Benji's words settled over them like a heavy weight.
The very air around them seed to grow heavier, and Kain suddenly found it much harder to breathe as he processed what Benji's words likely ant for his hotown.
A deep, oppressive silence followed, stretching between them like a suffocating shroud.
"The origin?" Clara finally broke the silence, brows furrowed.
Benji hesitated, seeming to parse through the information Aura was providing. "It's complicated. The gate isn't just so random passageway into the real world. It's being calibrated. They're attuning it to sowhere—or so people—from the real world."
Kain's stomach churned. "You an it's locked onto Brightstar City?"
Benji nodded grimly. "It makes sense, doesn't it? Everyone used in this gate has ties to Brightstar, their families who they have blood ties with and can serve as anchors are probably mostly all in Brightstar. And if I had to guess… the more people they fuse into it, the stronger the connection becos. The mont it's complete, it won't just open anywhere—it'll lead straight to there."
A cold dread seeped into Kain's bones.
He didn't just feel fear—he felt rage. A festering, boiling rage that made his fingers twitch with the need to lash out, to do sothing. These creatures weren't just invading—they were targeting his ho, the people he cared about.
Yeah, he had transferred his family mbers beforehand, but there were still many within the city that he or his family had emotional ties with—their close neighbours Farr Joe and his wife Sally; Kain's forr teacher Mr. Evergreen; forr classmates; kind-hearted mbers of their small city who would frequently gift living essentials to the orphanage to help them get through the toughest tis.
Destroying the gate wasn't just a matter of stopping the Abyssal creatures from leaving the relic. If they didn't intervene, Brightstar City—his ho—would beco the starting point for an Abyssal invasion of the entire Empire.
But before anyone could voice their ideas, sothing else happened.
A shrill, piercing screech split the cavern. Discover exclusive content at My Virtual Library Empire
Aura flinched, the sound reverberating through their ntal connection like nails dragging across their very souls. It was high-pitched, unnatural—sowhere between the wail of a dying animal and the distorted static of a broken machine.
The source?
A woman, half-rged into the Gate.
Kain vaguely recognized her.
Madam Rulien. He had never really spoken with her. He mostly knew of her from Cherry's 'little black book' of secrets. Kain must say, that since her husband passed, she has lived quite the colourful nightlife.
However, this well-known female rchant with a penchant for a flamboyant lifestyle, a staple of Brightstar's high society, had been reduced to this—a half-ford, screaming horror bound in flesh.
Her mouth was stretched open unnaturally wide, the scream bursting from her lips in a desperate, grating wail. Her bloodshot eyes were wild with panic, her exposed fingers twitching spastically as if trying to claw her way free from the Gate.
The Abyssal creatures below recoiled at the sound. Many of the weaker ones, moved all the way to the chamber, looking as though they wished to flee the noise. Even the stronger ones flinched at the noise, their expressions twisting in what could only be discomfort
Aura too, tried to discretely move away as far as possible without drawing attention to herself.
Then, one of the Abyssal creatures moved.
A massive one—easily the largest in the chamber—turned its grotesque head toward her. Its golden eye glead with sothing between irritation and cold amusent.
Without hesitation, it raised one of its massive, clawed arms and swung toward the Gate.
Its movents were swift and effortless.
And for the first ti, the creatures fused into the Gate showed an unmistakable emotion—terror.
Madam Rulien's eyes widened in horror as the attack descended upon her. Her scream cut off into a choked gurgle, her face contorting in agony as if she already knew what was coming.
And then—
The blow never landed.
Just as the Abyssal creature's strike was about to connect, sothing invisible caught it mid-air.
A shimring, translucent barrier flared into existence. The creature's attack dispersed into a wave of energy upon impact, sending rippling distortions through the air resembling heat waves.
Kain and the others tensed.
A shield?
Or so other kind of automatic defence chanism?
Whatever it was, it was a powerful one. The largest Abyssal creature there was at least the equivalent of a high-level indigo-grade spiritual creature—equal in strength to their current strongest mber, Nadia. And yet its attack had done nothing.
The Abyssal behemoth didn't react with surprise. It rely withdrew its arm, clicking its jaws together in what might have been frustration—or amusent.
A deep, guttural noise rumbled through its chest, sothing between a growl and an eerie chuckle. It seed… satisfied. But with what?
Satisfied that it had terrified those fused into the gate?
Or was it satisfied that the strength of the shield covering the gate was working or even getting stronger?
However, while the other Abyssal creatures revelled in this 'interesting' scene. The hearts of Kain and the others dropped.
The Gate wasn't vulnerable. It wasn't sothing they could just destroy with brute force like many of them were going to propose they do.
Kain exhaled through gritted teeth.
Claudia broke the silence. "That ans—"
"We can't just smash it," Nadia confird, her tone grim. "At least, not with the strength we have now. Whatever protections are in place, they're strong enough to withstand an attack from that." She motioned toward the Abyssal creature that had attempted the strike.
Clara clenched her fists. "Then we need more information. There has to be sothing we can use against it."
Benji inhaled sharply, refocusing. "Aura needs to check the other two paths. Maybe we'll find sothing useful."
Kain forced himself to nod. "Then let's move."
Aura turned back, scampering quickly out of the cavern and retracing her steps to the three-way split.
She had just witnessed the horror in the path to the right.
This ti, she took the leftmost path.
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