As the dagger returned from floating up, a massive ruin entrance appeared from the bottom of the large Dune Waves. What was more spectacular was the dome-like shield that blocked the Dune Waves, parting them easily.
Yasenia grasped the dragon dagger she crafted and spoke with a smile. "We found the entrance at last. Let's go in."
Tatyana spoke up. "Wait. Yasenia, enter last."
"Hm?"
Tatyana pointed at the dagger. "The shield might only be open until the one holding the dagger enters. So, you must enter last."
"Right… got it. I will go last."
The group moved, and when Yasenia passed through the shield, it instantly closed shut. "Thankfully, Mom told me to wait…"
Everyone else nodded in agreement. If Yasenia had gone first, she would've been isolated. "Just in case, here."
Yasenia shared one dagger with her lovers and one with Anna and Eve. She also gave one to Dune. "We might find more items to engrave seals on them. So, keep it with you."
"Thank you, Young Miss."
Yasenia nodded and looked at the entrance. "This one ruin… why isn't it tilted?"
Unlike the others, which were barely afloat, this one place was perfectly horizontal, as if it were resting on solid land instead of a sand ocean.
Walking forward and looking around, Andrea spoke with certainty. "This is a palace."
Evelyn agreed. "It does look like it. It has that royal feeling most palaces search for."
Tatyana commented. "The secrets of this zone's creation and those words spoken by that old man will probably be revealed here."
Cecile asked. "What if they aren't?"
Tatyana shrugged. "Then, they will remain a mystery. In the first place, we've come here to put this thing to rest."
Tatyana lifted the orange-glowing orb with yellow lines.
They walked through the large halls, massive pillars, and quite intact ornaments. The floor was white marble-like, while the furniture that had once been lustrous felt antique.
"Time… has not really eroded this place as much as expected."
Yasenia's observation was noticed by everyone. Tatyana pondered. "The air here is also cleaner. Have you noticed the lack of dust particles? The most likely case is that, since this palace's shield is the strongest, the things inside have been preserved the best."
"That's both reassuring and somewhat dangerous." Evelyn sighed. "If the palace was not hit as strongly as the rest, there might've been people living here. If that's the case… we might find a civilization that thinks this palace is their entire world."
Kali frowned. "That kind of closed civilization is the most dangerous. In such a closed space, order is hard to maintain. Plus, they might be people who are too… close-minded to strangers."
Yasenia spoke softly. "If that were truly the case, wouldn't there be traces of people here? I can smell other human beings in these halls."
"We are at the entrance," Tatyana said. "Perhaps we'll come across a door that needs your dagger to open. A ceremonial dagger coming from the outside. If that's the case, the dangerous part will be after that zone."
Their steps were light, their bodies moving neither too fast nor too slowly. "This place is gigantic…" Evelyn sighed in awe. "It can probably fit an entire city inside, right?"
Cecile gave her sincere opinion. "Extravagant."
"What is that?"
Everyone turned to look where Angel was pointing. At the end of the hallway, they could see a few bronze-colored figures. They were humanoid figures, but they were around 10 meters tall.
"Hm…?" Yasenia blinked. "Why can't our Spiritual Sense detect them?"
Tatyana was intrigued. "There are some materials that conceal you from Spiritual Sense. If they had such technology here, we must be even more careful. Traps will be hidden from usual detection means."
Everyone sharpened their senses and approached the five, ten-meter-tall figures.
"Hm… They are not attacking." Yasenia tilted her head up, circling around them. "These armors are empty inside."
Tatyana nodded and turned toward the location they were looking. At the end of that hallway, she noticed a large door. "Oho. Perhaps our intial guess won't be wrong."
Dune asked, curious. "What will we do if we encounter life inside, Lady Yasenia?"
"That will depend on them… Communication will be a bit hard, though."
Since a closed society would, for sure, develop its own language and culture, speaking with them might be too difficult. Angel spoke. "Wait for a moment, Yasenia."
Then, she waved her hand and spread out a formation. With another wave, a bunch of materials fell into the middle. Taking out her Formation Pen, Angel's wrist flicked elegantly as several complex lines were drawn into the air.
Snake, looking from the side, felt her eyes widen. "This… what kind of formation drawing is this?"
She was also a formation master. However, seeing Angel draw such a complex formation with such ease struck her like a sledgehammer.
Dune asked, somewhat impressed but not understanding deeply. "Is what she is doing impressive?"
"Impressive…?" Snake laughed mirthlessly. "Lady Angel can probably draw our Duneseeker's defensive formation and perfect it in ten minutes. Do you think that's impressive, Lady Dune?"
"..."
Dune became silent. That defensive formation was drawn by one of the top formation masters in the area, and it took them over 2 years to draw and a bunch of complex materials. 'Ten minutes…?'
Dune's back was covered in cold sweat.
"Alright, done."
Clenching her fists, a few hundred orbs floated up and landed before each person present. Yasenia picked it up and asked, curious. "What is this?"
