Since Ben warned them, everyone expected an attack of sorts.

However, they still ended up shocked by the following quake.

Fortunately, their carriage had unrolled and enveloped them on Ginn's command. The protection was enough to defend them, but they still felt like drowning.

"Don't look, kiddo!"

Ben turned toward Eden and held onto his head, directing it down.

"Sorry!"

"Don't look around and walk forward!" Ben yelled to the others.

Ben held onto the overwhelmed Eden by his waist and strode forward.

Everyone else followed closely.

Around them, the following successive attacks destroyed everything. And even the advanced protective formation created by the unfurled carriage began to crack.

Ben vaguely directed the protective Array since Ginn allowed him to. So, it didn't take long for them to find the opening that Ben remembered.

"Deniz, go in first."

Not hesitating, Deniz jumped into the deep hole, and Pax followed suit while hugging into the compacted Array.

Behind them, Ginn appeared covered in blood.

"Since you've recovered, jump in!" Ben threw Eden into the cave.

Alex held into his baggage and jumped in without even being ordered.

"Well, good luck!" Ben yelled.

He leaped down while pre-prepared markings sprouted out of his arms.

As he slid deep below, small Array's lines became engraved on the cave walls.

Those marks were left to help Ginn close the entrance. So, as soon as Ben was far enough, Ginn activated a technique that began closing the hole.

But meanwhile, he couldn't even hide his sinister smile and anticipation.

Yet the bloody sight didn't surprise Ben. He only focused on being careful not to end up hurting himself.

Once he finally stopped falling, he found everyone already on their feet, waiting to move forward.

"Why are you making this face?" Ben asked Eden as he stood up.

"How many?"

"More than a dozen, probably a couple of those. Way more than we ever could hope for."

"Isn't that too many? Even the carriage broke."

"Nah. It's perfect. Your father can go all out. And didn't you see it? He already killed a few before we even left him alone. Anyway, let's move ahead. The further we're in, the safer we'll be. We shouldn't get in Ginn's way, as this is his time to shine."

"Louis is a scary man sometimes," Deniz commented.

"It was indeed ingenious. Such a simple but very effective way to bait those assholes out," Ben agreed.

While adrenaline filled them, their feet didn't stop.

They moved forward, with the fighters in the front and Ben and Alex in the back.

Running, Eden held into the vase and focused on staying silent. But he couldn't hide his big smile due to the thrill.

But despite the high, the teenager still did his job carefully. He fed the Array he was carrying.

Once activated, the artifact connected with everyone around it. Not long after, ice blue armor covered this group's clothes.

The vase also began to glow, as many other protective measures were ready to be deployed.

The tunnel was long and cold, even more than usual since the exit was now closed.

But they still kept a fast pace ahead. While behind, the area periodically closed once the group was far away, as Ginn's technique kept going.

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They eventually reached an immense underground area.

Awe truly overwhelmed them this time.

Eden almost broke the protective Array due to his wild emotion, and Ben had to intervene for a moment.

"This never gets old. Before meeting with you again, I sat here for days and days. But I still can't believe it."

They were right at the base of the enormous tunnel that could fit a small castle inside it.

Ben had selected the best path he could find before, so they had an easier time than if they selected some route randomly.

"Let's walk a bit ahead and activate the first Array. Everyone aside from Alex can take their time enjoying the sight."

But before doing so, Ben left the cylinder on the floor for a moment. He walked to the entrance of the tunnel they came from and signaled to Ginn's technique to stop.

They then walked to the middle of this big dual vein.

As soon as Ben let go of the compacted Array, Alex began working on it.

Due to the complexity of the larger packages, the deployment would take a while.

"Ben, you seem very relaxed," Deniz commented.

"Yeah, shouldn't you be worried like always?" Eden agreed.

"You... Ah, it's just that the noise stopped. Being inside this inverse Swiss cheese does help with that a lot."

"Sensory overload doesn't seem like fun," Pax said.

"This pain is definitely better than the other. But enough about me. You should enjoy the sight but still be somewhat prepared, as we don't know if they're following us."

Ben sat down and began trying to harmonize with the surroundings.

With the help of the Array Eden was carrying, it didn't take long for Ben to be at his peak.

"Ah, truly, home sweet home."

Ben felt clearheaded for the first time in a while.

Even last time here, he didn't feel this good.

