Doomsday Pillars

After the three Cerberus were killed, Alex immediately instructed others to advance towards the Abyss's main chamber. As the fighters passed the hall that were previously guarded by the 3 three-headed dogs, they could see another similar tunnel that they had seen when they first entered the Abyss Gate.

The group then noticed something that baffled them, where instead of the familiar sight of red glow covering the entire tunnel and the searing temperature, they were greeted by a rather 'normal' tunnel. They could also feel that the temperature here was rather mild, which pleased some of the fighters. If someone tried to find the 'uniqueness' of this tunnel, they could only ask where the puddles of water came from.

However, as the group made their way down the tunnel the fighters quickly realized that the temperature had slowly dropped until it reached zero degrees, and still did not stop. They also noticed that the tunnel walls were slowly filling up with ice crystals until they could only see solid ice covering the entire walls. 

Standing in the front of the huge opening of the tunnel, the fighters were amazed by the sight of the blue landscape spanning into the distance as their bodies were hit by streams of frigid air. The 180 degree change and the extreme contrast between the antechamber and main chamber were definitely stunned and shocked the fighters.

For most of them,this was their first time to enter this part of the Abyss Gate. When Alex threw his gaze around the fighters trying to see more of their reactions, he caught one of the Russian representatives taking out a unique device from his storage ring.. He then realized that at least half of these Russian representatives didn't look like fighters at all, they looked more like scientists.

This group of people then began to take out several unique devices from their storage rings. Alex was about to approach them when he suddenly saw a Russian woman walking towards him.

"What can I do for you, Miss Iriana?" said Alex with a smile.

This Russian woman named Iriana opened her mouth. "We would like to stay here for at most an hour for research purposes, Mr Alex. I hope you don't mind."

"I personally don't mind that. However, the same thing couldn't be said about other people." replied Alex.

"This is an easy matter, Mr. Alex. The expedition group can advance, leaving us here."

Alex's face slightly changed when he heard that. "I'm not sure if this place is a safe place for research, Miss Iriana. I'm afraid that your group will be in danger."

Upon hearing that, Iriana chuckled before a faint smile appeared on her face. "You don't have to worry about us, Mr Alex. We can definitely defend ourselves."

Alex folded his arms as he thought about this matter. Actually, he didn't need too many fighters when they were about to fight against the last boss to finish this expedition. However, he also did not want the group for which he was responsible to split apart doing their own things. Alex certainly also did not want any diplomatic problems to occur because the expedition ended with a group of one of the countries that did not manage to survive.

When Alex thought about whether or not this Russian group could separate, a young woman approached him from behind, one of the China representatives.

"Big Brother!" shouted the young woman cheerfully.

Turning his head, Alex was puzzled by this young woman's friendly behavior.

"Umm… Do I know you, young lady?" asked Alex

"Oh? Oh yeah! We've never met before," said the young woman with an embarrassed smile on her face.

Looking into Alex's eyes, still smiling cheerfully, said the young woman.

"I am Zhao Wei, the granddaughter of Zhao Fan. My grandma had told me a lot about you."

"Is that so?" asked Alex with a smile. "So, why did you come to see me?"

"Oh?! I want to tell Big Brother that our group will also stay here to help the Russian group. I hope Big Brother doesn't mind about the research." said Zhao Wei. "It won't take much time, Big Brother."

Alex saw Christina who was standing behind this girl looking at him without any intention of commenting. In fact, this matter was not a really big problem for him, he was just thinking about the possible complications that would occur if something happened to this Russian group. Fortunately, Alex would be calmer thanks to the Chinese group , who were willing to look after them. He then asked why China and Russia wanted to do research in this place.

Zhao Wei and Iriana briefly explained that they wanted to compare the conditions of the Abyss Gate from two different ends of the Earth, more precisely the Abyss Gate in Russia and the one in Indonesia. They also told him again that the research duration really would not be more than 1 hour.

After Alex considered the matter again, he decided to take this chance to give all the fighters an 1 hour of rest before they went on the expedition, where the Abyss creatures they would be facing would be much more difficult than before. As the fighters went ahead and took a rest, Alex also appointed several fighters to become scouts who would find out and monitor the situation they would face later.

Alex prioritized fighters like Daisy who had sensor abilities, fighters like Jerry with swift and agile movement abilities, or fighters like Aria who could use invisible abilities to become scouts. Moments later, 10 fighters have been selected and deployed to scout. Alex also reminded them to be back in 1 hour. While other fighters were resting and waiting for the scouts to come back, Alex decided to go over to Christina while taking Theo with him.

When they approached her, Christina was seen cleaning her sword while being accompanied by 4 people, two women and one man with tattoos. All eyes were on Alex as he walked over to Christina and a woman with red hair suddenly blocked him. Alex's face changed a bit when he saw this.

"Anything I can help you with, Mr Alex?"

Before Alex could say anything, Christina beat him to it.

"Maxine, I need to talk to him." said Christina calmly. She then looked at her companions. "All of you can go."

Alex could see that the group was a little bit startled by Christina's words. "Alright, sister." said the woman as she moved out of the way, followed by the others. They then walked closer to her. Even though Theo was not really close to her, they knew each other from their college days in Australia.

Christina only stared at the two men as they walked towards her. This time, Alex could really see that something had happened to him. She glanced at Theo for a moment before looking at Alex and said.

"Ask your question."

It was rare for her to be so straightforward, therefore, Alex didn't need to beat around the bush as well. "What happened to you?"

When she heard that question, Christina reacted with a chuckle as she continued to clean her sword. "That's a silly question, Alex. Can't you see that Doomsday has happened?" she said, shaking her head.

Alex took a step closer and said. "Tina. If you are in any sort of trouble, let me know and I will help you with all my strength."

Blazing flames suddenly appeared on his sword. She then looked up and stared at Alex emotionlessly before she said in an emotionless tone. "Yes. I will definitely need your help later. For old time sake, you've got to help me."

Alex was stunned when he heard the emotionless tone in her voice, the Christina that he knew was caring and friendly to others, especially to her close friends. She was still the same 9 months ago before he entered the Abyss Gate, but something must have happened during that time that made her turn out this way.

Shaking his head, Alex immediately asked. "What help do you need? Tell me."

Turning her attention back to her sword, Christina said. "Not at the moment. You will find out soon enough."

Alex was somehow disturbed by Christina's attitude, but he knew that it would not be wise to force the answer out of her when she was like this. Therefore, Alex could only stand there awkwardly, accompanied by Theo, who could only smile wryly at the interaction of these two people.

"If there is nothing else, we should quickly finish this expedition." Christina then sheathed her sword and walked away after she said. "Good to see you, Alex. And you, Theo."

When Christina left, Alex turned towards Theo and asked. "What do you think happened to her?"

"She has a lot of rage inside of her, Alex. Unfortunately, I can't sense what it was." replied Theo calmly.

"You can't sense it?" asked Alex, stunned.

"Yeah… The only reason I can't feel it is probably because she can block my mind from reading."

"How is that possible?" murmured Alex, confused.

Christina's realm must be higher than Theo's, but it should not be possible to completely block Theo's mind reading. 'There must be something else...' Alex thought.

And then, it suddenly hit him. Alex remembered that Zhao Fan was the strongest Earth spirit enhancer, who also coincidentally was the greatest mind reader.

Alex couldn't help but take another glance at Christina in the distance with a worried expression.

-

An hour has passed in the blink of an eye, it's time to explore and clear this main chamber.