Behind the Stone Gate

Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

The two array breakers had barely closed their eyes, studying the runes on the stone gate day and night without rest. On the evening of the third day, as the last rays of sunlight vanished behind the distant ridgeline, the gray-robed array breaker let out a long breath, rubbed his bloodshot eyes, stood up, and walked over to Kallen.

"My lord, it is ready." His voice was hoarse, but carried the relief of a burden lifted.

Kallen nodded, his gaze sweeping over the group: "Prepare to enter. Barton and Bally in the lead, the two mages in the middle, the array breakers at the rear, and everyone else in the previously arranged formation. Stay alert once we are inside; do not touch anything indiscriminately."

Everyone rose, checking their gear and adjusting their states. The clanging of armor, the friction of weapons being drawn, and low-voiced conversations blended together, sounding exceptionally clear in the silent wilderness.

Akes stood in the middle of the formation, with Old Chen on his left and the wind mage on his right—the one who had barely spoken the entire journey, known only by the surname Zhou, a level nine mage, reticent and quiet. At this moment, Old Zhou was closing his eyes to regulate his breathing, a faint breeze flowing around him, clearly adjusting his magical state. Old Chen was checking the potion pouch at his waist, confirming them bottle by bottle while muttering to himself.

In the open space before the stone gate, the two array breakers began their final preparations. The gray-robed one took several fingernail-sized magic crystals from his robes, carefully placing them in specific positions around the stone gate. The blue-robed one crouched on the ground, using a small silver knife dipped in some kind of fluorescent powder to draw complex patterns.

The gray-robed array breaker stood at the very front, pressing both hands against the stone gate and closing his eyes. His lips moved rapidly, silently chanting something. A moment later, he opened his eyes, and a faint blue light ignited in his palms.

The runes on the stone gate began to glow.

At first, it was only a faint red light, but gradually, the red glow grew brighter, flowing along the lines of the runes until, finally, the entire stone gate was shrouded in a crimson radiance.

"Back!" the gray-robed array breaker barked, his figure retreating rapidly.

Everyone took a few steps back in unison, the sound of weapons being drawn echoing one after another.

Boom—

With a dull, thunderous sound, the stone gate slowly opened to both sides.

Kallen was the first to walk inside.

Barton and Bally followed closely behind, their two greatswords already drawn, the blades gleaming with a cold, chilling light in the darkness. The others followed one after another, and Akes stepped into the gate with the flow of the crowd.

Everything went black before his eyes, then returned to normal.

Behind the gate was a long corridor, with magic lamps on the walls every few steps that were now automatically lighting up, extending all the way forward.

"The magic array is still functioning," the blue-robed array breaker said in a low voice, his words echoing in the narrow space. "This place is at least a thousand years old; the fact that these lamps can still light up means there is a stable energy source underground."

The team moved along the corridor, their footsteps sounding exceptionally clear in the confined space. Akes paid attention to the floor beneath his feet; the stone slabs were laid flat, but fine cracks could be seen in some places. Dark red matter had congealed within the cracks, looking like dried blood and shimmering with an eerie luster under the lamplight. He reached out to touch the wall; the stone was cold and smooth, showing clear signs of manual polishing, yet he could feel a faint vibration where his fingertips touched it.

The corridor was not long; they reached the end after about the time it takes to burn an incense stick.

The view suddenly opened up.

This was a massive underground hall, hundreds of meters in circumference and twenty to thirty meters high. Akes didn't even see the opposite wall at first glance—it was simply too large, like a naturally formed cavern that had been artificially modified. The floor of the hall was paved with uniform stone slabs, each identical to the other, with seams so tight it was almost impossible to see where they joined. Twelve thick stone pillars stood around the perimeter, each as wide as three men could embrace, carved with intricate reliefs. In the center of the hall stood a high platform, about two meters tall, upon which rested a stone statue. It was carved in the likeness of a magical beast—the Red Flame Lion King—but it was much larger than the ones seen outside, standing three or four meters tall and lifelike. Its posture, head tilted back in a roar, made it seem as if it could come to life at any moment and let out a heaven-shaking bellow.