"A translation formation. Instead of trying to understand language, it detects the intent and gives a vague translation. With this, we can extrapolate the language and learn it quickly."
Yasenia hummed and patted her head. "Good job."
Evelyn laughed. "Have we already decided that there is someone beyond those doors?"
Yasenia flicked her forehead with a smile. "It's better to prevent than to heal. Let's go."
When they reached the door, Yasenia took out the [Dragon Dagger], named by yours truly, and lifted it. "Open."
The dagger shone, and the doors began trembling. As the door vibrated, a sound was heard from behind.
Everyone turned around and saw the silent ten-meter-tall figures moving and looking at them.
"Intruders who want to open the chaos sealed inside must die."
The language was not something they understood, but thanks to Angel's translation tools, their intent was conveyed very clearly to them.
"Anna, Eve, test them."
"Understood, Young Miss."
The twin sisters stepped forward and then stomped the ground. Massive roots manifested in front of them, attacking the five large figures. The figures reacted incredibly swiftly.
Their large sword flashed, slicing out the roots effortlessly.
Yasenia's eyebrow raised in pleasant surprise. "Not bad. Full strength, Anna, Eve."
"Understood, Young Miss."
The blonde sisters summoned a sword each, and then shot forward like shadows. Anna and Eve, as if sharing a single mind, attacked one of the figures from both flanks.
The massive creature lunged forward to dodge, the four others rushing to cover for him.
Evelyn exclaimed in admiration. "The fact that it didn't block and knew to leave it to its partners shows incredible reasoning capabilities."
Yasenia nodded and smirked. "Sadly, their opponents are not easy."
Anna and Eve, feeling the four giants attack them, twisted mid-air and landed on the swords. Then, they both pushed against them and arrived by their target's side instantly.
BANG! BANG!
Two simultaneous strikes from perfectly opposite directions caused the forces of both maids to match right in the middle. The collision between forces caused a violent inner reaction.
BOOM!
The perfectly calculated strike caused the giant figure to burst into pieces. Anna extended one root toward Eve, and Eve toward Anna. Pulling toward each other, they dodged the incoming attacks and turned.
Both their soles perfectly matched before pushing out and flipping into the air. With their bodies upside down, Anna and Eve pointed down. "[Gargantuan Root Collapse]."
The massive hallways suddenly felt cramped as two enormous roots fell from the sky and struck down with the force to shatter worlds.
The four bronze figures reacted instantly, raising their swords as energy gathered from within them. A special sword art manifested in all four, launching and striking the giant roots.
The explosive sound between attacks nullified everything. However, Anna and Eve were far from down.
Landing on the pillars, they launched themselves again toward them and began exchanging a brutal combo of attacks independently. The battlefield divided into two one-against-two battles.
Andrea tilted her head. "Why are they fighting on their own?"
Yasenia spoke softly. "They already tested the durability, so they are now testing their combat power individually. They won't take long."
As she said, two minutes later, the bronze figures were covered in dents and slash marks. Anna and Eve, as if they had had enough, met in the middle with impeccable coordination, and then turned the battle into a two-against-four scenario.
Yasenia's personal maids danced around like forest fairies, countless root and sword strikes swallowing the four bronze figures and blasting them around like toys.
The sound of colliding weapons and explosive strength meeting filled the hall for a minute before Anna and Eve crossed swords and decapitated the last bronze figure.
With an elegant motion, Anna and Eve landed perfectly in front of Yasenia. "Young Miss, it is done."
Yasenia patted their heads. "Great job."
Meanwhile, the girls and Dune's group were looking at Anna and Eve with surprised expressions. These two, being Yasenia's personal maids, rarely took action. They stood by Yasenia's side faithfully, so their strength was somewhat mysterious.
Only now did they realize just how monstrous their perfect coordination was. When fighting, they were basically two people with a single mind. Two people who, individually, were already monstrously strong enough.
Dune glanced at the bronze figures and smiled bitterly. 'Those things are already stronger than me.'
She felt that she had become baggage. At least, against those golems in the pagoda, she could fight somewhat comfortably. But even one-on-one, the bronze giants were stronger than her.
Eve spoke softly. "After fighting, their strength is equivalent to that of an average Seventh Level Transcendence Realm cultivator. They all had an Intent Domain defense, so they can't be brought down by Intent alone. In a way, they are a Seventh Level Transcendence Cultivator with a nullifying Intent Domain. Of course, whether it works on Young Miss or not is still not clear."
Yasenia hummed and looked back at the opening doors. "If there are more of those inside, survivors will be hard to find."
Tatyana crossed her arms. "Perhaps. We will know once we step inside, right?"
"You are right. No reason to delay it more. Let's go inside."
Once they stepped through the door, a large, welcoming hall opened before them. The place was truly luxurious, as if untouched by time. Clearly, some preserving formations have been working overtime to keep this place as spotless as it was.
This massive hall had nine paths as well, one at the very front and four on each side. Yasenia smiled, her eyes shining with curiosity and anticipation. 'I wonder what surprises are here.'