Mira glanced to the ground as she made haste to balance herself. "W-What just happened?" she asked before the ground trembled, followed by a thunderous clap along with a shockwave of energy passing through her skin.

  Lyria, who was casting her own spells, was interrupted, to which she buckled from where she was standing. She tried to maintain position, but eventually she tripped over her own feet and nearly fell down to the puddle of crystal-clear water accumulating on the ground, which she avoided due to Brennan supporting her balance.

  "Easy there, Lyria." Brennan's tone was soft, as if he was taking care of a child.

  Lyria, who was facing the ground, dilated her eyes as she saw her own reflection within the puddle of crystal-clear water. Curiosity piling higher than she could manage, she broke away from Brennan and dashed towards the puddle.

  Brennan, seeing what she was trying to do, attempted to stop her. "Hey! We don't actually know if it's really safe to drink." He beckoned.

  However, Lyria, fueled by academic curiosity, remained firm, whilst Mira just watched from the background, her own curiosity stopping short of actually drinking the water too.

  They talked with extreme academic vigour as if they had entirely forgotten that there were Stygians around them.

  Before Brennan was able to reach for Lyria, she had already scooped up a handful of water.

  As Lyria took the first gulp, the crystal-clear water almost immediately softened the cracked and fever-like lips she had for the past few hours. It was cold, so very cold, so cold that it was the first time she had felt such a refreshment over the years. As the water moved farther down, she felt a sharp sting, but it was only for half a heartbeat before she realized she was just that dehydrated. Once the cold, crystal-clear water stayed within her stomach, a sudden shiver ran throughout her body as it began to relax after hours of battle.

  After she drank the water, she merely stared at the crystal-clear water showing her reflection. Beyond that reflection, tears were forming along her eyelids until they fell hard. However, she didn't wail; instead, she felt extreme happiness.

  Brennan, seeing the situation, just gazed back at Mira, unsure what he or she should do. However, Mira moved forth and kneeled beside the puddle of water forming in front of them. It was clear, innocent, and untainted; it was unlike the purified water she had seen in the vast, sprawling cities she traveled to during her academic days.

  However, it may be a trap, so she hovered her hand over the puddle of crystal-clear water. Slowly she gathered her remaining mana, and that around her environment. A silver light glowed from her hand; the light then bent and moved in a spiraling motion. She then let it go and it descended into the puddle of water, whilst both Lyria and Brennan watched with curiosity.

  The ball of spiraling light descended, and once it touched the crystal-clear water, it let out a wave of energy that traveled in a concentric circle. Then suddenly all around them the crystal-clear water that was falling down, and the puddles of water, to the Ironside's hull, everything glowed with intense brightness.

  Once the brightness dimmed and lost much of its energy, the ball of light returned into its spiraling form, to which with increasingly loud heartbeats, with trembling hands, Mira silently grabbed the spiraling ball of light.

  Almost immediately after she touched it, it slowly dissolved and headed towards her. She accepted it, and to let herself focus even more, she closed her eyes and analyzed her own findings, whilst both Lyria and Brennan watched as they held their own respective breaths.

  After a few moments had passed by, Mira snapped her eyes back open, and with a shocked expression she loudly exclaimed, "There are no traces of corruption!" She said with a bright smile. But deep inside, she was appalled at how this was made possible, where not even the highest of authorities she knew of in the world could enjoy such a luxury.

  However, as much as they wanted to enjoy such a joyous occasion, they were interrupted by an ear-piercing screech around them, which brought them back to reality.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  Brennan snapped back towards the Stygians, all the while grunting in frustration. "Damn! How could I forget!" He directed his anger towards himself. As far as he could remember, this was the first time this has happened to him, an oversight. Which he would make damn sure it was the last.

  However, when they all gazed back at the Stygians, they all went wide-eyed as they saw the Stygians far back, almost dozens of meters away from them. As if there were something stopping them from getting near or there was a present barrier.

