H and Ross nodded at Johnny wordlessly agreeing with him to stroll over the bridge without wasting any time. Michael walked over to the bridge to see the rope bridge's integrity. The bridge looked ancient in which the deck of the bridge lied on two parallel load-bearing ropes that were anchored at either end. They had no towers or piers. Some of the wooden planks were missing while some looked rotten due to old age. If this was any other day, no one in the team would have agreed to walk this bridge yet in this situation, they had to take the risk.
Michael stood aside deciding to let the others use the bridge first. He noticed Johnny giving a pat to his tummy before taking the steps towards the bridge.
"Follow me" Johnny ordered his men to follow him. Although Johnny didn't seem like a leader figure in Michael's eyes, the cloaked figures did follow him behind only to get stopped by H,
"Stop"
"What now?" Johnny turned with his brows creased. Coupled with the bloody flux's effects, H's constant interference annoyed Johnny.
"Im not stupid to let your guys use the bridge first. We'll use the bridge one by one. Ross, you go next"
After seeing the stern look on H's face, Johnny realized there's no point in arguing. Therefore, he just took his first step on the bridge. His first step caused the bridge to shake. Johnny quickly grabbed the two ropes on either side to balance himself as well as stop the bridge from shaking.
One slow step at a time, Johnny moved forward. Even the thunderclaps from the distance were able to slightly shake this ancient rope bridge. Since his stomach was hurt by the bloody flux, he kinda limped towards the pyramid.
The rope bridge may have anchored at two ends but the wooden planks were only laid until the pyramid's top. After the pyramid, there were no wooden planks, just ropes. The bridge was either built on a rush or by an amateur, everyone thought.
Hggggrrrrr!
When Johnny reached the pyramid's top, a bright light appeared, producing a weird sound. The light soon enveloped Johnny. In a blink of an eye, Johnny disappeared from the bridge. When Johnny disappeared, one would expect Maria to panic but the one who panicked was none other than Michael himself.
"I'll go next" Michael was already standing near the bridge. Hence, before Ross could make a move, he stepped on the bridge. He was supposed to go last except they saw him cut in the line. Not only Ross but every single one of them was shocked. Yet they were unable to shout or do anything to stop him.
"Careful" Logan almost shouted when he saw the bridge violently shake. The bridge looked like it could barely take on a walking passenger but David was running on the ancient bridge. They were afraid of him collapsing the bridge or worse waking up the undead army below them.
Michael completely ignored their fears.
Kachak!
The same blue light that enveloped Johnny appeared again to envelop Michael. The brightness made him close his eyes for a moment. The next moment, he felt light as a warmth feeling overwhelmed him.
When he opened his eyes, he was standing in an empty hall. The walls and floor were made of some kind of dark navy blue stone. Everywhere he turned, he only saw blue walls, that was it.
"Where's Ross?" Johnny asked but Michael ignored him completely.
"System, where's the artifact?"
[Scanning the area]
[the artifact is directly below the hall's center]
Michael heaved a sigh of relief after hearing the system. Atleast, he was sure of the artifact's existence. Now he only needed to find a way to bring the artifact to the upper ground or find a way to go below.
"Hey!" Johnny got mad seeing the new guy completely ignore him.
"Where is it?" Michael looked around, walking towards the center. He was searching for some kind of mechanism like in the games to activate something.
"Welcome Lord Lucifer" the moment he reached the center, the ground lit up. He was standing on a gigantic magical rune that started to rotate. Various magical symbols appeared from the thin air, they all floated around Michael.
"What...what's happening?"
Johnny was staring at the ground as well as the floating symbols with a bewildered face.
"Lucifer?" Michael's jaw slightly dropped recalling how the pyramid called him. It was a robotic voice yet it sounded utmost respectful when it spoke his name.
"Is this place might be another safehold of the order of the death?"
He questioned himself while staring at the rune below him. He waited for something to happen, completely ignoring Johnny or the cloaked figure who just appeared in the hall.
