More skeletal remains rolled over and more skulls were visible after the rumbling. Looks like its last gatekeeper was sitting on them while doing his last meditation. There were at least four more skulls that they had seen.
"Okay Raj, Thomas. You chose what should we do. Open the door first and enter or activate the room then open the door. We've already located the location of the button."
"We might as well open the door first before entering. What difference does it make?"
"Yeah. You said it."
After opening the next door, they endured the same feeling. It was so gross, but they were holding themselves, so they would not throw it out.
"Ready?!"
They raced again towards the double door of the next room while the rumbling continued. Ceilings were already falling, and walls were also collapsing.
At the same moment, Lee, Chris, Ken, and Axel entered the labyrinth.
The moment they stepped in they felt the same presence as the negative Quanta already mixed in and multiplied. A stinky smell was hovering over the place. Like a pile of dead rats left for days.
Axel managed to keep his cool while holding himself up about to vomit.
Lee did not manage to stomach the sensation and was vomiting a lot while covered in fear. Scratching his neck like someone is strangling him.
Ken felt the same sensation. His eyes were wide open while he was aware of his surroundings. He noticed the rumbling and saw individuals running towards a door.
A huge falling debris covered Chris the moment he stepped inside. With the same sensation, he felt. He did not die from the falling debris, but he became wild, and crazy and went on a rampage. He was hysterical, laughing out loud, firing power beams from his fists, and smashing the ground with his weapon.
The portal suddenly closes. Strawberry was relieved that she would not be guarding anymore. She only managed to hold out two of them. The twins.
Axel and Raj witnessed how the portal vanished as it was in Axel's direction when Raj was noticing the sudden rampage of Chris.
Before you knew it Axel was already throwing a boulder at the direction of Raj. Thomas was already in and Socrates was bringing the rune while Raj waited and Socrates raced to the door.
Socrates noticed it and was able to dodge with ease, but a little slower because he already felt the pressure inside the labyrinth constricting his lightweight movements. In a split-second, Axel was already near Socrates following him. Ken rushed and charged, same as Lee.
When one of the blasts hit the sleeping giants. Its eyes awakened. Like a light bulb being turned on. The other giants followed. A series of eyes were visible in the ceiling.
The giant smashed Chris. He was knocked unconscious on the ground. He could feel the concussion in his head and some of his broken limbs. He tasted his blood while there was a little consciousness left. He was still laughing a little. All the other giant statues rallied. Smashing him to bits and feasting him. Punching, smashing, kicking him into thinner bits. It was his death.
In the adjacent room.
"Where's Raj and Socrates." He looks around and above covering his nose.
"This room is somehow similar to the entrance room. It's also big."
A boulder falls coming from the door. It was the boulder that Axel threw and Socrates and Raj dodged.
"Hey! What is this…wait… it's the scriptures! Haven't you memorized it? Do we still need this…?"
Thomas looked outside and he counted the numbers. There were more numbers he could count than how many they were supposed to be.
"Is that!?" Shock covered his face. Worried about the next events.
All of them managed to get in including Axel, Lee, and Ken.
Strawberry retreats outside.
"I don't think that there is still a point if I fought you." She vanishes like a breeze of wind.
She found herself with Shield and Stella.
"Where is your other member?"
"You mean Ferra? She just went back to the camp."
"That's good. We need to retreat follow me immediately."
The scientists called the government and organization leaders about the current events that had happened. They are planning to send some Celestials and military troops to aid them.
"Where was the other frequency anomaly again?"
A group of researchers were discussing.
"They detected something new in the northeast side of the ruins."
Strawberry hears their discussion and goes out with the two members.
"Faster! We need to warn them."
Shield and Stella tails her.
"But how about Raj and the other."
"They will just find their way."
The encounter happens. Thomas tries to hide himself from Axel while they are all staring at him.
Ken and Lee were murmuring as the door closed.
There was still a huge distance between them, both parties tried to confront each other.
"Raj, Thomas, listen, I already had a plan for this. This is the least that I expected."
Raj and Thomas come over.
"If we can't persuade them…we will be playing tag. They might force themselves to attack, but that is not our concern. If we manage to exit through one door and leave them then we won't have any problem anymore."
"Wait. So, you are saying that we will just leave them?"
He suddenly felt pitiful towards them.
"Yes. They are our enemies what would we be doing with them around? They will never listen and most of them are chaos maniacs."
"But…"
Socrates was firm with his decisions. He demands them among the two.
"No buts or ifs. They are not part of the reasons why we entered this labyrinth anyway."
"If you try to insist then try to befriend them. But remember…you know who these guys are, and you know what they are capable of. They did not even bother to try and save their other party."
Perceiving the situation. There were little chances to no chances at all that they could save Chris. All the giants were marching at that point and they didn't know how to match them.
"So, hear me out. The very first thing we do when we enter the rooms is that you guys locate for me the rune marks. We'll immediately activate them. When you see it signal me then go immediately to the doors as planned. They don't have a rune to each door."
When they were exploring the room, a little further there were more skeletal remains that piled up. Aside from these human skeletal remains, there were also tail bones and unknown skeletal remains of other creatures.
"But wait. What if they split up and enter several rooms altogether then…what happens to our plan?"
With each step, they take more skeletal remaining parts that accumulate. The fear started to him them to the bones.
"They would be rejecting our original plan and the rules of the ruins?"
The eyes of the giants suddenly became occupied. No one notices it except for Socrates. For an unknown reason, everyone shivers inside the room.
"So, then we'll try to distract them and make them follow us."
Socrates sighs.
"What a nuisance."
"We'll try to distract them and make them follow us, but we need something to lure them."
The path toward both doors was still obscure because of the distance.
"What should scheme should we try this time?"
"You can't just mock them. But try provoking them in other ways."
"Me. I'll try it."
Thomas volunteered.
"Maybe when they see me, they will get a little curious. I'll try distracting them."
Axel was keeping an eye on his surroundings while he had his glimpse towards the persons who were distant from them. He remembers what they plan to acquire inside the ruins moments after he saw the death of his squad member.
"I need to find some kind of chest. Is that it? But I don't know what it looks like."
He talks to himself.
"Ken, Lee, you know why we started the expedition right? They may be the first ones to enter here but we came here first."
He was only confirming with the organization head what the main objective of the search was.
"Uhm. A power source of Panda…what was that again…". Trying to focus.
"Pandoras Box." Ken stood with confidence. He almost breakdowns at the death of his friend but they are trained not to mourn under mission.
Thomas reveals himself to everyone.
"You guys! You must know why you are here right? Before you try to engage in any form of battle with us you must read the rules of the labyrinth first."
He was referring to the boulder that was thrown by Axel. It was not complete, but the thought of the rules was still intact.
Axel reads it with his mind.
"Thomas."
"Thomas?"
They were awed with surprise.
"We don't believe you. He is already dead…" Before he proceeded with his words Thomas took a step closer and revealed more of his look. It was genuine and clear. It was him.