"The first level." Kallen stood at the entrance of the hall, his gaze scanning the surroundings. "Stay on guard."

The group dispersed, beginning to explore every corner of the hall. Footsteps echoed throughout the chamber, stirring up ethereal reverberations.

Akes followed Old Chen toward the nearest stone pillar. The relief on the pillar was rich in content, divided into several layers spiraling upward. There were magical beasts, humans, scenes of battle, and images of sacrificial rites. Old Chen looked very closely, occasionally reaching out to touch the texture of the reliefs, his fingertips sliding along the carved lines, sometimes even closing his eyes as if sensing something.

"These are records," Old Chen said in a low voice, his tone carrying the focus of a professional. "They should be the life events of the master of this ruin. Look here—"

He pointed to a section of the relief: a human wearing robes stood on high ground, with countless magical beasts kneeling below. The human held a staff, the top of which burned with raging flames; the flames were carved with such detail that one could almost see their flickering form. The magical beasts were of many varieties, from the lowest-level Fire-Fierce Hounds to high-level Red Flame Lion Kings and Blazing Lizards, all prostrate on the ground in submissive postures.

"A Sanctuary Archmage," Old Chen said, his tone certain. "At least at the peak of the Sanctuary, perhaps even higher. To make so many magical beasts submit is not something an ordinary Sanctuary-level being could achieve."

Akes nodded, his gaze falling on the flames. The fire at the top of the staff was carved in great detail, and one could vaguely see that it was not ordinary fire, but a special form, like some kind of living creature slowly writhing at the tip of the staff.

His heart stirred slightly.

But he didn't say much, continuing to observe the other reliefs. The subsequent images recorded the process of the Archmage taming various magical beasts, including battles, standoffs, and final submissions. Further on were scenes of the construction of this ruin—countless magical beasts acting as labor, moving giant stones and carving runes, a magnificent scene.

The hall was very quiet, save for the light footsteps of the group and occasional whispers. Akes walked around and found that the reliefs mostly recorded the life of that Archmage—how he broke through to the Sanctuary, how he tamed the beasts, and how he built this ruin. But the most critical parts—why he built this place and where he eventually went—were not recorded. The final image stopped with the Archmage standing on the high platform with the beasts kneeling below, and then there was nothing more, as if the last few pages of a book had been torn out.

"Have you all finished looking?" Kallen's voice came.

The group returned to the center of the hall one after another, gathering in front of the stone statue. The statue was so tall that one had to look up to see the top. The eyes of the Red Flame Lion King looked down upon them; although it was only a stone carving, it gave off an invisible sense of oppression.

"Any discoveries?"

The two array breakers looked at each other, and the gray-robed one spoke: "My lord, this first level should only be the entrance; the true ruin is below. But the entrance to the next level is sealed, and we need to find the method to open it."

"Can you find it?"

"We can, but it will take time." The blue-robed one took over, pointing to the surroundings. "Based on past experience, the mechanism to open it is likely in this hall. It could be a certain pillar, the stone statue, or even a stone slab on the floor. This design is very common—hiding the key on the first level and letting the entrants find it themselves. It is both a test and a screening."

Kallen nodded: "Then search. Two people to a group, search carefully, and do not let any suspicious place go. The reliefs on the pillars, the gaps between the floor slabs, every inch of the walls—check them all for me."

The group scattered and began a more detailed search.

Akes and Old Chen were in a group, responsible for the three stone pillars on the east side. Old Chen was responsible for checking the base of the pillars and the floor; he was practically lying on the ground, using a dagger to tap the stone slabs inch by inch, listening to the sound to judge if they were hollow underneath. Akes carefully examined every inch of the reliefs on the pillars.

Time passed bit by bit.

Suddenly, an exclamation came.

Akes turned his head to look; it was the wind mage, Old Zhou, who had been silent the whole time. He was standing in front of a pillar on the west side of the hall, his expression looking rather grim.

The group gathered around.

