The others followed closely behind him, the big guy taking up the rear, while the little guy remained in invisible mode, his location unknown.

  Suddenly, Lady Cat—who had been behind Skylar—dashed forward to overtake him. Without delay, she leapt onto the top of the golden altar, her hackles raised, stiff tail bristling. Her mystical eyes—hidden from the others as her back faced them—welcomed a black, flaming, spiked ring that encircled her constricting ruby cat pupils.

  "That crazy serpent is coming," she meowed as she relaxed her muscles and turned to face the others. She elaborated, "For some reason, the moment this great me stepped onto this altar, I can sense what’s happening outside the ruin…"

  “You’re saying your senses are amplified right now, and your sixth sense was triggered?” Skylar chimed in as he jumped onto the altar as well.

  "Not really," Lady Cat replied as she moved closer to him. "It’s more like the barrier around the ruin doesn’t function when I’m up here."

  Skylar nodded. He placed his hand on the altar, and after a moment, turned to address the others below.

  “I have two pieces of information for everyone. One, I know how to get us out of here easily—but there’s a possibility it might be dangerous. Two, the bitch—sorry, the serpent—is coming here with her army of giant snakes, and she’ll most likely reach this place within an hour…”

  He paused, then moved to another position atop the golden altar before continuing.

  “This altar is obviously a signal amplifier. I won’t delve into how it works—some of you should already have an idea of what I’m talking about. In short, to activate this thing, we need blood, like I mentioned before. But we don’t have to kill anyone to get it.”

  He paused again, eyes lingering on the group below, before turning back to examine the altar.

  “Looking at it closely, it’s divided into one hundred and eight quadrants, each engraved with a unique code that serves a specific function—functions I don’t fully understand yet. But there’s one thing I do know. There’s a particular quadrant that, when filled with blood, will surely cause the passage out of here to appear and get us out…”

  "There’s no way we can fill that thing unless we sacrifice someone," Lady Cat interrupted, moving closer to him.

  At her words, Skylar smiled faintly and retreated into thought.

  Well, there is one thing they don’t know—or haven’t thought of. If we all donate a fraction of our blood, we might activate this thing and still keep our lives. But everything I’ve deduced so far is mere speculation. The people who offered sacrifices in exchange for an exit might simply have been lucky—the first quadrant they filled was the one that led them out. As for the unlucky ones… well, they might have experienced something else entirely…

  Skylar turned back to them and smiled. “We’re not going to do that.”

  He paused and pointed at one of the quadrants beneath his feet. “Here. We fill this one first and see what happens.”

  I need a reference. If I can understand what these engravings say, I should be able to find the one that will get us out of here… but I hope we don’t trigger a trap.

  Skylar concluded his thoughts as he led by example. He cut his wrist with an energy blade and let his blood drip onto the golden altar. The others followed suit automatically—including those below and even the little guy in stealth.

  Spilling my blood might have been a bad idea… I feel dizzy, and this hunger is starting to get out of control…

  A few seconds after everyone had contributed their quota and stepped away from the altar, it began to vibrate. Then, suddenly, it shone brilliantly, its golden light illuminating even the broken inner heavens above as it flooded every inch of the sacred ground—Skylar and his group included.

  “Fuck! Wrong choice,” Skylar exclaimed.

  As the altar’s performance ended, it was as though his words triggered something else entirely. Intense earthquakes seized the ruin, rocking every inch of it and catching everyone off guard, forcing them to brace themselves.

  Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

  "What is happening?" Lady Cat wondered aloud.

  The earthquake mocked her question, continuing for a while before abruptly stopping. Everyone turned toward Skylar, whose lips were pursed tightly.

  …

  Meanwhile, outside the ruin—

  The army of snakes, which had arrived some time ago, suddenly surged forward as if responding to a signal the moment the earthquake ended— they rushed into the ruin in orderly formation.

  …

  Back inside the ruin—

  “Mr. Rabbit, follow me!” Skylar yelled. “Everyone else—be alert. They’re coming from all angles. There are two forces in action—I repeat, two forces in action!”

  "My mate, what do you mean, two forces?" Lady Cat asked, but received no reply. Skylar had already returned to the top of the altar in an instant.

  Not long after, large pits began forming in the ground among the stone structures rings of trilithons—but never within the sacred ground itself. The group watched patiently as Skylar, atop the golden altar, invested his full mental focus into deciphering the patterns carved into it.

