"Is Bera okay?" Arsh asked, looking at the panther lying on the ground. His black fur was covered in blood.
"Don't worry, he's fine. The wound isn't very deep. But we need to find a way out of here as soon as possible, before he loses control," Mes said.
"I don't know how we are going to get out anymore… Arsh was right. The bullets didn't even leave a scratch," Mr. Herman added. He was sitting next to Mary, trying to position himself between Bera and the girl, who couldn't take her eyes off the panther.
"I brought Apeirolimos's chest with me. I don't think we can keep running anymore. Our last chance is to trap it inside this again," Arsh said while sitting on the floor as he pulled the bronze chest toward himself.
"But we don't know sealing symbols like this. How— Arsh, what are you doing?" Mes's complaining tone suddenly turned into curiosity. Both Mr. Herman and Mes slid closer to Arsh from where they were sitting.
He was carving something into the lid of the chest with the letter opener. He had found it on the consulting desk and put it in his pocket before running away.
"I mentioned before remember, Mes... I told you about an archaeologist named Will. He said these were symbols used for protection. He had seen them on a sarcophagus before. He said these protected the sarcophagus and prevented them from being damaged or opened. If we trap the monster inside it, the chest won't deteriorate, and it won't open as long as no one opens it,... at least, that's what I hope" Arsh explained, mixing in a bit of a lie.
He remembered seeing that same symbol on a sarcophagus and the pillars in the Bruil chamber before. Will had told him back then that they were probably for protection. Since that sarcophagus had stayed perfectly fine for thousands of years, Arsh thought this might actually work.
Are you sure the man you call Will recorded these correctly? And how do you remember them this clearly?" Herman asked.
"The siuni I have right now also comes from his records… and I have a good memory," Arsh replied, continuing to carve.
Just like in his memory, using a bit of force, he carved three concentric circles. Then he drew lines and symbols extending inward in different patterns. After carving similar symbols onto the bottom and both sides of the chest, he stopped. The shapes of the symbols were clear in his memory, but he still wanted to be sure.
After brushing the dust off the chest, he put the letter opener back into his pocket. It was time to test the power he had only recently discovered.
'Something to imprison Apeirolimos in,' he focused.
His guess was correct. There was no need for another plan or any more risks. The golden threads extending from his hand wrapped around the bronze chest in front of him.
'This will work,' he thought, feeling slightly relieved.
"So, how are we going to get that monster into this chest?" Mes asked.
"...I guess we need the creature's blood. But the problem is, it doesn't have any. I noticed it when Bera tore pieces off it. When the creature smeared that strange black liquid from its mouth onto the damaged parts of its body, it healed. That liquid must be what keeps it alive. I'm not sure, but it seems like we have no choice but to try," Arsh said.
Herman stood up and took a deep breath.
"Then let's go. We don't have any more time to lose. Mes, stay here with the others. Arsh, show the way."
"Herman, I think it would be better if you stayed here. I think Bera and I can handle this quickly. "
"But… I can't send you off alone. You're asking me to let two wounded people go alone."
"Don't worry… Bera, are you okay? Can you come with me?" Arsh spoke to the panther lying on the ground. Bera opened his eyes. He was breathing more easily now. He got up from where he lay and stretched.
"Bera wants to show that he's ready," Mes said. The black panther let out a low growl and came to Arsh's side.
"What about Walter?" asked Herman.
"He's fine for now. He's not far away. We need to find him first. While he keeps Apeirolimos distracted, it will be easier for Bera and me to get close." Arsh's voice was confident. Although he was pushed aside for being weak at first, now it was the opposite.
"This doesn't sit right with me at all," Herman kept muttering as Arsh and Bera left the exhibition hall.
…
It took them a while to find Walter. Like Mes, he was hiding under a table, clutching the discs he used to distract the creature, careful not to let them make a single sound.