A stone slab at the base of the pillar was clearly loose, the gap at its edge a fraction wider than elsewhere. After Old Zhou pried it open, a skeleton was revealed underneath. The skeleton wore tattered robes and still had a ring on its finger, maintaining the posture of holding a staff, clearly still casting a spell before it died. The skeleton lay half-reclined in a shallow pit, its posture twisted, as if it had experienced great agony before death.

"It's an adventurer who came in before," Kallen crouched down to look, not reaching out to touch it, but observing carefully. "They have been dead for at least several hundred years."

The expressions of the group grew somewhat heavy.

The fact that this skeleton died here suggests the first floor is not as safe as it appears. Yet, there are no signs of a struggle; how did he die? If it were a magical beast attack, there should be traces of combat; if it were a trap, there should be signs of it being triggered. But there is nothing. He simply died quietly beneath the pillar.

Akes's gaze swept over the skeleton, and he suddenly noticed something amiss—the bones were an unnatural black, as if scorched by something, charred from the inside out.

"Poison?" Old Chen noticed it too.

Kallen reached out and touched the skeleton lightly; he didn't use force, merely brushing it with his fingertips. The black bones instantly turned to powder, cascading down. Within the dust lay a faint, dark red glow. Kallen, quick-witted, used his magic to lift it. It was a tiny crystal, no larger than a grain of rice, yet it emitted an eerie red light in the darkness.

"A fragment of a magical beast's poison sac." Kallen examined it closely, bringing the crystal to his eyes. "Level nine or higher, infused with fire poison. He died of poisoning, and it was a chronic one—the poison sac remained in his body, slowly corroding him. After he died, his corpse was eroded for hundreds of years to become like this. He must have suffered greatly in his final moments."

"Fire poison..." Old Chen frowned. "Where would a magical beast come from here? The first floor is empty; there's nothing."

No one could answer.

Kallen stood up and placed the poison sac fragment into a small box. "Continue searching, but be twice as careful. If you encounter anything suspicious, do not touch it; retreat first. The presence of fire-poison beasts means there is either a hidden passage or these beasts can turn invisible—either way, it is not good news."

The group dispersed, the atmosphere of the search far more tense than before. Everyone's footsteps were lighter, their gazes more vigilant, and their hands rested on their weapons, ready for battle at any moment.

Half an hour later, news came from Bally—she had discovered something strange about the stone statue on the high platform.

The group gathered around. Bally pointed to the base of the statue, a massive square pedestal about half a meter high and over three meters on each side. "Look at this."

A circle of runes was carved into the base, very similar to those on the stone door but more complex and intricate. The runes were dense, encircling the base like some form of seal or restriction. In the center of the runes was an irregular, palm-sized groove, resembling some kind of container. The edges of the groove were smooth, showing clear signs of manual polishing; it was obviously used frequently—or rather, it was designed with the intention of being used repeatedly.

"A keyhole." The Blue-Robed Array Breaker concluded after a single glance, his tone certain. "Something must be placed inside to open the next floor. This design is common—hide the key item on the first floor, find it, place it in the groove, and the passage will open."

"Place what?" Kallen asked.

The Blue-Robed man shook his head. "I don't know."

Before the words had even faded, a low rumble suddenly echoed through the hall.

The sound came from all directions, as if something deep beneath the earth was awakening. The group immediately went on guard, forming a defensive circle back-to-back, weapons pointed outward. But the rumbling lasted only a few seconds before stopping, so brief it felt like a hallucination.

Immediately after, light flared on the walls at the four corners of the hall, and four stone doors opened simultaneously.

Countless black shadows surged from behind the doors—

Magical beasts.

Dense swarms of magical beasts poured out from the four doors. Blazing Lizards, Lava Spiders, Flame Scorpions, and several other species they couldn't name—some like fire-red giant wolves, others like giant pythons wreathed in smoke—numbered at least a hundred. Their eyes glowed red in the darkness, and their roars rose one after another, merging into a terrifying wave of sound.

"Form up!" Kallen barked, his figure flashing as he charged forward. His speed was astonishing, leaving several afterimages in the air; the next second, he was already in the midst of the leading pack of beasts. With a flash of sword light, the heads of three Blazing Lizards flew off simultaneously.

