Soon, the golems began to cross the portal along with more spheres, which allowed the holographic screens to once again show the other side of the portal. In the images, everyone could see how the hunters began to attack while using the youths from the different factions as human shields. But under Erik's direction, several golems raised their fists, which began to glow intensely, while the rest leaped toward the hunters with feline agility.
The golems fired powerful lasers at the hunters, taking them by surprise and forcing them to dodge or attempt to use the bound youths as shields. But to the hunters' surprise, the moment they used to defend themselves was skillfully exploited by the golems moving toward them, accelerating at the last minute and unleashing powerful blows against several, sending them flying while recovering the youths.
As the eyes of many of those present lit up with joy upon seeing how several golems ran back with the youths in their hands, covered by the others and enduring the hunters' counterattack, Erik commented in a cold tone, his gaze fixed on several bound youths who had suffered varying degrees of injuries.
"It seems they are truly dead…"
"Yes, some suffered serious injuries and showed no response…" Elara commented in a dark tone, leading the others to focus on the injured youths, realizing that even those who had lost limbs in the attack remained inert.
"Now they are grouping up to use them as shields… They realized they are 'effective' as hostages…" Zoe commented in a cold voice the moment Erik asked seriously while looking at Ethan and Chen.
"How long for a restrictive formation?"
"At least 2 minutes, but they have already destroyed several formation flags, which complicates things." Ethan replied seriously while rapidly manipulating the controls on the holographic screens. Erik nodded and ordered gravely.
"Christine, stand ready; do not hesitate to fire if anyone crosses. Zoe, blind them; I'm going to move using the 3D map. Elara, have the elite vanguard group prepare to cross; I need them to kill as many as they can and return immediately. Frank, I need the logistics group to check the rescued."
""Understood!!""
The group quickly replied in unison and began manipulating their controls and giving orders. At that moment, the spheres on the other side of the portal simultaneously released a powerful flash of light capable of blinding a Revealed-level individual. In sync, a 3D holographic map appeared in front of Erik, which he quickly used to mobilize the golems via the core.
"Ethan, Chen, deploy whatever you can in the shortest time possible; an instant is all we need." Erik soon ordered seriously, to which the pair of youths nodded and accelerated in configuring the formations.
Under the endless tide of golems, the hunters did their best to protect themselves, but many who had been taken by surprise and blinded lost their lives under the golems' siege. Though due to the situation, many bound youths ended up with fatal injuries, something Erik ignored, concentrating entirely on finishing off the hunters.
"Ready!!"
Less than a minute later, Ethan and Chen exclaimed in unison, and Chen performed a hand seal before striking a small white sphere in front of him, which shot out at high speed toward the metallic cube, glowing brightly. Shortly after, the sphere managed to cross the portal and position itself in the air on the other side, right in the middle of the flags. At that moment, they all glowed simultaneously, and chains formed to trap both hunters and hostages alike.
"Vanguard!"
Erik quickly ordered in a serious tone. At that moment, a group of 7 youths—2 mages and 4 knights led by Tomás—jumped through the portal. Without wasting a single moment, Tomás and 2 knights moved at full speed toward the hunters, managing to decapitate them in a matter of seconds without harming the hostages, whom they began to toss toward the golems near the entrance.
Since controlling so many golems to avoid harming the hostages wasn't viable, Erik decided the elite group led by Tomás would handle it, as they were fast enough to escape if something happened. But to his surprise, Tomás's group quickly killed all the hunters and returned with the bodies without any major setbacks, something that inevitably made him frown and ask.
"Zoe, Ethan, search the area for formations or traps. Elara, ask Tomás for his impressions of the other side."
"Tomás says he didn't find anything particularly strange on the other side, but that's the weirdest part. He said his instincts tell him there's a trap, but he can't identify it." Elara soon reported seriously. Erik looked at Tomás, who had a hand to his right ear on the holographic screens, and commented thoughtfully.
"My instincts tell me the same; something strange is going on here…" Erik quickly looked at Zoe and Christine and instructed gravely.
"Zoe, send Combat Probes to map the entire area and the exterior. Christine, have the grenade launchers loaded."
""Understood!"" The two young women replied seriously. At that moment, Erik looked at Frank and asked.
"What does the logistics group say about the hostages?"
"… Boss, it seems half are dead and the other half are in a state of bodily imprisonment."
Frank explained seriously after speaking for a few moments using the headset on his ear. Erik nodded and instructed while bringing his hand to his chin, lost in thought.
"Have them treat the injured and take the dead to the 'morgue'…"
"Immediately." Frank nodded and soon gave orders. Meanwhile, Elara looked at Erik and asked, equally pensive.
"Do you think they want us to become overconfident…?"
"That's what I fear… It's too 'easy' to be true…" Erik commented in a reflective tone. At that moment, Ethan added while looking at the map forming on the holographic screens.
"Could it be that, even though they knew we were coming, they couldn't prepare anything…? They don't know we have the core, so they might not have expected us to attack the third exit. Even if they expected it, they might not have been able to do anything about it, since unless they have control of the portals, they couldn't send reinforcements with the basilisk outside…"
"That's also possible, but I'm not entirely convinced…" Erik commented thoughtfully. At that moment, Zoe turned to look at Christine and asked seriously but politely, not wanting to get into an argument with that blue-haired bitch at such a critical moment.
