Semua Bab The Lone Wolf: Bab 51 - Bab 60

CHAPTER 51They soon appeared on a vast land of nothingness. The desert stretched as far as their eyes could see. They were safe from the terrors of the beguiling forest, but who knew what horror the vast expanse of nothingness had in store for them? Their once large number of fifty warriors had reduced to twenty-five, and they had barely spent one day in the mountain of the gods. The stories of the mountain and what they were experiencing were vastly different. The difference was like heaven and earth. The only place the people who had explored before complained about was the cave of no return. Yet, they had somehow been in perilous situations as soon as they began their journey. The sun beat down relentlessly on the warriors, its merciless rays stretching across the endless sea of sand that had replaced the beguiling forest they had barely escaped. The once dark and foreboding woods had given way to an oppressive, barren desert where the air shimmered with heat, and the horizon se

CHAPTER 53But there was still a lingering question in their minds. Did they win? Was it a mirage? Or a hallucination? They did not have to wait for long before the answer became apparent. Their relief was short-lived as the tension returned to their weary bodies.By now, it felt like the gods were playing tricks on them. No, they were using them for entertainment purposes. The gods were peering down at them from their celestial plane and having a good laugh. Was it weird that they were getting chased by sand? Yes, it was. Was that the worst thing they witnessed? No. Was it the swarming sand locust that multiplied whenever they killed them that made them think so? No, it wasn’t. It was not even the two massive colossus creatures they conquered. The craziest thing that had happened was that their numbers had reduced, and they were not getting killed. No, they were not even getting captured. However, what they witnessed would give them nightmares. They had seen some of their comrades

CHAPTER 55 They had finally made it to the caves. The rest of the warriors, whose flesh was turning to sand, gradually became normal. Being on the sand was turning them into sandmen. The weight of the revelation was heavy and unsettling. How could they escape? It was no wonder the leader of the sandman said they would not leave without a toll. Now that their numbers had further reduced, they did not know what would happen next. The apprehension weighed deeply in their chest. Did they want to know what lay further out there? Cayla had expended a lot of energy and needed the reprieve. She found a corner at the corner of the cave and lay down to rest. The silence was hanging in the air as the remaining survivors replayed the day's happenings. Cayla curled up against the cold, damp stone wall of the cave. Trying to quiet her breath for an unknown period. The echoes of the desert battle still rang in her ears, the roar of the sandstorms, the shrill cries of the dying warriors, the

CHAPTER 57THE CAVE OF GODS: RIDDLE OF PASSAGE The entrance to the Cave of the Gods loomed before the emperor and his group. The air had grown heavy with the scent of damp earth and ancient stone. Ahead was a distant echo of dripping water, a waterfall maybe, that was reverberating through the dark cavern. That should be the location of the herb they came searching for.The cave’s jagged mouth appeared like the gaping mouth of an ancient creature or extinct beast. It was too big to be a creature they knew. But that was to be expected. It was the cave of the gods. The cave entrance did not look like it had been a natural formation etched into the mountainside. However, it seemed like it had been molded and half-hidden by thick vines and moss. But over time, it molded perfectly with the scenery.They would call it beautiful if it did not threateningly loom over them. There was an edgy feeling. Beyond the mouth of the cave lay something eerie and dangerous. No one knew what awaited them

CHAPTER 59Cave of the Gods: Cryptic Symbols.The heavy air inside the cave seemed to press down on Cayla and her group as they ventured deeper into the cavern. They had just finished with the riddles, and a path opened for them. They were curious about what the cave had in store for them. They had only survived the first round.Their footsteps echoed in the silent hallway as they avoided the stalagmites protruding from below the cave. Their steps were the only sound from the water dripping in soft puddles from the stalactites above. Their torches flickered against the cold stone walls, casting long shadows around them that seemed to stretch and move with life. The cave was vast, its chambers filled with various wonders and dangers. It was clear to Cayla that this place had been untouched for millennia, and they wondered how it looked when the gods were in this plane. The statues seemed ancient, each crack and crevice on the stone walls telling a story from a time past. But it wasn’