Barton and Bally stood back-to-back, their greatswords dancing like the wind to form an impenetrable web of steel. Any beast that rushed close was shredded by the sword net, flesh and blood flying. Old Chen and the wind mage, Old Zhou, immediately began chanting spells, magical light flickering—a green halo appeared around Old Chen, a support spell for recovery and detoxification; around Old Zhou, a violent gale rose, wind blades already coalescing into shape. The archer and the thief also found their positions; the archer occupied a high point, arrows falling like rain, while the thief skirted the edge of the battlefield, daggers striking at the beasts' vital points.

Akes did not hesitate; the Fallen Heart Flame surged out instantly, forming a wall of fire in front of him. This wall was not ordinary flame, but a near-white scorching heat. The moment it appeared, the surrounding temperature rose sharply, and the air began to distort.

The beasts charged at the fire wall; the dozen in the lead couldn't stop in time and crashed straight into it. The terrifying temperature of the Fallen Heart Flame instantly burned them to charcoal, not even leaving time for a scream. A charred stench filled the air, and the beasts behind instinctively paused, driven by instinct to avoid the lethal fire wall and skirt around the sides.

In that moment of hesitation, Akes's second wave of attacks arrived.

The Fallen Heart Flame split into dozens of tiny fire arrows, shooting into the beast horde like a rainstorm. The precision of the fire arrows was frightening; under the control of Akes's mental power, every arrow struck a vital point—eyes, throats, bellies, the areas with the weakest defense. The struck beasts fell screaming, rolling on the ground, but they could not extinguish the eerie white flame.

A dozen beasts fell, but more rushed up. The number of beasts was too great, and the four doors continued to pour out new ones, as if they were endless.

"Good!" Barton cheered, his greatsword sweeping horizontally, cleaving three Blazing Lizards in two. But he was also knocked back two steps by a Lava Spider, and Bally immediately stepped in, pinning the spider to the ground with her greatsword.

The battle lasted for a full incense stick's worth of time.

When the last beast fell, the hall was already carpeted in corpses. The smell of blood and charred flesh mingled, choking the air. The ground was a river of blood, and the severed limbs and remains of magical beasts were everywhere, some still twitching.

Akes breathed heavily, his internal mana nearly half-depleted. The Fallen Heart Flame consumed a massive amount of energy; that last round of dense attacks had drained nearly thirty percent of his mana. Yet he did not lower his guard, his eyes scanning the stone doors at the corners to ensure no new beasts were emerging. Those stone doors slammed shut the moment the last beast fell, returning to solid walls.

"Check for casualties." Kallen's voice rang out, still steady. He was covered in blood, but not a drop was his own; his sword was still dripping with the blood of the beasts.

The group began their inspection. Fortunately, no one had died—only two mercenaries had sustained minor injuries. The archer had been grazed by a Flame Scorpion's tail, leaving a gash on his arm with the flesh curled back, the edges of the wound already turning black. The toxin was spreading quickly, but Old Chen treated it in time, cleaning the wound with detoxifying potion and using magic to catalyze the healing, leaving no major issues.

"These beasts are guardians," the Blue-Robed Array Breaker said, squatting to examine a beast's corpse. "It must have been triggered by something we did, activating automatically. This design is common—to prevent intruders from searching slowly, a trigger condition is set; once met, the guardians appear."

"Will they come again next time it's triggered?" someone asked, their tone laced with worry.

The Blue-Robed man shook his head. "I don't know. It could be once, it could be many times, depending on the ruin's design. Some ruins only trigger once, and after they are killed, they are gone; others trigger infinitely, refreshing a batch every so often."

Kallen pondered for a moment, looking at the groove. "The problem now is, what is the key? We must find it quickly; our supplies are limited, and we cannot afford to spend too much time here."

Akes stood to the side, his gaze sweeping over the piles of beast corpses, when a thought suddenly struck him.

He walked to the nearest Blazing Lizard corpse, knelt, and used his dagger to dissect the beast's head. The magic core was dug out—it was level eight, warm, glowing with red light, and still pulsing slightly. He wiped the blood off on his clothes, stood up, and looked at the groove on the high platform.

