Maya saw the Tomb from afar and was surprised. "I never thought I'd see this on Earth. This spell must have been created by someone at the nascent level, so it will be dangerous."
She had wandered through the universe by herself, and she had seen a lot of things. Compared to a native of the divine realm like Elsa, she was able to see the situation at the Tomb at a glance.
"Yes," Alex agreed. "It's under a spell, but I understand some of it." As he spoke, he lifted his hand to create an opening in the spell's barrier, and then the three of them walked straight in.
When Alex entered, Bernie immediately sensed his presence. It let out a low cry and flew toward him.
Alex patted Bernie's head, and noticing how much bigger it had gotten, he laughed. "I can see you've been living the good life here," he teased. "Can you still fly? Or will you struggle to get off the ground?"
The bird shyly rubbed its chest with its beak. Then it spread its wings and signaled for Alex to follow.
"Looks like it has a mind of its own," Maya said thoughtfully.
Bernie ran over to her and rubbed against her, clearly trying to please her.
Alex snorted. "Quit sucking up, Bernie." He shook his head, but he gave the bird an indulgent smile. "We'd better do what it wants." He then asked Bernie, "Can you take us to the people from the divine realm?"
The bird nodded, and Alex pulled Maya and Elsa onto its back, and then it spread its wings. Bernie was a massive bird, and it barely registered the weight of the three people sitting on its back. Once they were in position, it let out a low cry and flew in the direction of the newcomers.
The new arrivals were surprised to see them. They had been walking around to get a feel for the place.
Elsa trembled when she saw them.
"What's wrong?" Alex asked. He had been delighted when he had recognized their power. One had three golden cores, and the other had four. He knew if he could take their golden cores, then he would easily be able to repair his own.
But he had sensed Elsa's fear, so he asked her, "Who are they?"
"The one on the left is Atlas Quinlan, the deputy head of the Winter Green Palace," Elsa replied, keeping her voice low. "The one on the right is the elder of Phantom Valley, Dion Travers. They are both famous in the divine realm. Quinlan's universal sword technique is much lauded, and it's said that he learned it from a master that died protecting him on the battlefield. He sought retribution, and people still talked about his actions to this day.
"And then there's Dion, who's even more powerful. The Phantom Valley was originally the border of the divine realm, and he has single-handedly rescued thousands of warriors that had been left isolated in another land. His frost saber technique was even more impressive. That's who we're facing."
Alex chuckled. "Powerful enough, I suppose. But not exactly top-drawer. Looks like they've underestimated me again."
Even if their blade techniques were outstanding, Alex thought that it would be simple enough to capture them. He knew they weren't as strong as he was, even with his broken seventh golden core.
Elsa looked at him and knew that he was probably right.
While the three of them had been talking, the two intruders had sensed that something was wrong. Dion turned his head and looked up at the sky.
Alex was pleasantly surprised. "Ah, you sensed me," he said. "So you must have some skill."
Without hesitation, he raised his hand and struck the side of Dion's head with his staff.
Dion was enraged by the sneak attack and pulled out a long green blade. Then he used it to throw a sharp blade of light toward Alex.
The blade attack looked like frost dancing in the sky. It filled the air, and the energy coming from the blade created a bone-chilling coldness.
Alex swung his staff again, and it transformed into numerous shadows, forming an attack pattern that looked like a fan.
He didn't want to use all his strength to overcome his opponents because he was worried that they might explode their golden cores in despair. His goal was to exhaust his opponents' energy and make them use up their genuine essence. At that point, he would easily be able to take their golden cores.
So, for the moment, Dion was able to match the power unleashed by the shadows.
Atlas, who had been watching the other two fight, frowned and asked, "Are you Alex Ambrose?"
Alex approached Atlas. "You know my name, so you must also know my reputation," he said. "Accept the inevitable."
Atlas and Dion worked together to fight off the next attack from Alex. Neither of them thought that Alex was particularly strong, so they believed he was foolhardy to take them on alone.
As the three of them fought, however, the cockiness of the interlopers abated, and they were shocked by Alex's boldness and his strength.
They were both generally unafraid of battle and happy to take on anyone who challenged them. In the divine realm, they each had quite a reputation, and they were well regarded for their high level of skill.
But Alex was fighting two of them on his own, and he still seemed to have plenty of strength left, which was worrying.
As they fought, they spotted Elsa and Maya standing on top of the giant bird.
Bernie gave them a demonstration of its abilities as it swung around in a graceful arc, clearly taunting them.
Atlas shouted, "Elsa, we had a total of three golden core warriors, and the other two have fallen. You're the only one left. We came here to ask for your help on behalf of the Snow Palace sect, but we didn't expect you to be with him."