Millennium Tension

The ancient ruins which are very intricate with many ramifications are thoroughly explored by Aizen, Ana, and Axel with scattered signs that have been prepared.

They teleported here and there to loot relics, inheritance, and other valuable treasures without leaving anything behind like someone who is too greedy.

Aizen and Ana tend to find easier assignments in the safe places and treasure rooms they find, and Axel takes on all the difficult tasks between fighting hordes of monsters and dangerous traps that she can easily subdue.

'Ana, Axel, my mission is complete. How about you?' Aizen speaks in his mind after defeating the large golems guarding the treasure room.

'I'm done too! Do we need to quickly regroup at the starting point?' Ana cheered happily after plundering the shiny stone quarry full of energy that could be converted into [Axel Energy].

'I'm still not done, wait for me a little more and I'll catch up.' Axel spoke lightly.

'Do you need our help? We can do it together.' Aizen frowned upon learning that Axel who was in [Rank 9] had not yet completed her mission.

'Are you having a hard time, Sister Axel? You're not supposed to take on all those difficult tasks alone ...' Ana muttered anxiously.

Although what they were exploring was a place no deeper than the initial meeting point in the crystal cave, they also could not underestimate what awaited them in some of the locations that the previous reconnaissance units had not reached.

'Sorry, I didn't think it would take so much time.' Axel spoke while destroying the traps one by one to find out what was at the end of this passage.

'All right, we'll be there. Please take a safe place for us to teleport right near you, Axel.' Aizen checks his surroundings one more time and teleports after Axel does not move from her current position, and Ana follows after.

"Welcome, Master Aizen." Axel greets Aizen with a warm smile as he appears right beside her.

"Um, are you okay?" Aizen checks Axel's state to make sure all is well.

"I am fine." Axel nodded lightly.

"I have arrived!" Ana cheers after appearing right beside Aizen.

"Well, welcome, Ana."

"Hehehe ... So, Sister Axel, how many missions remain unfinished?" Ana giggled happily because the exploration of treasure hunts was quite fun. Then she jumped over to Axel who was working the hardest and hugged her lovingly.

"By this place, there are still three left." Axel smiled gently at the cheerful girl in her arms while stroking her hair softly.

Aizen checks the state of this place which has become an empty room filled with remnants of the battle or destruction that Axel waged a few moments ago.

Their current position was 7500 kilometers underground, only 200 kilometers different from the starting position where the six cultivator girls were taking shelter.

"Let's continue to the end of this passage, I wonder what awaits us." Aizen looks far ahead but finds nothing because the radar and scanning systems are still being blocked.

Ana and Axel release their embrace to continue back in three places that Axel still hasn't explored.

She left these three places as last because all the suicide surveillance units were unable to penetrate the barrier that had been put up as if it were protecting something.

All of these units immediately explode when they try to force their way through which makes Axel suspicious and leaves the three places as the last to be explored by her.

"If you compare it to your past experiences, is it possible that the deepest place of this ancient ruins will only need another 2500 kilometers from this place?" Ana asked Axel curiously.

"It could be, in the deepest place of the ruins I've ever explored from some hidden realm, there are only up to 10 thousand kilometers underground, maybe this place is the same." Axel replied in agreement.

"So it's a third of the way, huh?" Aizen muttered blankly.

Until a moment passed deep inside, they were blocked by an ancient rune. A rune similar to the one Axel had destroyed several times before Aizen and Ana came here.

"Master Aizen, Sister Ana, please step away for a moment. I will forcefully destroy the rune." Axel firmly suggested and approached the rune.

"Is there no other way but to destroy forcefully?" Aizen asked after taking a safe distance with Ana. They knew very well that what Axel was saying was serious and could be dangerous.

"I've tried, but to no avail. The runes laid in these ruins are far more powerful than any ruins I've ever explored." Axel stretched out his hand before channeling his energy into a large rune blocking their path.

The rune flickered unstably as it was trying to resist the destructive energy that was being channeled by force. A wave of heat energy and a flash of lightning immediately shot everywhere which indicated the loss of rune power from the energy channeled by Axel.

Shortly after that, Axel, feeling enough, immediately moved away from the rune and stood right between Aizen and Ana.

* Boom! *

The thunder flashed with a burst of powerful energy from the rune that was quite fierce. But what Axel thought of as a trap didn't end there, then the thunder was like chasing those who destroyed the barrier rune earlier.

"Is this a trap?" Aizen dispels the lightning that has struck them by diverting it elsewhere while activating the energy shield.

Ana and Axel do the same until the fierce thunder subsides and the passage becomes calm again. The remnants of the destruction still remained which indicated the ferocious incident had just happened a moment ago.

"Now it's fine, let's continue again." Axel indicated that everything was safe.

Aizen and Ana nodded before continuing their exploration of this abnormal passage. After a lightning rune earlier, they entered a purplish-black concrete hall that was much wider than the hall which had the branching passages they encountered in these ruins.

Right at the end of the dark hall that glowed with purplish light, there was a giant doorway that gave off chills and a feeling of uneasiness just because they were in this hall.

"What's with this creepy hall?" Ana mutters timidly as she takes Aizen's hand and grasps it tightly.

"I don't know either, is there something behind that spooky gate? To the extent that being protected by many runes is as if it is protecting something." Aizen looked around the hall radiating a sinister aura, and the most uneasy feeling came from the gate at the other end.

"No, make sure not. All the energies here are negative and evil energy. I believe behind that gate there is something that shouldn't be opened by anyone." Axel also grasps Aizen's hand at the bad premonition she is feeling right now.

Aizen quickly understood what Axel was trying to say and grasped Axel and Ana's hands tight as well. "Let's get out of here. Let's check out the other two places."

"En." "Un."

Ana and Axel nodded in agreement and the three of them immediately left there.

Axel installed many barrier runes along the passage she was passing because she felt guilty for destroying all the protective runes that seemed to be deliberately installed to block anything from approaching the scary gate.

Although not as strong as previous runes, at least she tried her best. Then the three of them hurried over to check the two places that they had not explored.

Little did they know, this would only be an advantage for the calamity that was slowly approaching and it was inevitable.