// And now the weekday has begun and the schedule is changing, chapters will be published once a day and later than before. I also want to ask you to leave comments with your opinion. It perfectly shows that you like what I write and it gives motivation.//
One night, golden sparks appeared near the ruins and a portal opened. A tall man with tanned skin stepped out of the portal. He was dressed in a voluminous cloak, and the hood covered his face.
After looking around and realizing that there was no one nearby, the man waved his hand and several golden circles appeared, painted with various runes and outlined with various geometric shapes. The circles lit up brightly in golden color and began to collect environmental data.
"Interesting, there's an increase in energy of death and bloodshed. Additionally, there are several types of divine energy, although on a much smaller scale. Those wizards were not mistaken; this is the military camp of the Goddess of Death, Hela."
Immediately, another portal opened nearby, and another tanned man emerged, albeit a little shorter than the first one.
"What's your conclusion, Amon?"
"As the wizards reported, the military camp has Scandinavian origins. You should tell me if our brothers know about this expedition."
"Don't worry; I've caused some confusion in the temple and given some junior assignments. It's nothing serious, but they won't know we've gone anywhere."
"As for explaining how we got a divine artifact, we'll say we obtained it from a black sorcerer who wanted to sacrifice it to the Dark Lord in hopes of gaining his powers."
"Excellent. I've just assigned you to explore new dark sorcerers and wizards. There have been some movements noticed by the defense, and it turned out to be extremely convenient for us."
"I just hope it's worth the risk. We can't summon gods or devils without warning the invasion defenses for the dimension lords."
"Dimensional lords and gods cannot descend into the world in their physical incarnations, but calling their projections will not disturb and activate protection. Otherwise, how do you think all these dark sorcerers and wizards gain power from the lords of dimensions? Not to mention the devils walking around the world and signing contracts with ordinary people."
"It's ironic how the great white magicians and Agomot erected protection, but it's beneficial for us. Let's get inside quickly, take one artifact with the strongest divine energy of death, and exit. Don't forget, we have only 30 minutes until the protection is fully activated."
"Do you think we can't handle a simple illusory formation like those wizard losers?"
"It's not about what I think. I don't want to risk my life because of pride."
Without saying anything in response, the two sorcerers summoned their favorite weapons and went inside.
Entering the inside, Amon cast another spell and said, "The energy is emanating from the center of the camp. It must be the command center or the personal quarters of Goddess Hela."
"I don't care. Our priority is to get there quickly, retrieve what we need, and leave."
The two hurriedly made their way, remaining vigilant to avoid falling into traps or unexpected ambushes.
With each step, golden sparks ignited beneath their feet, indicating the presence of artifact shoes. This allowed them to run at incredible speed without slipping or falling.
After about 10 minutes, they arrived at a large building that stood out from its surroundings. Using another spell, they confirmed that they had indeed found the right place.
They cautiously retraced their steps, casting protective spells and scanning the area. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, except for a black wedge inserted into the ground, adorned with blood runes. Upon closer inspection, the runes appeared alive, pulsating like a beating heart. Amon watched in fascination, extending his hand to touch the blade.
His partner quickly stopped him and spoke angrily, "You fool! You're going to get yourself killed. Even a blind person can sense the concentrated energy of death emanating from that thing. I bet Hela used her divinity to create it, and another god contributed his divine power to inscribe the runes."
Amon remained silent, summoning a few spells that immediately began scanning the sword. However, he couldn't tear his gaze away from the elegant runes and the dangerous glint of the blade.
After another five minutes, Amon shook his head and said, "Performing a quick scan is impossible. The initial results will take hours, and we'll perish faster in this place than making any progress."
"Have you truly lost your confidence in our ability to escape alive?"
"Just be quiet and help me retrieve this sword. We need to get it out quickly and send it to the mirror dimension. There's no other way to remove it from here."
"If I understand correctly, once we pull out the sword, the spatial lock will be released, allowing us to escape."
"No, the spatial defense will only weaken slightly, enough for us to send it to the mirror dimension, but not enough to open a portal and have time to leave."
"Unfortunate, but then we must act swiftly. According to my calculations, we have 12 minutes remaining."
They began to cast several spells responsible for the protection and interaction with the blade. It is important to be careful, the slightest mistake, they can launch an illusory formation and God knows what else. Still not sure what all these runes are responsible for.
The blade began to stagger and rise into the air, though before they had time to rejoice, they saw all the runes light up and a wave of death and madness swept over them. Amona's partner started screaming madly, blood started coming out of his eyes and ears and you could see how his whole body began to decompose.
Amon also suffered from this, but he did not lose his head and quickly sent the blade into the mirror dimension. They immediately felt that they could breathe. But Amon looked at the corpse of his partner, who had already completely decomposed and he had only skin to the bone. He suffered from the same consequences, but because of his stronger physique and the fact that he fixed his injuries in time, he survived. But even then not for long.
He could say that he had a couple of months left to live, no more.
"I have to get out of here quickly, also I have to use the ritual quickly to summon the Goddess of Death Hela. Only she can help me rebuild my body. After all, it is her energy that has inflicted such injuries on me and is slowly but surely devouring my vital energy until now. "
Amon turned around and ran to the exit. However, if 30 minutes ago he would had been a tall, strong, and tanned man, now he looked like a decrepit old man. His skin was pale with purple spots. His face was distorted and covered in blood. He could hardly see or hear anything because of the blood and injuries. His eyes were rolling out of their sockets and his very breathing was choppy.
After emerging from the ruins, he quickly summoned the golden portal to his room. But instead of golden particles as it was before, now it was black and gray. They reeked of imminent death.
Once inside, he quickly fell on his bed. Less than 5 minutes later, the rest of the monks came into his room, they were horrified by what they saw. The young began to vomit right on the spot, but the older ones did not waste time treating Amon and examining the room to find out what happened.