"Was that the basilisk…?"

At the same time, Christine's trembling voice rang out through the place, which only darkened the expressions of those present. Especially Tomás's teammates, who had always hoped Erik and his group were lying or exaggerating. But from the power a single roar had shown, not only were they not exaggerating—they had actually fallen short.

"I'm going to use a spell to move us underground and avoid the wind, but to get into the mountain we have to go out first, so mages, get ready—you'll have to use every drop of your mana to conjure barriers."

Without even looking at Christine, Erik announced in a serious, somewhat dark voice. Elara, who was already looking at Erik, replied in a solemn tone while taking all the mana potions from the woven bamboo pouch at her waist.

"I'll do everything I can."

Without blinking, Elara slid the potions along the ground to the mages in Tomás's group, who took them with serious expressions. That action managed to snap Christine back to herself; she bit her lower lip so hard it bled, then likewise reached into her storage bag to hand out several mana potions to the others and announced in a dark, slightly trembling voice.

"If anyone holds back even a single drop of mana, I'll kill them."

"I'll handle that."

Zoe soon added in a low voice as her hand went to her katana, and white flames began to spill from Hiyori's muzzle. Meanwhile, Chen took his mana potions and handed a pair to Haoran, then pulled a cork with his teeth and declared.

"We're ready to move at your command, Erik."

Seeing Chen raise the open potion to his lips, all the mages did the same, then looked at Erik and nodded. Erik nodded back and quickly created a new magic circle, which formed a barrier of light around them all and soon sank them into the ground as if it were liquid.

With solemn expressions, the mages gripped their staves tightly and crouched, taking advantage of the new space the barrier had given them. For his part, Erik closed his eyes and focused on the Myst without stopping the barrier's movement through the earth. Soon, the group reached their destination, so Erik opened his eyes and announced in an incredibly serious tone.

"Out we go!"

At the same time, the barrier shot upward at great speed. The mages formed magic circles, runes, or rapid hand signs in quick succession as they mobilized all their mana. Soon the group could see sunlight again, and they quickly conjured barrier after barrier with everything they had to protect themselves—barriers that were swept away by a brutal, unstoppable tide of wind.

Using every ounce of their strength, the group hurled themselves toward the narrow entrance, barely managing to slip inside. But even though they got in, they were sent flying, slamming hard into the walls and ending up with varying degrees of injuries. None were fatal, but even Hiyori came away hurt.

As for Erik, though the impact knocked practically all the air from his lungs, he didn't worry about the pain; instead, he looked around in surprise. Although there was a strong wind blowing into the mountain, it was far from as brutal as outside, losing much of its force and destructiveness and dropping to a level he could handle without too much difficulty. At that moment, Ebonique's worried voice echoed in Erik's mind.

[Are you okay?]

[Just a bit banged up, nothing serious.] Erik replied calmly as he tried to get his breath back and checked his companions' condition. Having managed to recover a bit of air, Erik asked in a hoarse voice.

"… Any serious injuries?"

Hearing the question, the rest turned to look at the star-haired young man and shook their heads as they too tried to catch their breath. In that moment, Erik felt a strong "presence" approaching at high speed, which put him on alert. But realizing it was Tomás, he relaxed a little and sat down on the ground.

"What happened?!" Not long after, Tomás's worried voice echoed through the narrow passage. Erik replied, still a bit hoarse, as he pointed outside.

"The basilisk woke up…"

Tomás's eyes widened in disbelief, but he quickly recovered and began checking his teammates' condition. Then Erik struggled to his feet and moved toward the exit to look out. Everything out there was a disaster; the wind and the shockwave had torn everything to pieces in their path, shredding the forest as if it were made of paper.

"That thing has to be at least Arcane level…" Tomás's solemn voice sounded from behind Erik, who nodded without taking his eyes off the outside.

"At least this place really can hold out…"

"…"

Tomás fell silent and stood gazing outward with a grave expression, running through countless scenarios before speaking in a serious tone.

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"Even though you can only feel a strong wind at the back, the Hunters won't take long to come check out what's happening."

"We have to move."

Erik nodded, then turned to head in—but at that instant a great number of runes from the Zazen discipline began to appear on the walls, lighting them up completely.

Eyes full of surprise, Erik turned to look outside, where he saw an incredible scene. Even with the narrow field of view, he could see several pillars of light rising into the sky. At the same time, the Myst began to fluctuate so violently that he couldn't move it more than two meters from himself.

But although he couldn't move the Myst, Erik could still feel it perfectly, and he could only widen his eyes in surprise as the Myst began arranging itself into thin threads that covered everything. Equally astonished, Tomás turned to Erik and asked in a heavy voice.

"Any idea?"

"It's a formation… Something's going to happen—something not very good."

[Erik, the spirit's aura is covering everything! If it keeps up, it'll be very hard for me to do anything!]

At the same time, Ebonique announced in a dark, worried voice, which only deepened Erik's expression. He gave the outside one last look, then turned and started to run, urgency filling his voice.

