Author's Note: Yantra - a Yantra or Sri Yantra, is a complex sacred geometrical design, considered a representation of cosmic energy and the universe. Through its intricate design, it may symbolize the totality of existence and infinity.
Tasim flicked around, using his whip to cut at half the goblins that appeared, forcing Astrape to stop defending and go help her own supports. During this time, the space Astrape had opened was quickly filled with the last half of the remaining infantry, pushing them back into the corridor that had led them here.
"At least now we don't have to worry about arrows raining down upon us, not like they can coordinate anyway," Tasim muttered.
Father healed Anemone's ankle quickly while continuing to support the team. Astrape finally made an opening, cracking a few of the shields with her short sword, shattering them to pieces after a few more strikes, and now could kill the infantry, leaving them with normal, armor-clad goblins, which were of little threat alone. The real threat was if the ogres unified for a coordinated assault upon the cohort. So for now, they must focus on the remaining goblins, including the archers.
"Anemone, are you okay now?" Father worried, leaning down to heal her open ankles, where the cut was so deep that her foot hung loose.
Anemone winced in pain as she hopped up on her one good foot to try to support the others.
"I will be, Father."
Anemone fired a Wind Blade while Father restored her ankle.
'Why the hell did Tasim laugh? What is so funny?' Anemone thought as she tried to help her friends, firing spells as often as she could, not worrying about her little mana.
"Anemone, calm down. We will be okay. Just look, the ogres are stationary, all we have to worry about is the weak goblins before us."
"I'm trying, Father."
Anemone fired another Wind Blade, slicing goblins in half as their defenses were becoming frail, the armor falling apart. The sliced goblins shrieked in pain as they fell onto their fallen brethren, creating a pile.
"I'm worried. Why are they not moving?"
"I understand, but try to focus on the present threats, not the future ones."
In front of the battered Anemone, Astrape was drawing the attention of every goblin in the vicinity, forcing her to become the tank of the party despite her true nature. Astrape sliced down goblins like they were nothing, hacking away at the endless horde until there was only the archers.
The cohort had gotten used to the rain of arrows that only rained down on where they were a few moments ago, so they had to ensure they moved places every few seconds or just advanced at a steady pace. And that is what they did. They mowed down the enemies in front of them, despite the struggling Anemone, Tasim using his whip and staff, Father healing, and Astrape slicing. They found themselves now directly in front of the goblin archers, who were defenseless without their advantage.
The goblin archers turned out to be no more than frail goblins who could barely walk or react. There was one goblin who seemed more like a general; he was much weaker than the goblin they first encountered, allowing himself to be killed by Anemone within mere moments. The goblin archers, now without a leader, simply stood there stupidly, stationary like statues. And as the cohort proceeded forward, the ogres finally stepped up.
Each ogre seemed to have a specialty; one was clad in leather armor, which was pristine and well taken care of. His fists housed a pair of gloves that were also made of leather. The second ogre had no armor, nor tools, but was larger, more muscular, and more menacing than the rest. The third ogre was very similar to the ogre fought earlier in the maze, which was near the outcast goblins. He owned a club with metal sticking out for bludgeoning, but his club was much more threatening; the size was incomparable to the first, as the club was the size of his leg.
The ogres, as stupid as they were, turned to one another and grunted, seemingly communicating, and then the second ogre in line stepped forward, the other two standing there. A monster who had the brains to have tools, but decided not to, in the end, it was much more terrifying than a monster who was clad in armor or used weapons. What stood before them was a monster that was adept at fighting and was so prideful in its ability that it chose not to use gear.
The ogre stepped up, not as intelligent as the ogre at the beginning of the maze, and without communicating or taunting, it swung its fist in a downwards motion. Crashing into the ground, Astrape was the first to react and dodge, then Tasim, Anemone helped Father back away with his slow reaction time, putting the cohort back to their original positions.
Tasim conjured a new water whip, then suddenly a large blue bottle appeared in his hand, and he drank it all. The whip surged with power, and he flicked it forward, crashing it into the ogre's shoulder, causing it to bleed and groan in pain.
"Just let us through you big piece of-" Tasim stopped speaking and cracked his whip again. "I mean… the harder they fall the big- wait no, the bigger they are, the harder they fall."
Tasim pulled his whip back, cracking it against the leg of the ogre who was stomping towards him. Astrape, meanwhile, sliced at the ogre's ankles, repeating what had worked before, but in fact, it didn't. The ogre did stumble, but it quickly began to heal, the wound closing.
