Javier and his men were on the mountainside, watching the intense battle unfolding in the village below. The confrontation had reached its peak; both sides were suffering heavy losses, with the Middle Eastern military taking the brunt of it.
Deafening gunfire and explosions shook the village's stone houses. Javier observed it all with a serious expression. "You said the ruins were here, but why can't I see anything?" he asked suspiciously.
Before Lin Ye could answer, the ground beneath their feet began to tremble violently. The entire mountain seemed to quake. An earthquake?
Everyone—both on the battlefield and the mountainside—stopped fighting and began to run. Cracks opened, swallowing the earth. Javier's eyes widened as he saw the village collapsing below. Huge craters emerged, swallowing combatants from both sides. In a matter of minutes, the village was consumed by a macabre silence.
"There lie the ruins," Lin Ye pointed out with a somber tone. "I didn't think the fighting would destroy them like this."
Javier frowned as he looked at the massive hole in front of him. A damp, cold, and foul-smelling breeze rose from the depths, sending chills even down the spines of the bravest soldiers. "We're going down to the village. But tell everyone to be careful. We don't know what's down there, and this... doesn't feel right."
Lin Ye simply nodded. He felt the same. After leaving the supply crew behind—taking vehicles would be too dangerous—Javier led his team down a zigzagging trail around the mountain.
Ten minutes later, they arrived at the village ruins. Only traces of battle and scattered bodies remained. No signs of life.
"Looks like everyone was swallowed by the collapse," Lin Ye muttered.
"Get the ropes ready. We're going down to investigate. Leave ten men up here to provide cover," Javier ordered.
The descent down the dark shaft—over ten meters deep—was made with caution. Down below, the darkness was nearly complete—only the soldiers' flashlights could cut through it.
Javier touched the ground and looked around. The floor was lined with carefully placed stones, a sign that the place had been built long ago. Excavation marks indicated it had been explored previously.
"Sir, there's a stone gate just ahead!" a soldier reported.
Javier went over with Lin Ye and Krauser. The stone gate was massive, covered in mysterious carvings of Middle Eastern origin—unintelligible to Javier, but still impressive.
"Open it," he ordered.
Six soldiers pushed the door with force. As it slowly creaked open, their flashlights revealed a narrow corridor ahead.
They moved in formation—Javier, Lin Ye, and Krauser at the center, soldiers in front and back. The corridor was short, and they soon reached a second door, made of ancient wood. Beyond it, they found a massive hall.
But the most surprising thing inside was the presence of modern equipment, covered in dust.
"It's from Tricell," Lin Ye murmured upon noticing the logo.
It seemed Tricell had known about the site for a long time—possibly even before the company became what it was today. The floodlights were off, and the generator appeared broken.
"Reactivate the generator. See if you can power up this equipment," Javier ordered. One of the soldiers, after scanning the area, signaled. "Sir, there's a tent over there. It's full of gear."
Javier headed over with Krauser and Lin Ye. Inside the tent were old computers, experimental devices, ammunition, and an alarming amount of explosives.
"There's enough here to blow this whole structure sky-high. Why would they need so much?" Krauser asked, surprised.
Without power, the computers remained off—for now, everything was a mystery. Perhaps a Tricell survivor could shed light on what had happened.
"Sir, we found two doors up ahead. One seems to lead to a new passage, the other to a side corridor," a soldier reported.
They decided to check the door leading to the main hall first. Opening it, they found what looked like an ancient palace. At the top, a majestic throne held a skeleton.
Javier slowly approached, observing the worn bones. A crown still rested atop the skull, suggesting the person had once held great importance. Scattered around were more skeletons—likely guards.
"He must've been a king," Lin Ye murmured. "No way to tell how he died, or who killed him."
While they discussed, gunshots echoed from the direction of the hall. Javier and his team ran back.
"What happened? Who fired?" Lin Ye shouted.
"Sir, it wasn't us. The shot came from somewhere else," one of the soldiers replied.
Javier stopped and listened. The gunfire continued, but it wasn't focused—it came from different points, as if the shooters were moving.
"Stay alert. This place isn't safe. The other team was probably attacked by some kind of bioweapon," Javier warned.
Moments later, they heard the generator whirring to life. Da-da-da-da...—the metallic sound of systems booting up echoed through the ancient walls.
Lights flickered on, illuminating the entire hall. A partial sense of relief washed over the group. The computers in the tent powered up as well, and one soldier began working on the terminal, trying to bypass the password. It didn't take long.
On the screen, a Tricell report appeared.
Apparently, the subterranean relic had been discovered by the founding family of Tricell back in the last century. Expeditions were sent, but the teams exploring the site mysteriously vanished.
Decades later, after revisiting old records, Tricell rediscovered the temple's documentation and resumed excavations—once again plagued by disappearances. Zombies, vampires, demons... even immortality was mentioned.
Apparently, there was something in that temple that justified such obsession. And that something, according to the data, was a secret tied to immortality.
More gunfire. This time, from the side corridor. Krauser clearly heard Javier's voice between the shots: "Krauser, bring whoever's shooting to me. I want them alive."
Krauser simply smiled and disappeared into the corridor.
Minutes later, silence returned. Krauser came back, dragging a wounded man in a Tricell uniform, and threw him at Javier's feet.
The man kept muttering, frightened and trembling, repeating the same words over and over.
"Monsters... monsters... they're loose…"
(End of chapter)
"Hmph. If you really want to be useful, then entertain me, try to throw those pathetic power stones at me. Let's see if even your insolence can amuse a king."