Master Of Chains-Chapter 14: Infernal Crucible

Louis staggered through the frozen tunnels, his breath rasing in ragged clouds. He pressed on, until finally, he reached the other end. Two figures huddled ahead in the mist.

"Natalia!" he gasped, "Connor!"

"Louis!" Natalia exclaimed, rushing to him. "Where the hell have you been?"

Connor, slumped against the wall, exhausted. "Nice of you to show up."

"I got trapped," Louis panted, still catching his breath.

"We almost froze waiting for your ass," Connor grumbled.

Natalia cut him off. "Connor, stop. We need to stick together."

Connor sighed, pushing himself upright. "Let's just find that damn scroll."

Together, they moved forward through the groaning maze until they reached a circular chamber.

In its center, a scroll sealed in crystal, hovered above an icy pedestal. Strange symbols were designed around the pedestal and the chamber walls.

Natalia stepped closer, her eyes narrowed. "It's a scroll to the next phase."

Connor limped after her. "Let's grab it and go."

But Louis grabbed his arm. "Wait. Look at the runes. And those Images on the floor. It's a trap."

Natalia crouched, tracing the symbols with her gloved finger. "It's a puzzle. If we step on the wrong tiles, we're done for."

She stood, glancing upward at the faint cracks in the ceiling. "There could be more than one trap."

Louis examined the tiles. "They're symbolic. Each one has a meaning."

Connor frowned, kneeling beside him. "Alright. Let's think fast. We've got maybe ten minutes left."

Natalia spotted some words engraved on the frozen wall, standing out like a monument.

"Hey, check this out," she called.

As anchor goes for ship. 

As rose goes for thorn. 

As flame goes for moth. 

As wolf goes for moon.

"It's a riddle." Louis said. "Each pair—anchor and ship, rose and thorn, flame and moth, wolf and moon—they're connected."

Natalia nodded, scanning the symbols on the tiles. "Maybe we have to step on the symbols that match each pair."

Connor pointed. "There—an anchor, a rose, a flame, a wolf."

Louis looked again, noticing the corresponding symbols: a ship, a thorn, a moth, a moon.

"Maybe it's a sequence," Natalia mused. "First anchor, then ship. Rose, then thorn. Flame, then moth. Wolf, then moon."

Connor pressed his fingers to his forehead. "Or maybe together? Like, two people need to step on each pair at the same time?"

Natalia hesitated, glancing at the ceiling. "We should test it. Louis, you take anchor. I'll go for ship."

They exchanged a nervous glance, then stepped onto the tiles in unison. The chamber rumbled, and for a moment, nothing happened—then the runes around the pedestal glowed faintly.

"It worked," Louis breathed.

Connor grinned, his voice trembling. "Okay. Next: rose and thorn."

Working together, they repeated the process—pair by pair, step by step, until all the runes blazed with light.

The crystal above the pedestal shimmered and began to lower.

Louis exhaled in relief. "It's working. Just a few more."

They continued, holding their breath with every move, until they reached the pedestal. The crystal cracked and fell away, revealing the scroll.

Natalia snatched it up, and the chamber rumbled.

"Go!" she yelled.

They sprinted back the way they came, the ceiling beginning to collapse, but they escaped before the chamber fully caved in.

"Ow! That was close," Connor panted.

Natalia let out a shaky laugh. "We did it."

Suddenly, a screen flickered in the sky:

[Congratulations. Your team has secured a Data Scroll.] 

[Phase Two Complete. Preparing transition to Final Environment...] 

[Transporting...]

A swirling portal burst open, sucking them in with a roaring wind.

They tumbled, landed hard in a sprawling, hellish chamber.

Louis jolted up from the ground, coughing from the sudden heat. He looked up—and froze.

A river of molten lava almost covered a carven, wide as a highway, it's surface dotted with unstable, floating boulders. Above them, deadly massive blades swung on chains, slicing the air.

Another screen blazed to life above them:

[Welcome to Environment Three: The Infernal Crucible.]

[Objective: Cross the Lava Chamber and retrieve scrolls from the central altar.]

[Warning]

[Only three scrolls remain. Only three teams may claim victory.]

[Cooperation and timing are essential. Failure to proceed quickly will result in elimination by rising lava.]

"You've got to be kidding me." Connor groaned, scrambling to his feet.

Natalia's gaze swept the chamber. "There's a safe zone on the far side. But the lava's rising."

Already, the edge of the river crept toward their boots, sending up hissing plumes of steam.

Louis pointed. "Those boulders are the only way across. But those blades—"

They all stared up at the massive blades.

"They want us to hop across like frogs?!" Connor exclaimed."We'll be chopped to pieces!"

A new kind of symbol glowed on the closest boulder — familiar images, scrambled and shifting.

"It's another puzzle." Nathalia said."We can't just jump... there's a sequence."

As Louis stared at boulders, his core screen flickered with data:

[ELEMENTAL ORDER: Earth, Fire, Water, Ice] 

[PATTERN: Fire melts Ice, Water shapes Earth, Earth contains Fire.] 

[BLADE PATTERN: 3-2-1, 2-3-1, 1-2-3]

Louis's eyes narrowed as he studied the shifting images and the swinging blades overhead.

"It's a test of timing and logic." he called out. "The boulders follow the elemental sequence, and the blades swing in repeating patterns."

Connor swallowed."So we have to step on the right boulder at the right time, according to the order?"

Natalia nodded. "And with the lava rasing, we don't have long."

Louis took a deep breath, focusing on the first boulder glowing with earth symbol.

"We start with Earth. Jump when the third blade's at it's peak."

Natalia and Connor nodded tensely, lining up behind him. The blades swung in their relentless rhythm:

Three. Two. One.

"Now!" Louis shouted.

They leapt, landing on the first boulder as the blade whistled just inches away

They advanced, step by step, following the elemental logic and blade sequence.

The heat intensified, Each jump was a gamble.

Midway, Natalia slipped on a slick stone. Louis lunged, grabbing her wrist and hauling her up just as a blade whistled past overhead.

"Careful!" he shouted.

She grinned, breathless. "Thanks."

They pressed on, the pattern growing more complex. The boulders began to sink with each landing, forcing them to keep moving.

Finally, with a last desperate leap, they crashed onto the far ledge, rolling away from the edge just as the last boulder sank beneath the lava.

For a moment, they lay in silence.

Connor sat up."I am never... doing his again."

Louis pulled himself to his feet. "We made it. But look—"

Ahead, another chamber. Statues lined the walls: warriors, beasts, kings—all staring inward. At the center, on a stone platform, rested three glowing scrolls.

Natalia stepped forward, but Louis held her back. "Wait. Something's wrong."

From the shadows, Oliver and his team emerged, blocking the path.

"Oliver," Louis muttered.

Oliver's grin was wolfish, his eyes cold. "Hero, lady and gentleman. Looks like we've got ourselves a little reunion."

"Didn't expect to see you so soon, jerk," Connor spat.

Oliver cracked his knuckles. "You guys never learn, do you? Always rushing into traps. But this time, I'm here to make sure you all fail—personally."