After sharing their thoughts about their predicant and exploring various ways they could potentially deal with it, the group finally agreed on one conclusion.
Since they were nine people and the fundantal issue of Mara entering a gate alone still remained unresolved, the group decided to take another calculated gamble. The odds of success were higher than their first attempt, but the stakes were equally terrifying.
The plan was straightforward in concept, brutal in execution:
Eight of the nine remaining team mbers would enter eight different gates simultaneously. They would fight to clear their respective challenges as quickly as possible, racing against ti and their own limitations.
The first person to successfully defeat their beast and exit their gate would be the one Mara would be waiting for outside.
Mara would imdiately join that victorious teammate and together they would enter the gate containing Nina's transford form. They would attempt to help Nina escape whatever supernatural shackles bound her to the trial's structure.
And if they were unable to free her...
They would do what needed to be done.
Kill her themselves to complete the trial's requirents.
Mara had rejected the idea initially, her grief and denial making acceptance impossible. But after so hard convincing from Grant and their situation, she finally succumbed to reality.
Though her hatred for Moon, irrational as it was, still burned intensely in her eyes, undiminished.
During this entire planning discussion, Moon felt profoundly uneasy. A sensation of being watched crawled across his skin, raising his awareness to paranoid heights. Yet simultaneously, the feeling was sohow absent, contradictory, as if sothing was observing them but also wasn't.
The sensation was incredibly weak, barely perceptible.
Yet when he actually searched for the source with his full attention, the facts proved otherwise. Nothing was watching him. At least, nothing he could consciously perceive or identify.
He had used his [Appraisal] skill on every single wall, ceiling, floor. He left no side unattended, yet still…he couldn't identify anything wrong. The dissonance was deeply unsettling.
With the plan established and agreed upon, the group didn't rush mindlessly into their assigned gates. Instead, they carefully examined every stone head positioned beneath each portal, analyzing the carved features to predict what type of beast would be waiting inside.
They were all seasoned awakeners with extensive monster knowledge, and with Mara's specialized expertise in creature physiology and weaknesses, they were able to develop general assessnts about what threats corresponded to each gate.
So the group strategically assigned each person to their most favorable estimated matchup, optimizing their collective survival chances against their opponent in a battle to the death.
Moon didn't particularly care which gate he entered. Whatever beast stood before him was going to die regardless of type. His diverse skill set and overwhelming attributes made him adaptable to virtually any opponent.
So he simply let the team assign themselves to their preferred matchups first and took whichever gate remained unclaid.
The group mbers had no objections to his antics. It benefited them substantially after all, allowing them to face opponents their classes were naturally suited to counter rather than random assignnts.
Within a few minutes of discussion, eight S-rankers stood positioned before eight different gates, each one ntally preparing for the fight ahead.
Grant took a deep breath, exhaled softly to center himself, and began the countdown.
"Three... Two... One... Go!"
Grant stepped forward into his assigned gate, his massive, muscular body disappearing into the blue portal's rippling surface.
The others walked forward simultaneously, each one vanishing into their own private struggle, their own life-or-death battle that would determine whether they lived to see whatever future awaited beyond this nightmare.
Or if there even was a future for them at all.
After everyone had vanished, leaving Mara standing alone in the chamber surrounded by the cold walls and silent stone heads, a mysterious glint flashed in her pupils.
A cold expression crossed her face, replacing the grief and rage that had dominated her features monts before.
Then, without warning or explanation, she turned around and started walking away from the gates entirely.
Her destination was unknown, intentions unclear.
♢♢♢♢
Kael found himself in a completely different environnt. He stood in what appeared to be a massive underground cave, the air thick with moisture and surprisingly cool compared to the one he'd been at monts before. The darkness was absolute, oppressive in a way but that didn't last long as he activated the lighting rune he had. Brilliant, luminous light flooded outward, pushing back the suffocating darkness.
The illumination revealed a vast cavern, easily a hundred ters in diater, with a ceiling that stretched high above. Stalactites hung like stone daggers from above, and moisture dripped constantly, creating an echoing symphony of water droplets. But what dominated the space was the enormous pond that occupied nearly half the cavern's floor. The water was dark, almost black, its surface completely still like polished glass.
With no visible ripples on its surface, perfectly calm in an unnatural way.
Kael's eyes having scanned the entire cavern within a few seconds led him to once conclusion: the beast was inside the pond.
Mana began to build up inside his body, channeling into his staff as his robes began to flutter. Kael began to cast his strongest skill in preparation.
SPLASH!
The pond's surface exploded without warning, water erupting in all directions as a massive creature burst from the depths, verifying Kael's thoughts.
A Hydra erged, its three heads rising on long, muscular necks that dripped with dark water. Each head possessed its own set of razor-sharp fangs and cold, intelligent eyes that imdiately locked onto the intruder. The beast's body was enormous, covered with deep ocean scales. Most of its size was coiled beneath the water's surface with only a portion visible above. Each head swayed independently, looking at the large fireball that Kael had prepared within the span of a few seconds.
"I've never seen a hydra before…a living one at least. I've heard plenty about you from the old man, always bragging about the fact that he was able to kill one your kin alone during his awakener years," Kael muttered, looking at the beast that would strike fear into the hearts of many.
The fireball above Kael's staff continued growing, fed by his prodigious mana reserves. The heat beca intense enough to make the water in the pond start steaming. "I suppose bringing him your three heads as proof would finally stop his endless bragging about that achievent."
Kael's smile was confident, too confident.
The Hydra's three heads hissed in unison like steam escaping from a pressure valve, before all three mouths opened wide—
Three jets of high-pressure water erupted toward Kael like flying rockets, not giving him the chance to pour more mana into the overwhelming attack.
Despite the approaching doom of jets of water, Kael remained calm, with a motion of his staff, he sent the powerful fireball towards the beast.
The fireball charged at an insane speed, matching the sa speed of the jets. Both attacks approached their targets within monts—
BOOM!
SPLASH!
Steam rose in the air, obscuring the vision of the cavern. The lightning rune could no longer help as hot steam filled the area.
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