She did this again and again until the wound stayed. The ogre, with its slow reaction time, couldn't stop the nimble lady below her. The ogre twisted its hips, then punched at Astrape, who dodged in the nick of time. Astrape backed away, and as the slow ogre punched, it made an opening, and both Astrape and Tasim used it. Tasim fired a spell at the neck of the ogre, cutting deep into it, while Astrape sliced at the neck where a large artery lay, causing blood to gush out.
This battle was like a giant fighting two unkillable cock roaches, and in the end, the cockroaches won without a single mark, along with two other cockroaches not lifting a finger.
Next, the first ogre stepped up with his leather armor and his gloves that clung to his hands. The ogre walked towards the cohort with fists, his veins bulging wildly. In the end, the duel ended the exact same way for the enemy, along with the last ogre, who in the end didn't last a full minute.
Before the cohort now lay a lake of blood, piles of bodies, large and small, cattle that had been killed in the bloodshed, somehow. It was complete mayhem, and they were victorious, with little visible wounds, only mental scars, along with damage to the items they held. Most goblins had little to no relics that they wore, nor well-kept weapons, potions, or other items. All the cohort found was blood amber, inside every wooden home. It was a mesmerizing sight; it was something the goblins stockpiled, and the blood-red glow of the amber captivated Anemone.
Nonetheless, the cohort decided to continue exploring; they had to move on, finish this dungeon, and get out. Located in the back of the vast cavern was another opening that continued into the maze. The same walls, covered in the same red moss, the clicking of their shoes as they walked while Astrape marked the map. The cohort quickly forgot about the massacre that they had just committed, moving on as if it were part of their life, but deep down, they all felt it. They had killed hundreds, out of their own survival, but there were children, fathers, families.
Astrape felt the worst, she was the front of the cohort today and had killed the most, she had killed the ogres who were obviously the true protectors, they didn't join the fight to kill, they joined to protect, it made her nauseous. But she had to deal with it; she had to move on and focus on the journey ahead, so she did. She and her team members kept moving, kept walking, without looking back. The next few minutes, or hours, which the cohort couldn't defer, were nauseating; they made zero progress and went in circles, constantly ending up at the same spot, or entering the large cavern from different openings, despite Astrape's map that she was creating.
Eventually, they found themselves in a new part of the maze, unexplored, and it had no moss, no markings, wasn't humid, and there were no noises of wailing, monsters, or any dangers that may lurk in the darkness. The group was now moving confidently, moving without ceasing, making no loops nor coming to any dead ends. The walls were slowly becoming more pristine as the cohort moved, turning from a stone wall with no pattern that was slightly worn down, to becoming stone brick, and every stone was now identical, a part of a whole; they were duplicates of one another.
The group slowly made their way down a long straight, their torch now flickering with life, barely staying aflame as they decided not to use the last of their animal fat, or Tasim's animal fat, to coat the flame just yet. Astrape stopped marking down on the map as she began to assume this was the final stretch, and eventually, it was confirmed. The walls went through a gradient from stone bricks to a colorful diorite that was as smooth as can be.
At the end of the corridor stood another menacing door, which was made of the blackest onyx. Carved into the door was a book, or the outline of a book, with no information carved into it. Nothing hinting at the creator, no words, phrases, just the outline of a book, and hundreds of thousands of pages. Surrounding the book were strips of metal creating patterns, symbols, notably an infinity symbol, and a yantra, which served as a background for everything major on the entrance. The handle of the door was a perfectly circular lotus flower, and as Tasim stepped forward, putting his hand on it. The book engraving began to flip through its pages quickly, producing no sound nor wind, but purely a visual effect, until it closed, showing the front cover to be empty as well.
"W-what the-" Anemone muttered.
A loud click then resounded from the door as it swung open. Inside, lighting everything was bathed in a soft glow of white, which was protruding from the darkness that covered the ceiling. The ceiling was at least fifteen meters (~50 ft) up, surrorted by four onyx pillars that were symmetrically placed. To the left and right of the cohort were rows and rows of bookshelves filled with books with different titles, some were recognizable, some were not. Anemone quickly started looking through the aisles for different books, hoping to recognize many, but in the end, only a few were known to her. The front and back of the cavernous library were split in half by two round staircases made of black onyx that were cracked in some places, not allowing them to be used safely to ascend to the next floor.
At the back of the library, sitting alone was a desk made of the blackest wood; it was smooth to the touch, and housed ten scrolls stacked into a pyramid, along with an open book without words. As the cohort grouped together to talk about exploring this place, a low rumble was heard from multiple places in the library, and then the falling of books that collapsed onto the ground. Without delay, books flew through the air, four books; they swirled around the cohort, then descended, one book now floating in front of each member, with different names, different designs, different books entirely.