CHAPTER 94: CAVE GUARDIAN

Shaan could only swallow hard as he saw a massive door standing before him. Its size nearly matched the grand gates he had passed through before, but this one was made entirely of stone. Strange carvings covered its surface—markings Shaan had never seen in his life.

[Shaan, that door might lead us out of this place.]

"I think you’re right, and we should check it out."

However, when Shaan tried to touch the surface of the door, for some unknown reason, he could feel a strange energy around the door that kept pushing him away from it. The harder he tried to open the door, the stronger the strange energy pushed him. What the heck is going on?

[Shaan, what’s wrong?]

"I can’t touch this door at all." Shaan slowly stroked his chin. "It feels like something is constantly blocking me from getting close to this door."

[Strange. In that case, let’s prove whether what you’re saying is true or not.]

Robin Hood picked up a stone the size of his fist and threw it directly at the door. The stone didn’t even touch the surface of the door and bounced off onto the ground. Strangely, where the stone hit, a faint blue light rippled quickly across the entire surface of the door.

[It turns out you are right, Shaan.] Robin Hood nodded his head. [This door is protected with an energy wall.]

"An energy wall?"

[An energy wall is an invisible barrier formed from magical powers. Energy walls function as seals or protection from threats such as dark creatures or certain groups.]

"Okay, but how do we remove this energy barrier now?"

[There are two ways to remove this energy barrier. The first is to destroy it by smashing it until it breaks.]

"No, no, that’s too extreme." Shaan shook his head immediately. "I just don’t want to make things more chaotic. What about the second method?"

[Or the second method is to find something that triggers the appearance of the energy wall. It may be ancient artifacts or objects placed inside this cave.]

"Objects inside this cave?" Shaan looked around the cave. "Strange, but I don’t see anything here except the Manacite crystals filling the entire room."

[The object that triggered the appearance of the energy wall will not be easy to find. It could be hidden behind one of the crystal chunks here, and it must have been done intentionally so that intruders would not be able to easily enter or exit from this place.]

"Yes, you’re right, Robin Hood." Shaan nodded his head. "I think we should circle this place and hope that what you said is true."

They then decided to walk around the room and hope to find the object that triggered the appearance of the energy wall. However, as far as Shaan could see, there was nothing suspicious in the cave.

"Strange, where could the object be—"

[Shaan, look at that!] Robin Hood tapped Shaan on the shoulder, pointing his hand toward one of the piles of Manacite crystals. [I think I see something behind this crystal.]

"Huh?"

[Come on, follow me.]

Shaan then followed Robin Hood’s footsteps until he finally arrived at the location Robin Hood had mentioned. It turned out that what Robin Hood had said was true; there was indeed a hidden torch behind the crystal chunks.

At first glance, there was nothing unusual about the torch. However, the light emitted by the torch was identical to the color of the protective wall covering the surface of the door. Not only that, but upon closer inspection, there was a small lever on the back of the torch that seemed to serve the purpose of turning something on or off.

"Robin Hood, I think there’s something odd about this torch," Shaan said slowly, stroking his chin. "I’ll try moving the torch and see what happens."

Shaan tried to move the torch, but strangely, it wasn’t as easy as he had imagined. The bracket on the wall used to hold it was quite sturdy, so Shaan had to use extra force to lift it.

’Come on, Shaan, just a little more... Just a little more and you’ll be able to...’

"Krk-krak!"

Suddenly, a mysterious vibration filled the entire room, causing all the manacite crystals inside the cave to tremble. Within seconds, the blue energy barrier on the surface of the door faded and slowly disappeared.

"Oh man, what’s going on?"

[Shaan, we did it!] Robin Hood patted Shaan on the shoulder while looking toward the door. [We’ve managed to deactivate this energy barrier, and now we can get out of here.]

"Great, then it’s time for us to leave."

Without waiting any longer, they hurried back toward the door. Shaan touched the door’s surface again to confirm what Robin Hood had said, and indeed, the energy barrier was gone. Good, if this is the case, they can get out of here.

"Finally, now we can get out of—"

Suddenly, Robin Hood reflexively pushed Shaan, causing him to fall to the ground. At the same time, Shaan saw a long spear embedded in the surface of the door, causing his face to tense up.

"Wh-where does that spear come from?"

[Shaan, we have to be careful. There’s something inside. This cave and that figure seem to be intent on killing you.]

Just a few seconds later, the figure attacking Shaan appeared. At first glance, the creature looked very similar to the guard standing in front of the gate, only this one was thinner and taller.

"Oh crap, that must be the guard who—"

The cave guardian rushed forward swiftly, delivering a powerful kick toward Shaan. He instantly used his dual short swords to block the attack before it could hit him.

"Cling!"

"Damn, I never expected this guardian’s movements to be faster than the red-robed guardian."

"Robin Hood, use Phantom Snare and stop this creature’s movements."

[I get it.]

Robin Hood drew his bow and released an arrow toward the creature. However, the guard’s movements were too swift, and he dodged all of Robin Hood’s attacks with remarkable agility.

[Damn, what the-]

The guard’s powerful kick struck Robin Hood’s face, sending him flying. His body crashed into a chunk of manacite crystal, shattering it.

"Robin Hood!"

Seeing that, Shaan immediately launched a counterattack at the guardian that belonged to him. However, the creature managed to block all of Shaan’s attacks and quickly struck his stomach, sending him flying hard.

"Ugh, d-damn it!" Shaan wiped the blood from his mouth. "H-how am I supposed to beat it?"