Entering the Unranked Shrine

Chapter 10 - Entering the Unranked Shrine

"Hey, my beautiful commander, how about telling me about yourself?"

Jhin said as he happily leaned on her armored-covered chest. It was the first time he had someone carrying him. The feeling almost made him addicted.

Hearing his question, Crystal halted her steps and stared at the marching army a hundred meters away from the platform. Complex emotions flashed inside her eyes. She lightly sighed and said, "I'm the 42nd Battalion commander of the Pereo Kingdom - A human kingdom situated next to the Mysterious Forest. Also, I'm a Lord of a Shelter."

"Oh? Such a grand identity." Jhin exclaimed in surprise. "No wonder you would exchange your freedom for such a key."

"Isn't that obvious? Of course, I don't want my people to starve. We only have food enough to last for at most a month in the shelter." Crystal explained. It was also the reason why she agreed to become his servant.

After hearing the news of the appearance of an orange gateway near her shelter, she immediately gathered her army. They entered the gateway and was teleported on a large clearing where a tower stood.

At first, she and her army rejoiced to find an orange gateway for it means, it would lead them to a Tier 2 shrine. However, her joy had only lasted for a short while. She realized that the portal had changed color. From orange, it transformed into yellow. It was only at that moment did she realized that the gateway they entered led to an unranked shrine; a shrine filled with unknown dangers and rewards. Also, a shrine which allowed any level of existence to enter.

The opening of a shrine gateway only last for half a day. The gate would automatically close once half a day passed or two forces entered. If only a single troop entered, then the key will be given to them. However, if two army entered, a competition would occur.

Unlike normal shrines where one could easily obtain the resources inside after winning the battle between Army Vs. Army and obtaining the shrine key, the unranked shrines vastly differed. Unranked shrines have two keys. And to obtain it, two competitions must be won. The duel between commanders, and the battle of the soldiers. Meaning, an Army Vs. Army, and Commander Vs. Commander.

In addition, even if a faction obtained both keys, it would remain uncertain if they would be able to survive the moment, they entered an unranked shrine.

"Sighs~ Hopefully I'll gain something that could improve my strength inside." Crystal said.

Her miserable defeat made her crave for more strength. If not for the appearance of Jhin, her army might even suffer several casualties. Thankfully, not only was her troop unscathed, but she also got the chance to enter the shrine, albeit it was in exchange to her freedom.

As they got closer to the platform, Crystal started biting her lower lip. Worry was evident on her face.

"Hmm? What are you worried about? Shouldn't you be happy?" Jhin asked in confusion. Just earlier, he could feel her excitement yet in an instant, she started acting odd.

"This is an unranked shrine! A shrine full of unknown possibilities." Crystal voiced out her thoughts. "What's waiting for us inside is something we don't know. It could be resources, or it could be a horde of monsters."

"Eh?" Jhin was stunned. It didn't occur to him that they still needed to face another bout of challenges. The information he received from the Epic of Generals and the jade-slips only taught him that any races would compete over the shrine then the winner will obtain the key, thus obtaining the resources inside.

"The perks of entering an unranked shrine were like that." Crystal replied. Then she paused and recalled an information from a book, "The only way to know what's inside is to enter the platform."

The marching army finally entered the periphery of the platform.

"Prepare yourselves!" Crystal shouted. With a hopeful gaze, she raised her right hand and willed her thoughts to activate the key in her wrist.

Suddenly, a transparent sphere of light materialized around her. Before long, the sphere enveloped the entire army. With the protection from the sphere, they entered the platform.

"Woah! What is that?" Jhin gasped in astonishment. The moment they entered; the sky instantly darkened. "Is that a floating island?"

Up above them was a gargantuan object, at least dozens of kilometers in size. Jhin could feel an ancient and frightening aura coming from the structure.

"Eh? Did the world froze?" he murmured in confusion. Even after a long while, Crystal still hadn't responded to his question. He felt that it was unusually quiet. Puzzled, Jhin shifted his gaze away from the island and scanned the soldiers.

"Hmm? What's wrong will all of you? Did you all see a ghost?" Jhin asked. His voice echoed in the eerily quiet platform.

Without exception, all the soldiers including Crystal were petrified. Deep despair and helplessness were evident from their eyes.

Instead of answering his question, Crystal shook her head and shouted in a hurried tone. "RETREAT!"

Panic was evident from her voice. Her worse fear… came true. Usually, in a normal ranked shrine, the larger and bigger it was, the more resources the winning faction could harvest. Same case holds true for an unranked shrine. However, instead of resources alone, the bigger it was, the danger it contains also increased exponentially.

Jhin was dumfounded by her reaction. To think that she would give up easily. She even exchanged her freedom just for a chance to enter the shrine. However, now that they were close to entering it, she suddenly issued such command.

Before the army could react to her orders, an archaic and mechanical voice sounded from the tower. "Too late! Since you've come, why not enter?"

The instant the voice faded; a ray of light shot out from the tower. It landed at the center of the soldiers.

Whoosh…

A blinding light enveloped the entire place.