The Pyramid of Light (II)

Elron whistled. "Quite a fabulous skill." He enjoyingly took in the sight of Seraph's attacks and defense. "It makes my blood boil. Wait for me!" He dove into the thicket of the fight and decimated the enemy as if they were nothing.

"Hey! Hey! Hey! Elron, don't forget I'm still on your neck! I don't want to die!" She expelled a burst of fire from her mouth, barely damaging the mummy.

Zero stood back without taking part in the battle and instead watched as the swarm of dragons rushed forward to take part in the heat of battle. It didn't take long for all the mummies to fall dead. The voices of the dragons and their companions spoke out sharply with enthusiasm.

"Look at that. They were nothing special." A green dragon spoke cockily. His tail drummed on the floor like a happy dog.

"I know. I for sure got a lot more powerful."

"Did you see me tear those monsters apart with my teeth? I shredded it into pieces!"

"That's nothing. I did better than you. Took me ten hits to kill it."

"Seven for me."

"What? That's nothing. I mean, we were all attacking it all at once."

Zero sighed. The unruly attitude of players was excitedly speaking out with enthusiasm at killing the mummies in front of them. At this rate, it was all good in destroying the monsters, but they still needed to be careful not to be killed.

The group continued forward; Zero, this time, did not take the lead. Instead, he allowed the others to wipe out and grow stronger. Zeraph and Agnis noticed Zero not partaking in the battle and followed his example. Instead, Elron and Bebe took the lead, giving Bebe a chance to grow up quickly in the dungeon.

"At this rate, they'll wipe out the first level." Agnis walked next to Zero with her hands next to her hilt.

"That's better than nothing. We are still determining how powerful the enemies will be the deeper we go. "

"Better than nothing."

They continued forward and found their way toward the second level, third, and fourth going deeper into the Pyramid. At each level, there were more and more mummies, but no change in the monsters.

Zero couldn't help but feel that something was off. Even though they went deeper into the dungeon, only a few changes hindered them from pushing forward. It did give the lower-level players a large jump in levels, but even still, they were a bit far away from the higher-level group.

When they arrived at the fifth floor, the group appeared in a large room with open grassland and a small casket with ancient Egyptian writings. A ghastly green light appeared from the ground. It lit up the room one by one. Hieroglyphs lit up the walls.

"I feel you won't like this any more than I do." Zeraph was carefully walking over to the casket.

The others spread out to see if they were anything that they could pick up and look for any treasures. Zero felt like a thief looking through the room for anything they could find. His hands traced against the runes, wondering what each one was saying. He felt that the words on the wall would tell a different story if only he could understand.

Suddenly he stopped. One familiar Egyptian word on the wall represented the 'gate of death that he remembered while studying. When he looked around a bit more, he realized it had cropped up many times. It's just that he needed help understanding why and for what purpose.

"Did you guys find anything?" Zero called out to Agnis and Zeraph.

"Nothing here but grass and more grass," Agnis spoke. She walked over to the casket, wondering what was inside. A large group of dragons and companions were trying to figure out ways to open it. "Though, I wonder what this thing is hiding." She brushes her hand against the cold stone as her fingers trace the carvings.

Zeraph glanced down at the casket as well, wondering what was inside. He pulled a scroll from his bag and placed it on the stone slab.

"What are you doing?" Agnis glanced over his shoulder.

"Nothing of too much importance." Zeraph spread out the scroll and took out charcoal. He started to smear the charcoal over the carved rune. He specifically picked the large one with smaller words written around it in a circle creating a sun-like drawing with words.

"Wait, why these hieroglyphs?"

"I get a feeling we will need it later."

"Hah? Gut instinct?"

"Something like that." Zeraph was hunched over, diligently working on copying the hieroglyphs.

"This is too troublesome."

"Then why do it seriously..." Agnis let out a sigh.

"I told you, I have a reason."

"Then don't complain."

"Do it for me then." Zeraph handed her the charcoal for her to work.

"Nope. That's not my job."

