Waiting in the chamber for the others to complete their battles, Nina appeared still confused and disoriented, her mory hazy regarding what had actually transpired inside the trial.
So, under the watchful eyes of Moon and Kael, Mara began narrating everything that had happened from the point they initially entered the gate complex until this very mont.
She explained the tablets, the warnings, the decision to split up and enter individual gates, Nina's transformation into a guardian after clearing the spider's chamber, and finally her rescue upon using her healing skill on her.
Nina's expression contorted after hearing the full account, distressed. "Damn it... this place is really terrifying. What if I'm currently still being controlled and all of you are nothing but simulations in my mind? How would I even know the difference?"
"Want to find out?" Moon asked casually, lightning crackling briefly in his hands.
Nina's eyes widened slightly before she quickly shook her head. "...There is no need for that demonstration."
Moon shrugged, dismissing the lightning, though his eyes remained carefully observing Nina's reactions to everything around her.
'She isn't overreacting or complaining like she normally does,' Moon noted internally with slight suspicion. 'Her deanor is more controlled, I need to keep watching her carefully.'
Moon's thoughts were interrupted when another blue gate suddenly appeared in the chamber.
Caleb stumbled through it almost imdiately, the mont he fully cleared the portal's threshold, the berserker dropped to one knee, unable to support his own weight any longer. His body was covered in deep lacerations, his breathing ragged, blood still trickling from more wounds.
Everyone rushed to his side imdiately, offering support.
Moon moved quickly, gently reinforcing Caleb's back with one hand to prevent him from collapsing entirely, then channeling his earth elent to create a temporary slanted wall that erged from the stone floor. The support allowed Caleb to lean back and rest without lying completely prone.
"Thank you," Caleb managed in a hoarse, exhausted voice. Then, he turned towards Nina, and said, "You guys manage managed to free her…nice."
Mara imdiately began casting her healing spell, golden light washing over Caleb's injuries as her magic went to work.
After receiving treatnt for several minutes, Caleb raised a hand to stop her. "That's enough. My physical injuries are mostly healed now. I'm just severely de-buffed from the death penalty. I died once in there."
~Warp~ Another gate began manifesting, distorting the air as the portal took shape.
Within monts, Reid stepped through, also visibly injured though not as catastrophically as Caleb. Then, monts after Reid's ergence, Grant also appeared through his own gate. The vanguard was battered and bloodied, his shield arm hanging at an awkward angle, but he was alive and conscious.
Both were also surprised by Nina's presence, but were happy everything went well.
Mara worked efficiently, moving between the injured teammates and providing healing to stabilize everyone while they recovered from their ordeals.
As she worked, Mara's eyes sneakily glanced toward Moon with an unreadable expression.
Moon continued helping everyone who erged from their gates, providing support and ensuring they could rest comfortably while awaiting the remaining teammates.
Until suddenly, two gates appeared a few seconds after one another.
The twin portals materialized side by side.
"Those are the twins' gates," Caleb observed, recognizing the stone heads beneath each portal as the ones Cain and Abel had been assigned. "It seems like they finished their battles at the sa ti, haha."
Unlike the previous exits, where teammates had erged almost imdiately after their gates appeared, the twins didn't step through right away.
Seconds passed, then, minutes.
The longer the delay stretched, the darker the atmosphere in the chamber beca.
"Hey," Moon turned toward Kael, who had been present in the chamber when Moon and Mara had returned from Nina's gate. "When we exited our gates and returned here, did we erge imdiately? Or did we take so ti before crossing back through? Like a ten seconds, or maybe twenty seconds."
Kael shook his head, "Almost instantly. Just like everyone else who's co back so far. The gate appears, and within seconds the person steps through."
Hearing Kael's confirmation, Moon's expression turned noticeably sour as his developing theory solidified into certainty.
"The twins are dead," Moon stated flatly, breaking the tense silence.
The entire group's attention snapped toward him, waiting for an explanation.
"It seems the return gate only manifests in this location when a person successfully passes through it from the other side.
Normally, the portal appearing ans they defeated their beasts and entered the exit gate. But taking this long to actually erge ans…the guardian of that gate is waiting for the next challenger."
"How can you be so certain?" Reid asked.
