Shortly after they reunited, the knights and the scholars collectively agreed to continue onward. The vast majority of them had been kept away from danger and had plenty of time to recover what little strength they may have lost beforehand, making any further respite pointless. And so, with Laurence and Lady Maria at the helm, they set out once again past the latest gate that had been blocking their path.

No one said a word as they made their way into a grand corridor, which just as all the others before it was devoid of life. But the further they made their way inside, they quickly came to realize that there were no additional paths they could take, which came as something of a surprise. Once this became clear, everyone's eyes settled on a rather ominous looking tunnel just around the corner.

"Well, only one way to go," said Laurence.

"So it would seem." Lady Maria replied before moving ahead of him, her remaining knights quickly following suit.

With their vanguard in front of them, Laurence led his followers towards the tunnel, where they found a stairwell that took them downwards. The walls around them were overgrown with roots, which spread from the ceiling all the way down along the walls. Yet despite this decay, there was a sense of grandeur - and even more so, finality – as they made their way down. And if the preceding temple was any indication, Laurence believed that they had just stumbled across something truly extraordinary.

At the end of the stairwell, they found yet another stone gate, only this one seemed…bigger than the ones that came before, with carvings of various hooded figures being etched into it. Seemingly taking note of this herself, Maria made her way over to it, with the rest of them staying silent as they watched her cautiously approach it. First, she put her ear to it in order to listen inside and after this, she started to slowly push one of its doors, opening it just enough so she could peer inside.

"What?", Laurence heard her whisper to herself, seemingly in disbelief.

"My lady?", he said just loudly enough to get her attention, which prompted her to turn back to them.

"There's…there's nothing in there.", she revealed, causing something of a stunned silence to settle over the group.

"What do you mean there's nothing in there?" Micolash stepped up and asked.

"I mean that it's completely devoid of life. There's nothing standing guard." Lady Maria sounded genuinely shocked by this, which made Laurence rather curious.

"And do you mean to say there's something in there worth guarding?"

Lady Maria did not answer his question. Instead, she simply stood in silence, appearing to be struggling to even maintain eye contact with him. But in doing so, she gave him the clearest answer he could've asked for.

"Open the gate, Lady Maria," he asked – no, demanded of her.

"I cann…" "Open it. Now." Laurence interrupted her, taking a step forward as he did.

Lady Maria's men tensed up, some of them even grasping the handles of their weapons, but this didn't deter Laurence, who continued to stare her down. Eventually, she waved her hand in order to get her men to stand down and turned back towards the gate in order to push it the rest of the way open, not saying a word the entire time.

Once she was finished, Laurence walked over to her, making his way right past her as she stood at the entrance, much to her shock. "What do you think you're…" she started to say, but he merely put a hand up to silence her, which surprisingly seemed to work. But truth be told, he had hardly heard what she had said, being far too fixated on his new surroundings.

He stood at the tip of a vast, circular area, somewhat resembling a coliseum. Several enormous chandeliers hung from the ceiling far above and countless statues of hooded figures, all holding lanterns, lined the walls, illuminating the vast open area. And at the center of it all, a large structure stood amidst the blowing sand, the only major landmark amidst the otherwise empty room.

"This…this can't be it, can it? Surely, we must've missed something." Laurence heard Micolash say as he himself entered, followed closely by the rest of the scholars.

"We didn't," said Caryll. "But this room…it holds significance. Great significance."

Laurence turned back towards her, finding that she once again seemed to be in that state of lucid delirium he had been in during their time in the shrine. "How, Caryll? Significant, how?" he asked her with some haste, worrying that it could fade at any moment. At first, Caryll didn't reply, but she soon pointed a figure towards the center of the room – towards the monument.

"It has been blessed."

Suddenly, Laurence could hear that strange voice in his head again and more clearly than ever. Almost subconsciously, he started to make his way towards the monument, with the voice becoming clearer and clearer the closer he got. Soon, he could see something resting upon it; an old, pot-like chalice, with tendrils of white mist rising from within it. And as he finally came to stand over it, he peered to see what it contained.

Blood.

But rather than being repulsed by this gruesome sight, Laurence found himself drawn to it like a moth to flame. Because somehow, he knew that this wasn't any ordinary blood. And so, he slowly reached for it with his hand, an almost unstoppable temptation taking hold of him…only for something to grab him by the wrist.

The professor's eyes darted to his left, finding Lady Maria glaring at him. Somehow, he hadn't even heard her approach. "That's far enough, professor. Step away from the altar.", she commanded, her voice as firm as her grip on his wrist.

Several tense seconds went by and still, she did not let go of him. Once it became clear that she wasn't going to relent, Laurence slightly backed away, after which she finally released her hold on him and took his place before the altar. Once she peered inside, her eyes did not leave it and even from his position behind her, even after she should've been sure what it was she had found.

"At last. We have found it…" said Lady Maria, a sense of triumph in her words.

"And just what is it we've 'found', exactly?" Laurence asked, finally drawing her eyes away from the blood.

"That is no concern of yours.", she said in a dismissive tone. "Oh, but it is." Laurence quickly replied, crossing his arms as he did.

