Aren watched as the golem began reassembling, but he was not here for any of that. He immediately gave the order to his lightning wolf. It stepped forward and attacked with a blast of lightning. It slammed into the golem and shattered it again.
A few seconds passed and it started reassembling again, but the wolf blasted it again, then followed up with another blast, scattering its rubble even further away.
"Keep going," Aren muttered. The wolf began bombarding it even more.
The others watched from the door in shock.
"I guess this method works," Leon said while watching. Then he spotted something. From the chest of the golem was a red-looking crystal. The moment he saw that crystal, his body subconsciously moved forward a little, like he wanted to go for it, but he immediately controlled himself and prayed that Aren did not see the crystal.
Sadly, Aren was not dumb. He had shadow sense on and could immediately tell when Leon moved, and it felt suspicious. He looked at the rubble and spotted the red crystal as well.
"Could this be the heart of this creature?" he muttered and then bent down, picking it up from the ground. The moment he did, Leon’s face turned grim, but he wiped away the expression immediately.
[First Task completed, Heart of a Golem.]
[Next clue, eye]
The system sent out its message. The golem’s remains crumbled to the ground. There was sadly no soul fragments to be gained from the golem. Aren got to his feet and looked at them.
"I think we are on the right path," he said as he walked toward them with the heart of the golem in his hands. Leon watched the heart with a blank expression. No one knew what was going on inside his mind right now.
"The next clue is eye," Aren said. "It does not make sense like the golem, and this time it’s worse. We have no leads," Aren stated.
"We cannot keep running carelessly through this place. The dangers here are too much," Kira said.
"We do not have a choice," Aren replied. He turned his head to the dude in white.
"If you will be coming with us, I want you to know that no one bears the responsibility for your life, and no one here will go out of their way to save you," Aren stated flatly before walking past.
They all left the room and began searching for what could be the eye.
After half an hour, Aren realized something. They had started running into many forks in the roads, halls that led left or right and left them with a decision to make. They did not know where they were going, so they chose at random.
But as he stood before the next fork, he saw something hanging on the wall. It was the same emblem that the butler had worn. When he saw the emblem, it somehow triggered a few memories he had with the butler, and one of those memories was the coin.
"When in doubt, follow the gap," he muttered under his breath and then pulled the coin out. When the others saw a coin in his hands, they were confused.
He placed the coin on his palm. "The gap for right, and the plain for left," he stated, then flipped the coin, and it landed on his palm, gap side up.
"We are going right," he said.
"Wait, what? You want us to move through coin tossing?" Leon asked in disbelief.
"Trust me, it’s not just coin flipping. You can go the other way if you want to, but I will be going right," Aren replied and started walking.
"Tsk." Leon clicked his lips silently and followed, and so did the others.
That method continued for minutes, Aren using the coin at every opportunity they got, and finally they arrived at a massive marble double door with heavy engravings.
Aren pushed through the door, and it creaked open slowly, revealing a magnificent room, massive and mighty. The floors were made of gold and white marble. Torches stood on the walls, illuminating beautifully, and above on the ceiling was a massive crystal.
But the most important part of this hall was the massive angel statue. It had four wings spread out, and its hands clasped together as if in prayer.
This angel had three eyes, but two were closed, and the third on its head was an empty hole.
The moment Aren saw that, he knew. "I’ve seen too many movies like this," he said and began walking to the statue.
"The heart of the golem is the third eye of the statue. That’s the next stage," he said out loud as he walked.
So the coin tossing had actually worked. The butler had helped him.
"Thank you," Aren muttered.
When he was close to the statue, Leok made a platform of metal for him. Aren climbed on, and it lifted him up to the eye. He took out the heart and placed it right into the head, and for a few seconds nothing happened. Then suddenly, the crystal glowed, and the two closed eyes shot open, releasing a force that knocked Aren back off the platform and down to the ground with a loud thud.
He got to his feet and looked at the statue. All three eyes glowed now.
They all watched in anticipation when suddenly, at the feet of the statue, a doorway appeared. It glowed white, a calming and soft light that drew them in.
They knew this was the way out. They could tell immediately.
"We found it," Kira muttered.
"Yeah, we did," Leok responded. He looked at Aren’s back, who stood ahead looking at the door as well. Aren turned to look at them.
"What are you all waiting for? An invitation? Let’s go before something else happens," he said, but his statement could be considered a jinx, as what happened next was unexpected.
Right before the gate, a figure appeared, the butler. With his hands behind his back, his eyes sharp and gaze unfaltering, he stared right at Aren.
When Aren saw him, his heart tightened. He already knew that this was no goodbye meeting.