Nine's finger traced along the edge of the altar with a touch of elegance. The entire space came alive the next moment.
The gray-green roots on the walls swelled at the same instant. Thick vines burst forth from the Dome, the stone wall, and every Rift Lu Yuan had failed to notice, spreading toward the hall entrance at a visible speed with a howling tearing sound.
When Lu Yuan turned around, the stone stairway they had come through was already half blocked.
Vines wrapped around the iron door's hinges and tightened. The metal let out a dull groan as the door slowly closed under their pull. The last sliver of a gap narrowed and vanished from Lu Yuan's sight.
Clang.
The iron door shut completely.
At that moment, their escape route from the underground space was utterly cut off.
Bolen reacted even faster than Lu Yuan had expected. The old man's cane struck the ground almost at the same instant the vines erupted. His voice was quiet, but his words came rapidly.
"I left Inscription along the path we took earlier, but burning through these vines will take some time. I'll hurry."
Before he had finished speaking, light flared behind them.
Along the stone stairway they had taken in, from the inside of the iron door all the way to the hidden door, streaks of pale golden Inscription lit up on the walls. The light emitted by the Inscription was weak, but it covered a vast area.
Lu Yuan understood the moment he saw them.
Bolen had prepared for this on the way in.
All along the way, the old man had tapped and prodded with his cane, walking half a step slower than Lu Yuan as he quietly made preparations.
The moment the pale golden Inscription touched the surface