"Pft, then don't say anything as well." Zeraph went back to scribbling away at his paper.

"I give up." Agnis let out a sigh.

Zero, too was stuck and did not know what to do. There was no exit except the entrance that they came from. Walking over to the middle of the casket where Agnis and Zeraph stood, he wondered what else to do next. Right now, all he could think of was how to advance, but not a single player could read the hieroglyphs on the wall.

"What is he doing?" Zero stopped behind Zeraph and glanced over his shoulder.

"Drawing. He said it's important and might help us later." Agnis shrugged and walked around the casket, thinking not much of it.

"Well, if he has a reason, it could be helpful in the end."

"If you say so."

Zero watched Zeraph finish up his drawings and roll them back up. He stood up straight with his back turned away from the stone casket. "Well, I'm finished with that. Did we find anything?"

"Nope. Nothing at all. The others are still looking." Zero pointed behind him, where all the others were diligently searching for a way out. "I mean, this is not the end we are searching for."

"Well, things will eventually show up in due time-" Zeraph took a step back in surprise. The casket in front of them started to glow all around it. Even the hieroglyphs were glowing ruby red, signifying that something was going to happen.

Zero took a few steps back, worried that something might happen if he walked up too close to it. The stone slab moved, grating against each other as black smog spilled out of its content.

"What the hell is going on?!" Zeraph replied with shock. He pulled out his sword, ready to fight. Everyone else was on edge, ready to attack if something happened.

The black smog crept on the floor, slowly encroaching upon the players. Zero couldn't help but

feel that whatever was coming upon them was dangerous.

"Stay back, don't let the black smoke touch you!" Zero took a couple more steps back. "Head back into the--!"

Bam! The door to the entrance closes, leaving them all trapped inside the large room. Amidst the darkness, a figure appeared. A black-haired pale skin human being stepped out from the cloud of smoke. With each step, it took the darkness wrapped around its body like a cloth creating a cape. With a yawn, it stretched its arms and groggily walked forward.

"Who the hell are you?" Valiant was the first one to speak. His black scales matched perfectly with the darkness that came after them, but what differentiated him from the humanoid being was that he was filled with life while the other wasn't.

"An unwanted guest has arrived." The being yawned as if they were no threat at all. "I want a little more sleep." With a snap of his fingers, all the dragons and their companions were teleported away outside the Pyramid.

"What the?" Zero stood speechless, facing the front entrance of the Pyramid. "How?"

"I don't know," Agnis replied with the same shocked expression as Zero. "We just got booted out without a single chance to do anything."

"I'm not even sure why, though? I mean, wasn't that a boss character? Does this usually happen when fighting in a Raid?"

"No," Elron whispered. "This is the first time I've heard about it too." He went quiet, not sure

what to say.

"Wait.… where's Zeraph?" Agnis searched around, trying to find him in the large crowd of players, but she did not find his presence anywhere. "Did he?"

"I don't know." Zero replied. "I'm going back inside and see what's going on." He walked forward towards the entrance with hurried steps, but an invisible wall suddenly stopped him.

"?"

Twenty-four-hour time limit cools down before entering the Pyramid of Light. After that, new party members who have yet to step foot may enter the Pyramid.

Zero was surprised at the message. "I think we have a problem."

"What?" Agnis came over, and she, too, was blocked out from entering. "Ah...I now know what you mean."

"We might have to tackle this problem a little differently. We should start a second lower-level group to raid inside the Pyramid. This should allow them to level up while the main force cuts through to complete this quest."

"You know what, that's not a bad idea. I'll tell Valiant and the rest about this, and we can start on a second group to enter." Agnis spoke excitedly. She ran to Valiant to talk about the plan that Zero had just spoken out.

Zero was going to think about it a bit more, but it seemed that Agnis was already putting the plan into play. He could already feel a headache forming in his mind; the trials to break through the fifth floor might become harder than he had expected. All he could do was find answers by deciphering the hieroglyphs on the wall the next time they entered.