CHAPTER 187: CHAPTER 187- SHELTER IX & THE ARCANISTS

"Silvia, it’s been a while. I see that you have been doing well".

"You too, it looks like the Knights of the Lunar Veil are treating you well".

"Haha, everyone here is extremely nice."

The two girls conversed, catching up on each other’s lives. After a while, Silvia returned back only to be directed by the stares of her juniors.

"What? We know each other. Many years ago, we gave the Magic Knight entrance ceremony together. She joined the Knights of the Lunar Veil while I chose the Temple of Light" She answered, feeling quite uncomfortable by their stares.

"Hoh, I didn’t know you had such a beautiful friend. How about you introduce her to me next time? Who knows, she might just fall for my awesomeness" Vangeance pointed at his dashing self.

"That’s impossible, she is not into gang members." Silvia cut him off without mercy. The two started bickering again.

At this moment, the Commanders, having finished their discussion, stood before the knights of the two orders.

"Time is of the essence here. Now that Sir Reinhardt and the Order of the Temple of Light are here, we can move past the fifth floor. Everyone, begin preparations to descend again. Those who are tasked with patrolling will remain behind and secure our camp," Leona ordered.

Reinhardt did the same. Since Leona and her knights had already explored the labyrinth, he left it to her and the knight order she led in charge of leading the mission. The Temple of Light would provide support whenever necessary.

"Any signs of demons?"

In front of the entrance, Reinhardt questioned his fellow commander in a voice that only the two of them could hear.

"Not yet. However, it is only a matter of time before they find this place. My knights have already shot down some demon scouts roaming in the distant skies. Last night, there were also strange demonic beast activities".

Leona’s eyes were grave. All the signs indicated that the demons were not far away and would soon find this place.

"Fortunately, you arrived in time. With your and the Temple of Light’s help, we should be able to help the statue fill the divine well".

Reinhardt nodded his head, understanding the gravity of the situation. Ancient Labyrinths weren’t just simple ruins, but vaults containing immense power and knowledge from the ancient times.

From his memories, Reinhardt recalled that Ancient Labyrinths like these are believed to be built when the seven gods walked among the mortals. During a civilization whose mastery of skills and metallurgy surpassed even the wildest dreams of the present scholars.

Known as the first Arcanists, the labyrinth they created now holds weapons and knowledge that could help humanity defeat the Forces of Darkness. One need not even think to know how important the things inside the labyrinth are for the humans.

If this labyrinth also contained items of such value, then they needed to secure it before the demons got here.

The knights of the realm headed inside the labyrinth with increased determination. For many of them from the Temple of Light, it was their first time heading inside the Labyrinth. However, with the Knights of Lunar Veil, who already had plenty of experience diving inside the labyrinth leading them, it was like a walk in the garden.

That said, as the labyrinth refreshed its defence mechanism every hour, it still ended up taking them more than a day to reach the fifth floor.

Before long, the knight orders arrived in front of a vast hall whose ceiling couldn’t be seen at a glance. In front of them was a narrow pathway that led further into the hall, and the either side of it was an abyss as dark as night itself.

It was unknown how deep or where this gigantic hole led; however, looking at it, one could feel a deep sense of fear and how small their being was.

Reinhardt and Leona walked forward; behind them followed their respective orders. Of course, since the pathway was quite small, only a couple of members were able to walk side by side.

Soon, they came across a humongous statue that looked like it was made of some white marble. The statue was kneeling on one knee and carried a water pot on its shoulder whose mouth was tilted towards a large well.

"Is that..." When Reinhardt and his order saw the statue, all of their eyes opened wide to marvel at the immensity of the thing that was in front of them.

"That’s right, Gulcainus’ statue is what has been stopping us from moving forward. The well that the statue is filling needs to be filled completely before the door at the end can open. We have tried all other measures, even resorting to using force. However, the door doesn’t budge. I could not use any more force for fear of the hallway collapsing".

Right below them was the abyss; as such, it was a good decision not to use excessive force.

Reinhardt could already see some cracks around the edges of the pathway, a telltale sign that Leona was not lying.

With [Eyes of Divine Clarity Activated], he looked at the Gulcainus’ statue whose name was written at the base with big bold letters.

Other than looking extremely lifelike, it was also holding onto a unique relic that could be said to be able to produce a steady amount of holy power every day.

The well it was filling was actually the key to the door behind. Once filled, all this holy power will channel into that door using the complex circuits carved into the ground and power its system.

However, since the labyrinth was quite old and had gone through the trials of time, many things had fallen out of place. Like that holy relic on Gulcainus’ shoulder, previously it was able to fill a well this big in a day or two.

However, now, even after a week or even more, only one tenth of the entire well was filled.