"It's an observation of our combined experience. Every single person here, when their completion gate erged, appeared almost instantly afterward. Any one of you can verify my reasoning by answering one question: after killing your beast, did you imdiately enter the return portal? Or did you take ti to store the beast's corpse, catch your breath...?" Moon replied calmly.
Reid, Grant, and Caleb's expressions imdiately darkened in unison as the answer formulated in their minds. Each of them had indeed spent at least a few seconds after their victories handling the aftermath before crossing through their exit gates. But they'd all erged here within monts of their gates appearing. Which ant the gate only manifested after soone had already crossed through from the other side.
If the twins' gates had appeared but no one was erging...
"Sigh..." Grant exhaled heavily, shaking his head with pity and sorrow. "Damn it."
As the appointed team leader, he'd been confident in his ability to guide everyone through this nightmare gate successfully. He'd believed his experience and the team's talents could see them all through.
But reality had proven harder, crueler, and more unforgiving than he'd planned. The gate's chanism to separate them, make them weaker…had worked.
Two teammates dead. Two talented lives that could have grown into powerhouses of the human realm were lost.
"We need to clear the remaining gates imdiately," Moon stated, pulling everyone's attention back to their current concerns. "With the deaths of Cain and Abel, three gates still remain active. And based on the previous penalty we received when Nina didn't complete her gate properly, one of us may be chosen for transformation again if we delay or fail to complete all remaining challenges."
"Of course, this is not to ntion that we could have already failed it."
The team imdiately grimaced at the reminder. They were all extrely tired, their mana low, their bodies battered despite Mara's healing. Death penalties lingered on so of them, reducing their combat effectiveness.
But they understood the job needed to be done.
"I'll enter first," Moon volunteered, "I've been resting for a while now, so I'm in the best condition to fight again right now."
He pointed toward one of the three remaining gates—one that had never been touched, its beast still fresh and uninjured.
"I can take that untouched gate. The rest of you can split the twins' gates between you. Cain and Abel probably injured their beasts heavily before dying. Finishing off wounded S-Rank creatures shouldn't be nearly as difficult as fighting fresh ones."
Hearing his reasoning, the team felt noticeably more relaxed about the necessity of entering additional gate.
They certainly didn't want to fight fresh S-rank beasts in their current exhausted conditions. "Wait," Grant interjected before Moon could enter the portal, reassessing their approach, "Since you've already entered a second gate with Mara to help rescue Nina, there's precedent for flexible strategy. There's no point in holding back or being overly cautious now."
He gestured toward the remaining three gates.
"If we've already potentially failed so hidden condition by not completing all ten gates simultaneously in the first attempt, then it's best to minimize remaining threats as efficiently as possible. We're currently seven capable fighters. We can distribute two or three people per gate instead of sending you in alone. There's no logical reason to unnecessarily risk your life, Moon."
Moon shook his head firmly, standing resolute before the untouched portal.
"Don't worry about . I've already soloed one S-rank beast successfully. I'm confident I can repeat that performance." His tone was resolute rather than arrogant.
'You aren't going to take away my task completion…grant. I'm killing that beast alone.' Moon thought before saying, "Also, distributing our forces more strategically makes more sense."
He gestured to illustrate his reasoning.
"It's better for exactly two people to enter each of the twins' gates. That accounts for four fighters clearing two wounded beasts. That leaves three of us. I'll take the fresh gate alone, and two can remain here in the main chamber, resting and recovering while staying ready."
Moon's expression beca more serious.
"They would be ready to imdiately assist with Jonah's challenge if... he failed to complete his gate."
Grant considered the plan carefully, weighing the variables at hand.
He still didn't fully agree with Moon entering alone. The elental mage's confidence was starting to seem like growing arrogance, which got talented people killed in situations exactly like this.
But he had to admit the overall strategy made logical sense. Having reserves ready to respond to erging situations was sound reasoning, and Moon had demonstrated his capability throughout this entire operation.
He had cleared a gate, then helped assist in restoring Nina back to the team alongside Mara.
"Alright," Grant finally nodded. "Let's proceed with that distribution. Reid and Caleb, you take the left twin gate together. Kael and I will take the right twin gate. Mara and Nina remain here as reserves."
"Let's move!" The team positioned themselves before their assigned gates. Moon stood alone before the untouched portal, whilst the others stood in pairs.
Five awakeners stepped through their respective portals simultaneously.
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