What the hell is that weapon?

That was the only question I could ask as I dodged the staff attacks of my opponent. At this point I had accelerated my movement to the maximum, everything around me, around the both of us was blurred and even at this speed, where each movement created a burst of wind strong enough to push boulders many, many times heavier than me aside, I could only struggle against whoever that was. In only a single second the figure attacked many, many times. My mace lay broken somewhere in the mountains. It had broken the moment I tried to deflect a blow of the staff. That was also the moment I realised that that staff weighed more than anything I had ever seen.

"What, you already beginning to struggle?" the figure I was fighting asked.

All I could do was grunt as I suddenly stumbled backwards, falling to the floor. The staff hit the ground right next to me, shattering it.

"You know, this staff here, it's not just some artefact. It's something I pried out of the dead hands of a monkey two thousand years ago," the figure said.

I was confused.

Two thousand years ago... that's when... the war happened, did they obtain it from one of them?

"I think that monkey called it Ruyi Jingu Bo- no, Bang. Ruyi Jingu Bang, that's what it's called, or not, it's been a while. And in all that time I haven't had the time to really try it out," the figure explained.

I got even more confused.

What are they trying to tell me?

"So what I'm saying is-" they suddenly grabbed me and pulled me off the ground, back into a standing position,"-you can't be failing yet."

Before I could answer I felt the staff at the back of my head and was flung right into one of the few remaining boulders in the area. It cracked beneath my weight.

"Grow!" I heard the figure yell.

Seconds later I saw the staff crash into what was left of the boulder, right next to my head.

"Ohhh, so that's how the monkey did it... interesting," the figure said.

I turned around and looked at them, they approached, not making a sound as they walked, the staff shrinking back to its original length. I just stared at the figure, shaking again.

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What can I do?

At that moment the entire mountain range seemed to shake. The figure stopped and turned towards the closest mountain peak. I as well turned my head towards it, happy that my life had been extended by at least a little. But it didn't last long. I saw a landslide of mud, dirt, some snow and a large number of boulders rolling towards us.

"Oh my," the figure said. "He must be getting into some trouble down there..."

He? Is this person connected to that heretic?

Moments later time seemed to stop. The landslide abruptly stopped right as it was closing in on me and the figure. I looked around, in the distance I saw some birds stuck mid-air and I could see dust particles in the air as well, stuck, just like the birds were.

"What the-," I said, interrupted shortly after by the figure.

"How unfortunate, our little fight was interrupted, and I do dislike fighting... in here," the figure said.

In here?

Suddenly they began walking upwards, through the air and looked down onto me.

"But oh well, I think it is time for leave, we shall meet again, probably... maybe... eventually... someday... or maybe not, I don't know and neither do I care to meet you again," they said as they turned away from me. "Oh, and you should probably prepare yourself to run away from that," they pointed towards the oncoming landslide.

W-What? I thought he wanted to kill me... test the weapon or whatever...

"Don't you dare leave now you sh-" I began, once again getting interrupted by the figure.

But this time not by words, but by the staff increasing in length once again, creating a hole right next to me in the ground. The ground didn't split, it simply gave way to the staff.

"You are weak, not worth fighting against, at least for now, I expected more from one that dares to call himself a high paladin, I'm sure your deity is quite disappointed in you," the figure said, before suddenly disappearing.

The landslide continued to rumble as it resumed rolling down the mountainside. Far too late for my own liking I quickened my movement and moved out of the way of the landslide, positioning myself hundreds of metres away from it, breathing heavily, feeling all the exhaustion that had built up over the long fight crushing down upon me. I sank to the ground, gathering my thoughts and calming my, currently, hectic breathing.

What... what was that, who was that...?

But my question would most likely not find an answer, ever. This interruption had confused me, taken my mind off of my hunt. As I looked for the sun I found it already setting behind the mountains in the distance.

Deciding that there would be no sense in continuing my hunt in my current state I looked around, quickly finding an overhang I could sleep beneath. Quickly building a campfire with wood I got from the forest down below in the valley.

POV: Atair Oberon Lyrius

I walked into the next room, this one lit up brightly by the lava below. The light from the lava came into the room due to the glass floor. I could see it bubble and flow below, it was almost... hypnotizing, in a way. In the middle of the room was the same square pillar that had been in every room, although this one was, while still mostly made out of the same black metal the rest of the pyramid was made from, partially made from glass, with something that seemed like it was a door in it.

"Looks like we finally reached the end," I said as I stepped onto the glass floor.

I began walking towards the pillar, prepared to deal with anything, having already solved multiple puzzles and killed multiple beasts in this strange black pyramid. As I stepped forth I heard a crack and when I looked down I noticed the glass breaking beneath my weight.