"We don’t know where exactly the gate is going to throw you at, but based on experiences, it is almost always near a place with a rich shared history between the two-dimensional locations... so, you can expect to find yourself either inside a pyramid or near one." Dominic gave them a stern head nod and added, "Remember safety first... Astra Ai’s services will be disabled, and even your dimensional messages won’t reach us. So, we will have no idea what’s going on the other side, and we won’t be able to send a rescue team in time if something terrible were to happen... So, prioritize your safety at all times; we can’t afford to lose either of you."
"Sir Dominic, you’re making me blush." Mika covered her cheeks playfully.
Seeing the judgmental look from Feng Ling, Dominic’s eyelids twitched. He swiftly coughed and dismissed them with a wave of a hand.
"Go, go, go, and good luck finding the Sun Amulet... the planet’s fate might very well depend on it."
The briefing explained why SAS Headquarters was so invested in this site... once everyone heard that the Sun Amulet could sway the supervising Radian of their dimensional sector to grant more attention to their planet, their entire approach shifted.
From a mission to hunt for treasures, and the Sun Amulet included, to prioritizing the Sun Amulet above all else... when it came to their planet’s survival, no one was messing around.
Of course, Levi’s team planned on prioritizing Seraphis’ miracle medicine as well, not forgetting the main reason they were participating in this exploration.
"Let’s go."
Evangeline ordered calmly as she took the lead, her armored knightly teammates following close in a perfect formation like well-trained soldiers.
As they were walking towards the gate, Dominic and the rest of the SAS Headquarters staff members were positioned on the sides in a long line, creating a corridor for them.
All of them lifted their right hand slowly, fingers parted... index, middle, and ring fingers extended. Then, they held it close to their hearts as they watched Evangeline’s team disappear into the gate.
"I will see you there."
Tyrese waved a peace sign to Levi’s team and walked with broad shoulders to the gate, wearing a skin-tight black leather armor that was cut from the shoulders, exposing his muscular frame that was hidden underneath his baggy clothes.
Mira, Blake, and the others followed him, each wearing a different set of artifacts that included the accessories.
After they were gone, Levi’s team was next... no hesitation, Levi walked first, and the rest of his team stayed behind his back, trusting him with their lives, just like he trusted them with his back.
Naturally, Arthur was the first one behind him... always watching his big brother’s back from anything... Just as Levi was about to step inside the gate, he heard one last dimensional message from Feng Ling.
’Your parents would have been proud if they saw how far their sons have come along.’ He said, his stoic expression unfitting of such sentimental words.
But Levi felt it... Feng Ling meant every single word.
’Thanks... but save it for later.’ Levi smiled in his direction as he stepped inside, leaving a final message of his own, ’I am only getting started.’
Feng Ling cracked a faint smile as he watched Arthur and the girls disappear into the portal... once they got inside, the swirling black gate started glitching for a few seconds, freezing his smile.
But, just as he was about to expect the worst-case scenario to surface, the dimensional glitches subsided, and the gate returned to its peaceful state.
"Well... that almost gave me a heart attack." Dominic sighed in relief.
"It must be Levi... his spiritual prowess is at Solarbound, which caused the gate to almost collapse after the others went in after him." Feng Ling replied.
"We anticipated as much, we just didn’t think the dimensional glitches would show up instantly..." Dominic frowned as he gazed at the gate, "This means the site’s dimension might be more fractured than we have calculated."
The SAS Headquarters staff members showed solemn expressions... but they knew that nothing could be done about it besides wishing the teams a safe return.
***
Meanwhile, the moment Levi stepped out of the portal, the world snapped into form through frequencies instead of light.
He found himself inside a somewhat ruined hall of a temple. Its interior was massive, its ceiling supported by thick yellow stone columns carved with sharp geometric patterns and artistic drawings of battles between humanoid and bestial Phoenix-like birds against nightmarish, shadowy monstrosities.
The same was for the walls, which were painted with faded murals devoured by the unforgiving passage of time. Yet, Levi could feel the rich history and weight behind each painting.
When he switched to the floor, he noticed that all that was left was dried-up sandstone... cracked all over like it hadn’t tasted a drop of water for thousands of years.
It wasn’t far-fetched... the air was dry, heavy with dust and the distinguishable acidic taste of the Shadow dimension’s corrupting atmosphere.
Before he could analyze the temple’s chamber, Levi swiftly enhanced his harmonic spine’s range to the limit, showing him a massive layout of a temple in the shape of a slumbering Phoenix built from yellow stone... his radar also captured the existence of hundreds of corrupted bestial birds spread across the entire temple.
Most of them seemed to be lying motionless... but Levi could hear their heartbeats, making him understand that if they weren’t quiet, they would wake them up.
And they couldn’t afford that.
Thus, the moment Arthur and the rest of his teammates emerged from the same gate behind him that was affixed on a wall crack, Levi placed a finger on his mouth. He knew his brother had no such thing as volume control.
Seeing his reaction, Arthur swiftly closed his mouth shut... he was just about to appreciate the temple’s beauty with a loud ’whoaah’.
Since they had no service for Astra Ai or the dimensional network, they were left with talking through the old traditional way... whispering.
"What is it?" Nurah asked softly.
"The Temple is infested with the Corrupted... from their spiritual auras, the weakest is Tier 3," Levi replied while signing with his hands for Jasmine.
Hearing this, everyone’s expression turned solemn... it wasn’t like they were afraid of them, but the fact that they couldn’t fight using their powers had placed a heavy limitation.
Hence, they must avoid them at all costs.
"It’s good that we have a satellite radar with us."
Shia joked under her breath to lighten the mood... Everyone chuckled on the low, resembling a bunch of rookie tomb raiders who had no idea what they were doing.
"No wonder Ashora’s empire is connected to the ancient Egyptian Civilization... besides the content of the murals, the art style, the language’s style, the architecture... everything shares an uncanny resemblance," Nurah commented in intrigue as she gazed at the sea of faded murals surrounding them.
"Maybe someone from Ashora’s Empire made it to Earth somehow during that age and helped them? Didn’t they use to say that the Pyramids were believed to have been built by aliens a century ago?" Shia wondered, half serious, half jokingly.
"If such a possibility were true, the Sphinx would have been sculptured as a phoenix," Levi replied calmly as he walked around the sealed-shut chamber... it was as big as a basketball court, and seemed to have served as a place for prayer.
Levi could tell from its structure... the entire chamber was empty, having only the columns still standing strong and a ravaged platform by the corruption at the far end of a closed-shut stony door.
"Did the Shadow dimension cause their downfall, or is the information we were given about the Dawn Phoenix more accurate?" Jojo asked.
"Hmm... maybe both are correct?"
Levi pondered with his chin resting on his fist, also noticing that the murals’ descriptions conflicted with what they were told.
"The murals might be describing their eternal war against the nightcrawlers’ invasion just like us, trying to stop their planet from getting devoured... but, something might have happened that caused a rift to emerge between the Beasts and Trueborn, creating a divide between them even if they descended from the same Ancestor." He shared.
"Again... I feel like it’s too far-fetched for the Dawn Phoenix to cast the Ashfall plague on its people... Beasts and Trueborn alike." Nurah shook her head, "Regardless of how bad the conflict was, it would never slaughter everyone... after all, World Ender Classified Beasts’ intelligence might not have evolved to humans’ intelligence, but they knew what was right and wrong."
"I agree with your assessment... but anything is possible."
Although Levi doubted the validity of SAS Headquarters’ research on the site’s history, he would never go so far as to use the word ’never.’ He knew too well... in life, everything, and everyone was subject to change.
That was the very essence of Evolution.