As Liam descended into the depths of the temple ruins, the air grew colder and the atmosphere denser with a palpable sense of dread. The dimly lit passageways twisted and turned, leading him deeper into the heart of darkness.
When Liam entered the ruins, he had expected a lot of fights from the cultists, or at least to encounter one or two along the way but the entire path was deserted. Everywhere he turned out, it was completely empty.
The path eventually opened into a large underground chamber, the center of the cultists' domain. Torches flickered along the walls, casting eerie shadows and illuminating the room with a ghostly glow. At the far end of the chamber stood an altar but there was no sign of any more cultists.
"Was that the last of them?" Liam frowned feeling that something was amiss. He did not have to wait too long to find out what because the moment he entered the main hall of the ruins, a bolt of lightning zapped him, making his entire figure shudder in pain.
"Fuck!" Liam immediately retreated, setting up several mana barriers around him to protect him. The bolt of lightning had popped up out of nowhere, catching him completely off guard.
The next instant it was as if a veil in front of him had been lifted off. Out of thin air one cultist after another started making their appearance.
The chamber, once seemingly empty, was now teeming with cultists emerging from hidden recesses and shadows as if the very walls themselves were birthing them. Each cultist bore the same emblematic robes, their faces obscured.
As the cultists closed in, forming a semicircle around him, a figure stepped forward from their ranks. This figure was draped in more ornate robes, indicating a higher status within the cult. The person halted a few paces away from Liam, raising a hand to halt the advance of the others.
"You tread on sacred ground, outsider," the figure spoke, their voice echoing ominously through the chamber. But the person was clearly not interested in any conversation as purple lightning sizzled in the air around them.
"Do you know what is the punishment for spilling unauthorized blood on sacred ground? Death!" The man's voice rumbled.
Immediately, the entire chamber became brightly lit. Streams and streams of purple current appeared on the ceiling, writhing like serpents as they coalesced into a massive, crackling web above Liam. The air was electric, charged with an intensity that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. The cultists had formed a protective circle around their leader, their chants rising in a cacophony, fueling the impending storm with their fervor.
Liam immediately jumped into action. Without allowing any of the errant bolts of lightning to attack him, he unleashed his nether domain. Thankfully, the Spire had thrown him into all sorts of places so he was able to replenish his reserves of nether easily.
Once the fortress sprang forth, the lightning bolts found it difficult to snake their way inside.
The cult leader, seeing this, smiled coldly. With a sharp downward gesture, the purple lightning converged into a singular, devastating bolt aimed directly at Liam. The chamber echoed with the sound of thunder as the bolt struck, a blinding flash illuminating every corner of the room.
The collision between the bolt and Liam's domain was cataclysmic. The fortress vibrated violently under the impact, nether walls flickering as they absorbed and dissipated the energy. For a moment, it seemed as if the shield would hold, but the relentless power of the bolt bore down, cracks forming across the surface of the fortress.
In the face of this overwhelming force, Liam focused, channeling more of his power into the fortress, reinforcing the weakening points, and stabilizing the structure. The fortress held, the bolt disintegrating into harmless sparks that rained down around him, fading into the stone floor.
However, he was not nearly out of the woods because the very next second another attack was readily charged waiting to strike him down. Whatever these guys were using to fight against him, their strength was not a joke. Defense was clearly useless. Liam's sword blurred as he swung down to attack the leader which immediately proved useless as an invisible barrier sprang up to block the attack.
But that was not all. He had sent sword slashes towards some of the underlings, hoping that they wouldn't be as protected as the leader. That also proved to be wrong as all of his attacks were easily blocked.
Liam's frown deepened. The problem was that he was facing these cultists in their home base. They had that advantage over him, utilizing the temple's inherent magical structures and their own prepared defenses. They had probably fortified this place with countless arrays and magical formations, specifically designed to counter any external threats. He needed to bring in more strength in order to achieve anything.
However, there was also another way he could successfully clear this floor. Having already cleared multiple trials of the Spire, Liam had by now a good knowledge of how the trials of the Spire worked.
Often there were violent solutions and also non-violent solutions. Perhaps he could also solve this without dealing with this big group of cultists.
Liam quickly sent a mental message to the soul minions who were standing guard on the outside. The soul minions got to work and they broke the shackles of the hostages back on the surface. They were the only remaining live beings in the area and there was a 50% chance that this trial would end when they were released.
And just like he expected, as soon as the bindings were removed, the hostages did not care about him or the cultists. Even the guy who was extremely talkative before giving away all the details of the place dashed out of the ruins like a frightened deer.
Unfortunately for Liam, that did not seem to help him at all. He immediately had to focus his attention back on the task at hand as no golden glow enveloped him just yet.