"Christine Taylor, when you told us about the Illuminated-level, you said he appeared suddenly and decimated all the youths attacking the entrance, didn't you?"
"Yes, it was quite sudden." Christine nodded, slightly confused by the question, but soon her eyes widened and she commented, full of surprise.
"Do you suspect some method of teleportation?"
"Yes… that way they could send reinforcements, or even Illuminated-levels could appear in front of us when we try to activate the portal…" Zoe nodded seriously the moment she noticed Erik and Elara looking at her with shining eyes, and Erik's voice resonated, full of praise.
"Well done. I had completely forgotten about that. You might be right, Zoe."
As a pleased smile formed on Zoe's face, Erik turned to look at Ethan and Chen and asked.
"How difficult is it to deploy a teleportation formation here? Could an Illuminated-level do it?"
"It's possible." Chen quickly nodded seriously and explained.
"Using rare materials and a simple design, even a Revealed-level formation specialist could do it. Though it would have many limitations."
Ethan nodded at Chen's words and soon added while looking at the thoughtful Erik.
"Furthermore, Sacred Geometry has a unique advantage. If you're willing to ignore the cost, drawing the magic circle with some precious materials would be more than enough for it to work a couple of times. It would be similar to a refinement circle, just more complex."
"Is it possible to do that?" Erik turned to look at Elara and asked seriously. The beautiful blonde nodded and explained gravely.
"It's technically possible, but the circle would be quite complex, and materials capable of withstanding mana pressure comparable to an Arcane-level would be needed, not to mention the mana crystals required to generate that power. Also, the teleportation distance would be fairly small. After all, a drawn circle isn't capable of using the Myst on its own unless a specialist configures it by calculating the specific peculiarities of the location."
"I see…" Erik said thoughtfully and quickly turned to look at Zoe and ordered.
"Zoe, check every corner caref--!!"
But as he spoke, Erik caught in the corner of his vision the point on the graph generating the ring over the map trembling, which made him stop short and turn to look carefully. Upon checking again, Erik indeed confirmed the slight tremor, so he quickly ordered in a serious tone.
"Activate formations and fire everything!! They've slipped through!!"
"!!!!!!"
Everyone's eyes widened in disbelief, but they nonetheless quickly began operating their control interfaces on the holographic screens. This caused the runes carefully carved into the giant metal box to suddenly light up powerfully, while formations and a rain of bullets surrounded the portal.
On the holographic screens showing the inside of the metal box, everyone could see a large magic circle suddenly forming, and soon a spherical barrier of light appeared, blocking the attacks. Seeing the barrier halt the attacks, Elara clenched her fists and quickly ordered urgently.
"All units, retreat immediately, repeat, retreat immediately! An Illuminated-level has slipped through!!"
Along with Elara's orders, the golems formed at the rear came to life and began running toward the metal box while the turrets surrounding it activated. At that moment, on the holographic screens, the light barrier could be seen cracking and then shattering. Inside the barrier, everyone could see a group of 5 blurred figures trapped in chains and vines of darkness, fire, and metal.
The group was in a circular formation, with four figures protectively surrounding the fifth figure in the center. But although the four figures began to bleed heavily, the figure in the center remained apparently intact with what seemed to be an aura of light surrounding them.
"It's someone with a unique light affinity; this is going to be difficult." Zoe couldn't help but comment solemnly as the youths ran orderly toward the black box in front of the door to the dark hallway.
At Zoe's comment, the others couldn't help but nod with dark expressions, since someone with light as their sole affinity was one of the most problematic opponents that could exist. After all, the light and dark affinities were special, as they had different branches that only someone who had them as a sole affinity could fully develop.
In the case of the light affinity, apart from the normal physical properties of light, it could be divided into healing, purification, speed, time control, and, of course, it was the best for creating mana constructs. Because of this, unless a unique light affinity user ran out of mana, it was incredibly difficult to kill them; if it wasn't possible to kill them with a single strike, a battle of attrition was the only option.
"Everyone to the box, we're heading to the upper floors!"
With a dark expression, Erik ordered as the Myst platform moved at high speed toward the entrance to the dark hallway. With serious expressions, all those present nodded and quickly began giving orders and manipulating the controls at full speed. But at that instant, Chen's expression paled, and he reported urgently.
"Erik, the formations have fallen! This guy is possibly an Illuminated-Peak!"
Along with Chen's report, the giant metal box shook violently, causing everyone's expressions to pale. At that moment, Erik's eyes narrowed, and his hair rose into the air. As the stars and galaxies in Erik's hair began to move and shine with great intensity, a new tremor occurred in the box, but this one was much weaker.
"Christine, initiate the self-destruct sequence of the turrets and activate all grenades simultaneously."
At that moment, Erik ordered in a serious tone, the instant they arrived right above the metal box at the entrance, with the gas lamp already above them. With a solemn expression, Christine sat on the floor and announced seriously while starting to move her hands rapidly among the controls of the holographic screens.
"Understood."
"Everyone, prepare yourselves; this is going to be a tough fight." Erik commented solemnly, while his glowing hair swayed gently with the movement, his gaze fixed on the box shaking violently, about to burst.
***
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