The Pyramid of Light (III)

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"Stay back. Let me handle this." Zeraph held up his hands, holding Zero and the others back. Once again, they were in front of the same rune-stone casket. The green orbs lit up the dark room, and the runes glowed again.

With a rumble, the stone casket opened, allowing the black smog to spill out from its content.

The smog spilled forward like liquid, and a silhouette of a human being appeared from the darkness. A black cloak fluttered behind its back as the man yawned wearily.

"So you guys came back." The man frowned and crossed his arms. "Why won't you let me sleep? What does it take to get a nap around this place? Already you and another group came to wake me up one after another."

"I'm sorry to disturb your sleep Anu, but I would like to meet the King who sleeps in this tomb," Zeraph spoke confidently. He did not seem to show any sign of restraint or problem that what he said was false.

"You too?" Anu sighed. "Though, how were you able to figure out my name? Are you his messenger?"

"Well, we can say something like that."

"Hmm...then it must be of importance. Nobody should've been able to figure out my name but the King himself. So then the way to the King will be opened, though I will also come with you to see him."

"Sure. The more, the merrier." Zeraph whistled, pleased at the outcome. The stone casket shuddered and groaned. Its heavy stones moved, allowing a largely invisible passageway to lead downstairs.

"How did you figure out his name?" Agnis walked over next to him and whispered.

"I have my sources. I told you what I was doing had a reason."

"So you're saying that what you copied was his name? You know how to read ancient Egyptian writing?"

"Somewhat. I had to go back and check my sources, but Anu is not the main name written in big, bold letters. So we'll be looking into something a bit more complicated. I'm not sure where to begin."

"Hit me."

"Literally or metaphorically?" Zeraph joked and nudged her by the ribs.

"You know what I mean." Agnis rolled her eyes.

Zero was listening in on their conversation and noticed that Anu transformed into a jackal, flew over towards Zeraph's side, and followed quietly next to him like a guard dog. He had to wonder what was Zeraph's angle on all this. He remembered not being kicked out of the dungeon and was inside for another five hours. During that time, another raid team, a lot lower in level, entered the dungeon and slowly but surely swept through till they were finally able to enter the fifth level and stated that they saw Zeraph still on the fifth floor.

It wasn't until they entered the dungeon, Zeraph was kicked out back to the beginning and brought outside without a single scratch. Following after was the raid team, only a few minutes behind.

Zero had specifically asked him what he had found out, but it seemed as if Zeraph did not talk much about it except how he might have found a way through. He had a million questions, but Zeraph walked away before he could ask. The way things were going, Zeraph was getting a bit unusual throughout this raid.

"Did you get a chance to check out the lower levels?" Zero asked carefully.

"Well, that's the thing, I only got to stick around on this floor. I logged out several times to ensure my readings were correct. If I understand correctly, the test has already begun." Zeraph answered casually without much effort of hiding anything.

"Tests? What kind?"

"There are a total of fifty levels. Each tenth level, we got a boss on our hands, and the layout of this dungeon is slightly strange. One second you're going downstairs; another, you'll be going back up. Though it seems that each floor is different."

"Teleportation?"

"Something on that line, not hundred percent sure if it is, but the exit will always be different. So all we can do is push forward; that means no going back."

"That shouldn't be too much of a problem." Zero continued forward with Elron leading the large team. He was in the middle of the group letting the others level up and at least attempt to get closer to Zero's team, who were all high-level. The average level of the dragons was around level 75. While Zero, Zeraph, Agnis, and Elro were past level 140. Valiant and his group were all around level 110, leading their specific teams.

"The problem is that if we die, we have to start all over again. So this raid might take a lot longer than a couple of days, by my calculation, possibly a few weeks."

"A few weeks?" Agnis stated in alarm. "How are we supposed to sleep? I mean, we are all humans with a life of our own."

"I expected as much. I suggest designating a specific time slot dedicated to clearing the dungeon. We will only be able to get out of this place to get more supplies if we die. It's stupid if we attempt to run away to get more supplies. The rest time to enter the dungeon corresponds exactly with the twenty-four hours a person normally has before they get back in. We need to push forward and use every single able body to map out as much of the terrain as possible."

"I agree, though there is one more thing that we should look into."

"What would that be?"

"We should also use the time when we also die to map out the dead zone levels."

"You serious? Why?" Agnis was not liking the sound of exploring the spiritual world at all. "I just don't like the ominous feeling that we have to deal with. Can't we just, you know, bypass it as well?"

"No. I felt that there is more to the place than you think."

"What do you have in mind?" Zeraph was interested in what Zero got to say. He seemed a lot more excited than usual.

"If I remember my Ancient Egyptian history, I know they were quite religious with the spiritual world of the dead. The way they wrapped their kings and people into mummies was all steps to preserve the body for the afterlife. If this Pyramid follows the same principle, our real battle starts when we die. Not when we are alive."

"That is an interesting twist of events. I'm going to completely back you up on this as well. I wondered why the words gate of death kept repeating themselves on the walls repeatedly. This might be the answer that we were looking for."

Agnis sighed as her shoulder slumped forward in defeat. "So you're saying that we all eventually have to die."