“Boom!”
The explosion erupted in the corridor, orange-red flames roaring outward.
A wave of heat wrapped in tiny metal fragments and dust slammed against the surface of the scorpion shield, crackling loudly.
A massive impact traveled through the shield. Rosie dug her feet into the ground to steady herself.
The pungent smell of gunpowder and burning mixed together, drifting through the ventilation holes of her helmet.
She squinted and crouched behind her shield, waiting for the shockwave to pass before slowly standing up and looking ahead.
The torches had fallen to the ground, still burning, their flames licking at the dust on the floor.
The mercenary who had been walking at the very front was gone, leaving behind only dark red fragments of flesh and shredded cloth stuck to the walls and floor.
Behind him, the other three mercenaries lay sprawled on the rubble, groaning in agony. They were either missing arms or legs, and blood pooled rapidly from their horrific wounds.
The dwarf scrambled to his feet, took one look at the carnage before them, and cursed, “Dammit! How is there a gnomish alchemical bomb here?!”
Just as his voice fell—
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Several sharp whistles cut through the air.
The three mercenaries still groaning on the ground were struck by arrows almost simultaneously. Their bodies convulsed, letting out short, muffled grunts before falling completely still.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Another volley of crossbow bolts rained down, this time flying straight toward Rosie and the dwarf.
Rosie raised her scorpion shield once more. The bolts struck the surface with a metallic clatter, bouncing off and scattering around her feet.
Another metal sphere rolled into the corridor, bouncing twice on the floor. Sparks sputtered from its surface with a loud hiss.
Quick on his feet, the dwarf swung his axe with lightning speed, swatting the sphere right back where it came from.
“Boom!”
A massive explosion echoed from outside, followed immediately by several screams of agony.
“Those are human voices!” the dwarf said.
“Looks like our old friend has arrived. He's quite fast,” Rosie whispered.
Sure enough, a familiar voice echoed from the hall outside: “Miss Rosie, Master Ginli. I advise you to surrender. You cannot escape.”
The dwarf hollered back at the top of his lungs, “John! You shameless traitor! We dwarves would never associate with the likes of you!”
There was a brief silence outside before the voice rang out again: “Traitor? I have been the Count's man from the very beginning. How am I a traitor?
I have already blocked the exit. You cannot escape. This is your last chance—surrender! Otherwise, only death awaits you.”
The dwarf's voice grew even angrier: “You cowardly sneak-attacker! If you have the guts, come in here! See if I don't chop you all to pieces!”
A long silence followed from outside.
It seemed they had no intention of charging in for a head-on fight.
Rosie lowered her voice. “It seems our encounter was just an accident.”
“An accident?” the dwarf whispered back.
“John must have been sent to scout the area. We just happened to run into each other,” Rosie said.
“How can you be sure?” the dwarf asked.
“Simple. If it were the main force, that woman Anna would definitely be with them. In that case, what flew in just now would have been fireballs, not bombs and crossbow bolts,” Rosie analyzed.
The dwarf came to a sudden realization. “So they don't have many men, which is why they only dared to ambush us.”
Rosie nodded. “More or less. John is highly experienced, so it's normal for him to have tracked us. Unfortunately for him, he got too greedy. He dared to pursue us without a mage.”
She raised her voice and called out to the hallway, “Knight John! Since you've found us, why didn't you go back to call for reinforcements?”
John's voice drifted in from outside: “Miss Rosie, you are far too dangerous. I cannot allow you to leave.”
Rosie sneered. “Is that so? It seems you've grown greedy too, Knight John.”
She stood up with her shield, drew her meteoric iron sword, and prepared to charge out.
Crack! Sizzle!—
Suddenly, a crisp cracking sound came from the nearby wall, and a hole split open.
Rosie's expression changed.
No wonder no creatures lived here despite the presence of a water source.
The ruins' defense mechanisms were still active.
The commotion from the explosion just now must have activated them.
Clack!
A metallic sphere rolled onto the floor and unfolded, revealing a metal spider.
“Isn't that the spider we just saw?” the dwarf blurted out.
Even as the dwarf spoke, Rosie took advantage of the moment the metal spider unfolded and slashed her sword heavily down onto the crystal on its head.
Clang!—
Under the full force of the meteoric iron sword, cracks spread across the crystal atop the metal spider.
She raised her shield and slammed it down with all her might.
Crack!
The crystal shattered, and the metal spider collapsed limply to the ground.
“Ah!—”
At that exact moment, a red light flashed in the outer hall, followed by a bloodcurdling scream.
Several more beams of red light illuminated the Weapons Exhibition Hall.
A barrage of screams, shrieks, and the clashing of metal soon followed.
“What's going on?” the dwarf asked, gripping his axe tightly as he peered outside.
“This is bad,” Rosie said grimly. “The explosion just now triggered the ruins' defense mechanisms. We need to get out of here, fast.”
It would have been one thing if they only had to deal with the Count's pursuers, but with the ruins' own defense mechanisms active, the situation was entirely different.
Rosie moved toward the corpses of the three mercenaries, her shield raised. She crouched down, quickly unbuckled their backpacks, stuffed the two intact ones into the dwarf's hands, and slung the last one over her own shoulders.
Then, raising her scorpion shield, she charged out of the corridor and into the weapons hall, with the dwarf hot on her heels.
