"Heh heh, the Nightwind Family... Nightbrize, hahaha..."
Matron Mother Jinafi's hysterical laughter drifted from deep within the warding barrier. There was no despair in it, only a chilling excitement.
Renato's unease grew stronger. Unable to help himself, he quietly asked Aknath beside him:
"Weapon Master, how do we break through this warding barrier? Are we just going to let her hide in there?"
Aknath kept his eyes fixed on the transparent barrier. His expression remained calm as he stated with certainty:
"If Gonf were personally maintaining this warding barrier, even I would probably have no good way through. We'd need Quelyn."
"But all that's left here is the remnant of a spell, with no one maintaining it. The soldiers just need to apply enough force to make it collapse..."
Inside the secret chamber, the Drow warriors hammered frantically at the translucent barrier. Scimitars, shield rims, even helmets they had taken off-anything they could use became a tool for breaking through, leaving marks across its surface.
Cracks began to appear, spreading slowly like a spiderweb. Each blow from the Drow widened them a little more. The barrier was on the verge of shattering.
Yet for some reason, Renato's unease peaked at that very moment. The sense of danger was so intense that he almost wanted to turn and run.
Aknath seemed to notice something wrong as well. He narrowed his eyes, and the Silver Sword in his hand lit up with a cold silver gleam.
"You bastards who defiled the Goddess's altar!" Jinafi's voice suddenly rose, her hoarseness laced with sick excitement. "Don't you want treasure? Don't you want rewards from that lunatic Quelyn? Keep hitting it! Harder!"
As the warding barrier broke down, densely packed Red Runes began to emerge across the walls of the entire chamber.
The runes bulged