The shape of that groove, it seemed...

Akes walked over and placed the magic core into the groove. The size was wrong; it was off by too much. He tried the magic cores of several different beasts—the Blazing Lizard's, the Lava Spider's, the Flame Scorpion's—none worked. They were either too big or too small; not one could fit perfectly.

"It's not a magic core." He shook his head and stood up.

Old Chen walked over, staring at the groove for a long time. "Could it be blood? Some ancient arrays require blood to activate, and not just any blood—it must be the blood of a living creature, fresh blood that has just been shed."

Kallen nodded, pricked his finger, and dripped a few drops of blood into it. The fresh blood dripped into the groove and flowed along the patterns, but it quickly congealed without any reaction. The groove remained cold, and the runes showed no change.

"It's not ordinary blood," the Blue-Robed man said. "It might require a specific bloodline, or the blood of a magical beast. Some masters of ancient ruins like to use the blood of magical beasts to activate mechanisms, symbolizing power or conquest."

Akes's gaze swept over the reliefs, and he suddenly remembered the image he had seen earlier—the magus holding a staff, with magical beasts kneeling below. The flame at the tip of that staff, the submissive posture of the beasts, the overwhelming aura of superiority.

He looked at the stone statue.

The statue was carved in the likeness of the Red Flame Lion King, lifelike and vivid. But looking closely, the lion king's eyes did not seem to be stone, but a special material—dark red, with light faintly flowing within, like gemstones, or perhaps solidified flames. Deep within those eyes, something seemed to be rotating slowly.

"Those eyes..." he began, pointing at the statue.

Everyone followed his gaze.

Kallen's figure flickered as he leaped onto the high platform, standing level with the lion king's head. He reached out to touch the lion's left eye, and the moment his fingertips made contact, he felt a wave of warmth—it was not the temperature of stone, but that of a living creature. He pressed down gently, and the eye actually sank inward, as if triggering a mechanism.

Rumble—

The base emitted a dull sound, and the ground around the groove cracked open, rising to reveal a slender stone pillar. The pillar was only as thick as an arm and entirely pitch-black, supporting a palm-sized crystal bottle at its top.

"The key." The Blue-Robed Array Breaker's eyes lit up, and he nearly jumped for joy. "This is it!"

Kallen picked up the crystal bottle and examined it closely. The runes on the bottle matched those on the base perfectly; they were clearly a set. He pulled out the stopper, and a scorching aura surged from within the bottle.

He poured the liquid from the bottle into the groove.

The moment the liquid flowed into the groove, the entire hall began to shake violently. It was not the slight tremor from before, but a true earthquake; the stone slabs beneath their feet swayed, and debris fell from the ceiling. The high platform slowly descended with a thunderous roar, revealing a spiral stone staircase beneath it. The staircase was narrow, wide enough for only one person to pass, and it extended downward, disappearing into the darkness.

The entrance to the second floor had opened.

Kallen stood before the entrance and glanced downward; deep within the darkness, a faint red light flickered, like subterranean flames burning. He turned around to face the group.

"The second floor." His voice was calm, yet it rang out with exceptional clarity amidst the fading echoes of the tremors. "It will be more dangerous than the first. Anyone who wishes to withdraw now may stay here and wait."

No one moved.

Kallen's gaze swept over each person, lingering on every face for a moment. No one flinched, and no one looked away.

He nodded. "Then let's go."

He was the first to descend the stone stairs.

The others followed in turn. Barton and Bally were close behind, followed by the Array Breaker, then the mages, and finally the mercenaries.

Akes walked in the middle of the line, his feet treading on ancient stone steps that were worn in places and wobbled slightly under his weight. The magic lamps on the walls on both sides lit up automatically, illuminating the path downward. The air grew hotter and drier, making it increasingly difficult to breathe.

Behind them, the tremors in the first-floor hall gradually subsided, and the corpses of the magical beasts lay silently in pools of blood, casting eerie shadows under the glow of the magic lamps.