"Holy gods" Johnny saw the cloaked figure dropping to the ground, worshipping the flying symbols. After the cloaked figure appeared, someone from Ross's team or Ross himself was supposed to appear. Yet the one who entered the hall was another cloaked figure.
"You idiots!" The moment the cloaked figure saw Michael standing on the runic circle, he shouted at Johnny and the one who was worshipping the glowing runes.
Creak!
Johnny was about to take a step forward when the entire hall trembled. Soon afterward, a long tube containing a pitch-black orb on top emerged from the ground before Michael.
"Stop him!" Yet again the cloaked figure screamed as his voice was full of panic rather than anger.
"Is this the artifact?" Michael felt an immense amount of pressure being radiated from the orb in front of him. The orb was neither too big nor too small; rather it was the size of any typical glass orbs used by oracles or fortune-tellers.
[Energy Devouver activated]
[Warning too much First Energy!]
[Warning!]
[Host should immediately enter into a hibernation state!]
[Energy devourer Reactivated!]
[Does the host wish to unlock the artifact?]
His mind was filled with warning sounds yet it couldn't make Michael back off from getting the artifact.
"Yes"
Johnny and the two cloaked figures tried to reach Michael except an invisible force stopped them from doing so.
"We cannot let him take that!" the cloaked figure who previously worshiped the runes shouted. The other cloaked figure turned back to see Ross appear.
"Use it!" Johnny saw the cloaked figure who appeared second taking out a red brick with silver wires coiled around it. Johnny immediately recognized it, the red brick was a powerful explosive used by the Church of Mohdon.
"Wait" Johnny tried to stop but the cloaked figure was swift. He placed the brick as close as possible to Michael, fiddling with the wires coiled around the brick for a bit.
"Run!"
The cloaked figures screamed before running as fast as they could from the red brick. Since Johnny knew about the explosive brick, he too ran behind them to the hall's far corner. Fortunately, the light teleported everyone to the far corner so Ross never had to run. Staring at the glowing runes and the trio running away, Ross had too many questions in his mind.
The red brick began to vibrate while its surface emitted a cloud of black smoke. In a blink of an eye, the cloud of black smoke transformed into a red hot flame.
Boom!
The red brick exploded with an immense amount of force. The explosion created a bright light that made everyone close their eyes. The entire hall trembled as stone pieces from the ceiling crumbled down on them. When they opened their eyes, they saw the glowing runes flicker before completely disappearing from the hall.
"The artifact!" the two cloaked figures shouted in joy seeing the black orb rolling on the ground where Michael was standing a moment ago. The cloaked figures completely ignored the body lying on the ground a few meters away from the orb. It was Michael, he laid on the ground face down. Puffs of smoke kept emerging from his charred clothes as well as some of his body parts.
"Johnny" Ross turned back and saw his daughter appear.
Pulch!
Pulch!
While his gaze was on Maria, he heard a familiar sound appear from the other side, he would recognize this sound in his sleep, the sound of a blade piercing a body.
He immediately turned back to see the two cloaked figures lying on the ground, blood gushing out from their back. Standing beside their bodies, Johnny picked up the orb on the ground. He held the orb in one hand while a bloody dagger in his other hand.
"It's mine" Ross saw an evil grin appear on Johnny's pale face. Although Ross had a bad feeling about Johnny, he never imagined him backstab two people in cold blood.
When Johnny turned his murderous glance at Maria, a chill ran through Ross's spine. He quickly stepped in front of Maria, shielding her with his body. Considering Ross had little to no idea about Johnny's real combat ability or the artifact's power, he feared for his daughter's life.
"Stay back,'' Ross said in a grave voice. The last thing he wanted was his daughter to become collateral damage in the fight between him and Johnny. While he was shielding his daughter, H and the others appeared in the hall one by one.
Seeing the three dead bodies, H immediately unsheathed his sword. Except for the remaining cloaked figures in the hall, everyone raised their weapon at Johnny.
"What happened here? Who killed them?' Finally one of the cloaked figures unsheathed his dagger. Because Johnny was standing so besides the dead bodies, they naturally suspected Johnny and they were right.