This time, the difference was that Dinna helped him prepare.

"If a couple sneaks him, I can probably deal with them. But don't leave my body behind, even if I look dead."

"Don't say that, Ben," Eden whispered.

"They're likely angry we aren't being a hindrance. Anyway, come here, and I'll help you with the harmonization with your weapon. With that, you should also begin feeling like a fish in a pound. All that training wasn't a waste."

Sitting down at Ben's side, Eden focused on his weapon. However, he took way longer than Ben due to needing to also focus on keeping the Array inside the vase running. Even with Ben's help, he couldn't ignore the artifact completely.

Around twenty minutes later, Eden finally felt his connection with his weapon solidifying to a new level.

"Done!" He yelled happily.

"I'll leave the vase for you, then."

"I'm also done here, Sir." Alex talked again.

"Good. Let's all watch Dinna's toy. I don't know what she did, but she was madly giggling when I asked."

Everyone surrounded the cylinder before Alex completed the deployment.

The whole time, Deniz and Pax kept holding onto the other compacted Array while trying to get used to their surroundings. However, dealing with the suffocation wasn't easy, even with the tips from Ben.

"Do it," Ben said once everyone had their eyes on Alex.

As soon as Alex deployed the Array, an immense amount of Spirit Energy flew into it. If placed outside, that would definitively lead to a complete failure. But this place was different.

However, even in this place, the Array still allowed them to take a comfortable breath for a couple of seconds. Even the armor began to emit cracking sounds due to the drastic change in Spirit Density.

Fortunately, that only happened for a couple of seconds, as the area soon recovered to its typical concentration.

The comfort soon was gone, and they all felt a terrible squeezing. If the group hadn't had such careful preparation, even Ben would've died due to it.

The sudden impact sent them all to their knees. And the vase only didn't stop working because it harmonized with the deployment, so it wasn't dependent on Eden for a while.

"Yelp, that does explain the giggling." Ben snarly said, looking at the Array. However, it had dug into the ground, and only a small hole was left.

"One of my rings broke," Eden whispered dubiously.

"Let's all recover for a bit before leaving. That was a bit too much." Ben said after looking at how everyone was.

They sat around and took some medicine while the vase helped them recover.

One minute later, they heard a high-pitched sound from the hole in the ground, as some object flew out of it.

They all turned around, surprised and terrified.

Fortunately, the same shock didn't happen again, so they all sighed in relief.

"Is that a < Drone >?" Eden asked.

"Alex?" Ben looked for confirmation.

"Dinna mentioned that Ginn helped her with it, and if I could deploy that first, we would be safe for sure."

"In the future, whoever comes into this place will regret it," Ben concluded.

"We were going to make this our base anyway, right?" Deniz asked.

"I'm thinking more ahead once you're all gone. If some unlucky bastard decides to venture into this place like I did? Not a smart choice if this is the kind of set-up Dinna will be leaving behind."

While they kept discussing what the object might be, another artifact flew out of the hole.

"Yep, as I feared. Dinna is indeed at the apex, isn't she?"

As the Array deployed, Ben had a small frame to read its functionality. While he was far from understanding it completely, he could guess Dinna's intention.

"Can one of those kill an apex cultivator?" Eden asked.

"If one can't?" Ben replied.

"Send two?"

"If two can't?"

"Send four!" Getting the gist of it, Eden giggled.

"A perfect battleground," Pax whispered.

"We're struggling, but an apex figure wouldn't feel that much better inside here. And that was likely the main reason this place became a ruin. Anyway, if everyone can move, we should go and set the spatial anchor. The sooner, the better."

Even after everyone left, a new small artifact would periodically fly out from the small hole in the ground, building what would soon become a swarm of < Drones >.

---

"They succeed! So, stop bothering me," Dinna informed Eloise.

"Alright, finally!" Eloise sighed in relief.

"Also, be calm, as they're all good. But I also got that it killed one person."

"What? It's dangerous! I shouldn't have let Eden go. I'm crazy."

"Don't worry too much, though. Alex deployed it up around an hour ago. It only took this long to report due to the unique conditions of the tunnel."

"That should be enough, then?"

"Yes. I also set it up to focus only on anyone getting closer to the convoy. I'll have to fix it later, though."

"And Ginn?"

"His body count is 27. That's all he sent."