After getting him out, they went after Apeirolimos together. Both the prey and the hunter were searching for one another, but in this situation, Arsh was starting to feel more like the hunter.
As they moved forward, he explained the plan to Walter. Walter was to act as a distraction, Bera was to attack and buy some time, and Arsh's job was to take the liquid and close the bronze chest.
When they found Apeirolimos among the bookshelves, it looked alert, carefully checking its surroundings. Sensing the approaching footsteps it turned in their direction, ready to lunge.
"Now," Arsh said.
Walter shook the discs in his hand and ran toward an open space between the bookshelves. Apeirolimos went after him.
Bera followed close behind and slammed a bookshelf down onto the creature. Walter and Arsh had struggled to move the shelves before, but in Bera's panther form, it looked effortless.
When they gained the time they needed Arsh yaratığa doğru yaklaştı. The creature struggled under the fallen bookshelf, trying to get out. Bera and Walter climbed onto it and tried to keep the creature from getting up.
As Arsh reached for the creature through the shelves, Bera pressed its head down with his paw. Arsh pulled the letter opener from his pocket and stabbed it into the creature's mouth, making black liquid burst out. Then he ran to the bronze chest on the ground. He threw the letter opener inside and closed the lid.
"..."
But nothing happened.
"Arsh!… Didn't it work? We can't hold it much longer!" Walter shouted, followed by a roar from Bera.
Arsh was hoping this would work. But something was missing, and he had to figure out what it was right away.
At that moment, the bookshelf Apeirolimos was pinned under began to crack. From every place the black liquid from its mouth touched, tree branches burst out, rapidly spreading and surrounding everything. Walter and Bera jumped back from where they were and landed on the floor. The branches continued to spread quickly, swallowing the other bookshelves as well.
The creature had crawled out from beneath the bookshelf and lunged toward Walter.
"Watch out, right behind you!" Arsh shouted. Bera jumped in just in time and saved Walter from the creature's claws. But this time, when he took another blow to his back, he let out a cry of pain.
As both of them were thrown aside, Arsh was still trying to find a solution.
'I wish it would guide me like before. Show me what I need to do.' he thought.
At that moment, he suddenly felt the power inside him begin to flowing out. Golden threads spread from his left hand and wrapped around his right. Following the threads' lead, Arsh opened the box again and took out the letter opener. Then, he cut his left hand with the it. He threw the opener back into the box and smeared the blood from his hand onto the symbols on the chest.
The moment the blood touched the symbols, the creature let out the sharpest scream they had heard so far. Bera and Walter collapsed to the ground, crying out in pain. Although Arsh quickly covered his ears with his hands, he felt an intense pain in his head. When he pulled his hands away, he realized his ears were bleeding.
Everything happened too fast to fully understand what was going on. Apeirolimos was writhing on the ground, screaming, as an invisible force pulled it toward the chest. Although it tried to dig its claws into the floor, the pulling force was so strong that it continued to be dragged toward the chest, tearing up the floor along with it.
"It's working, it's working!" Walter shouted with joy.
Arsh, beginning to relax, let out a small laugh. As he watched the creature slide past him, he felt a surge of satisfaction that his theory had worked.
But making a sound was still a mistake.
Almost half of the creature's three-meter-long body had already been pulled into the chest when it dug its claws into Arsh's legs. Arsh screamed in pain. Now, he was being dragged toward the chest along with the creature.
As he was being dragged along the ground together with the creature, he tried to grab onto anything he could find, but couldn't. He kicked at the creature with his other leg, but it also didn't work. His heart was pounding wildly. The thought of being trapped inside a chest with a man-eating creature was more than terrifying.
But Bera made it just in time. He ripped the creature's arm away, forcing it to let go of Arsh's leg. When its last hold was broken, just as the creature was about to let out its final scream, the chest sucked it inside before it could do so. The lid slammed shut with a heavy thud.
This was the last thing Arsh saw. Then, everything went black.