Doomsday Pillars

As soon as he saw Cerri’a gesture to him, Heinrich walked forwards with a face full of expectation, fervor and ador. For him, for someone who dedicated most of his life searching for the truth, this was like a dream came true, one he didn’t mind repeating all over.

Step by step, second by second, Heinrich slowly made his way towards the object of legend, something that existed in history, but was lost within passage of time. The moment he reached the Ark, one meter away from this legendary artifact, Heinrich immediately dropped to his knees.

While kneeling and showing utmost reverence to the Ark, Heinrich glanced at the mysterious girl. The gait he showed looked like he was asking for permission. Seeing that, Cerri nodded her head, which earned her a joyful look from the man.

Slowly raising up from his kneeling position, Heinrich gave the Ark a bow before he turned around. He then called upon 4 of his men with a gesture of his hand. Immediately after, the summoned fighters approached Heinrich. He then ordered his men to stand at the four corners of the Ark. The fighters then grabbed the four corners of the wooden cover and slowly lifted it up.

The ornamented cover was slowly separated from its main part; as it was being lifted, a lustrous light could be seen seeping through the gaps, attracting the attention of everyone in the hall. When the Ark was finally shown, the previously mellow light instantly turned into a bright piercing light. It then swiftly encompassed the entire hall.

In an instant, the four people, who were the closest to the Ark, began howling loudly, as their bodies started melting. The sound they released indicated they were in an excruciating pain. Moments later, what was left of them were only piles of goey and blackened bone.

Heinrich himself, who stood not far from the Ark, was also screaming in pain. When the light receded, Alex could only see the figure of standing Heinrich slowly fell down. His knees hit the ground and strangely stopped there, causing him to kneel in front of the Ark.

The sudden incident made the others, who watched the entire sequence dumbfounded. Thanks to that, they also didn’t realize there were two large figures approaching the entrance of the ziggurat. If Alex turned around and looked at the entrance, he would definitely be extremely shocked. The two figures were the Sphinx and the Basilisk.

At that moment, Cerri turned around, her body faced towards the group and said, "Kill them all."

The moment Cerri’s mouth pronounced the word kill, Alex immediately pulled Tiffany into his arms, keeping her close to him. He also drew and held Stroke in tight grip, while swiftly taking his fighting stance. He was ready to fight.

Alex then eyed the surroundings and finally noticed the new arrivals at the entrance of the hall. Looking at the two monstrous figures, a grave expression appeared on his face.

Even one of those legendary beasts would be able to kill them all with ease. Now, there were even two of them standing there, eyeing them with gazes that couldn’t possibly screamed more hostility. As if it wasn’t enough, the beasts had guarded and blocked the entrance with their massive build.

Realizing the predicament they were in, Ardeth immediately rushed towards Alex and stood next to him, hoping he could help them escape.

The already precarious situation turned even more precarious, when the two statues that stood silently beside the coffin suddenly moved. The abrupt movement startled and terrified Alex and the others. Starting from their hands and then heads, before finally their feet. The statues quickly woken up from their who-know-how-long slumber.

Between the slithering and hissing snake, the ferocious flying beast and the two standing giant statues; Alex didn’t even want to pick one of them. Heck, if they were released into the world, Alex believed continents would be razed to the ground within a week. With this stellar line-up, they could easily butchered everything coming their way. They didn’t even need to cooperate with each other!

Fortunately for Alex, none of them seemed keen on closing on him, Tiffany, or Ardeth. The legendary creatures were just massacring the two dozen or so Iron Eagle squad fighters, while completely ignoring the existence of the three people, acting as if they didn’t exist.

Alex clearly saw Hanz was fighting to the best of his ability, only to be torn apart by the Sphinx’s sharp paws. On the other hand, all the other fighters were either being slammed to the ground, crushed into paste, or immediately entered the creatures’ belly.

Shots were fired, spells were casted, weapons clashed, but these Sky realm veteran fighters, who shouldn’t be less powerful than Alex’s special force, were unable to do anything against the legendary creatures. What Alex was currently seeing was only a futile struggle, something that appeared when one would end up with death.

One by one, Heinrich’s men were perishing under the hands of the creatures. Only Heinrich, who was still on his knee unmoving, waiting for the fate stored for him. Alex could clearly see that even at the last moment, the middle aged man was still showing a smile of satisfaction before a laser-like energy beam pierced his half-blackened body, killing him for good. In the distance, Alex saw the statue with the dog head was the one who did the deed.

In less than three minutes, two dozens of Sky realm fighters were all massacred. At the moment, the hall’s floor was littered by blood and countless body parts scattered around. On the other hand, Alex was still positioning himself close to the wall, while closing Tiffany’s eyes with his other idle hand, not letting her see the bloodbath scene before them. Beside him, Ardeth was seen with his massive ax brandished.

For a split second, Alex wondered if this was the reason that in his previous life, he never heard the Ahnenerbe organization’s involvement in the fight against the apocalypse. They probably met the same fate as right now.

When all was finally over, Cerri walked towards Alex, "Those people deserve to die."

While Cerri’s words travelled through the air, the four creatures were all slowly moving towards the end of the hall, before creating a line in front of the Ark and the mysterious coffin.

"Who.. no. what are you?" asked Alex while still keeping his vigilance on the highest level.

"We are the followers of the once great man." said Cerri as her gaze landed at the coffin. The expression on her face showed that she was reminiscing in memory.

Upon hearing the vague answer, Alex decided to change his approach. "Is your master the one in the coffin? Who is he exactly?"

"I believe you deserve to hear our story, Alex."

Although Cerri was saying his name, she was actually staring straight at Tiffany as she said the words.

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Written and Directed by Avans, Published by W.e.b.n.o.v.e.l,

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