When the trio entered the path opening before them, the warrior priests scattered around were still looking at them in astonishment. They hadn't been able to accept that this aggressive defense established by hundreds of them had dispersed so easily.
"Alyon, dive through the door!"
Two orcs and a druid would enter the pyramid through the high and wide gate, and a little later, the hundreds of people they left behind would follow them.
The inside of the pyramid also resembled a labyrinth just like the city outside; the only difference was that the winding paths were only in one direction.
The trio, running without minding the voices following them, also didn't mind the path they proceeded on gradually becoming smaller and narrower.
The only decoration of the walls built with large stone blocks was the torches hung for illumination purposes; every time the wind hit the flames on them, the shadows of those advancing in the corridor fluctuated as if they were wild creatures.
"Very little left; soon we will reach the entrance!"
Right now, while Ainle spoke in excitement, his feet weren't touching the ground; this wasn't metaphorical, as Nafız was dragging the scrawny druid, whom she grabbed by the collar because he slowed them down, like a kite beside her.
The situation was exactly like this when they arrived at the wide square where the end of the road led, with the formation of Alyon in front and Nafız and Ainle at the back. The moment they saw ten monks sitting cross-legged in front of the matte bronze door decorated with some light green symbols, they understood that the place they wanted to come to was before them.
"This is it; the dungeon is hidden behind this door!"
While the young druid spoke, the two orcs rushed forward as if agreed beforehand; in their targets were ten monks who had entered a deep trance.
Their massacre wouldn't even take ten seconds; bloody flowers were scattered from their heads severed like buds opening in spring.
"Will you be able to open the door, Ainle?"
This was perhaps the most important question among all the unknowns; would they be able to achieve their goal that ensured they raised the whole city?
"I will try; I need to meditate a little!"
Ainle would sit cross-legged right where he was; he aimed to contact the mysterious entity that spoke to him in the third dungeon.
"Alyon, you hold the entrance! I will protect this one!"
Since the road narrowed gradually, the part opening to the square was only wide enough for four people to walk side by side; the grey-haired orc knew that if he strove enough, he could prevent the enemies' passage.
"Okay, I hope he handles it quickly, or things might get complicated due to accumulation after a while!"
"Don't put yourself in danger; run to us the moment you realize you can't hold them!"
The dungeon was important, but very few things in this world could be precious enough to endanger Alyon's safety; Nafız put the life of the person she fought back-to-back with from the moment she was born before everything.
Thus, a war of attrition began at the mouth of the narrow entrance; Alyon was using Warrior's Wrath against the crowded enemy. The power of the warrior priests, who were forced to come close, had dropped dramatically, until almost half an hour later when one of them shouted.
"Pull back!"
Finally, the enemies understood what was going on; they retreated to the distance where the effect on them passed and turned their staffs to the orc standing alone.
"Alyon, come back!"
While even this much time was too much, how could Nafız expect her friend to cope with all those magical attacks? Alyon wouldn't make her say it twice; he had already arrived at his friend's side just as a deep pit opened where he stood a moment ago.
"What will we do now!"
These were the last words of the grey-haired orc before a blood-red dome covered around them; they were completely surrounded by a technique he was now familiar with.
"We will play a gamble, let's see which one finishes first; Ainle's job, or the blood essence I stocked!"
All techniques Nafız inherited from Mora used the blood essence stored inside the wristbands that were Abarran's work.
The female orc wasn't exaggerating when she said gamble; as a result of there being no large-scale war for a long time and her using the Blood Dome frequently at various times, her blood essence stock was far from the point that would keep them safe for a very long time.
Adding hundreds of attacks now, and later an uncountable number of attacks to this, the situation was actually more dire than it seemed.
A short while later, the walls of the blood-red dome would shine with attacks possessing various elemental essences.
"Nafız, when will this one wake up!"
The female orc stood upright; it seemed as if the attack on a structure taking its power directly from her didn't affect her at all.
"I don't know; he sat like Hindu priests, let's see what comes out!"
While half an hour passed like this, the symbols on the matte bronze door started to vibrate slightly.
The next moment, one would move slowly and merge with another symbol.
"Handsome started doing something!"
Nafız was pleased with the development, but the attacks of the inhabitants of the Lands of Light flocking to the area they were in were also increasing every second.
"Come on, son, a little faster!"
Alyon, unable to do anything, was trying to hype up Ainle, who had no chance of hearing him.
Actually, after the first symbol, the scrawny druid had speeded up considerably; every ten seconds passed, another symbol was added joining the whole.
Things seemed on track, until a giant sphere of light crashed into the Blood Dome; the structure, standing intact for nearly two hours, would shake violently.
"What is this?"
Although the collision occurring created a delightful visual feast, the only emotion it made those inside the dome feel was uneasiness.
"I wasn't expecting one of the big heads to come in such a short time!"
Nafız had also thought of this possibility when entering the dungeon in the region belonging to the Empire of Machines first, but she didn't feel the need to change her decision when the Master mentioned the pyramid last night.
The female orc, guessing that the dungeon in this region was inside the pyramid even before Ainle said it, had felt that this place would be the last stop.
Meanwhile, the second ball of light was also setting out; Nafız could no longer economize, a hefty amount of blood essence from her wristbands would be poured onto the barrier.
The business had now turned into a race against time; small attacks, which didn't affect much before, were also creating a piercing effect by focusing on the point hit by the big light ball.
Nafız wasn't as comfortable as before either; while sweat covering her face fell slowly to the ground, a slight expression of uneasiness had come and settled on her.
"I'm going out; I need to slow these down a bit!"
Seeing twenty symbols standing without merging on the matte bronze door, the only thing coming to Alyon's mind would be to respond to power with power.
"Stay where you are, don't drive me crazy!"
Before he could even take his first step, the grey-haired orc would be startled by the voice ringing in his ears; this was the voice of an ancient creature rather than his friend.
Nafız's gaze, whose eyes turned blood color, was also sharp just like her voice.
The female orc had already made her decision once; no matter what happened, she would protect the scrawny druid until his job was finished.
"Have it your way!"
Alyon bowed his head helplessly; it wasn't a good idea at all to clash with his friend in this situation.
The bad part of the business was that when the last fifteen symbols remained, the merging speed had suddenly dropped. It was now taking almost a minute for a symbol to mix into the whole.
"Come on man, come on man!"
While the grey-haired orc repeated the same words almost like reciting a prayer, Nafız had gotten thoroughly tired; the veins on her arms, which her leather armor didn't protect, would swell almost enough to burst.
Time wasn't flowing; it was gliding coyly almost like a water droplet dripping from an old faucet.
When ten symbols remained, some cracks appeared on the surface of the Blood Dome; the end of the shield, whose color faded rapidly, seemed near.
When five symbols were reached, Nafız had started using the blood essences circulating in her veins as a last resort; judging by her aging even more every second, she was harming herself greatly in these moments.
At the end of everything, the trio had finally arrived at the last symbol; while watching the merging slowly, an event they never expected would happen.
Unfortunately, the Blood Dome finally dispersed, and a pile of light covering the entire visible area had fallen upon the team striving desperately.