After recovering everything of value from the Virelian's corpse, Tomás took its head and stored it in his storage pouch. At that moment, Erik moved Myst's platform to return to the hall. There, everyone could see the fire door gradually fading before disappearing completely, leaving the strange fire crackling softly once again.
"Now, how do we activate this thing?" Ethan couldn't help but ask as they arrived before the pit. Erik replied in a calm tone while lowering Myst's platform.
"Hard to say, but for now we know there must be some conditions, or the Virelian would have arrived earlier."
"Speaking of which, there's something I don't understand. If the Virelian could use the 'portal' in the basilisk's cave without us noticing, why were the hunters trying to sneak into this place?" Zoe remarked in a thoughtful tone as she stepped off the platform. Elara commented with a similar tone.
"It's possible it couldn't use it before. Maybe the tests we were conducting caused a change in the pit, allowing the Virelian to use it."
"There's also another, more disheartening possibility…" Chen said in a solemn tone, to which Tomás nodded and then commented seriously.
"There might be three Illuminated-level beings. The one we already know, the possible leader of the demonic cultivators, and the Virelian. Each with their own goals and agendas."
"You're both most likely right." Erik commented while studying the collar in his hands, then explained in more detail upon noticing the others' curious looks.
"It's possible our tests caused some change, but it's even more likely there are three Illuminated-level beings with different goals. If we think about what we've seen of the 'hunters,' their obvious goal is to capture 'sacrifices' for some kind of ritual. Therefore, it wouldn't make sense to awaken the basilisk, as it would end up eating everything.
"After all, if the ultimate goal were simply to kill everyone, they wouldn't need so many people, nor would they bother camping at the entrances or things like that. Just awakening the basilisk would be more than enough, since everyone would enter the garden of their own accord. After all, once our storage rings were lost, the only option for survival was to search for food in the garden.
"Therefore, it's likely this Virelian was acting on its own. Because, if we think from the perspective of an enemy race, for them it would be much more profitable to wipe out an entire young generation of their enemy than to use us for some ritual. Furthermore, with Elara, Zoe, and Frank, we reached the conclusion that the hunters didn't know about the basilisk."
As the others watched the mentioned trio nod, Erik continued speaking while taking a sort of monocular from his storage bag, which was covered in large amounts of carved runes, to analyze the collar.
"Although the place where the basilisk was located was valuable enough to want to exploit it without reservation, we found no trace of human presence; the place was as 'pristine' as could be. But this raises another question: Why, if the Virelian knew about the basilisk and how to activate the portals, did it also not touch the 'treasure'? And a somewhat speculative hypothesis occurs to me to explain that incongruity…"
"The Virelian didn't know about this specific place, but it knew of a place similar to this, very likely within its own galaxy. That's why it knew about the basilisk and knew how to activate the portals but never had the opportunity to touch the 'treasure'…" Elara finished Erik's words with a surprised expression. Erik turned to look at her with a smile and commented with visible satisfaction.
"Exactly. My hypothesis is that, for some reason, the demonic cultivators and the 'hunters' needed special sacrifices, and for some reason we still don't know, they ended up allying with the Virelian. But it's very likely the Virelian intended to betray everyone and kill them with the basilisk.
"But setting that aside for now, given that the Virelian came here, it's probable it was also taking the opportunity to 'collect treasures' using its knowledge, like the core or the gas lamp. It might have even collected whatever made that island function and other things."
"That makes a lot of sense. I don't think the truth is far from that…" Christine commented in a soft, thoughtful voice. Tomás looked at Erik and asked seriously.
"So, potentially we still have two Illuminated-level beings lurking around?"
"If the Virelian or the basilisk hasn't killed them already, that's most likely."
Erik replied calmly while storing the collar, then took a strange black ring he had taken from the Virelian's corpse and began analyzing it with the elegant monocular on his right eye glowing softly. At that moment, Ethan asked again while crouching to re-examine the runes around the fire.
"But we're back to the same thing: How do we activate this thing to get out of here?"
"We can keep trying things at random, and if another Illuminated-level being arrives, we just use the same tactic." Zoe commented in a calm voice while glancing sideways at Erik. Christine replied in a slightly mocking tone, placing her hands on her hips.
"A typical idea from a brute who likes playing with swords. This time we were lucky it was only one, and we took it by surprise. If two appear, or even one well-prepared, we'll die before we can flee."
"Seems you want to test the edge of my katana again, bitch." Zoe retorted with a dangerous glint in her eyes, to which Christine snorted disdainfully. But before a fight could break out, Erik commented in a calm voice while inspecting the ring.
"Actually, I have a different idea… This ring is quite special."
Hearing Erik, Zoe snorted at Christine before turning to look at him curiously. At that moment, the black ring began to glow subtly. But beneath that glow, the sharp eyes of those present could see tiny golden runes, which inevitably led Chen to look at the walls and comment with surprise.
"It's the same as the walls… Are they related…?"
"Is that the key to the portals?!" Elara asked, full of surprise and excitement. Erik replied as the glow of his monocular changed subtly.