"Not anymore." Lady Maria then stood to her full height, turning fully towards him. "This expedition is over. We're leaving."

There was a clear sense of force behind her words, which was amplified further by her demeanor and the glare she cast down at him. But even so, Laurence was not swayed and kept his eyes focused squarely on hers.

"No, not just yet."

Somewhere off to the side, Gehrman started to approach him. "Master Laurence, let's not…" he started to say, only to fall silent at a mere raise of his hand.

"First, you need to explain yourself. What is that supposed to be?" Rather than answering his question, Lady Maria took another step towards him, maintaining her cold glare as she towered over him.

"Do not…test me.", she warned, her voice low and threatening.

Before things could escalate further, there was a sudden loud crash somewhere in the distance, causing everyone present to turn towards the source. Mere seconds later another crash shook the room, this time being powerful enough to shake the entire room, causing earth and a few small chunks of rubble to fall from the ceiling.

"Was that an earthquake?" Micolash asked.

"No," said Gehrman. "Something much worse."

What followed was several more violent crashes, each one coming in quicker succession than the last. Turning away from Laurence, Lady Maria drew her weapons and stood at the ready, prompting her men to do the same. And then, for a moment, the crashes seemed to cease, only for a part of the wall to burst open, causing bricks to fly and the surrounding pillars to crumble.

As scholar and knight alike looked on in unease, sparks of blue light could be seen behind the cloud of dust that formed around the collapsed wall. Then, a beastly palm grasped the edge of the hole, just as a pair of blood-red, glowing eyes became visible in the darkness.

"Matthias, get a sample." Lady Maria ordered, much to the knight's shock.

"But…" "DO IT!", she yelled, turning away from the scene for only a moment. Without another argument, Matthias ran towards the altar, leaving his comrades to prepare for the incoming threat. Horror gripped Laurence as an enormous, bipedal beast started to enter the room, breaking away even more of the wall in order to fit through the hole it had made.

And the moment it was free, it charged.

"Hold it back!" Lady Maria called out just before she and the rest of her men rushed to meet the beast head on. Once it looked like they were close enough, it swiped at them with its enormous claws, which would've surely cut them all too pieces had they not split their line in two, leaving it to cut at empty air.

"Now! Attack!" The knights then moved to encircle the beast, focusing their efforts on the beast's limbs and undefended back. Yet despite the onslaught it faced, it hardly seemed phased by their attacks and angrily swung its fist to the side, forcing a few of them back. Not even a second later, the beast chased after them and assaulted them with a series of violent punches, which thankfully missed and instead only connected the ground in front of it. However, each blow shook the Earth beneath its feet, to the point where even Laurence – who stood several feet away – found himself stumbling as a result.

"Laurence, what do we do?" Norbert soon asked, finally drawing his attention away from the battle unfolding in front of them. His gaze then darted from his colleagues, then back to the rampaging beast and finally, towards the altar, where Matthias was still attempting to retrieve a sample of the strange blood.

It was clear that Lady Maria wasn't trying to protect them, but rather to buy him enough time to finish with his task. What about it could've possibly made them willing to risk their lives simply to retrieve a few measly drops? But now wasn't the time to be asking such questions.

"Run! RUN!" he shouted to his fellow scholars, herding them all back towards the exit. The ground continued to shake as they fled, but even so, Laurence stayed beside the door and hurried everyone along in order to ensure they escaped. Soon, only he and Gehrman were left, who suddenly stopped just a few steps away from the door and turned towards where Lady Maria and her knights were still fighting for their lives.

"Gehrman, come on! It's time to go!" he called out to him, which finally seemed to snap him out of it. Once the older scholar was safely through, Laurence moved to follow after him.

"I have it!" Matthias suddenly cried, causing the professor to stop and look back to see him holding a vial in his hands. Just as he did, the beast finally took notice of the young knight and broke away from his comrades, charging directly towards him.

It cleared the distance between shockingly quickly, with Matthias only having a split second to react and move out of the way before the beast swung its fist at him. Thankfully, it missed him and instead only managed to hit the altar, which it destroyed the moment its fist made contact with it. As it crumpled into rubble, the chalice fell from its resting place, causing the blood to spill out onto the floor; surprisingly, it itself remained intact.

Still eyeing Matthias, the beast snarled and prepared to attack again, leaving him to draw his sword with his free hand.

"NO!"

The creature suddenly roared in pain, raising its head up high just before Lady Maria's arm wrapped around its neck. Sharply pulling her dagger out of the beast's hide – having used it to give herself the momentum to climb up – she held on for dear life, trying her best to steer it away from Matthias.

"ALL OF YOU, RUN! NOW!", she cried out to her men, who all seemed too stunned to act.

"What?!" Matthias said in shock.

"JUST GO! THAT'S AN ORDER!"

Even with this, Lady Maria's men continued to watch as their captain struggled with the beast, attempting to drive her dagger into its head or neck as it tried to either shake her off or grab her, both of which constantly caused her to miss her mark. In particular, Laurence noticed Matthias clenching his fists, struggling to choose a course of action.

