Chapter 3:

Yukine's complexion was incredibly poor; Kazuya Sai was deeply taken aback by this sight.

"What's wrong? Are you ill somewhere?"

"T-there. Over there."

Sai's eyes followed Yukine's trembling pointing finger. She was pointing at the giant god statue. More specifically, she was pointing at the god statue's face.

Sai could only tilt his head in confusion because it looked pretty much the same as before.

"....?"

Yukine stuttered some words out.

"The, the eyes... The eyes of the god statue moved towards us. Just now."

"Pardon me?"

Sai looked again several times, but nothing seemed to have changed. There was no visible change to the god statue.

"Eii... I'm sure you've made a mistake."

However, it seemed like Yukine didn't hear him; her head stayed lowered, and as she held onto Sai's arm, her entire body trembled even harder.

'Hang on a sec here.'

Even Sai picked up on this strange but ominous sensation now. The world was eerily quiet. So much so, it felt just too bizarre.

'No sounds....?'

Even the sounds of the flames burning on the torches could not be heard anymore.

"First law."

In the meantime, Sai's voice continued on as he read the contents of the slate.

"Worship the god. Second law. Exalt the god. Third law. Prove your piety. Those who do not keep to these laws shall not leave this place alive."

It was then.

SLAM!!

Sai was jolted back to their senses at the sudden explosion of noise.

"What, what was that?!"

"Where did that sudden noise come from?!"

The first person to notice the change in the situation was none other than Sai. Because his senses were running at full tilt already, he could tell where the noise was coming from right away.

"The door!! The door is closed!!"

Sai shifted his gazes towards the doorway. The door he left open was now firmly shut close.

"Look like the door closed, now no way to back"

Sai with an expression that contained all of his dissatisfaction before he spun his head around and angrily grabbed the door handle.

It happened, then.

Sai's eyes grew extra large.

….Their troubles only had just begun.

Didn't Yukine say it earlier?

"That, the eyes... The eyes of the god statue moved towards us. Just now.

"If what she said is true...."

A chill rapidly ran down his spine.

Sai forced his stiff neck to turn around so he could look behind him.

Part 3: Commencement of the attack

It was then, the god statue's two black eyes changed to red.

Was this the instincts of a Player?

No, the instincts of a living being were sending out urgent warning signals.

Something was coming.

Something none of them could contend with!

Sai turned towards the Yukine and cried out as loudly as he could.

"Get down!!"

Almost at the same time, red beams of light shot out from the eyes of the god statue. Jin-Woo hugged Ju-Hui and threw their bodies to the floor.

"How, how can such a thing even be..."

Not Sai had ever experienced such a powerful attack before in his lives.

"....."

While still lying prostrate on the ground, Sai glared at the god statue.

Its eyes were still glowing in red, but it did not attack again.

'Is the attack... over?'

Sai looked underneath him. The scared-silly Yukine Ai was trembling in his arms.

This was the reason why she worked for the Association and not for a big Guild, and participated in simple raids like this one, even though she was nominally an excellent Hunter with a rank as high as 'B'.

Yukine's breathing was getting rougher by the second.

He couldn't let her be like this. He had to do something.

Sai was about to raise his body up, thinking that he gotta do something here, but then, Yukine grabbed his shoulders and pushed him back down, hard.

"Don't get up."

"S-sai, your, your... Your arm?!"

"This is nothing. I can still hold on."

"But, but, still...."

Sai swallowed down his saliva'.

Sai's other hand that wasn't pressing down on Yukine's shoulder, his left arm, was gone.

"..."

Sai studied Yukine's conditions for a bit, before he took off the T-shirt he was wearing, and while not even showing the enormous amount of pain he must be feeling, he wrapped up what was left of his left arm.

"Help me tie up the end, please? It's difficult to so with only one hand."

Yukine could only nod his head then.

They were able to somehow stop the bleeding for now.

Rather than a scream or a pained moan, Sai let out a long sigh.

"Fuu....."

Now that the first-aid was over, Sai's gaze became a level sharper as he studied his surroundings. Although the god statue stopped attacking them, their situation hadn't improved in the slightest.

And like so, seconds continued to tick by

But, what could i possibly do here? If my suspicion was correct, then the moment we moved, we will get attacked.

And, even if we got lucky and managed to evade the beams and reach the door, there were the two stone statues guarding the doorway to worry about, as well.

This were a big problem too, actually.

The movements of the doorkeepers were so fast that he couldn't see it with his eyes. Could i or anyone else open the door and escape before those statues attacked we?

It sounded completely impossible.

Which meant it was just a matter of time before we die.

When his thoughts arrived there, a strong sense of disharmony filled him up.

An event that couldn't have happened, but it happened anyway.

But Yukine seemed to have picked up on "it" yet.

'Something... We missed something here.'

Without a doubt, the answer to their salvation hid in that

*something*

he throw his sword, while, Sai hurriedly turned his head to look at the god statue. Just as he suspected, the eyes of the statue were fixed on the back of that sword.

And then, the chilling red ray shot out from those eyes.

BUZZ!!

The beam crushed the sword into dust.

Sai's expression crumpled.

As expected, the god statue could easily finish we off if it felt like it. It'd be easier than stepping on squirming bugs, actually.

'If that's the case, then.... Why hadn't it?'

It could kill we, yet it hadn't done that.

This was a completely different pattern of behaviour compared to the monsters that attacked as soon as spotting human Players in their vicinity.

These statues only moved if certain conditions were met: the doorkeepers that only attacked if someone approached the door; the eyes of the god statue firing that red beam if someone moved.

It was like a game with a set regulation.

'Hang on... Could there be some kind of rules in this chamber?"

It was here that a piece of puzzle found its place in Sai's head. He began recalling the contents of the stone slate he was reading not too long ago, that was why.

'The laws of the... Kargantua temple, was it?'

'Regulation' was 'rules', and 'rules' could be 'laws' as well.

The key to their safe escape from this camber had to be buried within those warnings found on the stone slate.

"....Worship the god."

That was the first law.

Sai shifted his gaze back to Yukine.

Sai simply placed his index finger on his lips. It was a sign asking for a bit of time to think.

'If my thoughts are right...'

Sai slowly rose up.

Sai shook his head while carrying a determined expression.

Sai learned something important just now.

'It's not attacking someone who's not moving around.'