Doomsday Pillars

After two hours had passed and the fighters had enough rest, Alex decided to continue their advance through the main chamber again, towards the last gate of the Abyss. 

Previously, when the fighters took their time resting, Alex had dispatched a group of scouts with the same people to go ahead and scout the path they needed to take to reach the Abyss' last gate. After he received the reports from the scouts and read it thoroughly, Alex was certain of the path they needed to take to reach the last and final gate. 

Thanks to their ample rest earlier, which allowed the fighters to recover their lost energy and address their wounds, the group could confidently fight to the best of their abilities, as they slaughtered through the hordes of gargoyles like a gardener mowing wild grass. 

If one looked at the equipment the fighters were wearing now, they could definitely see the fighters covered in brand-new protective vests that gave off a translucent sparkling glow around them, protecting the wearer from being attacked. Those protective vests were the one Alex gave to the representatives group as a sincere gesture of good will towards them.

Looking at the protective vest they wore, the fighters were amazed by its durability and toughness, which helped them withstand more blows from the gargoyles than their previous vests. 

Their recovered conditions combined with their new equipment made the battle against the gargoyles much easier as they now managed to kill the gargoyles while still maintaining their advance. The group kept their pace as they trekked through the icy hills while fighting the gargoyles that approached them along the way.

As the group fought more and more gargoyles and became accustomed to fighting together, the battles gradually became easier and quicker to end. However, when Alex thought that things would go on smoothly, problems still occurred within the group among some of the fighters. A problem that involved the spirit stones.

It was a well-known fact that, when someone fought together with a group, it was often difficult to tell who was the one actually doing the kill. Therefore, conflicts over this matter tend to occur, from a simple confrontation using words and curses to a full-blown group battle.

Seeing the animosity in the air, Alex could only shake his head in puzzlement while sighing deeply. Inhaling another deep breath, Alex couldn't help but think, "Even when the world was on the brink of destruction, these people can't still put their greed aside and pursue short-term gain instead of looking to the future and working together for it. Ai…"

Alex, obviously, was not a naive man who believed the world was filled with flowers. No, he knew there were always these kinds of people, who wouldn't get along with anyone, no matter what. Fortunately, he was the one in charge in this expedition, hence, he decided that those who didn't listen to him were allowed to leave on a good note, lest they cause even more trouble later down the line. Hearing Alex's warning, those who were about to fight immediately hold themselves back.

Currently, the one that Alex found hard to get along with was the Heavenly Gate people. Alex knew that people like Sidao from Singapore, Hans from Germany, and a few others who seemed like bad choices to make friends at first glance were actually opportunists. 

Those people would absolutely support him as long as they needed something from him and would then stab him in the back, without second thought and with a smile on their faces, if they could gain from it. Even so, those people were still easy to handle compared to those Heavenly Gate people. Because those people still act with and within reason, they were easily predictable.

Meanwhile, that Heavenly Gate organization was a group of fanatics and one of the characteristics of someone, who could be called a 'fanatic', was their unpredictability and lunacy. For that, Alex gave the Heavenly Gate group extra attention.

After another half a day of continuous fighting and travelling, Alex could see a large pit in the distance, where a group of gargoyles could be seen flying out. He then shouted while pointing his finger at the large pit, "There it is. We are so close. Let's keep going!"

Seeing the goal that brought them here was immediate, the fighters grew even more excited and increased their speed as they ran towards the large pit. When they reached the area near the pit, Alex could see the enormous pit that oozed extremely dense malevolent aura with dozens of gargoyles in their statue forms and active ones guarding around it. Alex and the fighters immediately began to exterminate all the gargoyles, as they blazed through the cluster of gargoyles like a lightning strike.

After they had cleared the area from the gargoyles, Alex finally had the opportunity to observe this pit in detail. The size of the pit was about 50 meters in diameter, while its shape was a perfect circle as if it was made using a mold. Seeing the perfect shape of the pit, the fighters were amazed and wondered who could make such a large pit inside this place. When he tried to look into the pit, Alex could only see bottomless darkness in it. 

"Is this the place, Alex?" asked James as he approached Alex.

Turning around, Alex said, "Yeah, we are here." He then shouted, "Everyone gather up!"

Hearing Alex's shout, all 160 fighters immediately approached and surrounded Alex to hear what appeared to be the next Abyss challenge they needed to face.

"Alright, listen up everybody." Pointing his finger at the pit, Alex said, "This is what the pillar really meant as the Abyss Hole", Alex continued his words, "At the bottom of this Abyss Hole lies the last creature we must defeat. If we manage to kill that creature, the Abyss Hole will then be cleared."

Hearing that, some of the fighters simultaneously cast their gaze towards the pit, their gaze filled with curiosity and confusion. 

"For this final boss, I have to say beforehand that I cannot guarantee your safety. Therefore, I will only ask those who are confident to join me. I won't say much anymore. Those who are ready can follow me," said Alex as he stared at the group of renowned fighters in front of him.

He then calmly took out several flare sticks and then lit them up. As the flare sticks radiated an intense red glow, Alex quickly threw them down the hole. He then proceeded to jump into the pit as he went down towards the bottom of the pit by jerking his feet against the walls, using the wall of the pit as a stepping stone and momentum breaker. 

Aria and Arief immediately jumped and followed, leaving Alex the lead. Seeing the trio taking the initiative, one by one people began to jump down, following their path. Some fighters used fire spells, light spells, or even summon spells to help them go down the pit.

After he darted down for about 1 kilometer, Alex could finally see the bottom of the pit. Twisting his body in midair as he landed with a loud boom, he immediately casted his [Illuminate] spell to brighten the surroundings. Looking around, Alex heard sounds coming from behind and turned around to see what it was. He could see Aria and Arief landing, followed by others who decided to come down to fight against the last boss.

Waiting for a few minutes, Alex saw that only about 120 of them had arrived and were willing to risk their lives. It seemed that not all of them were confident to face the final hurdle. In fact, Alex didn't need too many fighters to beat the last boss. He was just worried there would be too many casualties later, therefore, this situation where some of them gave up was even better for him.

Observing his surroundings again, Alex noticed a large tunnel in front of them that emitted a malicious aura. With the guidance of several [Illuminate] spells, the group went deeper into the tunnel. As they walked along the tunnel, the group saw several large stone pillars filled with carvings. Seeing the mysterious yet peculiar pillars, Cindy couldn't hold her curiosity and approached one of the pillars.

As she reached the pillar and saw the carvings engraved on it, Cindy shouted, "Alex, come here!"

Hearing her shout, Alex immediately walked over to her. Pointing her finger towards one of the carvings, Cindy said, "Look here, Alex. Isn't it the Ancient Greek language?"

Alex was inspecting the carvings when suddenly, one of the fighters from Greece recognized the writing and its meaning. "Creatures locked by the gods-"

Before the Greece fighter could finish his words, another fighter interrupted him and said, "This is not the time to read those."

Alex was about to say something, when he suddenly heard a faint grunt in the distance. Raising his head as a sign of caution he placed his finger on his mouth, Alex said softly, but still loud enough for everyone to hear.

"We are close. It's here."