"Follow me! Quick!", he eventually called to his comrades, who themselves broke out of their frozen state and started running towards the exit. Rather than running himself, Laurence remained where he was and urged them along, knowing that if he didn't, they were likely to turn right back around.

Once the last of the knights was through the doorway, Laurence prepared to follow them…just as the beast roared to the heavens. He looked back just in time to see Lady Maria rolling across the floor, soon managing to get herself in a crouching position as her eyes snapped back to her foe, who didn't spare a second in chasing after her again. But unlike before, its fur now crackled with lightning and its fury seemed all the more pronounced.

As he watched Lady Maria struggle to evade her adversary, Laurence prepared to call out to her – to tell her to retreat. But before a word could get past his lips, she looked in his direction, causing them to catch in his throat. In the handful of seconds their eyes met, he saw regret, resolve and finally, resignation.

And when she looked away from him in order to continue evading her beastly adversary, he realized she had no intention of leaving.

Fighting back his own reluctance, Laurence finally fled the room, going up the staircase and back through the hallway. Very soon, he was approaching the lift that brought them there, finding Matthias, as well as Gehrman and Micolash waiting for him.

"Master Laurence!" Gehrman called as he got closer. "Oh, thank heavens. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine,'' he replied. "Where are the others?"

"We sent them ahead," said Micolash. "We were just waiting for you and..."

Once they saw that Laurence was alone, the corridor fell silent. Soon, Matthias took a step towards him, a confused look on his face. "Lady Maria…where is she?", he asked.

Laurence hesitated, despite knowing that whatever he told him would elicit the same reaction. Before he could properly answer, however, he heard the sound of shifting chains, looking over just in time to see the lift come to a stop just in front of them.

"That's our cue to leave," said Micolash. "Come on!"

Just as the four of them started to make their way towards the lift, a tremor ran through the ground, causing Laurence to catch himself on a nearby wall to avoid falling over. It had felt like the very foundations of the labyrinth were being shaken, but thankfully, it hadn't been powerful enough to dislodge the lift. Not yet, anyway.

"We need to get out of here. Before the whole damn place comes down on us." Laurence said, continuing towards the lift while he still could.

Very soon, he noticed that Matthias hadn't followed them and was instead looking back the way they came. "Maria…" he uttered in horror.

"We're running out of time! Hurry!" Laurence called to him, drawing his attention back to them. After a moment of hesitation, he joined them on the lift, allowing them to descend upwards with the push of a button. One nerve-racking ride later, where they were likely to have been sent plummeting into the depths at any moment, they ran through the room in which the poisonous beast's corpse still lay and into the following hallway…where they found the rest of the knights looking back with terrified expressions.

"What're you doing? Go!" Laurence said to them, but it was no use. They remained frozen in place, their eyes wide in worry.

"Wait," said Gehrman. "Wait, what's happened to your captain?"

"She…she stayed behind.", answered Robert.

"She did what?!" Before anyone could reply to Gehrman, the ground beneath them shook once again, somehow even more powerful than before. This could've meant one of two things; Lady Maria was still alive or the beast was now continuing its rampage. Neither possibility boded well.

"What do we do?" asked Leon. "She'll die if we leave her."

"She won't." Everyone's attention suddenly turned to Matthias, who was looking down at the vial he had collected. Soon after, he raised his head and looked towards his comrades, tightly gripping the vial as he did.

"Because we won't."

Laurence immediately deduced what Matthias was planning. "Oh, no," he said. "You heard what Lady Maria said. You…"

"I know…what she said!", the knight snapped back.

"Then you know she wouldn't want you to get yourselves killed. And if you go back now, that is exactly what will happen."

Despite Laurence's attempts to reason with him, Matthias's determination didn't seem to falter. With an almost disturbing calmness, the young knight walked over to him and took his hand before forcefully placing the vial of blood he had been carrying in his palm.

"Then so be it."

Laurence looked on in stunned silence as Matthias let go of his hand and turned away from him, his eyes focused squarely on the path they had just taken. After a few seconds, he drew his blade and looked back at his comrades, a fierce determination dancing in his eyes.

"To the captain!"

The rest of the knights soon drew their blades. "TO THE CAPTAIN!" they all cried, charging down the corridor and back towards the lift. Laurence continued to stare in their direction far after they disappeared around the corner and when their battle cry became distant, after which he looked down at the vial that now rested in his hands.

The very thing that they had come here to retrieve and he had just given it away. Just like that.

"Fools." Micolash said from behind him.

"Fools is correct," Gehrman replied. "The foe they face is beyond any of them."

Much to Laurence's shock, he suddenly walked past him. "Gehrman?", he said, but the older scholar didn't stop, causing him to start following him. "Gehrman, where are you going?!"

"The same place as them, Master Laurence. And for the same reason.", he finally replied. "Do not follow me."

"Are you insane? You said it yourself; they have no hope of defeating that thing! What makes you…"

As Laurence spoke, Gehrman started to reach into the bag on his back. Then, in the blink of an eye, he pulled out an enormous curved blade, which he held off to the side as Laurence and Micolash looked on in shocked silence. A few seconds later, he turned his head back to look at them, his eyes hidden beneath the brims of his hat.

"Trust me. I won't be long."

...