They went in.
Slowly, they moved into the orchid, deeper into the trees.
The bark of the trees that surrounded them was black, cracked and would definitely fall apart with just a punch.
As they walked across this place, the sound of dried leaves and twigs getting crushed by their footsteps was the only sound that came in the orchid.
There was no critters making any sounds, no beasts that came near them even though they were in this dangerous lair, in the middle of enemy terrain.
Everyone was on edge, their swords out, and making sure that they would be prepared for any attack that would come at any time.
As they walked, Jake felt the time passing. It was a pressing matter for him. The more time that passed, the more enemies that would gather in this place.
All he wanted to do right now was finish this mission as fast as possible. Now that one of the nine followers of the Evil God was involved, he knew that it was best not to enter the fray against him.
The moment that he was a part of a party that went against the Evil God to such an extent, he would be targeted by the Evil God officially.
He would be branded, and wherever he would be, Evil Beasts would frantically try to kill him. If the ninth died in this battle, there would be a perpetual kill order on his head.
"We are here." A sombre voice from the new front of the group made everyone stop.
It was Father Joseph. He looked forward at what was the path of saints. What it was though, was a dungeon.
It was a cave that went into this stone arch. An entrance into a ruined building, much like the raid that Jake went through a few weeks ago. The similarities were almost uncanny.
Ganshin took a deep breath.
"I shall be the first one to enter this place. I am the leader. It makes sense that I take the first step." Ganshin said as he stepped toward the dark cave that they were all supposed to go through.
Even as they came all the way here, not a single beast had attacked them, surprisingly.
"Wait, sword master. You do not need to take this sacrifice. Let the guardian come out on its own." Father Joseph shook his head.
Ganshin froze as he looked deep within.
Something was looking back. Two yellow dots from within were looking back at Ganshin. They grew larger and slowly became the eyes on this guardian beast that slowly came out of this darkness.
"Fifty years, I have waited for someone to come." a voice echoed in Jake's ears.
His eyes were fixed upon this guardian beast. It was a tiger. But not a normal tiger. Instead, it seemed like it was made of stone. A tiger made of stone, its stripes a different shade of grey.
pan,da n<0,>v,el It had wings, wings that were neatly furled up.
The stone that made up the wings was delicate, like these were actual wings that could lift this giant beast that had come in front of them.
"I can smell it upon you mortals. The smell of his Divine Brilliance." The same voice resounded in everyone's ears, and yet the tiger's mouth did not move.
"Guardian Beast." Father Joseph kneeled on the ground. But everyone else was on edge.
In a place where everyone and everything was somehow corrupted by the evil energy around, who could trust that this guardian beast remained sane, no matter how much Father Joseph would say otherwise?
"Put down your weapons. Or else, I will not be polite." The guardian beast said, even though it wasn't apparent if it was saying this.
"Although we have all but respect to you, guardian beast, we must pass. Please let us go forward and cleanse this place of the filth that corrupts these sacred grounds." Ganshin declared.
"There are other ways to enter the grounds. Use them instead." The tiger said, its voice calm and wise.
"Those paths have been closed. Evil energy has corrupted the very traps that protect the holy grounds. We cannot pass through the normal ways." Ganshin shook his head.
"This is not a path that you can take. This is a path that only saints are allowed to take." The tiger said, its mute head shaking.
"That cannot do." Father Joseph finally stood up and looked at the guardian beast.
"You are just a few more decades away from being qualified. Then, maybe, you can pass through here and you shall understand the reason why I stop you here." The tiger said.
"This is not us imploring you to let us in." Father Joseph shook his head as he raised an item.
It was a stone, a small finger sized bit, that shone with brilliance.
But it was nothing like the divine stone that Father Joseph had brought to the Evil lands. It seems much… stronger. It was as if it was a part of the statue of god that had been repaired.
"The statue stands once again!" Shock was apparent in the tiger's voice.
"Indeed. And His Divine Brilliance has spoken." Father Joseph raised his hand to bring the small stone closer to the tiger.
The guardian beast also leaned in closer to Father Joseph, and it opened its giant mouth, showing a hole so wide that it could swallow a man whole. It's tongue leapt out of the mouth like a snake, and the tongue stuck to the small stone, taking it back into its mouth, swallowing it.
Even the tongue was made of stone, and Father Joseph's hand was completely dry even though it was thoroughly licked.
"Ah!"
The guardian beast clicked its tongue.
"All these years that I have endured, this makes it worth it."
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