Chaos had already broken out in the hall.
The torches in the hands of the Count's soldiers flickered wildly, their dancing light illuminating the silhouettes of several metal spiders. Their eight slender metal legs tapped rapidly against the stone floor.
A red beam flashed from the crystal head of one metal spider, striking a metal shield. The shield turned red-hot instantly. The soldier holding it screamed in pain and threw it aside.
The metal spider leaped forward, its metallic claws repeatedly piercing his body. The soldier let out a series of agonizing shrieks before quickly falling silent.
The other soldiers of the Count were forming a shield wall to resist.
But the metal spiders were incredibly agile. It was difficult to hit them with melee weapons, and even when a blow landed, it only struck sparks. Crossbow bolts couldn't even scratch their outer plating.
“Use the alchemical bombs!” someone shouted.
A few seconds later, an explosion went off, sending fire and debris flying. Finally, one of the metal spiders was blown to pieces.
However, the remaining spiders fired their red beams once more.
One by one, the shields forming the wall turned red-hot, forcing the soldiers to discard them.
“Retreat! Retreat immediately!” John's voice rang out in the darkness.
Rosie ignored them, moving swiftly through the darkness by relying on her memory of the way in.
The dwarf followed closely behind, whispering directions from time to time: “Go left... there's a display case on the right, hug the wall...”
His darkvision proved to be the best guide at this moment.
Sizzle! With a soft hiss, a red beam struck the scorpion shield.
Rosie felt a wave of heat transfer through the shield and into her arm. The scorpion shell seemed to have some degree of resistance to the beam, but the temperature was still rising rapidly.
Charging toward the source of the red light, she slammed her scorpion shield forward, sending the metal spider flying.
Rosie didn't give chase, continuing her mad dash toward the exit.
At the same time, the Count's soldiers were also fleeing outward.
But the commotion was too loud. It wasn't just the metal spiders in the exhibition hall that had been awakened; those on the other floors had been disturbed as well.
More metal spiders were crawling out of the cracks opening in the walls.
From time to time, soldiers shrieked as they were burned by the rays, while others were tackled by multiple metal spiders and stabbed to death by their razor-sharp metal legs.
Rosie sprinted with all her might.
The scorpion shield took several more hits from the rays. Portions of its surface had begun to turn red, radiating a terrifying heat that burned through the simple bark strap she had tied to it.
She simply threw the strap away and gripped the edge of the shield directly with her hands. Even as a searing pain of burns flared in her palms and the faint smell of roasting flesh drifted up, she refused to let go.
Reaching the stairs, she sprinted upward.
Fortunately, the flights of stairs were connected; she only needed to round the turns and keep climbing.
As she burst out of the stairwell, a glimmer of light finally appeared ahead—it was the glow of the crystals outside.
At this point, the scorpion shield finally reached its limit.
The center of the shield began to soften and glow red.
Without hesitation, Rosie hurled the shield forward, knocking over a metal spider that blocked her path.
She dashed past the overturned spider. The dwarf, his short legs moving so fast they left afterimages, followed close behind. One tall and one short, they burst through the main doors one after the other.
The metal spiders chasing them stopped at the entrance.
The crystals on their heads flickered a few times, and then they all retreated.
It was as if an invisible boundary existed outside the doors, preventing them from advancing any further.
Rosie ran another dozen meters before turning to see the spiders pulling back, and immediately stopped.
Panting for breath, she looked down at her left hand. Her glove had been burned through, and her palm seemed to be emitting a faint scent of cooked meat.
“O shining Holy Light! Answer my call and bestow your power upon me!”
“Holy Light!”
A golden light materialized out of thin air, enveloping her body. Her severely burned palm and fingers healed rapidly within the golden glow.
As the light faded, she clenched her fist. It still stung slightly, but she had fully recovered.
“Siss! Can you give me one of those too?” the dwarf's voice came from behind.
Rosie turned around.
The dwarf had taken a hit to his lower back. His waterskin had a hole burned through it, and a large patch of his leather armor was charred, revealing a shocking burn wound beneath.
“Holy Light!”
Rosie cast Holy Light on the dwarf.
The golden light enveloped his body, soothing the burn away. The dwarf let out a long sigh of relief.
“Thanks, Rosie girl.”
“You're welcome.”
Rosie gripped her meteoric iron sword tightly once more and went to stand guard by the entrance of the ruins.
Watching her, the dwarf asked in confusion, “What are you doing?”
“Playing goalkeeper, of course,” Rosie said.
Even as she spoke, a soldier of the Count burst out from the doorway. He was covered in blood, his eyes wide with sheer terror. He had clearly fought with everything he had to escape the metal spiders.
But before he could even register his surroundings, Rosie lunged forward and drove her sword straight through his throat.
Grabbing his corpse with her left hand, she hurled it back inside the doors.
The momentum carried the corpse back, crashing into a second figure rushing out. They tumbled back inside together, just as a red beam shot out and struck the second figure squarely in the head.
A horrific shriek had barely begun before the man's eyeballs exploded, cutting his scream short.
At the same time, another figure agilely sidestepped the two corpses and dashed out of the entrance.
But in the next second, Rosie was already blocking his path.
“Knight John, we meet again.”
She raised the meteoric iron sword in her hand.
“What was it you said earlier? Who is the one with only death awaiting them?”
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