"I can't be sure, but from what I can see, the runes here share at least 30% similarity with the ones on the core we collected, and not so much with the walls—beyond the material and superficial appearance. So, while there's definitely a relationship, it's hard to say for certain."
"There's only one way to find out. Let's test it."
Tomás commented with initiative, to which everyone nodded enthusiastically. Erik turned his head to look at everyone present, then removed the monocular and stored it while commenting seriously.
"Let's do it. Although first, let's deploy defense and counterattack formations, along with some immobilization ones, in case someone activates the portal again."
"Leave it to us then." Chen said in a calm voice. Ethan nodded casually and added.
"That said, it will take a bit; the 'flags' were shattered before, and we only have a few spares."
"No matter. I'll use the time to study the ring more closely." Erik replied calmly. At that moment, Christine looked at the pair of specialists and commented with a subtle smile.
"Count on us for whatever you need."
"I was just about to ask for your help, Disciple Taylor, to prepare some materials." Ethan said with a bright smile, to which Christine nodded with a flirty smile.
"Count on it~"
While the mages and knights moved under the instructions of Christine, Chen, and Ethan to organize formations without flags, Erik created a Myst table, where he sat with Elara, who had paper and pencil ready to start working.
Meanwhile, Zoe prepared a full teapot for Erik before returning to join Tomás and start reviewing the condition of the shields and weapons, as well as discussing the problems they had seen in the previous defense.
…
After a while, Elara let out a small, tired sigh as she set her pencil aside and showed the newly completed mathematical model to Erik, who began reviewing it attentively. Shortly after, Elara saw Erik smile with satisfaction, take out the huge core from a storage bag that contained little else—and barely fit it, put on the ring, and touch the core with it.
Instantly, the core and the ring began to glow together, and the runes on the core increased greatly, making the core look like a sphere of light with thousands of tiny golden runes drifting inside. But after a few moments, a sort of holographic screen appeared above the core, displaying what seemed to be runes or an unknown writing system, which soon changed to Galactic language.
"You managed to activate it?!"
Seeing the scene, Elara couldn't help but spit out her tea and ask, full of shock. Erik nodded calmly and explained.
"It seems so. This thing is really complex, though unlike the lamp, it doesn't have an artifact spirit and is more similar to high-grade wisdom rune arrays. Just as or even more intelligent than a human, but without self-awareness, feelings, or its own thoughts. It's really interesting…"
"How the hell did you manage to activate it with just the mana flow and resistance model you asked me to make?" Elara asked, full of astonishment. Erik replied while watching everyone run toward him with surprise written on their faces.
"Simple. This thing has no security systems of any kind; it's practically an open book anyone can use. So the mathematical model I asked you for is commonly used for reverse-engineering magical artifacts. It helps determine functions and other parameters, and with that, I could easily infer the activation method."
"Did you activate it, Erik? What does it do?!" At that moment, Zoe came running and asked with shining eyes. Erik replied in a reflective tone while checking the holographic screen.
"This core is more or less a database and controller for different systems, while the ring is an interface to manipulate it, though they seem quite damaged… Could that be why it has no security systems…?"
"Well, actually, Virelians have security systems that work by binding to the user's soul, so while the owner lives, no one else can use an artifact, no matter what means they use. A simple but impenetrable security. But that same simplicity is a problem, because without a bound soul, anyone can use it without restrictions." Tomás commented thoughtfully, to which Erik could only murmur pensively.
"Could that be it…?"
At that moment, Erik touched what seemed to be a button on the holographic screen, and it soon changed to show a distorted and corrupted map, on which several points of light could be seen. Seeing the map, Frank couldn't help but look at the fire pit and comment pensively.
"Are those the portals?"
"Possibly…" Erik commented somewhat uncertainly while continuing to try to manipulate the holographic screen, as the others surrounded him and began giving their opinions.
After a while of testing with the holographic screen, the group ended up discovering several functions, among them the ability to control the Golems, which they tested with the few Golems that had begun emerging from the walls. At that moment, watching the Golems move slightly more nimbly under the core's control, Elara couldn't help but comment pensively.
"Now that I think about it, the hunters also had a way to control Golems… Could it be they also have a core and a ring?"
"I doubt it." Erik shook his head while forming Golems into an outer defensive ring and explained.
"Although I haven't had the chance to study the golem cores here in depth and compare them to the cores we took outside, I did notice several differences, especially with the cores the hunters controlled. Those cores had some modifications, and I even found traces of magical circles on one of them. So it's more likely they were golems like the one Frank found outside that they modified to be able to control."
"I see, that makes sense." Zoe nodded thoughtfully along with the others. At that moment, Tomás looked at everyone, now ready and in formation, and commented seriously.
"Seems we're ready. Shall we begin?"
"Let's begin."
Erik nodded. At that moment, the Golems took a defensive position, so the knights raised their shields and the mages conjured barriers. Without pause, Erik manipulated the holographic screen, activating one of the functions they had discovered earlier. Instantly, the flame began to grow, forming a door that showed an unknown landscape, at which point Zoe couldn't help but comment, full of disbelief.
"What the hell is that…?"
***
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