The three individuals went down different paths in search for the Celestial Prism, the left path that Micheal took led him into a large hall entwined with numerous leaves and vines. It was filled with numerous cobwebs which had so many insects trapped within it.
The walls within the temple had several cracks in them, it had been weakened over time due to continuous exposure to wind and occasionally water that seeped through the weakened walls.
"I wonder how old this temple must be." Michael said calmly, he estimated the temple to be around a decades old judging by the amount of cobwebs and the cracks which filled each corners of the walls.
"A dead end?" Micheal said softly, it seemed the path he had followed led him into an empty hall with only one entrance and exit which he came through.
He sighed softly, given the massive size of the temple from the exterior he was expecting a lot more.
THUD!
The door leading into the hall slammed shut.
"What!?" He exclaimed in distress.
All the vines began moving towards Michael swiftly, he jumped backwards to the farthest corner of the room to avoid all the vines but it proved to be of no use.
All the vines wrapped around his body and pulled him slowly into the ground, he grumbled loudly as he tried to break free from it's grasp but it's hold was just too strong.
With a final pull, the vines dragged Micheal into the ground.
"RAHHH!!" Michael exclaimed as yellow energy bursted out of the ground he was dragged into and spread out as far as ten meters. It uprooted and eradicated all the vines and leaves that were present giving rise to a cloud of dust.
As the cloud of dust settled, a large crater that was measured to be around six to nine meters deep was visible with Micheal laying down in it.
"What the hell is wrong with this place..." He mumbled standing up to his feet, with a series of gently wipes he got rid of all the dust that were on his clothes.
"Alright." He uttered as he applied pressure to the ground beneath his feet and jumped out of the crater.
"What the!?" His eyes widened as he saw before him, a large figure cladded in black steel armor. This figure possessed a bright red glowing eyes which Micheal could see from the eye sockets in it's helmet. It wielded two large blades which were sheathed at both sides of it's legs.
"A knight!? What the hell is a knight doing here!?" Micheal exclaimed, the black knight unsheathed the sword at the right side of it's waist and swiftly dashed forward at Micheal. The strength behind his legs shattered the ground and raised a small cloud of dust as he ran.
Like a blur, it approached the right side of Micheal and aimed it's sword down at him. Michael's eyes were in astonishment, the speed of the knight despite it's heavy armor was terrifying in a sense.
Instinctively, he threw himself towards his right side in order to evade the sword of the knight. The knight's sword split the ground into two as it made contact, Michael's eyes wavered in fear on witnessing such power.
"What the hell is he?" He mumbled as the knight turned around to face him.
Micheal stood to his feet wiping away the fear his facial expression displayed.
"Judging by it's eyes, it must be the same thing we saw back then in the forest. Is it one of the guardians the myths talked about?" He asked in his thoughts as he stared down at the knight.
"Who are you? Are you one of the guardians of the temple?" Micheal asked, attempting to resolve things peacefully.
The knight approached him slowly unsheathing it's second sword. "You humans have trespassed on sacred grounds, you are not permitted to go any further." The knight responded in a deep and distorted voice, it did not sound human in any way which led Micheal to wonder; was this knight a creation of essence? If so was it created by Lucious to guard the Celestial Prism?
"Sorry but we need that Prism." Michael responded making his intentions clear.
"You humans have trespassed on sacred grounds, you are not permitted to go any further." The knight repeated itself in its distorted voice again as he clutched the hilts of the two swords.
It dashed forward once more at Micheal and aimed its two swords at him yet again. "I guess there's no helping it." Before the sword could penetrate the body of Micheal, his skin changed it's form and shape as he said. "Beast Essence: Reptilian Armor!" His skin transfigured into that of a crocodiles, he bit the sword that was aimed at his head and it shattered instantly as Micheal now possessed the bite force behind a crocodiles jaw.
The second sword on the other hand made contact with his chest. It didn't shatter, rather it propelled Micheal backwards through the walls of the hall. He crashed to the ground in the middle of a dark room with it's center illuminated by a mysterious light.
Micheal coughed softly as he sat up and held his chest, the skin that protected him from the blade of the knight shattered leaving only his regular human skin. "It's fast despite the weight of it's armor, and it is extremely strong. Not even my Reptilian armor could withstand the force of it's blade, I'm not sure how long I'll last if I keep fighting him." Michael said as he deduced his chances of victory in this battle.
"Huh? Why is everywhere so dark?" Micheal groaned as he stood slowly to his feet, his eyes fell upon the mysterious light that illuminated the center of the room. Under the light was an altar, and on the altar was a solid geometric figure with flat sides, it was shaped like a hexagonal polygon with two parallel and congruent faces called bases.
"It can't be...is that the Celestial Prism?" Micheal murmured to himself as his eyes were fixated on the hexagonal Prism which shone brightly on the altar. He could feel the undescribable aura that emanated from within the prism.
Instantly, Michael's eyes expanded once again as he felt an overwhelming presence, the moment he turned around the sword of the knight swung down at him. The pressure of the swing created a massive shockwave which shattered the ground and sent debris of rocks flying everywhere.