Clack!
With a mechanical rattle, automatic machine guns swung out from the ceiling, walls, and floor all along the corridor and opened fire on the three intruders without hesitation.
But faced with the terrifying barrage, the Vine-kin merely sent the vines on its arms growing rapidly, blocking the attack.
Beside it, the Dinosaur-kin and the Insect-kin tore up metal plates and hurled them, clearing away the machine guns.
"Tch! Nothing but petty tricks!"
The Dinosaur-kin said that aloud, but privately it felt relieved.
Without the Vine-kin shielding them, this one checkpoint alone would have left the other two badly wounded.
They broke through defense after defense, swept aside every obstacle in their path, and finally emerged from the corridor before a metal door. The Insect-kin commander cautiously examined it with his compound eyes, extending his senses to their limit, but found nothing useful. Beyond the door was a blank void, as though an invisible barrier shut out all information.
"Looks like this is where they're hiding their secret." His mental transmission carried tension he could not suppress.
The Dinosaur-kin beside him tightened its grip on its great blade, while the Vine-kin's body trembled incessantly.
The human warriors who had attacked from every shadowy corner had vanished by the time they reached this place, and the vexing traps were gone as well. Yet the sense of danger in their hearts only swelled.
As the three discussed how to proceed and open the door, a crack suddenly appeared in it.
All three commanders froze at once!
In the air that seemed to have congealed, the metal door slowly opened.
Cold blue light spilled through the gap, casting a long, narrow strip across the floor.
Benjamin stepped into that strip of light and walked out at an easy pace, as though strolling down