"...it’s here!"

It was yet another hall. Though this time, it was rather muted, though still grand and elegant in its sheer scale and simplicity.

They exited the large tunnel of runes and sparkling shallow water to enter a hall floored with bronze steel, faintly edged by hues of dark gold.

Tall pillars of gold rose from the ground to hold the tall ceilings of mashed-up granular white crystals that hung overhead, stalactites of azure menacingly hanging from it.

In the depths of the hall, there was a gate. It was a large and looming structure of black steel, as ancient as it seemed impenetrable.

’....woah...’

Perhaps to call the hall unassuming and muted would be a massive understatement to most in the face of its grand lavishness, but compared to the void layer and omega floor they’d just come from, it seemed rather simple.

At least here, there were no enemies.

"Be careful." Korynth practically whispered, her robes torn and soaked in blood and sweat, deep gashes torn across her once fair skin.

Her long, wet white hair stuck to her neck like glue, and her golden eyes glowed with a faint light of exhaustion. Still, she stood strong.

"Of what?" Samael asked.

In all truth, the more they advanced, the more confused he got. Beyond the fact that the prisons of the Guardians were almost too sophisticated, he found it all to be too exaggerated.

To seal his brother in one of the dimensional prisons would’ve already been shocking to him. After all, his brother wasn’t such a criminal that this was required.

He’d originally expected it to be a regular prison with normal cells they’d have to wade through.

But they had gone through the void layer of dimensional prisons, only to descend into the omega floors with all the sealed wooden entry passages, only to descend deeper and get here—to a floor that, assumingly, was even more secure.

Just what had his brother done to be held here?

"The place has no guards because..." Korynth’s gaze narrowed. "...the entire place is a living formation made by the greatest magus of the royal guardian family."

"If you step any closer and you don’t have any royal blood, the entire hall will hone in on you. Or, in other words, you die."

"Even if we make it past the hall, we can’t open the gate without royal blood."

Samael frowned. "How does that make any sense? So does that mean that only those of the royal family can man this place?"

"How is that efficient? How would any of them have time to do this? And since this is a prison, what would even be the point? It just sounds needlessly tedious."

Korynth threw him a glance, then shook her head. "You do not understand the depths of the royal families."

"Nor can you fathom the sheer madness of their enemies. Such places are needed to contain them and prevent betrayal."

Samael’s frown turned to a scowl. "What does any of this have to do with my brother? Why is he here?!"

Korynth looked at him again, then looked away, her lips remaining sealed. Her meaning was clear.

Samael’s gaze darkened, but he rapidly cooled down and exhaled. "Alright. So how do we get there?"

"Surely there’s a way."

Korynth nodded, then flipped a palm over to reveal the thick tome and clear glass tube, containing a golden droplet of blood, that Kael had given her.

"There is." She turned to him. "Go ahead."

She handed him the tome and tube. "You can do it."

"...?" Samael took the materials, then looked at her in pure confusion. "What? Do what?"

Korynth met his gaze. "Uriel is a mage, isn’t he? Aren’t you his disciple of sorts? I watched you guys train."

"I don’t expect you to be as great as he is, but—"

She pointed at the chains wrapped around her heart and limbs.

"—if he can do this to me, somehow while being half dead, then I’m confident you should be able to make use of this. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have asked Kael for this."

"I trust you." She said as she patted his shoulder.

"..." Samael’s mouth hung open.

She...trusted him?

"W-what?! When did I say I was his disciple? I don’t know a thing about magic or runes or anything, actually!"

Korynth’s eyes widened. "But—"

"And what do you mean you asked for this?" Samael interrupted her. "I don’t believe for a second your plan was to free my brother this entire time. Do you take me for—"

Korynth grabbed his shoulders tight, her eyes wide as her sheer aura cut his words short.

"No...please tell me this is a farce of sorts?"

Fury rose in Samael’s heart. "Why would you base your entire plan off of something you cannot confirm or even have a positive probability on?!"

"Even if I was his disciple, he was only awake for a bit more than a week. What the hell could I have learned in that span of time?"

Korynth’s face twisted awkwardly, just the slightest bit. "I...I thought you were a fast learner."

"..."

’I’m going to kill her.’ Samael could not believe his ears.

He crouched down on the balls of his feet and closed his eyes, burying his head in his knees as he took a deep breath in and simply held it there.

Perhaps he’d grown too accustomed to Uriel’s craftiness and expected Korynth to suddenly say she had a solution, but deep down, he knew it wasn’t coming.

If the solution didn’t come from him, there would be none.

And the longer he took, the more chances Uriel had to die, the more chances the higher-tier guardians and knights would catch up to them, the more chances his brother would remain imprisoned, and the more chances the spire would escape their grasp.

Uriel had distracted Kael and opened a path for them.

Korynth had taken the lead and led him all the way down here.

Now, it was his turn to bear the weight of their lives.

’I can do this.’