The Gamer's POV-Chapter 192: Home of the Hollow Ones [8]

Cedric and the other vanguards who had killed their targets immediately crossed the plaza for the temple. The temple itself was massive, almost as if it had been built by giants, and the entrance was no different.

Upon getting into the temple, they were greeted by a vast chamber with towering stone pillars that stretched upward into the shadows of the ceiling. The entire space was illuminated by flickering braziers that hung from iron chains attached to the pillars, casting long, distorted shadows across the floor.

They couldn’t find anyone still alive, meaning everyone had already descended the stairs leading down. Their voices and the clashing of weapons could be heard far below. Many bodies of a few cadets who had already fallen lay scattered across the cold floor, alongside a few of the bodies of the hollow ones.

On the walls of the temple, lots of paintings and runes were etched into the stone. But there was a particular object that drew Cedric’s attention.

It was a large, ominous looking eye that was embedded into the wall beside the entrance. The eye kept blinking whenever a vanguard got into the temple, almost as if it was counting.

Normally, no one knew what this eye was, except that it usually appeared in the spot where a red bridge monster was located. If more than a hundred dominants coming to kill the red bridge monster crossed it, it would automatically shut and some kind of invisible barrier would veil the entire area, stopping other dominants and monsters alike from getting in until the red bridge monster was killed.

However, there was a way to activate the barrier even though a party challenging the red bridge monster did not have up to a hundred cadets, and the way to do so was to kill the eye.

This was information everyone knew, and the cadets planned on doing this once everyone got into the temple to avoid other hollow ones following them in. Currently, almost all the vanguards were in the temple, except for two who were still battling against a hollow one.

"Come on, hurry," Roben muttered anxiously after getting into the temple and looking back to see the two remaining vanguards still fighting.

The creature kicked one of the boys to the ground and was about to kill him when the other suddenly stopped the spear with his own, while grunting from the strain.

Without anyone asking him to, Roben, who had already entered the temple, suddenly ran out to help the two guys take down the last monster.

Xavier muttered something to himself for a few seconds, then cursed and also ran out behind Roben.

The reason for the collective anxiety was that everyone could tell that more hollow ones who were nearby and had heard the commotion would definitely come to the plaza. They needed to all get into the temple and seal it as fast as possible.

"How far are they?" Leon asked, looking away from the intense fight in the plaza to Cedric.

Cedric looked at his map, then at him and replied, "There’re fourteen coming. And they are almost here."

Leon clicked his tongue and reached out for his bond. "Uriel, bow, hurry."

Uriel took his hand and immediately changed into a bow in his grip, while a quiver appeared hovering beside Leon. He took out an arrow and aimed at the creature who was gracefully weaving through the attacks of the four cadets. This particular hollow one seemed even more combat adept than the others. It had already fully absorbed the combat techniques and styles of the two earlier cadets and was now mimicking both Xavier and Roben.

Leon pulled the bowstring taut, then muttered frantically to himself.

"Come on, come on, come on."

He had shut one eye and was aiming the other at the tiny hole in the creature’s chest. Of course, what he was attempting was extremely difficult. The target was small, and the creature was moving with a fluidity that made its center of gravity hard to pin down. But then, Leon was the master of arms. And the proud boy had more confidence in his abilities than anyone in both worlds.

He took a deep breath and exhaled, and for a moment, his world seemed to slow. A second ticked by... then another... and then... Leon released the string.

The arrow whistled through the air...

It passed through the side of the first vanguard’s head, then the second boy, after which it passed Roben.

Xavier had just arched backwards to dodge the sweeping arc of the monster.

The arrow flew over Xavier’s stomach at that moment, and then... before the creature could react, the arrow embedded itself in the opening in the creature’s chest.

"Bullseye," Leon muttered as he lowered the bow and tilted his head to check the shot.

The creature staggered back a few steps in disbelief. It let its spear fall to the floor, then it clutched the arrow in its chest and looked towards the direction the shot had come from.

In the next instant, it collapsed to the ground dead.

"Get in!" Alicia yelled to the cadets who had been battling the monster.

At first, they were all stunned in disbelief when they suddenly saw an arrow in its chest. But when they heard Alicia’s voice, they snapped out of it and began running towards the temple.

Not long after they began running, a metallic arrow zipped through the air into one of the cadets’ heads. The impact was so violent that a gaping hole was torn through his skull, and the arrow pinned his body to the ground.

"Fuck!" Xavier yelled as he increased his speed toward the entrance.

Roben and the other vanguard also ran as fast as they could.

In the temple, Leon cursed as he spotted a hollow one on top of a building across the plaza. It held a bow and was now aiming for Xavier, who was the closest to the temple.