Chapter 79: Descent of a Grave Danger

"Yes. I just felt a bit dizzy, probably from all those readings. I think this gate leads outside the library,"

He said, turning his attention toward the cold iron hatch above him.

Exerting his strength, Declan pushed against it, and the moment it opened, a glint of light flashed across his eyes as he suddenly felt a powerful pull seize his body.

Rather than resisting, he allowed the force to drag him upward, disappearing into the darkness as the iron hatch in the library’s ceiling closed itself once more.

____________

"Huh?"

When Declan finally popped his head out and his vision cleared, he was left completely dumbfounded by what he saw, because running toward him were four people, and they were none other than the second-years, whose eyes widened the moment they spotted his head poking out of a hole in the ground.

"RUUUUUN!!!"

They screamed at him from afar, and Declan could only raise an eyebrow in confusion until he suddenly felt a vibration beneath his feet and turned his attention toward the area just behind them.

"Holy fickoly!"

The shock of what he saw immediately erased his confusion, and Declan jumped out of the hole before sprinting away with every ounce of strength in his body.

The second-year students were being chased. But what was chasing them?

Goats.

Not ordinary goats, either, but two-meter-tall, bony creatures with four horns instead of two, and what was truly terrifying was that there seemed to be no end to them.

As far as the eye could see, countless goats were charging after the group with relentless fury, their powerful hooves splitting the ground beneath them as they pursued their fleeing targets.

Declan ran with everything he had, but the creatures quickly caught up to him, leaving sweat streaming down his face as one of the second-years glanced over.

"Dude, run faster!"

The guy shouted, and Declan couldn’t help but glare at him, especially since he had been ten meters away only moments earlier yet had already caught up.

"What the fuck did you guys do?" Declan shouted back.

Everyone’s gaze immediately shifted toward the only woman in the group, who simply stared back at them with a blank expression.

"Somebody pressed the wrong button."

A rather fat dude with brown hair and eyes replied, causing Declan to immediately clasp his forehead.

A wrong button in a ruin like this had to be one of the worst mistakes anyone could possibly make.

"Hey, Declan, you’re finally reunited with the group!?"

The NCEG voice rang through his ears as all five of them continued sprinting forward.

"Yes, I did. I wish I never did, though,"

Declan mused silently, only to look ahead and realize that what appeared to be a massive wall was rapidly approaching.

It was a dead end.

His eyes shifted toward the far left, only for the wall to continue endlessly in that direction, and when he looked to the right, he found the same thing.

Even when he raised his head to see whether he could climb over it, there appeared to be no end to its height either, as the wall continued upward into the darkness.

"The undead goats can’t climb! Quick, to the wall and climb!"

Emiris shouted, prompting all of them to immediately change direction and rush toward it.

Declan tapped the automaton at the side of his suit, causing his Nanosuit to morph as nanotechnology spread across his hand and formed something resembling a glove over his palm.

The moment he pressed both hands against the wall, they locked firmly onto its surface, allowing him to pull himself upward with ease as the others did the same.

They climbed roughly three hundred meters before finally stopping, and when Declan looked downward, he found that Emiris had been right.

The bony goats were completely incapable of climbing, leaving them trapped below as they repeatedly slammed their horns against the wall, each impact sending powerful reverberations through the structure, though thankfully, the wall remained completely intact.

"Huuu, finally got out of it," the purple-haired woman said, prompting every eye to immediately turn toward her.

"All of this is your fault, Penelope!" the chubby dude shouted.

"My fault? How is it my fault, Zeke?" Penelope replied, raising her eyebrows.

"Of course it’s your fault! Everyone knew shiny stuff in a ruin was a trap, and you still picked up that earring even after Emiris warned you not to touch anything, allowing the goats to escape their binds."

"If that wall hadn’t opened when it did and allowed us out, we would’ve been rammed to death by them!"

Zeke shot back, his expression tightening as he spoke.

They were strong, but against up to a thousand Undead Goats, even they would barely survive by the skin of their teeth, and the fact that they had gotten themselves into such a situation over something so seemingly gullible only made the entire situation even more annoying.

"Geez," Penelope mused.

"You really should have controlled yourself, Penelope."

The final member of the team, a black-haired, lanky young man who was the second tallest among them, spoke quietly from the side.

Penelope, however, simply opened her palms, revealing the object she had taken, and Declan’s eyes immediately settled on it.

