The four beams of blue light t in the sky above the city, creating a spectacle that captured everyone's attention.
At the convergence point, a sphere ford.
Where the sphere was, energy began expanding like a luminous spider web, smaller rays extending in perfect geotric patterns while covering an ever-growing area.
"Must be the new barrier," i observed the phenonon with scientific intensity. "The one God ntioned we'd have to feed with a million points per deposit."
But sothing in the way the light sphere pulsed, in how it seed almost... alive, made Elio feel a knot in his stomach. That sixth sense that had saved his life so many tis scread that sothing wasn't right.
"We should return to the city," he began, but Kriz interrupted him with a laugh.
"Co on, boss! Where's your adventurous spirit?" Brok nodded, supporting his friend. "God was exaggerating about the fire Artromus. We didn't even have to try!"
The argunt died on their lips when a tremor shook the ground beneath their feet. It wasn't like the small vibration produced by the statue's crystal erging; this was different, deeper, more intense and more... rhythmic.
What remained of the sea of cores began behaving erratically, as if responding to so invisible force.
Those huge formations they had discovered after reducing the number of cores: four massive and symtrical elevations that divided the space between deposits.
They began to move.
If soone had drawn an aerial view of the carbon tunnels they had built, the first conquered ring would have looked like a pie cut into four equal parts.
In the pie's center would be the city.
But when consuming the cores, they would have had to draw 4 more lines.
In the center of those 4 'slices', another 4 lines divided the pie into 8 slices, those perfectly symtrical protrusions that rose gently toward the sky.
i and Ren had spent entire days debating theories about their origin. The symtry was too perfect to be natural, but who or what had created them? Their calculations had only served to determine that the amount of available cores would be much less than expected due to these formations.
Now, as the tremor intensified, those sa elevations began to move.
Demonstrating their purpose.
It wasn't a collapse or natural landslide; the enormous earth masses moved chanically, as if they were parts of a colossal machine that had just activated.
"They're... approaching the deposits," i whispered, her voice barely audible over the quasi-tectonic movent's roar.
The four protrusions slid outward with a precision that defied all natural logic, leaving deep furrows in their wake that looked like scars on the earth itself, and were being filled with so cores.
The massive earth protrusions continued their inexorable movent, now tracing a perfect arc while positioning themselves behind the deposits.
From their elevated position atop the fourth deposit, the group watched in amazent as these structures divided and repositioned themselves around an invisible periter, like pieces of a colossal puzzle.
anwhile, the new barrier continued descending. When it reached the height of their deposit...
The convergence of rays in the sky created an extraordinary optical effect.
For a mont, it was as if a giant lens had materialized before them, allowing them to see beyond the mist, beyond what any human had seen in a century.
"By the walls..." Kriz's voice broke.
In the distance, beyond their now 'dry' sea of monsters, another barrier falling from the sky contained a second ocean of horrors. As they watched, that ancient barrier began fading, like ice lting under a rciless sun.
The roar that followed made the air itself tremble. Billions of monsters rushed toward them like a living avalanche. Among them, forms reminiscent of Locus but of superior size scuttled with renewed hunger.
"Those aren't Locus!" Milo shouted, pointing upward.
New creatures crossed the skies flying in impossible numbers, their forms barely visible at a distance but clearly different from anything they had faced before.
"The new barrier won't arrive in ti!" Taron shouted.
"We have to retreat!" Elio began giving the order but stopped short.
"It's as if..." i interrupted herself when the structures began opening chanically down the middle.
From within each formation erged a section of what appeared to be the sa divine material as the city's walls.
Before them, erging from the ground with the majesty of a nascent mountain, the new divine wall rose until connecting with the energy barrier that the rays had woven in the sky.
Saving them just in ti from the new tide of monsters.
These walls were different: taller, more massive, designed for a scale that made their current protection seem tiny.
The structure blocked their view of the approaching horror, but the monsters' roar still resonated as a reminder of what lurked on the other side.
"Four million points..." i murmured, rembering God's words. "Now I understand why we'll need so much mana to maintain this barrier."
Elio observed the new wall, his mind calculating dinsions and resources. It was magnificent protection, yes, but also a monuntal responsibility. Four deposits, four million points, and beyond... an army of monsters that made their previous "sea of monsters" seem like a pond in comparison.
"That sea of monsters must have been there from the start," Taron reflected while the group observed the new wall. "Only now we can see it... or at least we could see it for a mont."
"No one in the city will believe this!" Valeria let out a laugh, though there was a touch of nervousness in her voice. "Can you imagine? 'Oh yeah, we saw another giant sea of monsters, a wall being born from the ground, and a second barrier falling from the sky'. They'll think we're crazy."
The initial tension began dissipating. Several builders were already animatedly discussing the technical aspects of what they had just witnessed, as if the horror they had glimpsed was just another trivial problem to solve in the future.
Elio, however, frowned while contemplating the light beams that still connected the deposits with the barrier. "We don't know how the deposits' interface will work," he murmured, more to himself than to others.
"You're right," i approached, her analytical mind already working on the problem. "We'll need to establish an efficient system. Bring people to help with maintenance, organize shifts..." She stopped, her eyes shining with possibilities. "We could use the existing tunnel structure..."
Brok approached Elio, rescuing the blue sphere from Kriz's hands, who had been tossing it in the air like a toy. "I think this belongs to you, boss."
Elio took the core, rembering God's words about a surprise in the city's statue. "Maybe we should return first and..."
A buzz cut through the air like a whip.
"WATCH OUT!"
Elio's eyes blazed with crimson intensity, his perception expanding just in ti. He ducked, feeling the air displace above his head where, a fraction of a second before, his neck had been. Sothing had tried to decapitate him and snatch the Fire King's core.
The calm of victory shattered in an instant.
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