The warriors were thrown back by Rudra Senan's weapon. They crashed onto the ground, but they quickly stood again. Their red eyes burned with anger as they stared at Rudra Senan.
Everyone stood silently.
Ken looked at Rudra Senan in surprise. Until that moment, he had never seen him use his weapon.
"Rudra Senan… you can fight?" Ken asked.
Rudra Senan slowly picked up his weapon.
"I was not hiding my strength," he said. "I was only waiting for the right moment."
The warriors suddenly rushed towards them again.
Harold and Lorentz raised their weapons and prepared to fight. Bimbeesan and Oberion also moved forward. The warriors attacked from every direction, and the area in front of the gate became a battlefield.
Rudra Senan moved faster than anyone expected.
With every strike of his weapon, a warrior was thrown away. Harold fought beside him while Ken tried to protect the others.
But the warriors did not stop.
More of them appeared from behind the gate.
"How many of them are there?" Lorentz shouted.
"I don't know!" Harold replied.
Ken looked at the huge gate.
"There must be a reason these warriors are protecting this place. Maybe the gate is connected to the final challenge."
While everyone continued fighting, Ken noticed strange marks on the ground.
They formed a circle around the gate.
"Wait!" Ken shouted.
Everyone stopped for a moment.
Ken pointed towards the ground.
"These marks… they were not here before."
Harold looked closely.
The marks looked like ancient symbols. Some of them were shaped like snakes, while others looked like eyes and flames.
Rudra Senan walked towards them.
"I have seen these symbols before," he said.
"Where?" Harold asked.
"In the ancient records of Amaravati."
Ken immediately remembered the book.
"But the words disappeared."
"Words may disappear," Rudra Senan said, "but symbols do not lie."
He placed his weapon on the ground.
The moment it touched one of the symbols, the entire circle began to glow.
The warriors suddenly stopped moving.
Their red eyes slowly turned black.
Then, one by one, they disappeared into the darkness.
Everyone stood in silence.
The huge gate began to shake.
A deep sound came from behind it.
Boom.
Boom.
Boom.
The gate slowly opened.
Beyond it was not another cave.
Instead, they saw a huge open land covered with mist.
In the middle of that land stood an ancient stone palace.
No one spoke.
Harold looked at Rudra Senan.
"Is this the final trap?"
Rudra Senan looked towards the palace.
"No."
He tightened his grip on his weapon.
"This is where the final trap begins."
They slowly entered through the gate.
As soon as the last person crossed it, the gate closed behind them.
There was no way back.
The mist around them became thicker.
Then a voice echoed across the land.
"Those who have reached this place have already passed through eleven trials."
Everyone looked around.
The voice continued.
"But only those who can face the truth will survive the twelfth."
Ken's face became serious.
"What truth?"
There was no answer.
Suddenly, the mist disappeared.
The ancient palace became visible.
And on its entrance was a single symbol.
It was the same symbol that had appeared on the gemstone ring.
Harold looked at Ken.
"The gem…"
Ken nodded.
"We finally found where it belongs."
They walked towards the palace.
But none of them noticed the dark figure standing on top of the palace.
The figure watched them silently.
Then it smiled.