"Run now!"
Caius shouted, urgency clear in his voice.
The others were startled by his sudden behavior, but knowing his ability, they understood that he had probably sensed something.
And something dangerous at that, to make him shout like this.
So, the moment Caius turned and dashed forward at high speed, essence surged through the others’ bodies as they followed him just as quickly.
Seven figures ran through the vast corridor at tremendous speed, covering hundreds of meters in mere seconds.
Elliot moved closer to Caius’s side as he asked, "What is it... what did you sense?"
Caius looked ahead while unraveling the map in his mind, searching for the route toward the nearest exit from here.
At the same time, he hesitated before answering, "Do you remember what you said earlier about the security system and detecting intruders?"
Elliot swallowed as the others listened, tension evident on their faces.
"Yes."
"Congratulations, what you said came true... it seems this place has finally detected our presence."
Leona hesitated. "But why didn’t that happen before? Why wait until this moment?"
Everyone fell silent for a few moments until Kyle spoke, "Maybe because we didn’t enter through the door. Instead, we arrived directly inside from a blind spot... so the ruins didn’t notice our presence."
He continued after a brief pause.
"Even the previous incident in the laboratory might have alerted this place’s system that we’re outsiders."
His explanation was logical, especially since the ruins had been dormant for thousands of years, but that wasn’t the most important point.
"So, what’s happening? Is some kind of robot or golem following us?" Ellen asked, clearly directing the question at Caius in the lead.
Caius kept his mind focused on finding the path while gripping the cube in his hand, but he was also listening to them.
So, he answered, "A golem... well, that sounds kind of nice. No, it’s much worse than that." Everyone swallowed as he continued.
"You know, I’m not completely sure because my perception isn’t like sight. It’s something more complicated. It depends on my mind to analyze the data and build an image of the thing..." Caius was interrupted mid-sentence by Elliot.
"Just say what it is!"
Caius sighed. "Do you remember the fourth stage of the mental endurance test?"
Everyone’s bodies trembled when he said that, even those who hadn’t experienced it.
"Please... don’t tell me..." Talia pleaded.
But Caius ignored her and confirmed her fears. "From what I can sense, it’s thousands of things resembling spiders... or insects in general."
Silence.
All that could be heard was the sound of their feet striking the solid ground forcefully, and the wind in their ears caused by their sprint.
But Elliot broke the silence. "So... what are the chances those things want to eat us?"
"Ninety-nine percent," Caius replied.
"How far are they now, and how fast are they?" Kyle asked as they turned left, following Caius as he changed direction.
"About 290 meters now, but they’re slowly closing the distance. So, if you don’t want to be devoured alive, run faster."
He added at the end, "And this time, we won’t come back to life."
In truth, Caius, Elliot, and even Ellen could run faster, but that would mean leaving the others behind, and of course none of them would do that.
Not out of friendship or anything like that, but each had their own reasons.
Elliot was the kind of person who didn’t abandon others. He would even place their lives before his own.
As for Ellen, she was a princess, and a princess does not flee while leaving people behind, especially her friends.
But Caius did not run ahead... not because he would place their lives above his own, or out of bravery.
But because he knew... they could get out of here alive.
Through the map the cube projected into his mind, he was able to determine their location within these vast ruins.
Fortunately, they were almost at its edge, near one of the exits.
When we say near, that meant the exit was more than ten kilometers away.
"Don’t cry. I know where the exit is, so run as fast as you can and more," Caius spoke to motivate them.
"How far is the exit?" Leona asked from behind, and he replied without turning around:
"About ten kilometers from here."
After that, everyone fell silent and focused on running as fast as possible.
As for Caius, using his ability, he could sense the massive tide of those tiny things rushing behind them, the distance shrinking to 250 meters already.
While running, they reached another intersection made up of three paths. "To the right!"
Guided by Caius, they turned right and continued sprinting.
With their bodies reinforced by essence, they were able to ignore fatigue—not that they would have stopped even if they were exhausted.
As they ran down a straight path, they passed by a large open door.
Inside, Leona caught a glimpse of something.
Numerous celestial bodies floating together in the air, rotating around one another to form a vortex.
But they passed that room in an instant, so she couldn’t see it fully... not that it mattered now.
They ran... and ran.
Until they reached another turn and headed right.
With every passing moment, they drew closer to the exit... and also to their small pursuers.
Then finally, after one last turn, they saw it at the end.
A massive gate before them... their exit.
But the problem was that it was closed.
At the same time, they could now hear the sound of thousands of tiny, sharp legs behind them.
They quickly reached the closed gate, panic visible on their faces.
All except Caius, who remained calm.
Because he had seen what was on the wall beside the gate.
A small slot, designed for a cube to be inserted into it.
Without hesitation, he pushed the black cube in his hand into the slot, and it fit perfectly.
At the same time, the runic letters on the gate lit up as it trembled and slowly began to move.
Leona looked behind her to see the true forms of their unknown pursuers.
Thousands of insects resembling black spiders, with sharp limbs like nails.
But even without any special ability, she could tell that those things were not alive, but merely machines.
She turned her gaze forward to find that the gate had opened enough to pass through, so without hesitation everyone leaped outside.
As the insects flooded the place where they had been standing.
But fortunately, those things stopped before exiting the gate.
The others continued running even after getting out.
The first to notice that the insects had stopped chasing them was Caius, so he halted. "I think we’re safe now."
He stopped and turned to see the gate wide open, while thousands of insects remained there, not taking a single step outside.
He breathed quickly as he took his first look at where they were.
Until he heard Ellen’s solemn words.
"Cradle of the Shard."