It was an earring, but one that looked exceptional even at first glance, seemingly crafted from crimson-red gems that caught the surrounding light and scattered it into countless floating motes of red that lingered briefly in the air.

"Gotta say, it’s worth it, though."

She glanced toward the lanky young man.

"You think this would be going for anything less than a million Nollars, eh, Van?"

Van merely shrugged, seemingly uninterested in the matter.

But then...

CLAAATTTERR!

CLAAATTTERR!

CLAAATTTERR!

The sound of countless bones clattering together suddenly rang through the area, immediately drawing everyone’s attention downward.

The goats had stopped moving.

Their jaws rattled as they stared directly at Penelope, or more precisely, at the earring resting in her hands, making it painfully obvious that they wanted the object back.

Just how badly they wanted it, however, became apparent in the next moment.

The goats stopped ramming their horns against the wall and instead began gathering together, running in a wide circle around the group as the five watched in confusion.

"What are they doing?" Zeke muttered.

The creatures continued running until they had completed a perfect circle, at which point the empty space in the center suddenly began to glow.

A halo of circular runes materialized across the ground, and then, without warning...

VROOOOOOOM!

A tempest of air erupted from the runic circle, generating an immense dragging force that began pulling the running goats toward its center.

It resembled a miniature typhoon made from thick white mist, and with narrowed eyes, the five watched as the goats were dragged into the vortex, which seemed to grow more powerful with every passing second.

Ten seconds after the final goat disappeared into the tempest, white lightning suddenly began flashing violently through the swirling mist.

Then something pierced outward.

A horn.

White as snow.

In the next moment, the typhoon abruptly subsided, leaving behind a single figure that made all five of their eyes widen in shock.

A humanoid creature stood where the thousand goats had disappeared, immensely tall and towering nearly five hundred meters into the air.

Its entire body was formed from bone, possessing a massive humanoid frame and an elongated skull resembling that of a goat, while four enormous horns rose above its head, each one crackling violently with white lightning.

It stood upon two powerful legs that ended in hooves, those hooves likewise blazing with white electricity, while its arms ended in enormous white claws carrying the same terrifying energy.

Its skull-like face possessed hollow eye sockets filled with white flames, lightning crackling through them as it stared down at the five young Nexians clinging to the wall.

ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAR!

The creature’s roar thundered across the hall, releasing such a powerful rush of air that all five were pinned violently against the wall, yet none of them dared close their eyes.

Declan’s expression changed completely as realization struck him.

All of those goats had combined into a single creature, leaving behind this enormous abomination.

"Just what the fuck did you guys really do!?" he screamed.

But before anyone could respond...

BOOOOOOOOOM!

The wall shook violently as all five of them simultaneously flashed away from it.

RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIP!

BAAAAAAAANG!

A deafening explosion erupted as one of Norald’s massive claws tore through the exact spot where they had been standing, carving three enormous gashes into the wall.

Declan skidded across the ground before finally coming to a stop, his eyes widening as he stared at the damage.

The gashes were so deep that he couldn’t even see their ends, and one thing became immediately clear to him: if that attack had struck him head-on, he would have been sliced into five pieces and blown apart by the resulting shockwave.

In other words,...he would have died!

At that moment, the golden system panel blinked into existence before him.

[MAIN QUEST GENERATED!]

[The host has come face-to-face with the Ultimate Form of a Guardian Creature.]

[Mission: Defeat Norald, The Archranos Piece Protector!]

[Reward: ???]

[Punishment: Death!]

[Note: Norald will not stop until everything before his eyes is deprived of life!]

[Mission Difficulty Level: Insane]

’In... Insane!?’

"A Guardian Beast! It must have been protecting the earring!"

Emiris called out, glancing toward Penelope, who was still holding the crimson earring in her palm.

"Maybe we should return the earring?" she suggested, her voice carrying a clear hint of fear.

But before anyone could respond, Declan’s voice suddenly erupted from the opposite side of the hall.

"FUCK THE EARRING!"

His roar echoed across the chamber.

"GO ALL OUT!"

"GO ABSOLUTELY ALL OUT!"

Emiris and Penelope’s expressions changed instantly as a powerful gust of wind swept toward them, and in the next moment, the enormous creature that had been standing in the center of the hall vanished.

When it reappeared, their eyes bulged as they looked upward and found a massive hoof descending directly upon them.