  Mira was the first one to question the oddity. "What's wrong with them?" she softly said as she held her breath.

  Brennan moved forward, positioning himself where Mira and Lyria were farther behind him, to which he then silently observed the Stygians that were lined up as if being stopped by the barrier.

  He then had a hunch; he turned to his back and gazed at the Ironside.

  The Ironside was silent.

  Just silence.

  Instead, the ancient golem they came to know as the Ironside now stood towering in the very center of it all.

  Its crimson glow around its body, the ones that had burned with such intensity during the fight, were now significantly dimmer and were losing more of their light as time passed by. The sleek black hull, now scarred and dented from combat, reflected nothing, almost as if everything was muted from then on.

  However, what he noticed was something more fascinating. At the top of the Ironside stood two arrays, similar to those from the cities from which they received communication, glowing with intense purple and a pale blue light.

  "It must be the Ironside," Brennan said as he pointed at the array on the top of the Ironside. The other two, Mira and Lyria, also turned their heads to look.

  "Is it... dead?" Lyria whispered.

  Mira clutched her resonator; it was still pulsing faintly in her palm, as if it was still responding to something. That would mean that the Ironside would still be alive. "It must be resting," Mira said as she clutched her resonator even harder, hoping for the light to stay.

  Brennan shifted his weight and faced the Stygians again, with his axe still in hand. "For how long?" he said.

  Mira had no answer; therefore, she remained silent and shook her head. Instead, she gazed back at the golem, at the Ironside, at the eight-legged ancient construct, its hammer-like limbs still deeply embedded into the ground, as she scrutinized the inscriptions along its body.

  "United Earth Defense Force," she whispered. "What place is Earth?" She continued, "And what are they defending agai—" Her words were cut off, as another screech came assaulting her ears. She snapped back and readied her bow as she saw a Stygian force itself to move towards them.

  However, before they could even take action and fight, the Stygian suddenly fell to the ground with its body convulsing, with its numerous mouths screeching as it writhed in pain. It staggered numerous times, its limbs bending in unimaginable ways as it continued its silent seizure. Then, as moments passed by, it lost its voice, now wailing in a silent agony.

  Then without a doubt, it stopped moving. Each part of its body started to turn into dust, with some being blown by the wind and some along with the pitter-patter of the crystal-clear rain speeding up its ultimate demise. Its black ichor that helped form its body streamed to the ground, which was then purified as soon as it touched the ground.

  However, just as they thought everything had ended, they were suddenly reminded of the melodic tune they had heard a while ago. However, this time it was so clear that they could fully decipher what was being said. Numerous sounds came dancing through their ears. From the laughter of children to the murmuring of random voices.

  Before everything disappeared and the voices dimmed, they heard a silent whisper as if it was hummed by someone who had reached the end of the line.

  "End the dream, end the darkness, wake the dreamers, and feel the suffering." These were the final words before the voices ultimately disappeared as if they had never existed.

  Brennan, Mira, and Lyria looked at each other to confirm if they heard the right thing.

  "What dream are they talking about?" Lyria said as numerous conclusions started racing through her mind. "W-Were they former people?" She said, her voice trembling with fear and despair.

  Seeing as Lyria was about to break down, Brennan stepped in. "Hold on. I know we just discovered something; however, let us talk about this for another time," he commanded, his voice leaving no room for arguments.

  He gazed over to Lyria and Mira, who nodded silently. With their agreement, he gazed back at the Stygians, who now moved farther back. Now, without any of them daring to step further and end up like the first one. With an astute observation, he gazed back at the Ironside and at the antenna at the top. He suspected something was up, and he couldn't deny his own curiosity. However, he had to prioritize his and the party members' lives.

  "It looks like we are safe for the meantime," Brennan calmly said. "So let us rest under the Ironside and recollect our thoughts on much more stable ground." He continued as he redirected them under the Ironside.

  With silence prevailing around the party, they moved with haste and recollected their thoughts.