  The main issue was never the blood… it was about filling the right section—or, by luck, filling several that included the right one. These sections generate frequencies—signals that activate certain mechanisms within the ruin. The amount of blood only determines the energy of the frequency—the amplitude. The goal is to find the section that produces the frequency needed to activate the exit mechanism. This thing is basically a remote control… but the problem is that there’s a limit to how much trial and error we can afford. Triggering a mechanism that buries everyone alive wouldn’t be nice… but still…

  "It really is two forces," Lady Cat remarked. "Raftelia, take the other side behind me. They’re animated corpse puppets, and they’re quite strong—so be careful."

  She made her instructions clear. Raftelia nodded, and Lady Cat’s figure shimmered like a mirage before reappearing at the edge of the sacred ground, right beneath one of the trilithon stone beam.

  At that moment, pressure weighed heavily on the air. Tension hung thick, everyone’s senses stretched to their limits.

  Mr. Rabbit stood near the altar, close to Skylar, who remained focused on it. Beside him, the little guy floated silently, watching Skylar intently.

  From the large pits—like a perfectly rehearsed choreography—creatures of various forms, sizes, and sexes crawled out simultaneously, resembling a full-blown zombie apocalypse.

  However, a few kilometers away from the stone structure, an unexpected clash erupted. The timely arrival of the army of giant snakes met the rear of the rising zombie legion—the punishers of the heretics who dared profane the sacred ground—and the two forces collided violently.

  Meanwhile, true to her self chosen title as the 'Great One', Lady Cat raised her paws and gestured as if writing in the air. A black, spiked ring spinning at incredible speed appeared around her ruby slit eyes. The legion of zombies advancing toward the sacred ground paused in confusion for a brief moment—then regained focus. As if boosted, they surged forward again, now redirected toward two specific locations.

  ["Raftelia, this great me can only do this for a while. Finish them fast, and don’t drain yourself. The bitch and her army are close behind,"] Lady Cat transmitted her message.

  ["Aye, my lady,"] Raftelia replied.

  She threw several small black seed-like objects onto the ground. Like fish returning to water, they sank into the reddish-brown soil. In an instant, sprouts burst forth—growing rapidly into massive flower vines with thick stems and dangerous-looking thorns. As if responding to a command, they lashed out aggressively at the zombies, whipping, binding, tearing them apart, and draining them dry. It was a one-sided massacre, regardless of the zombies’ size or momentum.

  On the golden altar, Skylar briefly observed the defense led by the only two females in their group.

  Effortless… especially Lady Cat. She’s just spamming air blades—they can’t even fight back. Is this really her level? No… she’s clearly holding back. And pretty sis too—another monster. Always acting cute all day… look at her. She hasn’t even raised a finger.

  Concluding his observation, he turned to Mr. Rabbit. “Mr. Rabbit, please rotate the altar about thirty degrees.”

  Responding calmly, seemingly unbothered by the chaos, Mr. Rabbit nodded. He gripped the round top of the altar and pushed, producing the grinding sound of stone rolling and metal shifting.

  "Here they come. Raftelia, don’t let your guard down," Lady Cat warned.

  At that moment, the army of giant snakes finished massacring the remaining zombies outside the first ring of the structure and flooded into the stone formation from all angles, forming a tight, closed ring with no gaps.

  The bitch has finally arrived… but she’s already lost. I’ve solved the mystery.

  Skylar smiled.

  A moment later, Mr. Rabbit completed the thirty-degree rotation. Once again, the altar erupted in blinding golden light. This time, however, one of the trilithons in the innermost ring also lit up—less brightly, but in resonance—emitting a deep, sonorous hum that drew everyone’s attention.

  “Impossible! Impossible! Impossible! Absolutely impossible!” the little guy screamed repeatedly in human voice as he reappeared from the void.

  Floating midair above and slightly away from the altar, his child-like, androgynous voice trembled with horror as he stared at Skylar bathed in golden light, seemingly transfigured into a supreme being beyond the cosmos. Skylar smiled at him knowingly, sending a message that felt as though it originated from beyond reality itself.

  You crazy bastard… I knew you were hiding a lot. You could’ve offered more. But no problem—once I catch you, a hundred and eight lashes will land on your rump…

  Skylar cackled briefly, then turned away from the little guy.