"We have to get to the base now! This isn't over yet!"

The first to react were Elara, Zoe, and Chen, who quickly tightened their grip on their weapons and ran after Erik, followed closely by Tomás, Christine, and the others. But the deeper they went into the mountain, the more solemn their expressions became, because the number of runes on the walls only increased, making them ever brighter.

Soon Erik could see Frank and Ethan in the distance running toward them, so without slowing, he shouted in an urgent voice.

"To the base—run with everything you've got!"

Without even blinking, Ethan and Frank wheeled around and started running back the way they'd come, soon being caught up by the others. The moment Frank's shadow, about to disappear, touched Erik's, something passed between the shadows, allowing Erik to let out a small sigh of relief.

From now on he was going to need every bit of power; it was no longer viable for him to separate from the wolves, especially since earlier Tiberius hadn't been able to open a portal to his shadow. Whether because Tiberius had been inside the mountain while he was outside or for some other reason, he had to take the situation seriously and move cautiously.

The wolves represented a very important part of his power, so he couldn't afford to be apart from them—especially now that Ebonique would be so sharply limited.

…

Running flat out, the group soon drew close enough to the staircase to see it from afar. But in that instant, Erik brought his hands to his waist and drew his machetes as the Myst began to move erratically, dark electric arcs flashing across his body while two magic circles formed behind him. In a cold, focused voice, Erik announced.

"Four hunters on the stairs. One Revealed-Peak, one Revealed-Expert, and two Revealed-Competent."

Right after he spoke, Erik shot forward at an impressive speed, though he ended up behind Tomás, who moved at the same time he did. Zoe, reacting a moment later, quickly formed three hand signs and launched herself ahead with her hand on her katana's hilt, while the mages began preparing their spells. But inevitably, the beautiful warrior stayed a step behind.

Upon reaching the stairs, Zoe saw Tomás suddenly appear in front of one of the Hunters as metallic flashes flared in different places at once. Zoe's eyes widened in disbelief as she realized what those flashes were: the result of an exchange of sword strikes so fast that not even she, with her heightened perception, could follow it.

Impactful as the high-speed duel was, Erik was in no way falling behind. Breathing raggedly, Zoe watched the magic circles behind Erik fire crystalline arrows that took the other Hunters by surprise. Meanwhile, Erik himself was shrouded in something like a mantle of dark lightning and moved at a terrifying speed.

Like a bolt, Erik zigzagged down the stairs, arriving just where the Hunters were leaping to dodge the arrows, taking them by surprise and managing to decapitate one and split another's chest open. Meanwhile, a third Hunter failed to dodge the arrows, and one struck him full in the forehead, followed by four more that hurled him into a wall.

Simultaneously, a fine line of light appeared before Tomás, and the Hunter in front of him ended up with his body split in two, flying backward to slam into one of the walls. Without stopping his run, Erik dispelled the shroud of black lightning around him and pulled a healing potion from the storage pouch at his waist as he spoke in a solemn voice.

"Don't stop!"

Immediately after speaking, Erik downed the healing potion in one go as some of the belongings of the Hunters he'd killed flew toward him. Tomás quickly took the storage bag from the Hunter he'd slain, then looked back to find the entire group staring with incredulous expressions. Although he too was surprised by Erik's performance, Tomás didn't let his mind wander and spoke firmly.

"I've got a really bad feeling too! Let's keep moving!"

"Erik! I can carry you!"

At that moment, Hiyori quickly announced in a solemn voice. Erik turned to the fox spirit with a hint of surprise but soon nodded and ordered in a serious tone.

"Go ahead, Hiyori! Everyone else, jump!"

In an instant, Frank, Elara, and Chen jumped—just as an explosion of white fire erupted from Hiyori's hind legs, hurling her down the stairs. Zoe, surprised by what she'd seen and by her contracted spirit's actions, quickly leapt as she saw Erik do the same.

"Jump!"

Remembering Erik's barriers, Tomás quickly ordered as he jumped as well, and his team promptly followed. Soon everyone landed on small, crystal-like platforms. The moment they touched down, they all heard Erik's serious voice again.

"Hold on tight!"

Without thinking, they all pushed mana into their feet to stick themselves to the platforms—just as they felt a powerful yank carrying the platforms down the stairs. Managing to steady herself, Zoe looked ahead, where she could see Hiyori racing down the passage, leaving a trail of white fire that exploded with force, propelling her forward.

At the same time, Elara noticed the light on the walls growing more intense and the Zazen runes upon them beginning to move slowly, which made her heart tighten with a sinister premonition. After taking a deep breath to calm herself, Elara slipped her hand into the bamboo pouch at her waist and took out a mana potion and a healing one while channeling all her mana and gripping her staff hard.

Seeing Elara's actions, the other youths in the group also felt a terrible foreboding in their chests, so they didn't hold back; they steadied themselves on their platforms, clutching their weapons, fully ready for a fight to the death.

[Ebonique, how are you doing—can you use any power?]

***

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