"Eh? How's he still alive?" Aurora asked in surprise.
She spotted a young man hiding behind a small boulder. Surprisingly, no red-horned rats were attacking him, as if he wasn't even there.
The sound of the wall collapsing had also attracted the attention of the red-horned rats. They were scattered all around, and as soon as they saw who it was, they all began running toward the group.
Aurora thought for a moment and said, turning to Shihab and pointing toward the young man, "Hey, can you get that boy over here?"
Shihab followed Aurora's hand and recognized Rey, Jev's disciple. He was surprised to see him alive, as he thought Rey had died.
Shihab then responded to Aurora, "Yes, don't worry. I can get him here. Can you hold off those rats until I do?"
Aurora nodded in response and signaled him to hurry up, as the rats were getting closer. Shihab understood the urgency and ran toward Rey using his movement technique.
One red-horned rat jumped in front of him and attacked. Shihab shot a water bullet that struck the rat's forehead, killing it instantly.
Being an Eighth-grade Origin Profound Stage Artist, maneuvering among these rats was easy for him. He soon reached Rey, who was crouching down as if to hide his presence from the creatures.
Knowing they didn't have much time, Shihab simply picked up Rey and slung him over his shoulder. Rey exclaimed in surprise, "No! Don't eat me! My meat doesn't taste good!"
Shihab's eyes twitched at Rey's words, and he shouted in a low voice, "Shut up! Did you eat your own meat or what, idiot?"
Rey came back to his senses upon hearing the familiar voice. "Shihab? Why are you back? Did something happen?"
"I'll explain later, but for now, just stay quiet and fend off any rats that get in our way," Shihab replied as he ran back toward the group.
This time, Rey joined in attacking the rats blocking their path, and they soon rejoined the others. Upon their arrival, they found that everyone was keeping the rats at bay with a barrage of attacks using various elemental techniques.
Since they had been primarily on defense until now, Aurora had ordered them to fend off the red-horned rats while keeping them away from the cave.
With the group all defending together, the task was much easier.
Aurora stood up and gestured for everyone to back away a little. She then took out her Flamingo and began gathering penetrating flames.
Relaxing her mind, she took a deep breath and tapped her foot as she whispered, "Flame Wall."
Just like before, a massive wall of flames appeared instantly in front of her, almost reaching the ceiling of the cave. The rats instinctively stayed away from the flames, remembering their previous encounter with the big Red Horned Rat.
Aurora then looked at Rey, who was standing beside Shihab. "How did you conceal your presence from the rats?"
Everyone's eyes widened as they realized they couldn't sense Rey. If they hadn't seen him standing there, they would have ignored him entirely.
Rey took a step back in fear upon hearing Aurora's question and replied in a low voice, "My master gave me an artifact that conceals the user's presence. As long as the opponent doesn't exceed the Earth Profound Stage and isn't focused on me, I can erase my presence from them."
'Just as I expected,' Aurora thought, smiling. She pointed at the boy and said, "Then you can give that artifact to him. He's going to distract the rats so we can escape, and later he can use that artifact."
Rey hesitated for a moment, but remembering Aurora's past actions and her strength, he took out a small cuboid-shaped gray metal box, engraved with small rune formations. He handed it to the boy, who took it and infused his profound energy into it.
His presence instantly vanished, and to everyone else, he wasn't even there. Watching everyone's reactions, he understood that the artifact was working. He then retracted his profound energy, as he didn't need the artifact at that moment.
Taking a deep breath, he activated his movement technique, "Heavenly Wind," and leaped over the diminishing flames.
He danced around the battlefield, attacking the rats to draw their attention and leading them away from the three caves.
Seeing the opportunity, the group sprinted toward the second cave at full speed.
They encountered a few rats, but they dealt with them easily and soon reached the entrance to the second cave.
Aurora then fired a flame bullet at the ceiling, signaling the boy. He understood the cue and, hiding behind a large rock boulder, activated the artifact, concealing his presence once again.
Moving slowly along the walls in his concealed state, he soon reached the second cave. Meanwhile, the group of angry red-horned rats was confused about where their target had gone. In their fury, they smashed the surroundings.
The boy turned his head and saw the destruction caused by the red-horned rats, a bead of sweat forming on his forehead. Thanking his lucky stars, he rejoined the group and returned the artifact to Rey.
Shihab then gestured to the large man who had created a wall earlier to do the same for this cave. The man silently went to work, crafting an earthen wall that sealed off the entire cave.
"We don't have much time, so hurry up," Aurora said, beginning to walk toward the entrance of the tomb. The group followed her closely.
It didn't take long for them to reach the entrance, where Aurora again facepalmed.
'I'm really forgetting important things,' Aurora thought, looking at the sealed entrance with an irritated expression.
As everyone arrived at the sealed entrance, they felt a sudden drop in the temperature surrounding them. Shivering for an unknown reason, they exchanged nervous glances.
Aurora turned to face everyone, her expression terrifying.
In response, everyone took a step back in fear.