system, Zyra told others the meaning of the clue. "The white crystal must be deactivated.

The red crystal must be heated to maximum intensity.

The blue crystal must be rotated until it faces the entrance."

Tessi nodded. "Of course you know. You are the Divine maiden, how can something so simple like this defeat you?"

While others muttered, Achilles assigned himself the task of heating the red crystal. He was very careful, but at the same time, very eager. Elfy pushed him aside and heated the crystal with her hand.

"Squirrel can do this." Hunter whispered to Zyra.

She rolled her eyes. Even in such a serious moment, her husband refused to let Elfy shine in any way. "We don’t have time to compete over who is more useful."

"More like who is more efficient." Hunter countered.

Zyra rolled her eyes again. Elfy raised her hand, like an eager child competing to be the teacher’s favorite student. "Done. I finished first."

"If you have done it wrong, some poisonous gas could kill us all. Or the island could sink. I for one do not intend to die today." Hunter replied before Zyra did.

Elfy gave Hunter the pinky finger, instead of the middle finger! The gesture made others laugh.

While the two bickered, Zyra, Bianca and Tessi did the rest of the work. After making adjustments as instructed, the white crystal went dark first. Then, the red one erupted with crimson light. Finally, the blue crystal slowly rotated toward the entrance.

There was a crack. The middle ground on which they were standing parted like parts of a square being pulled apart. A hidden entrance leading down exposed itself.

"Now we are getting somewhere." Bertha said with glee. She bumped her shoulder against Bullet. "I heard you like guns. I will outshoot you today if we run into danger."

His response was a snort.

Hunter glanced at Zyra. "Underground again! Why are the new dungeons all underground?" His eyes flickered to the entrance.

"We will guard the entrance." Nero volunteered, choosing ten others, and one soul maiden to remain back.

Zyra stepped forward, leading them through the newly formed passage. Their helmets came with automatic torches, removing the need for everyone to carry a wooden fire torch.

Slowly, and carefully, they went down the steps, hoping they were not marching to death. Nobody dared to talk, almost as if Zyra had instructed them to be silent.

The hidden passage led them to an empty stone room with giant circular mechanism that had four movable rings. Each ring was covered in different alien symbols.

"Another puzzle." Tessi winced.

Zyra got to work. "System..."

[Already on it host.

KOR’VA NETH.

What sleeps below must rise.

What turns left must face the sun.

What falls right must kiss the ground.

Leave the crown unmoved.

Four shall agree

And the heart shall open.]

"Okay translate it fast." Zyra said

[The lower ring must be raised.

The left ring must rotate until its symbol faces the eastern light.

The right ring must be lowered until it touches the floor.

The upper ring must remain completely stationary.]

Zyra carefully directed the team. "I can hear what sounds like a stream. Be careful, if we do this wrong, this place might be filled with water."

"Got it, no pressure at all." Achilles nodded.

They adjust the three movable rings.

Then suddenly, the fourth ring began glowing on its own.

A deep vibration rolled through the dungeon.

Then the entire mechanism rotated, revealing another corridor that everyone stepped into.

At the end of the corridor was an enormous, sealed gate.

Four symbols glowed across its surface: a wolf, a blade, an eye, and a heart.

Beneath them was an alien inscription:

[Decyfering the clue;

Four walkers.

Four signs.

One gate.

The stone Lykthar shall guard.

The blade shall lead.

The eye shall see.

The heart shall choose.

Stand as the Grumak stood.

When the guardian stands behind,

When the blade faces forward,

When the eye faces the void,

When the heart faces the gate,

The Sleeping treasure dungeon shall awaken.]

Beauty became silent for a moment.

Then: [Host, the clue is as clear as day, but a required formation detected.]

Zyra looked at the four symbols.

Then at her team. "So, this dungeon has been testing whether we can follow the instructions."

[That is correct, one tiny mistake and you are doomed.]

"Everyone, pause." Zyra shouted.

[There seems to be another condition. The clue says the guardian stands behind...]

The walls began to move.

"Is that supposed to happen or did we fuck this shit up?" Bullet asked.

Zyra did not answer, but she went into battle mode. Everyone followed her reaction, going into combat mode as well as they waited to see what was behind the wall.

The circles etched into the stone on the walls began to rotate in opposing directions. Dust and ancient grit spilled into the seams as the mechanism groaned. With a sudden, synchronized drop, the stone rings sank three inches into the walls, revealing dark, subterranean shafts beneath.

The room became brighter. It should have made them feel safer, but, from the depths of the shadows, a dozen low growls echoed at once. It didn’t help that they could now see bones in corners of the room.

"I have seen red eyes." Koji said in a panicked voice. His heart was pumping so fast.

Beasts erupted from the openings_ stone wolves, carved from seamless granite, their muscular forms glowing with burning red eyes. They landed in a wide perimeter, claws scraping against the rock, and locked their hollow, luminous gazes directly onto the group.

Tessi peeked out from behind a shattered pillar, her voice trembling like a leaf in a storm. "Can we go back now? Please?"

"Hell no!" Arrow and Bertha barked in unison, not even bothering to look at her.

"Oh, come on, don’t be such a baby Tessi. I can carry you if your legs are shaking that bad," Malia chimed in, tossing her hair with a grin that was far too relaxed for someone standing in a dungeon filled with dry bones.

"People have been here before." Taylor said.

Neil nodded. "No surprises there."

Meanwhile, Zyra wasn’t listening to any of them. A voice was buzzing inside her head like a persistent mosquito.

[These are the guardians mentioned in the clue.]

"They’re giant bloody wolves, probably made from alien stone!" Zyra cut in.

She summoned her beasts from the dominion. One after another, they made an appearance. All the beasts crashed into the room, surrounding the group.

The rest took it as a sign to release their half-life beasts too. The more beasts, the more cramped the room became, until everyone was rubbing shoulders.

[Host, you do need the beasts,] the system sighed, sounding terribly unbothered. [You are the Sovereign Beast Commander. Why are you summoning an entire army to squash a couple of oversize puppies? Just command them. They have to listen to you, be stern.]

Zyra looked at the growling creatures and raised her brows. They didn’t look eager to be commanded.