The sound of our footsteps echoed through the icy walls and returned back to us.
We walked slowly underground through one of the paths leading to the evil monster’s nest... and also to where the ruins were supposed to be.
In the end, we didn’t leave immediately and stayed there for a few days, waiting for the others to recover enough to at least move freely.
Going in such a miserable condition was a dangerous gamble... after all, the last ruins we visited hadn’t exactly been kind to us.
Of course, the girls’ injuries were still severe, especially Ellen, who would suffer permanent defects in her arm if she didn’t receive proper treatment.
But at least she could move, defend herself, or run away...
At least try to run away.
Soon, I sensed the open space ahead of us and the dozens of weak souls there...
Probably waiting for their mother who would never return.
We moved at a slow pace because half of us were practically crippled, and because someone kept complaining about feet that hadn’t healed yet.
We walked in silence until the end of the tunnel appeared a few hundred meters ahead.
"Is it there?" Ellen asked while I nodded.
As we approached, we began hearing small cries and what sounded like bones breaking.
Leona turned her head toward me and asked,
"Should we prepare for a fight?"
I shook my head.
"No... it’s nothing major."
"I almost forgot that monster left children behind," Izel added as we nearly reached the exit.
Beyond it was a vast open area, while skeletons were scattered everywhere and piled atop one another, forming small hills.
Among them moved dozens of human-sized monsters that looked like fragile, weakened versions of their mother.
We stepped inside, and all the young creatures immediately turned their heads toward us and rushed forward with open mouths, charging at us while crashing into bones and scattering them everywhere.
Looking at their somewhat large numbers, I didn’t want to fight or do anything, so I decided not to.
"Elliot, erase them."
I gestured toward him so he could wipe them all out with a single attack and save us the trouble, but he looked at me hesitantly.
"Are you sure?... You know they’re young and harmless... and we killed their mother just a few days ago."
I blinked at him for several moments, trying to process what he had just said...
Did he actually feel sympathy for a group of monsters charging at us?
I placed a hand on my face and sighed in annoyance.
"Haaa..."
Where the hell should I even begin?
But before I could say anything, dozens of blades shot through the air, each one piercing a young monster’s head and sending its body crashing to the ground before it could reach us.
Within a few seconds, I watched every last offspring that mother had left behind fall dead, courtesy of Ellen, who stared ahead calmly without the slightest concern.
I pointed at Elliot.
"See... that was simple."
"But it’s still... a little..." muttered this hero who apparently had a soft spot for animals...
Or monsters, to be specific.
I exhaled and stepped forward, ignoring his words while the others did the same.
We stopped roughly at the center while I looked at the layer of ice covering the ground.
"It’s here."
Bones and ice covered the area, so nothing was visible.
Before I could ask Elliot to do his thing, the ice before us began to split apart, and the sound of cracking spread through the area.
Within moments, a large fissure several meters wide formed in the ground, while the bones either retreated with it or fell downward toward the damp soil below.
"It’s buried here," my voice echoed through the now silent space.
Elliot nodded before descending first.
The moment his feet touched the ground, the soil began retreating to the sides, forming another pit.
He continued digging several meters down until he revealed a surface of dark gray stone marked by countless straight lines forming an orderly and beautiful pattern across its surface.
As more soil moved aside, a circular structure of gray stone several meters in diameter was revealed.
There on its surface, amidst the beautiful engravings, signs of destruction and large scratches were clearly visible, as though someone had tried to force it open.
"This is it..." Kyle muttered, his eyes fixed on it with intense anticipation.
Without wasting any time, I jumped down, my feet striking the solid surface before I crouched and touched it.
It felt incredibly sturdy...
We probably wouldn’t be able to break it open by force.
Ellen landed nearby and examined it before speaking.
"It looks like one of those doors that uses a magical lock."
"So we need to unlock it then?... I don’t think any of us have experience with that," Elliot replied.
While they were talking, I focused on the carved channels within it...
And it seemed there was no need to think too much about it.
In the next moment, Essence flowed through my hand and filled those channels.
At the same time, the stone beneath us trembled, startling everyone and causing them to jump back toward the edges.
Even I pulled my hand away and stepped back onto the soil.
Izel stared at it before turning toward me, her hair swaying.
"Did you just open it?"
I shook my head.
"No... it wasn’t really locked. I just activated it."
Within our sight, a thin line appeared, dividing the circle into two halves before it began opening, revealing a deep shaft descending straight downward.
Elliot approached the edge and released a sphere of light into the depths, driving away the pitch-black darkness.
"That’s really deep."
I stepped beside him.
"Yeah. It extends several hundred meters down."
Now that I was standing directly above it, I could sense the ruins below.
And contrary to my expectations, they weren’t very large...
Not like the ones in the Cradle of Shards.
"If it was already open, who opened it?" Elliot asked curiously.
I answered simply,
"Those who came before us."
Kyle stepped closer as well.
"Let’s go down now."
The urgency in his voice was obvious.
So without waiting any longer, the six of us jumped into the deep shaft and began falling rapidly.
But Elliot soon slowed our descent, and we began descending gradually.
In the next moment, Izel created a powerful flame that illuminated the space around us, revealing the smooth surface of the shaft.
As we moved downward, I felt the ground approaching until we finally landed.
There, Elliot formed a brilliant light before us, making the place as bright as midday.
Around us was an open dome-shaped chamber, with the hole we had descended through located at the center of the ceiling several meters above the floor.
It contained nothing except the gray stone that formed its walls.
Walls covered in strike marks and deep scratches, with fragments scattered across the floor.
The air here felt heavy...
Extremely heavy and silent.
Only the others’ heavy, reverent breathing could be heard.
I could even hear the beating of my own heart clearly...
And there before us stood a door, wide open, leading into the unknown.