Chapter 673: Altar

The battle erupted in an instant. Brilliant flashes of magic power illuminated the chamber as attacks after attacks surged toward the towering stone Demon from every direction. Explosions rattled the walls, weapons struck against its rocky body, the thunderous impacts echoed beneath the ceiling.

Clyde moved, his body surrounded by crackling arcs of blue and white lightning. He shot forward with incredible speed, closing the distance before the guardian could bring its massive arms down.

His longsword flashed across its thick stone limbs, releasing bursts of lightning that crawled through the cracks in its body. His attacks had a huge force that was enough to chip away at the hardened stone, while his movements allowed him to evade the guardian’s sweeping attacks with minimal effort.

Mina followed close behind, her twin daggers glinting beneath the faint green light radiating from the guardian.

She activated Crimson Step, her figure blurring as she darted across the battlefield. She slipped beneath its enormous arms, avoided its crushing fists, then struck at the gaps between its stone plates.

Her attacks were not as destructive as Clyde’s attacks, but her speed made her difficult to catch, allowing her to harass the guardian from its blind spots.

On the opposite side, Samuel drove his spear forward, releasing streaks of red light that pierced the guardian’s rocky body.

He focused his attacks on its joints, gradually weakening the connections between its massive limbs.

Whenever the creature turned toward him, Samuel shifted his stance and attacked from another angle, refusing to let it concentrate its strength on a single opponent.

Leyan supported the frontline from a distance. He was using his skills of explosive arrows, which shot through the air before detonating against the guardian’s chest and shoulders, each explosion sending fragments of stone scattering across the chamber, exposing deeper cracks beneath its surface.

Meanwhile, Don stood directly in front of the towering creature, his shield raised to meet its devastating blows, he gritted his teeth.

The impacts drove him backward and rattled his arms, but his sturdy defense held. He absorbed the guardian’s attacks long enough for the others to strike its exposed sides, maintaining the frontline even as the stone beneath his boots fractured.

Arven reinforced their assault with carefully timed spells, disrupting the guardian whenever it attempted to retaliate.

Their coordinated attacks left the enormous creature struggling to keep up. Despite its tremendous strength and imposing size, it could not defend against so many opponents attacking from different directions.

The faint green light within its body began to flicker.

Clyde noticed the change and immediately increased the intensity of his attacks. Pure Lightning surged along his sword as he slashed through another section of stone.

Samuel followed with a powerful thrust into the damaged joint, while Leyan’s next explosive arrow struck the guardian squarely in the chest.

A web of cracks spread across its torso.

The guardian staggered, its enormous body trembling as pieces of stone broke away from its shoulders and arms.

It attempted to raise its fist for another attack, but Don slammed his shield into its leg, disrupting its balance at the critical moment.

"Now!" Samuel shouted.

Clyde surged forward, lightning gathering around his longsword. Mina struck from the opposite side, her daggers flashing through the gaps in the guardian’s defenses, while Samuel and Leyan unleashed their attacks against its weakened chest.

The combined assault shattered the remaining stone around its core.

A deep, grinding sound filled the chamber as the guardian froze.

The green light flickered several times before fading completely. Then its enormous body collapsed, breaking apart into countless chunks of stone that crashed across the floor, just like what happened with its brothers before.

Dust billowed through the chamber, briefly obscuring the group.

When it finally settled, the towering guardian was nothing more than a heap of broken rocks.

Everyone remained alert for a moment, watching the scattered remains for any sign of movement. When nothing happened, their tension gradually eased.

They had finally defeated the strongest guardian in the pyramid, so now with the path ahead clear they could finally search for the Demon artifact.

Samuel wiped the sweat from his forehead and glanced around the chamber. The guardian was finally defeated but their mission was not over yet. Somewhere in this place the Demon artifact they came to retrieve was waiting for them.

"We can’t waste time. Spread out and search the room. Keep your guard up in case there’s anything else hiding here," Samuel said.

The others nodded and began searching, moving cautiously among the scattered stones and damaged pillars. Despite their victory, nobody completely relaxed. The pyramid had tested them at every turn, and they weren’t foolish enough to assume the final guardian was the only threat waiting on this floor.

Clyde, however, moved faster than the others.

His attention was already drawn toward the deeper part of the chamber, where the Demonic energy felt strongest.

He wanted to find the artifact as quickly as possible. If he could reach it before the others, even better. He had his own reasons for wanting the artifact, and he preferred to examine it without anyone watching too closely.

He crossed the chamber and headed toward the back wall, where the staircase usually stood on the previous floors.

Instead of another flight of steps, he found an empty, shadowed space. The stone walls stretched into darkness, and the faint green light left by the guardian barely reached that corner.

Clyde narrowed his eyes and stepped inside. A moment later, he discovered an altar.

It was made of gray stone, broad and flat, roughly the size of a bed. Its surface was stained with a dark reddish substance that covered much of the stone. The color had faded in places, but it was unmistakably blood stains. This was a place of sacrifice.

Clyde approached the altar, his gaze moving until he spotted a small red stone resting near the center.

It was dark crimson, almost like a drop of blood that had solidified into a gemstone. Despite its modest size, a faint glow pulsed beneath its surface.

Clyde reached out and touched the stone with his fingertips.

In the next instant, Demonic energy surged into him.

The familiar sensation spread through his body, seeping into his soul.

Clyde’s eyes narrowed as he felt the power respond to his presence. It was unmistakably Demonic, concentrated within the red stone and far more potent than its appearance suggested.

A faint smile touched his lips.

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